Tech Force students from Winston Churchill School visited the Lloydminster campus on March 27 to demonstrate their robotics knowledge, and guide Lakeland students through interactive stations that exemplify computational thinking in education.

“This experience proves we should acknowledge that students are capable of doing so much more than what we think they can do in Grade 6. I think it's so amazing that kids can build robots and create circuits, and we should encourage that growth in the classroom,” says Joshua Lang, a second-year UT student. 

At seven stations, UT students absorbed hands-on lessons on computational coding for different purposes, including dancing robots, video game development, stop-motion videos, circuitry and more. 

"We came to teach older people. It was fun teaching them and letting their creativity burst,” says Grade 6 student Easton Dolan who instructed students on how to create their own video game with a Bloxels Gameboard. Dolan, a member of Tech Force, earned his Legendary Badge which enables him to teach other students.

Tech Force is a division wide STEAM club designed by the Lloydminster Public School Division that promotes pattern recognition, abstraction, logical and sequential thinking, critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. STEAM represents a cross-curricular approach to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.

“This was also a beneficial hands-on learning opportunity to engage with elementary-age students before we graduate and interact with them in a classroom setting while in school,” says Lang, who wants to teach French immersion secondary education.

Photos: (Top-Bottom) Grade 6 student Abdullah Nasir instructs Joshua Lang at the littleBits station. Easton Dolan shows UT students how to create a video game using an iPad. UT students gather around Tech Force members to watch them code a robot to dance.