Mindset refers to the assumptions and expectations we have for ourselves and others, which determine our commitment to any given task.  Dr Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe the underlying beliefs people have about learning and intelligence.  Learners with a fixed mindset believe that there is a limit on how much they can learn and, therefore develop intellectually.  Those with a growth mindset on the other hand, believe they can get smarter, and they understand their talents and abilities can be developed through effort and persistence.

Although individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, it can still be discerned based on their behaviour.  The mindset of an individual becomes particularly evident in the face of setbacks or failures.  A student with a fixed-mindset dreads failure because it is a negative statement on his or her basic abilities, whereas growth-mindset individuals do not mind failure so much, since they realise their performance and learning can be improved from failure.

As educators, we must do all that we can to cultivate our own growth mindset first.  This means we should be lifelong learners, keen to develop our skills, and acquire new ones.  After all, we are role models for the students that we teach, and to have a growth mindset also shows our students that we believe they can be successful too.  Equipped with a growth mindset, educators will adapt the teaching style and instructional material, to ensure all students can learn.

Recent advances in neuroscience have shown than the brain is much more malleable than previously thought.  Research on brain plasticity shows how the connectivity between neurons change with experience.  With sustained practice, neural networks grow new connections, strengthen existing ones, and builds insulation that speeds the transmission of impulses.  Teaching learners about their brain plasticity then, helps to shift mindsets from fixed to growth, which then leads to increased motivation and achievement.

In addition to teaching about brain plasticity, the type of feedback that teachers give their students can have a huge impact on their mindset.  For example, studies presented by Carol Dweck have shown that telling children they are intelligent encourages a fixed mindset, whereas praising effort cultivates a growth mindset.  When students have a growth mindset, they are more likely to take on new challenges and learn from setbacks, which therefore increases their abilities and achievement.

To put all this theory into practice, we gave our teachers and students these activities below to complete in the makerspace.  Even if your school does not have a makerspace, depending on the resources you have available, these activities can be adapted to take place in a standard classroom.  The most important thing is for the activities to give students the opportunity to learn something new whilst being challenging and fun!  By tackling and overcoming these learning challenges, the idea is for students to develop their growth mindset.

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The Dash & Dot robots provide an entertaining introduction to the world of programming for younger children.  Having bought a set of five Wonder Pack kits for my school, I’ve been impressed with what these robots can do.  Created by Wonder Workshop, the robots are already fully assembled on purchase but require one of five different possible iPad apps in order to play.  By interacting with the world around them via sensors, Dash & Dot can hear sounds, detect objects, and know if you are moving them.  The iPads apps then enable you to program these robots to do virtually anything you want, including the delivery of messages, playing musical instruments and navigating obstacle courses.

The Go app is the best place to start.

The Path app introduces the basics of programming.

The Xylo app enables children to compose and create music.

The Blockly app builds on children’s programming knowledge by introducing conditionals and loops.

The Wonder app is the latest addition to this series of apps for Dash & Dot.  The video below shows a group of children using the Wonder app to program Dash.

Possible Introductory Lesson Activities for children 5 to 7 years

Activity 1: Control Dash using the iPad app, Go  

Introduction

Explain that in this lesson children will learn how to control the robot, Dash using the iPad app, Go.  Model opening up Go on the iPad, and then show students how to use the interface to control Dash: make his head move around, move him around, get him to make different sounds and light up.  Ask for a volunteer to come forward to see if they can use the controls on the iPad to make Dash blink.

Activity

Students experiment with using the Go app on the iPad to control Dash & Dot.

Plenary

Ask: has anyone worked out how to record their voice on Dash & Dot?  Bring forward volunteers to demonstrate using Dash & Dot.

Activity 2: Create paths for Dash to follow  

Introduction

Sitting the children down in a circle, tell them that in this lesson they will learn some basic programming using Dash and Dot.  Using the iPad app, Path, children will need to design a path for Dash to follow.  Model this on the iPad.  Dash will move along the path as it has been drawn out on the iPad.  Explain how we can also add different sounds along this path, which Dash will make in the same sequence as he moves along the path.

Activity

Students use the Path app to draw different paths for Dash to take.  As the students advance, they can unlock new themes and special animations.

Plenary

Making sure that children are sat in a circle, ask for a volunteer to program Dash to move along a path within the circle that the children have made.

Activity 3: Create music on the xylophone using Dash

Introduction

Explain that in this lesson, the children will be composing music for Dash to play.  They will be using the Xylo app on the iPad and the xylophone accessory.

First, model how to attach the xylophone accessory to Dash’s body.  Then, ask: what do we need to connect next?  Elicit that the next thing we need to attach is the mallet, which should connect to the left side of Dash’s head.  Once these two parts are attached, open up the Xylo app.

Show the children how, by tapping on the different colours, we can create a sequence of different sounds, as each colour represents a different note.  You can demonstrate this by playing one of the readymade tunes, e.g. My Mary Had A Little Lamb.  

Activity

The children experiment with composing their own music using the Xylo app and Dash.

Plenary

Ask for volunteers to play the music that they have composed using the Xylo app.

Last week our school had its first official Technology Week, which gave teachers and students the opportunity to use new technologies both within their Computing & ICT lessons and across the school curriculum.  As part of this event, I delivered assemblies to highlight the new technologies that we’ve been using, showcase students’ work and award prizes.

This trailer provides a glimpse of what we did during the week.

The following new technologies were used by teachers and students:

1. Dash & Dot – Programmable robots that provide coding challenges for all ages, the video below shows one example of how students have been using this technology.

2. 3D Doodler Pens – These pens rapidly melt and cool plastic, enabling the user to literally draw 3D models.  We used the GooDee 3D Printer Pen model, and our students had great fun building 3D shapes and hipster glasses.

3. Adobe Voice – This iPad app has been used successfully across our school to create digital biographies.  Easy to use, students just record their voiceovers one slide at a time.  During students’ English lessons, they used the app to put together biographies of famous mathematicians and scientists.  The video below shows a couple of examples.  

4. Makey Makeys – Turning anything that conducts electricity into a remote control, these tools have proved to be brilliant for teaching students about electrical circuits.  Students particularly enjoyed creating a remote control out of playdoh to use with Kodu.

5. Picoboards – Circuitboards that contain several sensors (including sound, light and motion), these tools are accessories for Scratch.  Using the picoboards, our students created several programs that respond to the external world.

6. Plickers – A simple teaching tool that collects realtime assessment data of students’ answers to multiple choice questions.  Our maths coordinator used this tool on his smartphone to scan students’ answers to multiple choice questions.  At the end of the quiz, students were able to see their results from the quiz projected on the whiteboard.

7. Osmo Apps – A fantastic accessory for the iPad, these apps help to bridge the digital world with the physical world, providing students with some challenging puzzles.  Tangram was particularly well received by students.

8. Minecraft – Students created virtual worlds, which posed different maths problems.  By creating various digital artefacts in Minecraft like walls, swimming pools and water fountains, the students made signposts with different questions about shapes.

 9. Google Sheets (for collaborative shape investigation) – Making use of the chrome books, students have been able to work in groups of three or four to complete a mini-project with shapes.

10. Augmented Reality – The augmented reality apps have been used a lot by students in all sorts of different ways – for example, to develop vocabulary, learn about space and develop their understanding of shapes.  

11. Purple Mash software (2DIY 3D & 2Design & Make) – Particularly useful for the younger students, these two Purple Mash apps have been brilliant for helping to develop their spatial awareness and understanding of nets & shapes.  

12. 3D Cube Printer – Having designed a 3D badge in Sketchup to mark our Technology Week, we were able to 3D print many of these to award to students for their work with technology.