So often schools work in isolation, when in reality there is another staffroom just up the road trying to achieve the same objectives. With this in mind, I set about finding a simple solution to the fact that I didn’t have access to as many hands on coding resources as I would have liked.
We had Makey Makeys but I didn’t want to flog them to death by using them each and every term. Let me introduce the ‘Triumvirate of DT Hardware’ (NB. Triumvirate is my fancy word for the week!)
How does the Triumvirate of DT Hardware work?
Three schools agree to share their DT resources
Each school contributes a class set of their choosing
Schools rotate and share (see table below)
Everyone’s a winner!
An example of how 3 schools could share their DT/coding resources.
Considerations:
Ideal to have a blend of different resources that suit different year levels and also address different elements of your curriculum
Something like drones, I would argue, have a limited range of applications. Yet as part of this Triumvirate they add an exciting and super cool dimension that you just don’t get from Beebots or Makey Makeys.
Beebots are ideal for junior grades, therefore an investment in them alone can be limiting for middle and senior grades. As part of the triumvirate, they’re perfect.
Makey Makeys lend themselves to creation, design and invention. Therefore each school is able to plan a corresponding unit with this focus for the time that they have access to them.
If you can’t get the logistics to work for three schools, then a simple swap with a partner school will at least have you doubling your resources.
So what are you waiting for? Shoot an email to your neighbouring schools and pitch the idea. You can triple your DT resources and have money left in your budget for staff PD.
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