Exploring digital technology

This week, Room 2 children have been learning digital technology. In the beginning, we explored the concept of a technological system. What is a technological system?  

We talked about how to make a toast using pictures step by step. 

We also learnt the word "debug" which is fixing an error. We made toasts with jam on them and talked about each process. We then talked about how a toaster was a technological system, and why. We discussed what happened to the bread and how it became a toast. Amazing ideas were shared and children shared their knowledge and ideas with each other. 

We then talked about kitchen items and whether they were technological systems or not. 

We discussed if a frying pan was a technological system. This was really interesting as some believed it was and others didn't think so. We talked about why they thought so. They all thought that a stove was a technological system. We also looked at a gas stove and an electric stove. This was such an interesting activity as they discussed their thoughts and ideas. 

The next day, I made a grid with masking tape and we had a turn being Kupe catching an octopus and getting to NZ on the grid. The children needed to tell the person being Kupe which way to go. We used words like "go forward", "Turn left", "Turn right", and "go backwards". This was such a fun activity, lots of laughter were shared. 

Then we moved onto using Bee-Bots. Our children were so excited about this technological system. We learnt about how to tell a Bee-Bot codes of which way we wanted it to go. If we made an error, we debugged it. 

I liked the way how children discussed where the errors were made, and they would debug the errors. I would like to explore the use of Bee-Bots again next week so that they will have more time using them and become confident at using them appropriately.