NEWS
MELLIS Online Training Draws Interest in Distance Education in ECEC
An online training activity focusing on distance education in ECEC within the scope of teaching computational thinking and robotics recently brought together 21 participants, including academicians, preschool teachers, a university student, and a parent. The training covered topics such as coding, physical programming, and distance education strategies. Feedback showed that the training met participants' expectations, enhanced their skills, and increased their motivation to use these methods in teaching.
NEWS FROM ITALY
The EARLY project was presented at Didacta Italia in Florence in March 2023. Didacta Italia is the leading innovation fair in education that takes place every year in Florence at the Fortezza da Basso and attracts thousands of teachers and scholars. EARLY was presented by Fiorella Operto of Scuola di Robotica during a course dedicated to educational technologies for pre-schools.
News from Turkey
A Coding Course for Preschoolers at 23 Nisan Preschool, Çanakkale (Turkey)!
November 3rd, 2023
We are delighted to share the success of the "Unplugged Coding and Educational Robotics Course" held at 23 Nisan Preschool in Çanakkale between October 2022 and April 2023. The preschool is the associated partner of Mellis Ed-Tech. This extracurricular course was brought to life as part of our Erasmus+ KA220 HED project, EARLY.
Unplugged Coding Activities
During this six-month course, the 4-year-old preschoolers embarked on an enjoyable journey into the world of coding, while having a lot of fun. The principal Ali Rıza Döner and the class teacher Sümeyra Güleryüz provided us with all the necessary equipment and teaching materials required for the course. The course was first planned face-to-face since the class teacher considered starting with the learning activities in the presence would ease the process of understanding coding concepts and would be instrumental during the distance education practices.
What made this experience truly unique was our focus on "unplugged coding activities," which refer to learning coding concepts without computers. The children's imaginations surprised us as they learned to sequence, problem-solve, and think critically by engaging in hands-on activities. One of the highlights of the course was the integration of storytelling with coding activities.
Educational Robotics Involvement
In addition to unplugged coding activities, we introduced our students to two educational robotics: BEEBOT and BUBBLE. Those robotics are used mainly in preschools and primary schools. The course aimed to provide them with the foundational skills needed for future success in STEM fields. We observed that the preschool children were interested in programming the robots in order to make them move in line with the stories created for their engagement. In the course, the activity book for algorithmic thinking skills in ECEC produced in another Erasmus+ KA203 project namely ALGOLITTLE was used.
In the spring semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, we are planning distance learning activities in one-to-one sessions and also with groups in the same preschool.
Note: The consent has been received from the parents for the publishment of the photos enclosed in this document below.
Early Project was introduced at the International Education Congress organised at Ankara University (EDUCONGRESS2023). Duygu Demirtaş presented the objectives of the Early Project and the work done so far and shared the results of the needs analysis obtained from the Turkish sample with the participants.
Furthermore, the objectives and ongoing activities of the EARLY project were presented at the event organised by Kocaeli Governorship within the scope of Erasmus Days. The event was organised with the participation of 67 people, including the coordinators and representatives of the Erasmus projects in Kocaeli.
