Published February 17, 2020
When Natalie Vanderbeck was asked to
help alpha and beta test a brand-new piece of
educational technology – the Code Cube™ –
she was quickly reminded that Pitsco Education
has more in store than just a catalog of STEM
learning products.
In mid-2019, Pitsco employed the help of a
few members of their Teacher Advisory Group
to test out the Code Cube device. Vanderbeck,
who teaches Grades K-5 at George Nettels
Elementary School in Pittsburg, KS, was quick
to implement Code Cube with an after-school
group of students.
For those of you who haven’t yet heard
the buzz, Code Cube is a codable wearable
that students can use to not only explore the
realm of block-based coding but also flex their
creative muscles. Students receive the Code
Cube itself; download their own coded sounds
and images from the web-based app to Code
Cube’s interactive, colorful 64-pixel screen;
and then wear it around on the included
snap wristband or in any other form they can
imagine. It’s an intuitive educational device –
the skills to use it are quick to pick up, and it’s
classroom ready from the get-go.
Vanderbeck and her students can attest to all
of this and so much more.
One of the main takeaways from
Vanderbeck’s beta test is that the Code
Cube is super user-friendly for students of
all ability levels. Because it doesn’t
need any external parts for
it to work, it’s nowhere
near as intimidating or as
time-consuming as coding
and manipulating a whole
robotics set. Vanderbeck’s
students were able to see
the results of their code within
minutes of opening the box. “The app is so easy to use that students just jump
right in,” she said. She even mentioned that all her students – who had a range of
academic levels and knowledge of technology – found success with Code Cube.
According to Vanderbeck, the customizable display helps students “connect to their
interests and, in turn, connect their interest to coding.”
Similarly, Vanderbeck reported that teachers of all ability levels can find success
with the little wearable. Teachers who already have a strong knowledge base
of coding concepts will find it a snap to come up with a multitude of classroom
applications for Code Cube. And, on the flip side, teachers who struggle with coding
and other STEM concepts can rely on the teacher’s guide, which can be downloaded
for free, to provide guidance and instruction as well as standard correlations to ISTE,
NGSS, and Common Core. Vanderbeck stated that the teacher’s guide could even be
given to a substitute teacher, as it has vocabulary words and open-ended challenges
in addition to the clear, explicit instructions for 10 base activities.
While this kind of success and flexibility might sound familiar to facilitators
and administrators who already use Pitsco products and solutions, Code Cube is
a little different than the usual hands-on STEM portfolio. Beyond being the first
proprietary elementary coding solution designed entirely from the ground up by
Pitsco personnel – from the brainstorming stage all the way through the iterative
process to physical creation and distribution – the Code Cube pushes the envelope
of technology. It’s not just the first wearable of its kind in the realm of ed tech;
it’s the first wearable of its kind, period. Pitsco prides itself on having been into
STEM education before STEM was cool, and now they’ve done it again – this time
connecting students to the future, their future, via coding.
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE 2030 WORKFORCE
The 2030 workforce is in elementary school today. These students are absolutely
immersed in the digital world – for example, Google and Alexa operate their bedroom
lights and tell them stories, the Internet can answer any question relevant to their
childlike mind within a fraction of a second, and games are merely at their fingertips.
While the tech of the future becomes the tech of today, young children have
innumerable opportunities to push beyond the boundaries of instant gratification.
Devices like Code Cube give students a starting point to take control of their
learning. Just one example is that coding develops abstract concepts such as
pattern recognition, which can create brain pathways essential to solving highly
complicated problems later in life. And while the ability to create if-then statements
won’t be necessary in every workplace, having decision-making skills and being
able to predict the outcome of a choice will certainly translate to any person’s path.
The thing is, with Code Cube, yes, students have a great time, and, yes, they
gain coding skills, and, yes, they even develop their social-emotional learning –
but they probably don’t realize that they’re doing all this while simultaneously
preparing to face the complications of the real world – the world that they’ll enter
after they graduate. The idea behind Code Cube is the development of students’
computational thinking and problem-solving; as students take ownership of this
one piece of their education and creativity, they learn that it’s OK to fail and that
success isn’t always defined by a teacher’s rules. Code Cube lets them define
success for themselves.
Vanderbeck’s classroom is a crystal-clear reflection of this. During the beta
testing, as students searched for direction and clarification, Vanderbeck told them
over and over, “You’re in control. You get to tell it what to do.” She used the Code
Cube to push them to define success for themselves, provide them opportunity to
explore their own creativity and critical thinking, and, most importantly, give them
ownership of their own learning.
If you think Code Cube could benefit your students, or
if you’re interested in learning more about what Code
Cube has in store for you, check out these web resources: