The Digital Adventures Blog
For parents, educators and students to discuss tech education for kids, best practices for teaching coding & engineering design to kids & emerging technology trends
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The Importance of Examples in Tech
Although, we have established that learning to code and build with technology creates a firm foundation for future success, that is not sufficient to change behavior. Instead, you also have to show a combination of products, people and pathways to really make an impact.ProductsMany of our students become interested in technology because of the video games they play. From Roblox to Minecraft and...
Puzzles, Progress & Programming
My youngest child recently turned 7 years old. For many years, he's been into puzzles. When he first started putting together puzzles at 5 years old, they were just a few pieces. Typically, the pieces were large and it would take him quite a bit of time to figure out how to put everything together. Every time he completed a puzzle, we would celebrate.His 1st grade teacher also enjoys puzzles. ...
Developing students into independent technologists
At Digital Adventures, our entire curriculum is centered around developing students into independent technologists. Understanding how to code is critical, but it's not enough. So our curriculum is divided into three main areas: coding, problem-solving and social-emotional skills. As students grow in these areas, they progress through our 6 Levels of development. By the time students reach Level...
Why your first lesson at Digital Adventures will be in Scratch
Since we started Digital Adventures in 2015, our team has had the pleasure of working with thousands of students in our technology learning studios, with school partners and when we host special events. Our curriculum library has over 500 projects that span 15-20 different hardware and software platforms. Yet, when a new student is just getting started with us, their very first project will be ...
How Minecraft Modding Became a Great Tech Teaching Platform for Kids
Minecraft Mods are features or tweaks added into the game of Minecraft that can be programmed and implemented by just about anyone. These mods have been downloaded hundreds of millions of times and have been an integral part of the explosive growth of the Minecraft community. Even if a Minecraft enthusiast does not use mods, there is a great chance that their favorite YouTuber does! When Digita...
My kid did Hour of Code, what now?
In 2014, the non-profit organization, code.org, launched the Hour of Code. Hour of Code was designed to be a quick, 1 hour introduction to computer science. Since getting started, Hour of Code has expanded to 180 countries and reached millions of students around the world.As one might imagine, a proper introduction is designed to get someone excited and ideally motivate and inspire them to wan...
3 Critical Reasons Why Kids Should Develop an Engineering Mindset
Engineering is the use of math & science to solve problems. Engineering isn’t coding, programming, robotics or CAD modeling. Although engineers can use coding, programming, robotics or CAD modeling to solve problems. If our students only understanding programming, then they will feel as though they can’t solve problems in robotics. Or, if we only teach our students CAD modeling, then they w...
Navigating the creative destruction of technology
At one point, there were experts on the Apple IIe. Before, that we had those who were proficient on punch card programming. Every age and every generation has technology tools that are considered the pinnacle of efficiency and effectiveness. When these new tools are released, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and new solutions are quickly built using these amazing new platforms. And, just as soon...
What students build at Digital Adventures
It's often illustrative to take a look and highlight what students have built during their time at Digital Adventures.Our primary goal is to teach students to develop the confidence and skills they need to build with technology independently. While our class structure often follows a format of enabling students to complete a given project during the 60 minute class period, we've found that over...
Devices here. Devices there. Devices everywhere.
This weekend, I had a conversation with my niece. I asked her how things were going at school. We discussed more and then eventually began to talk about technology. I asked her how she liked technology learning at school. She responded that she didn’t like Scratch.We talked a bit more. And then she said, devices are everywhere. We just need to know how devices work. We don’t need to know how de...
Technology shouldn't feel like magic
When students build their first video game or robot, they will often say, “Oh wow. It works.” Typically, I respond with, “don’t be so surprised!” However, I think there is a deeper insight from students response to bringing something new to life right before their eyes. Humans are naturally a creative bunch. We seek to bring new ideas, innovations and inventions to life. In technology, this can...
Technology education has the highest ROI for kids
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." - Derek Bok, President Harvard UniversityIn business, return on investment (ROI) is a metric that is often used to determine which projects to fund. Projects with the highest ROI are typically prioritized versus those with a lower ROI. To make this assessment, a team will often put together a proposal outlining that components of a project a...
The Stunning Paradox of Failure
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t fail.” - Bill GatesAlthough most of us would agree with this quote by Bill Gates. In many ways, we try to spare our kids from failure because we know how it feels. Failure can be painful. Failure can be demotivating. Failure can be difficult. So, we erroneously think that if we can orchestrate their friends, classes a...
Bill Gates tech education was unique but not because of money
For those who have read the story of Bill Gates, we can begin to connect the dots to see how his technology education during his formative years helped create the right boundary conditions for Microsoft to launch, grow and make a meaningful impact globally. However, his educational journey was not simply because of money. Instead, Bill Gates learned to build with technology in an ideal way for ...
Small Steps, Giant Leaps
This week, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.As Neil Armstrong remarked, "This is one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind."This historic occasion and celebration got me thinking about all the advances in technology that went into putting astronauts on the moon.As many people have accurately noted, the computing power in the space shuttle was much less...