I have to admit I have got to play with some pretty cool toys this year but I would have to say the coolest one has been the MakeyMakey. After reading a little bit about them on a tweet one day I was intrigued so I did some research and, pretty soon, had one on the way. After having a play I ordered another ten to use in IT and in our maker space.
If you don't know what a MakeyMakey is you really need to check out this website and watch the videos. MakeyMakey It was invented by two MIT Media Lab graduate students - Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum. These guys, funnily enough, were also on the team of developers who created the first version of Scratch - for those who don't know what Scratch is - straight from the website, it "is a programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games and animations anbd share your creations with others around the world." Scratch.
In IT, we have used Scratch for the three years I have been the teacher but, this year, students are using Scratch to create games and other resources that can be controlled using the MakeyMakeys. They have way surpassed my expectations in their willingness to problem solve and experiment. My original plan was just to use MakeyMakeys with the year 5/6 students but, after only three weeks, I have included the year 3/4 students.
We have started with basic music games and pacman style games but I am excited to see what the students come up with on their own!
