[Ciara Collins]

Hi Brona,

I love this idea! I really like that you adapted what Michael and Corey demoed in the Leaf Long Learner episode to something that’s relevant and meaningful for your school. Side note I love the Picker Pals concept you’ve mentioned.

A quick extension idea could be a game of AI detective where each group is given 3-4 “tricky” items (pizza box, coffee cup etc). They must  predict what their AI model will say, test it and discuss was the AI right or wrong and why/why not?

[Ciara Collins]

Hi Eadaoin,

I loved your reflection of Fantastic Fairgrounds. I had a play through it myself too and enjoyed learning about all the important concepts of AI especially the ethical decision-making. I love how this world also comes with resources such as the presentation and educator guide which can be great for teacher planning.

[Ciara Collins]

I watched the episode of Leaf Long Learners which is a fantastic lesson and also demos how to use teachable machine.

Can AI recognise shape?

Class stage: 3rd/4th class
Curriculum area: Maths – shape and space

I would use Teachable Machine as part of a maths lesson on 2D shapes. The learning intention would be for children to classify shapes using their properties while also exploring how a supervised machine learning model learns from labelled examples. This links well with stage 3 outcome of investigating and analysing 2D and 3D shapes and identifying classes of shapes based on their properties.

In groups, children would train a model using images of triangles, quadrilaterals and other shapes. Once trained, we would test it with new examples including shapes that are different colours, sizes, orientation or hand-drawn.

I think an interesting part would be deliberately creating a based training set. For example, using only red triangles and blue quadrilaterals and then testing blue triangles. This could lead into the question “has the AI actually learned what makes a triangle a triangle or has it learned something else from our pictures?”
The responsible use element would be that we only photograph the shapes and not pupils or other personal information.

To support critical thinking, children would compare the AI’s answer with the actual mathematical properties of the shape and suggest ways to improve the training data. This also fit s with computational thinking through pattern recognition, testing and improving digital creations.

I would gather evidence through a simple results table and short exit question “what made our AI model more accurate?”

[Ciara Collins]

We have Minecraft Education licenses in our school so we have full access to the different worlds and lessons in the library. I logged out of my account to see what worlds/lessons were available in the demo library and I have chose Hour of AI: The First Night.

I had previously witnessed our Dream Space Ambassadors teach their peers in 5th class this lesson but I had not tried it myself.

I like this world because it uses the familiar idea of trying to survive the first night in Minecraft but brings in coding and AI literacy. The children work with an AI Agent and have to train it to collect things such as wood, make tools, build a shelter etc.

The main learning objectives are not just to “have fun” 😂, understanding different types of AI, training AI and what is also so important, checking its output. I had a look at the Minecraft Education website and it includes resources that I can see would be useful in the classroom such as a presentation PowerPoint and educator guide as well as a certificate for when they complete the world.

A clear curriculum link for me would be Technology and computational thinking. Children are using coding, debugging and problem-solving while also learning that AI can make mistakes and needs human checking.

[Ciara Collins]

Hi Rebecca,

I really enjoyed playing your invader style game. I like that you included sounds which is a type of feedback when it comes to game design. I like how your game links to space the children i teach love space and could defiantly use this in my classroom.

One small suggestion would be to consider changing score to multiples of 5 for example to help with skip counting in maths.

[Ciara Collins]

Chaser game: Little Red Riding Hood
Game link: https://makecode.com/_VetAWuekAWct

I created a little red riding hood chaser style game using MakeCode Arcade. The aim of the game is to catch as many berries as possible in 20seconds while avoiding the wolf.

Player: Little Red Riding Hood
Enemy: Wolf
Food: Berries
Background: Forest
Technology is developed through coding sprites, movement and game rules. Maths could be included with position/coordination. I think some students might find it difficult that the y axis is inverted.

I definitely made lots of mistakes while making this game. I loved the tutorials videos as I could use them as reference points. Debugging is so important when it comes to coding and I think it’s important for students to know that it’s okay to make mistakes and to encourage them to problem-solve to fix the mistakes/errors in their code just like I had to do.

[Ciara Collins]

Link: https://makecode.microbit.org/_1bqYhXYVJH3a

Coin Flip Tutorial

I really enjoyed this tutorial. The event block I chose was “on shake” to represent the motion of tossing a coin. The micro:bit will then randomly select either true or false which is similar to heads or tails.

I can see how it could be used in Maths for data/probability. I could pose the question “is the micro:bit coin toss fair?” Children can then predict the results and carry out 20-30 tosses and record heads and tail in a tally chart. They could then compare the results with a real coin toss and discuss probability and chance.
It also links with Technology through coding.

[Ciara Collins]

Hi I really enjoyed this micro:bit tutorial. I can see how this code can be modified and used in other ways in the classroom. For example you can extend the code for an exercise picker during PE warm up or for alternative for random name picking during lessons.

[Ciara Collins]

For my reflection, I have chosen the Digital Learning Framework focus of Teachers Individual Practice. This focus encourages teachers to use digital technologies purposefully to enhance teaching, learning and assessment rather than using technology for its own sake.

One strength in my current practice is that I regularly use collaborative and hands-on learning activities that encourage pupils to problem-solve and explain their thinking. I also integrate digital tools such as interactive whiteboard activities and online quizzes when they support the learning intention.

An area I would like to develop is incorporating more computational thinking through unplugged activities before introducing digital tools. I particularly like the idea that computational thinking is about problem-solving rather than simply coding, and that pupils can develop these skills through practical, collaborative tasks.
To support this development, I will teach at least one unplugged computational thinking activity with my class every fortnight and record pupils’ reflections afterwards. I will then introduce one Dream Space TV or Brain Bytes activity linked to a STEM learning intention and gather evidence through observation, questioning and pupil work samples.

[Ciara Collins]

Your reflection is very interesting Grace, I think it is a great idea to use digital tools to support assessment. I agree that children already are pretty comfortable using some digital technologies especially by time they are in 6th class. Its a really efficient and effective way to gather and record the children’s thoughts and understanding.

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