Technologies

Emerging technologies are a key aspect of Exten(DT)2. They will be used to support the design and implementation of design thinking in secondary education and they include Malt2, Choice, Sorbet, nQuire and Smile. You can access these technologies below.

MalT2 (Machine Lab Turtleworld 2)

Create and tinker with animated figural models in 3D

With MaLT2 students create and share animated 3D figural models with text-based programming and dynamic manipulation. The models can vary from simple cubes to complex DNA models, jewels and fractal trees and anything one can imagine. Ideas and concepts from mathematics, engineering, art and computer science are seamlessly combined in a creative and collaborative process of experimentation, tinkering and self-expression. You can find the example of a DNA model. 

http://etl.ppp.uoa.gr/malt2/

The following resources related to MalT2 may be helpful:

ChoiCo (Choices with Consequences)

Create or change a game about a wicked problem

With ChoiCo students can become sensitive to and grapple with wicked problems by playing, modifying, or creating choice-driven simulation games. Wicked problems are multi-faceted real life contentious problems with no clear solution. As players students employ decision making, empathy, argumentation, and systems thinking to make choices with conflicting consequences and try to maintain balance for as long as possible. The winner is the player who survives longer. As designers, they can design a map and places choices on it, define conflicting consequences and game rules, by using block-based programming, map-editing and database affordances. By switching between the roles of player and designer, they become more knowledgeable and less anxious about important socio-scientific issues of our time, such as climate change, balanced diet, etc. They also develop skills such as computational thinking, creativity, communication, flexibility, and critical thinking. The image below shows a game about healthy eating choices. 

http://etl.ppp.uoa.gr/choico/

You may find the following resources related to ChoiCo useful:

SorBET (Sorting Based on Educational Technology)

Design or change a classification game

With SorBET students can design, modify, share and play Tetris-like classification games.

Gameplay is about quick decision making for pushing the falling objects to the categories they belong to. To do that players need to identify the characteristics of each object and match them with those of the categories. SorBET allows the design and modification of the game elements such as density, speed, rules, object and category definitions, with block-based programming and database affordances. The field of objects and categories is up to the student to define, with no restriction to the topic. Through that process students develop 21st century skills such as classification skills, critical thinking, computational thinking. The image below shows the sorting game about animals. 

http://etl.ppp.uoa.gr/sorbet/

You may find the following resources related to SorBET useful:

nQuire

Explore your world

nQuire is a community and citizen science platform designed with support from the OU/BBC collaboration. In Exten(DT)2, a new version of nQuire will be created for use by schools, teachers, and students. Within a password protected environment, students and teachers will be able to design, manage, pilot and improve their own studies, while they will be able to collect data by peer students that can inform a design thinking project. Teachers will be able to review studies created by students and provide feedback as to how these could be improved. nQuire will help students to develop basic research skills related to the design of a research study.

 www.nquire.org.uk

You may find the following resources related to nQuire useful: