At Daw Elementary we are proud to be the recipient of a $20,000 technology grant from Verizon Innovative Learning and Project Lead The Way (PLTW) that gives our students access to innovative computer science courses. The grant provided new desktop computers and Microbit class kits for the STEM lab along with high quality computer science curriculum to be used in the sixth and seventh grades during their Technology classes.
PLTW’s middle school computer science courses, App Creators and Computer Science for Innovators and Makers, are part of PLTW’s K-12 Computer Science pathway and are built on the hands-on, project-based instructional approach. Throughout the Computer Science Innovators and Makers course sixth grade students will learn about programming for the physical world by blending hardware design and software development, allowing students to discover computer science concepts and skills by creating personally relevant, tangible, and shareable projects. The App Creators course will expose seventh grade students to computer science as a means of computationally analyzing and developing solutions to authentic problems through mobile app development, and will convey the positive impact of the application of computer science to other disciplines and to society.
Both units provide an opportunity for students to experience computer science in a relevant and engaging way, empowering them to solve problems using the powerful ideas behind computational thinking and setting them up for further computer science learning as well as problem solving across all instructional disciplines. Thank you to Mr. RiccIardulli and the I.T. team for writing the grant, setting up the hardware and the continued support.