2H.

Summary & Recommendations

On May 18th, I attended a technology night at Route 40
Elementary. Chuck Trautwein, our countys technology teacher,
together with students on the countys Robotics Team, presented to
parents and students about Makey Makeys. The group learned about
circuits and how the Makey Makey works. Then they used food snacks
to complete circuits and play music. Later, after much fun playing
drums and the piano using gummy bears, strawberries, and bananas,
Chuck introduced coding and Google Scratch. The group then used
the Makey Makeys to create their own Scratch code. Chuck did a great
job piquing the families interest in this new technology, making it feel
more like a game than the STEM learning concept that it truly was.
Some left the evening wanting to purchase their own Makey Makey and
accessories to use at home.
Makey Makeys are relatively inexpensive, costing just $50 each.
The possibilities are endless. They allow kids (and adults!) to be
creative, inventive, and imaginative. Makey Makeys can be used to
help teach the basics of circuitry and electricity. They can go on to be
used to further learning about engineering, gaming, and technology. A
weakness of this technology would be lack of expertise across the
school staff. While Chuck is a technology genius, most teachers are far
behind and would need additional training on how to use Makey
Makeys and then how to create lessons to use the technology in the
classroom.