STEAM: How Robotics Supports Multi-Sensory Learning
Have you ever wondered how to best support a child’s thirst for new experiences? The mind of a child craves stimulation through as many senses as possible. Digital Playhouse believes that by targeting multiple senses through the implementation of STEAM education, we enable students to more easily grasp the information.
What is Multi-Sensory learning?
We have more than one sense and studies have shown that we use all of them when we are learning. All of us have different learning styles and the challenge is finding ways to design classes and curriculums to fit best with the students you have. One of the best ways to do this, is to offer lessons that appeal to as many of the senses as possible.
Robotics is a hands-on technology that perfectly aligns with a child’s natural need to experience, feel, hear, and see things in order to learn about them. Toddlers crawl around grabbing everything they can get their hands on. It isn’t mischief or a cry for attention, it’s their way of learning. As children grow up, this doesn’t change. While they are touching, feeling, seeing, and experiencing, their brains are forming connections (synapses).
How does Robotics fit into STEAM?
It’s easy to see how robotics fits into the science, engineering, and mathematical parts of STEAM education, but understanding how it fits into the arts or artistic development might take a little more effort. Technology requires imagination and innovation, which is exactly what art is all about regardless of the form it’s in.
The platform for robotics where children write their code serves as a blank canvas for creativity and inspiration. Children get to observe and experience results that are tangible and immediate. It can be in the form of Scratch and other programming games, or for the more advanced, there’s Javascript, Python, and others which open up a whole new world of possibilities for creation. This ensures a multi-sensory approach to learning which is crucial to the development of artistic expression let alone problem-solving.
What’s the future for Robotics?
Globally, more and more schools see the need for robotics and are using it as part of their curriculum for all ages. Schools organize competitions that pit their students against other schools. Children are put in teams and have to work together, solve problems, and collaborate to develop robots and operate them to complete various challenges.
Using robotics as a tool in STEAM education pique interest and renews curiosity for students; making learning a part of play. Being able to explore and think creatively to solve problems and being allowed to try and fail, this is what education has been missing for the longest time. This is what makes innovation happen. As children of all ages get to learn, explore, and apply what they learn from STEAM education, they are preparing themselves to be future innovators, problem solvers, and leaders in a digital future.