{"id":1145,"date":"2013-10-05T10:39:24","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T10:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=1145"},"modified":"2013-10-05T10:45:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-05T10:45:23","slug":"something-old-something-new-blending-physical-objects-and-computing-for-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/something-old-something-new-blending-physical-objects-and-computing-for-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Something Old, Something New: Blending Physical Objects and Computing For Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fsomething-old-something-new-blending-physical-objects-and-computing-for-learning%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/riceTable.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1146\" title=\"SandScape\" src=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/riceTable.jpg\" alt=\"Using rice and computing to learn about topography\" width=\"474\" height=\"843\" srcset=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/riceTable.jpg 474w, http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/riceTable-168x300.jpg 168w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Given that Sarah and I love science, we enjoy exposing our family to novel learning experiences. In the past month, we had the opportunity to enjoy the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mos.org\" target=\"_blank\">Museum of Science in Boston, MA<\/a>. I greatly enjoy hands on learning. Getting to see my kids play with some of the Tangible Computing exhibits in the computer science section was a blast! The exhibits enabled my kids to learn and explore by playing with ordinary physical objects augmented by computing. I found this educational technology fun and approachable.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers at the <a href=\"http:\/\/tangible.media.mit.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">MIT Tangible Media lab<\/a> contributed a teaching tool to the museum exploring topography, the flow of fluids, and making 3D models. In the <a href=\"http:\/\/tangible.media.mit.edu\/project\/sandscape\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sandscape<\/a> exhibit, the children played in a 5ft by 5ft sandbox. The sandbox structure was filled with rice that the kids could move around to experiment with changes in topography. My kids were captivated by this exhibit. To learn more about SandScape, Professor Hiroshi ISHII and his team of researchers in human computer interaction, please check out the following video and <a href=\"http:\/\/tangible.media.mit.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">visit their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/44538789\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I also wanted to celebrate the teachers from the museum. As my children played with SandScape, the teacher gracefully used questions to help them discover the meaning of the different colors on the SandScape topography map. For instance, by encouraging the kids to do small experiments with the rice and asking leading questions, the kids concluded correctly that \u201cred\u201d represented high elevation while \u201cblue\u201d represented low.<\/p>\n<p>Since I witnessed this learning experience, I have started to encourage my kids to explore through leading questions,doing small experiments at home, and letting them make conclusions. That has been fun!<\/p>\n<p>The Tangible learning space included another fun exhibit enabling kids to control a robot. In this exhibit, the children arranged various puzzle pieces together to form a computer program that will be executed by the robot. One puzzle piece represents moving forward. Another puzzle piece represents turning 90 degrees. Still another represents moving backward. I love how this exhibit built upon kids natural ability to play with puzzle pieces. Once the puzzle pieces are put together, the kids press a button executing the program. Using a web camera positioned above the exhibit, the computer reads the chain of puzzle pieces and controls the robot accordingly. I started to wonder if <a href=\"http:\/\/scratch.mit.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Scratch <\/a>was inspired by this exhibit. I really want to build this at home!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/robotProgramByPuzzle.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1148\" title=\"robotProgramByPuzzle\" src=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/robotProgramByPuzzle.jpg\" alt=\"Using Puzzle Pieces To Control a Robot\" width=\"500\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/robotProgramByPuzzle.jpg 500w, http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/robotProgramByPuzzle-300x118.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The \u201chands-on\u201d learning experience and staff at Museum of Science at Boston are amazing. I highly recommend the experience to everyone! For our education and parent readers, I have collected helpful teaching resources from the museum that you can include in your lessons. Make sure to check out the other research projects from the MIT Tangible Media lab.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mos.org\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.mos.org<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mos.org\/educators\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.mos.org\/educators<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mos.org\/museum-online\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.mos.org\/museum-online<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tangible.media.mit.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/tangible.media.mit.edu\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scratch.mit.edu\/\">http:\/\/scratch.mit.edu\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What kinds of \u201chands-on\u201d learning excites your kids to learn?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/dinosaur.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1149\" title=\"dinosaur\" src=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/dinosaur.jpg\" alt=\"dinosaur\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/dinosaur.jpg 500w, http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/dinosaur-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Benefits of Teaching Kids To Code That No One Is Talking About\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=623\">Benefits of Teaching Kids To Code That No One Is Talking About<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"7 Reasons Why The Makers Movement Is Revolutionary\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=942\">7 Reasons Why The Makers Movement Is Revolutionary<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"How to Build Your Mobile App using HTML\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=849\">How to Build Your Mobile App using HTML<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Maker Camp: Free Virtual Summer Camp for Teens\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=961\">Maker Camp: Free Virtual Summer Camp For Teens<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"5 Resources To Help You Teach Kids Programming\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=689\">5 Resources To Help You Teach Kids Programming<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=202\">5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fsomething-old-something-new-blending-physical-objects-and-computing-for-learning%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Given that Sarah and I love science, we enjoy exposing our family to novel learning experiences. In the past month, we had the opportunity to enjoy the Museum of Science in Boston, MA. I greatly enjoy hands on learning. Getting to see my kids play with some of the Tangible [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,11,3,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1145"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1151,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}