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Last summer, the Crockett Foundation took a group of middle school students to Orlando to participate in a full-stack development (coding) workshop at Oracle Labs. The field trip was part of the Foundation's annual educational trip and focuses on introducing students to fast-growing careers in aerospace and technology. Upon arrival, the workshop facilitator approached the group's director and commented that the lessons that day might be too difficult for this age group.
“If you feel the presentation is too complicated, it's okay to nod your head. I don't mind,” he said, explaining the first of several coding problems for the day. As soon as the instructions for the first challenge were given, several people raised their hands. “That's right!” “Wow, you guys are fast learners.” The atmosphere of the workshop quickly changed, and the group of middle school students mastered the fundamentals of full-stack development and were on their way to adding another coding language to their repertoire.
So how have Crockett Foundation students achieved such success, even though many of them attend Title I schools and live in historically under-resourced areas? The answer lies in a small but mighty after-school and summer program that sets high expectations for young people to explore technology-related career paths and inspire them to become leaders who work to improve their communities.
Introducing technology-enabled career paths
The Crockett Foundation's Coding in Academics (CIA) program began in 2009 as an after-school space at a local middle school providing students with basic instruction in programming languages. Over the past 15 years, the program has expanded its offerings to include classroom instruction in general computer science, digital technology, mixed media, robotics, esports, web design, and more. Today, the CIA program has been rebranded as Digital Explorers and is a robust STEAM education program spanning four middle schools and serving over 150 students.
Over the years, our Digital Explorers have visited NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Magnet Research Lab on the FSU/FAMU campus, and JetBlue University, all as part of field trips designed to expose students to the vast possibilities in science and technology. Our goal is two-fold: (1) to provide students with a unique experiential learning opportunity, and (2) to deepen their understanding of future STEAM careers.
Helping students make connections across disciplines
Often in a typical school environment, students are forced to compartmentalize and learn different subjects. Subjects such as mathematics and science are often studied in isolation, making it difficult for students to develop comprehensive ideas that span different disciplines. However, we believe it is crucial for students to understand that all disciplines inform and relate to each other. Such a position helps them to see classroom assignments as interdisciplinary tasks and projects that require knowledge from other classes and other subjects. Students can utilize their different intelligences and develop the habit of integrating knowledge.
We take an interdisciplinary approach to the STEAM education we provide in our Digital Explorers program. Projects such as coding a microbit or designing a webpage require students to apply multiple intelligences and knowledge areas they have learned at school and beyond, giving students space for STEAM as well as general enrichment and creativity. This year we aim to reorganize our course offerings under four subject pillars and provide diverse activities to allow students to experience multiple subjects, such as e-sports, robotics and shoutcasting. We are currently developing lessons on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help students better understand the strengths and limitations of Chat GPT in the classroom and its current and future impact on technology careers.
Create an exploratory environment
We believe that a classroom environment that fosters experimentation and imagination is essential to foster an interdisciplinary approach. Students should be given the opportunity to “play” with technology and use their creativity along with their problem-solving skills. Our teachers are experts in guiding students' exploration by providing scenarios and simulations to solve.
In one esports class, an instructor teaches students the basic techniques involved in controlling a character in a video game. In each class, some students are given challenges that require them to apply technical knowledge along with problem-solving skills. Other students take on the roles of videographers and shoutcasters and are asked to perform fun, enthusiastic, and detailed gamecasts. Mistakes are rarely corrected; instead, the instructor works to hone the quality of their production by providing additional information about the equipment and its capabilities.
This exploratory approach requires a learning environment that encourages flexibility. We partnered with School Specialty four years ago to build our innovation lab, and they have been extremely helpful in bringing new ideas to the table and reaffirming them along the way. The furniture we installed was mobile, multimodal, and comfortable. This environment allowed us to create a “judgment-free zone” where students could make mistakes without worrying about the consequences.
When you walk into our innovation lab, you will see couches, movable chairs or simply cushions on the floor. Students gather in circles to foster a sense of collaboration. The modular furniture, smart TVs, laptops and game consoles encourage collaboration and experimentation while also encouraging autonomy and creativity. Although it may all seem a bit chaotic, there is an implicit sense of organization in the space. While traditional classrooms often focus on paper and pencil or laptop computers, our sessions focus on tools and materials that require hands-on learning objects. Students are encouraged to cultivate their curiosity by being exposed to new ideas and concepts to explore together with the instructor.
At the Crockett Foundation Innovation Lab, we're almost always asking ourselves, “What if we had one more hour to spend with our students? What if we had the right console, an extra laptop, a smart TV or a drone? What would we all gain from that additional investment?”
Every day we get closer to answering these questions. With a strong belief in exploration, experimentation and education, the Crockett Foundation is empowering the next generation of inventors, tech entrepreneurs, engineers and designers – the next generation of innovators and explorers.