Little Scientists STEM Design and Technologies Workshop, Perth, WA

In this thought-provoking workshop, you will learn how to engage children in technical learning through design, production, investigation, and analysis and to foster children’s technical competence. We will also build on our own appreciation of the relevance of technology education for children’s understanding of the world and their creative spirit.

 

Through partaking in hands-on, interactive activities, we will explore technical inventions of the past, optimise present-day technology, and design sustainable solutions for the future! By the end of this workshop, you will feel prepared to help children identify needs and design technical solutions. You will have also acquired a variety of technology education approaches you can use in your setting.

 

STEM topic: Design & Technologies

In this interactive workshop, you will learn how to create rich STEM learning experiences in your service through the exciting topic of design and technologies and use it as a topic through which to teach the outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework. Activities may include:

 

• Solve a transportation crisis.
• Design your own innovative way to get from A to B.
• Explore the history of technology and the impact it has on our everyday lives.
• Create a training course that teaches people to eat with chopsticks.
• Design and build a confetti factory.
• Design and build a vehicle prototype that can travel over land and in water.
• Run a technical experiment and test a wind-up spool with different tubes and rubber bands

Pedagogical topic: Philosophical inquiry in early childhood

This STEM workshop will provide you with essential knowledge and skills to foster children’s technical competence and to develop age-appropriate training courses for children to acquire new skills. This STEM learning opportunity will help you:

 

• Embrace ethical decision-making as an important part of technology education.
• Recognise the importance of communication, evaluation, and assessment for technical learning.
• Understand the differences between engineering and technical education and learn the objectives of technical education.
• Recognise everyday situations where children can acquire technical competencies.
• Differentiate between reflective thinking and routine skill development.
• Learn how to kindle children's interest in philosophical inquiry, ethics, and sustainability.
• Understand the potential of technology education for assessing the impact of technologies on society and the environment.

 

Learn more or register here