We are so stoked to be a part of #InfyPathfinders Winter 2021 PD training program for K-12 public school teachers, hosted by the @InfyFoundation.

As a partner, we are offering a 3 day Makey Makey virtual workshop!

Participants of our workshop will learn the basics of circuits and Makey Makey with hands-on exploration, then begin to craft and code their own inventions. This virtual workshop will build off the basics of electronics and cardboard building, and help teachers learn how to create expressive interactive art, hack recycled toys, create alarms with office supplies, and even learn to make pixel art fingerpaint! Makey Makey blends the best of the maker world by sharing very hands on building techniques for the ultimate physical computing inventions.

Makey Makey Course Description

Here is our course description for this dynamic three day workshop!

Makey Makey Invention Literacy At Home and Beyond!

This intensive professional development course is designed as a blend of our dynamic (normally in-person) Makey Makey PD workshop with an introduction to a new collection of at-home resources for educators and their students. Makey Makey is the classic hands-on STEM tool for introducing physical computing and creative coding to early learners. This course will cover the basics of using Makey Makey as a creative platform in the classroom to introduce the science of circuits, computational thinking, and coding with Scratch through hands-on exploration. We will go “beyond the banana piano” to uncover the many ways that the foundational concepts of human-computer input and algorithmic instruction can be expanded into endless opportunities for creative problem solving. This approach to Invention Literacy may be integrated across curricular subjects from art and music to history, English, and physical education. We believe that when learners discover the lens through which to read – and the tools to manipulate – both the physical and the digital worlds in which they are immersed, they are empowered as inventors, as creators (not simply digital consumers), and as agents of change. 

Participants will come away from this course with: the confidence to introduce students in grades 4-10 to block-based coding and circuit crafting; an open toolkit that is compatible with the world of everyday objects already available in our homes and schools; ideas to engage and inspire students of all learning styles and unleash their inventive potential; and new connections to a community of resourceful educators sharing their own classroom activity ideas. This course is intended to be useful to educators with students at home or managing blended learning situations. Virtually together, we will design inventive ways to maintain student engagement through self-driven, hands-on activities that balance screen time with physical craft and construction.

Each participant will be provided with a Makey Makey and a kit of essential supplies so you can practice STEM-at-a-distance in real time with guidance from two experienced educators. We will also provide a list of suggested supplemental materials that should be easily and cheaply acquired at your home or nearby. You supply the laptop or home computer. (Note: Makey Makey works with any computer that accepts QWERTY keyboard input and requires no special set up or software installation.)

We are thrilled to announce that the #InfyPathfinders Winter Institute is back! This unique and engaging professional development opportunity for K-12 teachers in #CS and #making will take place from February 12-15, 2021 on our virtual campus. Apply now: https://t.co/N14pwpWfPe pic.twitter.com/O6IkWEjhSh

— InfosysFoundationUSA (@InfyFoundation) October 13, 2020

“I loved the contacts I’ve made in this course. It was nice to meet others that want to teach Makey Makey and everyone sharing their ideas and suggestions! I really liked the small groups to really help each other even though we lived all very far away from each other! Also I really liked that this course pushed my own learning and experimenting! As a teacher it was great to actually make the circuits, switches, and sensors. It pushed me to play more and learn more about Scratch. I think by doing each assignment myself I can see how I can teach kids the same way and make sure to get them the time to share their ideas with each other, time to create, and time to ask questions and help each other too.” -- Virtual Workshop Participant

Focused on Grades 4-10

Course offered by JoyLabz / Makey Makey