Piper Computer Kit

January 31, 2020

Piper Computer Kit

“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher's hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

-David Warlick

When I first signed up to take ECI 201, Intro to Instructional Technology for Educators, I didn’t think that it’d be a class I would enjoy. I have always considered myself to be awful with technology, and I’ve very much been a “pen and paper” kind of student. Because I felt that I was not good at using technology, I tended to focus on the negatives of using it in the classroom and supported more of an old fashion style of teaching. However, within the first few weeks of this semester, this class has completely changed my understanding of the benefits of instructional technology in the classroom.

Our first group project in ECI 201 was one of the coolest educational projects I have ever done. Our group was given a blueprint that we were supposed to use to build our own computer! We did this using a Piper Computer Kit which comes with all the materials and instructions students will need to build the computer. This allowed the instructor to walk around, supervise, and answer questions as all the groups worked independently. Once it was built, we were even able to play a version of Minecraft on the computer that also taught us how to connect wires and buttons in order to create keys to make the game easier to play.

Through this activity our class learned the importance of guiding our students to learn the 4C’s of the 21st century, which are Collaboration, Communication, Critical thinking, and Creativity. If you have never heard of the 4C’s before, check out this video that does a great job at explaining it: https://youtu.be/QrEEVZa3f98. While I had learned about the 4C’s before the group project, I didn’t see them put into action until we began working on building the Piper Computer together. It is one thing to tell your students to demonstrate these strategies; it’s another thing to give them activities and examples that help them practice these strategies, so that they are able to use them in the future.
One of the best parts of the Piper Kit is that it requires teamwork! One person had to read the blueprint and figure out what all the pictures meant while the other two put the kit together using the first person’s instructions. Teamwork is important because it teaches collaboration and communication, which will lead students to creatively and critically think together. Check out this fun video that our teacher showed us: https://www.fablevisionlearning.com/blog/2014/05/above-and-beyond-the-story-of-the-4cs. It demonstrates the power of teamwork and the 4Cs.

I would definitely encourage other teachers to see if the Piper Computer Kit is a right fit for their classroom. I foresee myself using instructional technology similar to this to teach my students how to use the 4Cs to solve problems, think creatively, and use failures to shape their next attempts. Because I am planning on teaching K-2nd classrooms, I will probably not use something as advanced as the Piper Kit, but I can use other resources that allow students to still learn these 21st century skills. For example, letting students work together on easy coding games or even Sphero to create new motions/obstacles. I think any kind of group work centered around a technological device is a great way to teach younger students the 4C’s. This video goes even more in depth to what children learn through collaborating, which I believe is one of the most important skills to learn at a young age: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDzJFMtygSk.

The 4C’s are essential to students in the 21st century because they will encourage students to take on new challenges and develop a passion for learning and creating. The way their passions will develop is through modern learning that is interesting and relevant to this time where technology is everywhere. Technology teaches a different way of problem solving that some students will enjoy, and it makes it easier for students to work on activities meant for their age group. Teachers can only come up with so many classroom activities on their own, but technology offers endless options for activities, games, and projects that can be adapted for your classroom. Piper Computer Kit and Sphero are only two options, but there are also online educational games (such as Kahoot, online scavenger hunts, and hour of code) that teachers can modify and use to keep students engaged and help them practice the 4C’s. Teachers are raising the next generation of thinkers, and we want them to be able to have the tools they need to accomplish anything they set their mind to.