Young students use a tablet to control a robot during the Teach Your Parents to Code night held at Miller Middle School on December 7. Several computer science and robotics demonstrations were featured.
The inaugural Teach your Parents to Code night was held at Miller Middle School on December 7.
The night featured a wide range of robotics and computer science activities for families of all students in the Marshalltown Community School District. For example, some young students were controlling a robot via a tablet and were excited to see it move any direction they wanted.
During another popular activity led by Miller technology specialist Bob Gilbertson, students were able to play a digital piano by using bananas as keys hooked up to a computer. There were also several other robotics demonstrations led by the students themselves and MCSD staff members.
The event was held in conjunction with the Hour of Code as part of Computer Science Week, designed to spark interest in computer coding and the ever-growing STEM fields. Marshalltown Community School District is a statewide leader in STEM programming. The district expects this to be an annual event moving forward.
“We were very pleased with our first district-wide family night to celebrate the national Week of Code,” said MCSD Director of Instruction Dr. Lisa Stevenson. “There were over 150 children and adults who joined the event held at Miller Middle School that introduced families to the value of computer science and gave them an opportunity to experience hands-on makerspace materials, coding with BeeBots and Osmos, underwater robots, as well as demonstrations from 5th-12th grade students and teachers about Lego League and programming options from www.code.org with the teacher librarians.”
Miller Middle School technology specialist Bob Gilbertson helps students play a digital piano using bananas as keys which are hooked up to a computer.
