Tech program expands at Mat-Su Central School

By Danae Mitchell

For Frontiersman.com

WASILLA — Technology classes are on the rise at Mat-Su Central School, thanks to Jeffrey Blackburn. Blackburn, one of the tech experts at Mat-Su Central School, teaches Lego Robotics, Learning through Minecraft, and Elementary and Middle School Tech Clubs.

Blackburn said that he greatly enjoys teaching tech classes because of the kids and the gratification he receives from helping students explore their creativity.

Originally, it was not Blackburn’s idea to teach technology classes. Every month at Mat-Su Central School, a group of parents get together to provide input and ideas for the school and teachers. The parents decided that the school needed to offer more on-site classes for middle school students, so Blackburn added the elementary and middle school technology classes.

Blackburn said that the educational values of these classes are very high. The students learn teamwork and communication skills with their classmates. Students in Lego Robotics learn to program the robots, and the class helps students stretch their creativity and imagination. In class, students normally have a building assignment to complete in 10 to 15 minutes. On certain days students have “sumo-wrestling,” a time when everyone in class gets to use their robot to try and push a competitor out of the circle.

Lyndon Wells, a fifth-grade student at MSC, finds that programming his robot has been a learning process in Lego Robotics. He stated that his favorite part of class is sumo-wrestling. Wells said, “It’s not the big fat Japanese guys nailing each other” but a friendly competition between Lego robots.

In Learning through Minecraft, students learn to make and use a Minecraft server, which is a social building network. They also learn about history through creating a report and building historical structures of their choice. Some examples of buildings the students construct include the Taj Mahal, the Tower of Pisa, and the Great Pyramids.

Seventh-grader Andrew Layman, a Learning through Minecraft student, said he enjoys building. He said creating a server was the biggest thing he has learned in the class. One change Layman would make to the course would be to add, “more time [to build] in class.” Because he knows how to create a server, Layman can build with other students and further his peer interaction.

The Middle School Tech Club expands students’ technological knowledge through many different concepts such as learning to create videos through iMovie and editing pictures with iPhoto. Pupils learn to work together to critique group members’ movies, pictures, and assignments.

Middle School Tech Club student, Lindsay Musgrave, enjoys working with her fellow classmates. Using technology in her every day life has been a new adventure for her. She uses her iPad to take pictures of family, friends, and nature.

Blackburn said that he frequently changes his teaching style in his classes to help students learn.

“That is the name of the game,” he said.

There are so many different styles of learning, and teachers must discover how a certain student learns and format their teaching so that students will understand, Blackburn said.

The most difficult part of teaching the classes is problem solving, he said. If a student comes to Blackburn with a question, he will answer it to the best of his ability and search for more information on the topic. Blackburn said that he has spent many hours pouring over information on even the tiniest Lego Robotics piece so that he is prepared for students’ questions.

Since Blackburn teaches elementary and middle school tech classes, he is not required to have a tech degree to teach them. Blackburn is a certified math teacher and also helps students in math labs at Mat-Su Central School. He said that if he wanted to teach Lego Robotics at the high school level, he would need a tech degree to teach that class.

A major requirement in teaching these tech classes is simply knowledge. If Blackburn taught students about a Lego Robotics EV3 heat sensor, he would need to know all the ins and outs of the particular part to be able to answer any questions the students might ask.

Blackburn voiced the possibility of teaching more technological classes in the future and said that he is offering a tech class specifically for female students so they will feel more comfortable taking a technology course. Blackburn would also like to eventually teach a computer-building course.

Danae Mitchell is a freshman at Mat-Su Central School.