Sensing Our World
What if we wanted to collect a lot of data regularly? It would be tedious for humans, but that's exactly the kind of thing machines are good at. This topic will focus on using sensors to automate data collection. Notice that we're automating the data collection but not the thinking! The learners still need their data literacy skills to make sense of it all.
Preparation
Before you come to online class, please:
Watch this video about a project in a primary school where the children used sensors to gather data about the habitats of contrasting creatures (including the strange species known as human children...) Write down some questions which you would like to ask the class teacher.
Read our article about some primary school projects which used Internet of Things sensors to collect data about the classroom environment. If you are short of time, you could start at page 5. If you were to run a project on IoT sensors with your class, what pedagogical techniques would you use?
Online class
Come to the online class on 12/6/24 at 7 - 9pm. We'll email you with the joining link.
Activity
After the class, try out one of these activities with your learners. You can choose from:
Use your school Micro:bits to make data monsters with your class.
If you have access to IoT sensors, consult your learners about what sorts of questions they would like to answer with them.
Or you could explore another way of sensing our world with automated data collection.
Reflection, feedback and sharing
Once you've tried out the activity with your learners, please do the following. There will also be a chance for feedback and sharing at the next class.
Reflective writing
Use the prompts to write a short post to help you reflect on how it went. It doesn’t need to be long (a few hundred words would be OK).
Facts: What was the topic and activity? Which learners took part, how many and what age group?
What happened? What did you do? What did the learners do? What did anyone else do?
What did you, as a teacher, learn? What have you learned as a result of this experience e.g. about teaching, your learners or about data literacy?
Your thoughts and feelings? What thoughts, ideas and feelings did you have before, during and after the session? Has your confidence changed as a result of teaching this activity?
What next? What is your next step? If you were to do this activity with another class, would you adapt it? What follow-up activity might you do with this class?
Feedback
Read the posts by two other members of the course and give them feedback.
Share
Tell another teacher at your school about what you have been working on.