Brownwood News – Science, technology, engineering, math. These four subject fields create an acronym which teachers, students, and employers across the globe have found to be a booming industry in our current culture: STEM. According to an article in “Education Weekly,” “Employers are looking for … workers proficient in the STEM disciplines,” wrote JD Chesloff, chair of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education. “Concepts at the heart of STEM—curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking—are in demand. They also happen to be innate in young children.” Brownwood Independent School District has begun incorporating STEM initiatives on its campuses through various channels, including clubs, after-school activities, and the heart of the daily classroom.

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One program recently implemented into the elementary computer labs, named Tynker, teaches kindergarten through fourth grade students how to learn “coding,” or computer programming. According to Tynker’s website, the curriculum, “allows students to learn by creatively applying coding concepts to core subjects such as social studies, math, science, or English.” Tynker’s users learn material at their own pace, playing games in order to learn the process of creating the behind-the-scenes instructions all computers require. Additionally, each user gains the knowledge to write code for robots, drones, Minecraft, and augmented reality programs in the form of interactive games and animated sequences. So, while a student sits down to play a game, that student simultaneously acquires numerous problem-solving, sequencing, and logic-building capabilities.

“The program can do so many things,” said Shea Moses, the Computer Lab Aide at Woodland Heights Elementary School. “They break it down so elementary students can understand. The students can be in charge of what their avatar does.”

Introduced in this 2018-19 school year, students have quickly absorbed the initial capabilities and knowledge required to operate Tynker. Third grade students at Woodland Heights Elementary and East Elementary tapped their keyboards with fascination while moving characters across their screens. Upon entering the room, students asked Jana Johnson, the Computer Lab Aide at East Elementary, what they would be doing. When she announced, “Tynker!” the eight and nine-year-olds gave each other high-fives with an elated, “Yesss!” Students then logged in at their workstations, assisting each other while realizing strategy and skill in playing the game. At Woodland Heights Elementary, recognition ignited the classroom as, one by one, students exclaimed, “Oh, here’s how you do that!” Tynker’s fundamental goal lies within captivating students’ interest and making learning an adventure. While some kindergarteners have begun using Tynker, the ability to read enables more interest within the older students. At East Elementary, third grade students work every Friday to build and establish new projects.

“They are so engaged,” Johnson said. “They can log in from home and work on projects there. They’ll come in and ask to work on those projects they have started…They get so excited and that’s the coolest part.”

The animated world within the program allows each student to explore and logically process information, a strategy which educational institutions across the globe have begun to initiate. By using current technology in real-world application, the students are automatically interested. As an example, one Tynker game titled, “Connect Code Blocks,” requires the user to look for patterns and to move a character across an obstacle course of blocks, candy pieces, bottle caps, and other colorful objects. Certain instruction blocks are available for the user to select to guide the character, such as walk, jump, and repeat. The goal is to use as few instruction blocks as possible to make the character complete the course, and each attempt to build the instruction code is timed. Players earn stars and points to move up to the next level or game. The faster the user creates the instructions and guides the character across the course, the more stars and points the user gains. In this game alone, users learn how to set up succinct and orderly instruction processes using quick thinking. Advancing through the program, users are required to understand angles and how to direct the character around corners, which integrates geometry and mathematics in an applicable, entertaining manner.

Tynker has been only a recent addition to Brownwood classrooms, but students and teachers have warmly welcomed the application into their schedule. Expectations are high as the educators work one-on-one with students to help them understand the steps to build their digital Tynker portfolio, which includes personalized avatars, audio clips, and animated images.

“They have the ability to build and control programs,” said Moses. “Instead of just playing the game, they can make the games to be played. They’re not playing it, they’re creating it.”

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