This is an article published in issue 2 of GEMS Family Magazine. Great work by the staff and Grade 3 students at GEMS International School in Dubai. This brings in so many elements of real life learning and future skills that I just had to share!
See p51 for the article as published: http://gemsfamilymagazine.com/
See p51 for the article as published: http://gemsfamilymagazine.com/
A
digital design project with Grade 3 students at GEMS International School Al
Khail (GIS) in Dubai was not only a fun
learning experience but also produced some exciting surprises for all involved.
Grade
3 students at GIS were recently involved in an exciting project to design their
own city using an online tool called Google SketchUp. The project was part of
the PYP (Primary Years Programme) at GIS and related to their Unit of Inquiry
entitled “How the world Works,” the ‘Central
Idea’ being “Successful Cities Require Planning.” The project also involved a
surprising online collaborative process via YouTube with a teenager based in
London, England. It was not until later we discovered that the teenager, Justin
Kreule, was actually an ex-GEMS student from the GEMS school in Tripoli, Libya.
This alumnus connection proved to be
very fruitful for all involved, demonstrating the enduring strength and support
on offer within the GEMS family.
Initial
planning involved the PYP teachers in Grade 3 and collaborative meetings with
the Digital Learning Coach at GIS. As part of the process of ‘spinning,’ where
gifted students work separately with the Digital Learning Coach, students
experimented with a variety of applications that would suit the needs of the
Unit of Inquiry. After a search of various applications and searching YouTube
for examples of building cities, the students found an ambitious series of
videos using the method of ‘speed building’ where the author, Justin Kreule used
a form of time lapse or sped-up video footage of building a small city. The
application he used was Google SketchUp and this was the beginning of an
amazing journey of discovery.
The
students quickly picked up the idea that using an island gave us the ability to
contain the city and give it boundaries. Using the idea of a ‘flipped
classroom,’ the students simultaneously began to watch the tutorial videos at
home, plan their cities and experiment with the basics of SketchUp. The
‘spinning’ group gave short demonstrations and talks after analyzing Justin’s
videos on the various tricks and techniques. The process involved each student designing
their own island with the appropriate amenities using pencil and A3 paper. Once
the design was completed then the students began building their city on Google
SketchUp. They followed the techniques and process as showed in Justin’s
videos. Justin said later that he was amazed that children so young could learn
these techniques and produce such sophisticated results.
We
ran into some problems when we weren’t sure how Justin had created some aspects
of his construction so we began asking questions on You Tube. Justin was happy to reply and make
suggestions and a dialogue began. At the beginning we didn’t t know where
Justin was or how old he was so the Digital Learning Coach suggested a more
formal contact and Justin began talking with the Digital Learning Coach via
email. We found out that Justin was a teenager living in London, then a Skype
conference and Q & A session was organized. Unfortunately the Skype session
coincided with Justin’s exams and it didn’t happen. However, the dialogue
continued and we found out that Justin had previously been a student at a GEMS
school in Tripoli.
The
students completed their projects and mounted them on display boards. We sent a
video about the project set to music and put it up on our YouTube channel. The
children were impressed that Justin was an ex-GEMS student and we all agreed
that they would like to work with him again. Projects of this nature,
collaborations with experts on the other side of the world, or being able to
collaborate synchronously with another class of students, are now a normal and
enjoyable part of learning at GEMS International School Al Khail.
Justin commented:
"My experience at a GEMS
school was when I went to the International School of Tripoli from 2007 – 2009:
two of the best years of my life! Many years later I spent a lot of time
working on architectural projects on the SketchUp program, and posted YouTube
videos of them. I had the opportunity to show students how to go about making
cities, and they made a big display board of all their cities made on SketchUp.
It was great to see kids engaging in SketchUp, a program usually considered suitable
for advanced designers. I was really happy that my projects were inspiring
others to create projects of their own."
Watch
our video review of the project here:
Gavin McLean is Director of Digital Learning and Technology
at GEMS International School Al Khail in Dubai.
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