From my experience teaching with digital tools such as the 3D printer and the Laser Cutter I have found measurement and geometry as an effective hook into all strands of maths. Manipulating, building and cutting physical materials using standard unit measurement leads naturally into fractions, percentages, ratios, mult div. and even algebra. Geometry is a gateway to strategy and necessitates good number knowledge.
However, I have found in my role that a significant number of students are not transferring their learnings in geometry easily to design software nor using standard unit measurement. They can use the software due to the ubiquitous use of zooming in and out and rotation using a trackpad or mouse, but use of mathematical language is often lacking and not needed at an introductory level to programmes such as Tinkercad.
I want to help children learn through a deliberative process and dedicated time to examine how to best use these tools not just to make something over a term, but how to use them to advance mathematical thinking in a real world situations. Furthermore I want to create resources so that other teachers can utilise these machines as they become more commonplace. Technology should not be divorced from its language: mathematics.
The support I would need would be regular, weekly classes to teach one cohort for a year. At the moment due to my practice, students use these tools once a fortnight and momentum can be understandably lost.
I am keen to teach children who are finding school difficult due to behavioural or societal issues and provide more impetus to attend school. I already work with some of these children and they have shown me in their own way how motivated they are when they are given an opportunity to be a specialist, especially with real-world, hands-on technologies.
I would like to focus on students in years 5-8 and observing our last year's PAT mean scores am interested in the dip between Yr 6 & 7. Interestingly, this is the age that students often start attending the clubs and projects I have initiated. I know there is learner buy in from my experience running clubs and real opportunity to be harnessed.
However clubs are by their nature, held during lunchtimes and if children need to prioritise sport or socialising that is fine and healthy- it does not make for a consistent routine or cohort however and makes learning objectives difficult to plan or assess.
I’ve been inspired by my colleague Hannah West’s inquiry into building confidence with her PENN News crew and I have seen them in front and behind the screen developing transferable social and academic skills.
I feel I would gain a lot from working with others in the CoL positions and other specialist teachers about how to teach more effectively in this field. A major goal is to be able to create and share resources with other teachers for how to use these machines for their mathematical teaching.
A key goal for me would be to share my knowledge of these tools The 3D printer is totally portable and once one knows the ropes, the Laser cutter is a very easy to master- it is a waste of such amazing technical and teaching resources to only have one teacher able to use them.
