Good News: Education Is Evolving. The Proof Is In the Play

Quick, can you name three modern medical achievements that you never imagined would happen in your lifetime? If you can, maybe you thought of things like: growing organs in a laboratory, face transplants, and even a skull created by a 3D printer. Yet, if we ask a person to name three modern advancements in education, I think you will find fewer people who can give you a decent answer, let alone three. If you by any chance thought of that documentary about schools in Finland, I think that’s a great answer though it depresses me very much since I don’t live in Finland.

To be sure, many parents including myself are full of frustration and want more done to improve education. However, it would be wise to note that awesome educational developments are taking place right now, here in the U.S. These marvels come to us in the form of toys and games but with a twist – as both offer children the chance to practice a skill called computational thinking.

Thanks to two experts in tech education, Dr. Wendy Martin and Francisco Cervantes at the EDC Center for Children and Technology, I was able to learn what this was. According to Martin and Cervantes, computational thinking is practiced when you learn how to code. It’s the process of creating a program, letting it run, encountering problems, dissecting and examining the problem, and finding a solution so you can create something. Two products offering this to children as young as preschool-age are making news this month.

Motivation is the Key to Learning
I love KIBO. It is one of those toys that ranks up there alongside brainy toy greats such as the Etch-A-Sketch, Froebel Gifts, and LEGO. These are examples of very intuitive toys. You just pick up and play and when you’re done, you have undoubtedly gained something. KIBO is a perfect demonstration of how kids are learning through play all while needing little to no instructions.

With a toy like KIBO, kids are able to take a robot, scan bar codes on a sequence of connectable wooden blocks, each of which have a designated action. This creates a string of orders telling the robot what to do. Actions like “Begin – Shake – Light Up – Turn Right – End” are terrific for young learners but the command sequences can also become more complex. Kids can even use “If-Then” clauses. KIBO is kind of like constructing a sequence of actions, similar to the way kids do pretend play and create stories.

The great news this month is that the makers of KIBO, KinderLab Robotics, has launched a campaign on Kickstarter. Thus, anyone has the opportunity to become part of the first round of investors in this major advancement in education.

I asked Dr. Marina Umaschi Bers, the director of the DevTech research group at Tufts and chief scientist at KinderLab Robotics about any prerequisite knowledge needed to play with KIBO. It was a relief to hear that there was a lot of success across the board among children despite the varied backgrounds in family income and even neurological differences such as children with executive functioning impairments. In my experience as a tester of hundreds of toys, that trait is a genuine marker of a well-designed toy because there is something in it for everyone. Additionally, as a fan of Friedrich Froebel, the inventor of the original kindergarten that began in the 1800s, it was very obvious that KIBO really had those special qualities of toys that intrinsically support creativity and inquiry. “Our company name and our product, KIBO, are certainly influenced by the works of Friedrich Froebel,” said Umaschi Bers. “Exploring programming through play and developmentally-appropriate learning manipulatives are core to the philosophy behind KIBO.”

Lisa Moellman, an education consultant and former Associate Director of the Harvard Achievement Support Initiative in Boston is also a parent of a child who had KIBO as part of his school curriculum for the past three years since kindergarten. (Yes, it’s aligned with the Common Core Standards too!) Moellman was very impressed and said that as the tools, the visuals, the programming was so hands-on and intuitive, her son and his classmates were able to easily access the robot’s functions and move forward. “That just kept his motivation really high.” Motivation is key. Little humans have little tolerance for glitches.

Computational Thinking Does Not Require Computers? Not Even Electricity or Reading?

The board game industry also recognizes the value in teaching kids how to code. It was no surprise to me that industry pioneer, ThinkFun became the new publisher of Robot Turtles, a game whose claim to fame is that it’s the most backed board game in Kickstarter history. This game for preschoolers had everyone waiting for its release this month including developmental psychologist and play consultant Dr. Jennie Ito of The Play Kitchen who had also pre-ordered the game because she believes that learning programming is important. “It teaches children that they can be creators,” she says. “That they can not only have an idea, they can actually turn their idea into something.”

With Robot Turtles, kids are essentially solving problems as they help their turtles to reach their destinations by making a series of decisions. The fun part is that they are in the driver’s seat and the grown-up play partner is the “Turtle Mover” who must do whatever the child “Turtle Master” says by performing fun computer-noises like “BEEP” and “DOT” which has everyone holding their stomachs with laughter.

The red code cards here instruct the red turtle what do. ie. turn left, move forward.

It’s not that easy to get to your destination, there are ice walls, stone walls and crates to block your turtle’s path. Think! Make a good decision!


What is really great about Robot Turtles and programming in general is that similar to block play, you can start off simple and end up doing something rather complicated but only when you’re ready. I am really impressed with ThinkFun’s commitment to helping young kids grasp coding through game play. Not only have they added additional adventures to take things to a higher level but they’ve even created a dedicated website allowing kids to create and share their adventures with others and thus, learn from each other. Not surprisingly, such an activity is actually a very integral part of the culture of programmers and again, we are talking about preschoolers here.

You may ask yourself why is it important for kids to make robots or turtles shake, rattle, beep, bloop, etc. Why do we need them to make up these sequences? I had this same question but I look at it like this: Have you ever given directions or advice to a colleague and they mistakenly did something completely different? It has happened to all of us and it is because the language of people can have infinite meanings and possibilities. If you believe that then you can believe that we need to show kids the benefits of being clear, purposeful, and feeling fulfilled. To be truthful, I don’t believe you can actually teach this to children. However, with the right tools like KIBO and Robot Turtles, you are more apt to be successful in establishing a setting where these essential growth experiences can be accessed and owned by all children. To me, that is an awesome advancement in the science of education.

Note: Every product is usually personally tested by Toys Are Tools’ testers but all available KIBOs are currently doing their jobs as tools in schools. However, I am very grateful to have had a personal and lengthy live video demo by the founders of KinderLab Robotics. Robot Turtles was submitted to facilitate a review. Reviews are never promised.

More best toy tips from Jenn at Toys Are Tools.

ORIGINAL: Forbes

By Jenn Choi

6/12/2014