Arts & Bots and Global Awareness and Autism

I had the distinct pleasure today to teach the first ever class in the Utah Valley University Melisa Nellesen Center for Autism DURING the ribbon-cutting ceremony - think media coverage, large crowds, heightened emotion. So, what did I teach?

Arts & Bots, of course!

For this event, we combined the final exam periods for our Elementary Education pre-service program Instructional Media and Creative Arts Methods courses into a 4-hour experience. We discussed the mission of the CREATE Lab - to empower children of all walks of life, and particularly those who are underserved, at-risk, and perhaps on the Autism spectrum, to learn and grow and succeed. We then spent some time getting familiar with the Hummingbird board and all of its inputs and outputs and practicing some basic computer science concepts before getting to their task.

The learning target for the day was to: Represent a local, regional, national, or global issue you are concerned about using visual art and robotic components. They were inspired by a model created by an 11-year old, using fine art as backdrops for the life cycle and endangered status of sea turtles. They then created their own works through re-mixing and creation of original pieces that explored the issues of climate change, poverty, diverse classrooms, and more.

This was an eye-opening experience for these future teachers as they considered how technology, arts, and project-based learning might both hugely benefit broad populations of students and simultaneously cover more curriculum across more subjects in less time than traditional, sequential teaching methods.

It was an honor and a privilege to teach in this context today, using Arts & Bots as a vehicle to communicate love and concern for all children in our school system!​


Utah gets artsy (and botsy) as new Satellites receive Arts & Bots training

"I feel more prepared to try coding with my 5th graders"
says LeAnne Jones, Iron County School District teacher 




On the first weekend of February, Satellite Network partner ASSET STEM Education led an Arts & Bots workshop for Utah CREATE Lab Satellites. 

28 faculty and partner educators from Southern Utah University Center for STEM Teaching and Learning (SUU), Utah Valley University School of Education (UVU) and Utah STEM Action Center (that is coordinating the expansion of the Satellite Network into Utah) participated in the two-day workshop. Participants learned everything from identifying components to programming a robot using 5 different languages, including the new BirdBlox app based programming via iPads. Here is what some participants had to say about the experience:


Suzy Cox, Associate Professor at UVU:

This training was a valuable first step in orienting our school and district partners toward not just the use of coding and robotics in the classroom, but the types of thinking that these activities help to develop across the curriculum. We are excited for the next step, and already have partners who are ready to integrate Arts & Bots into their instruction. Plus, it was so fun to combine coding and creativity!


Bill Heyborne, Associate Professor at SUU:

We had the opportunity to train five elementary school teachers and four university faculty on the use of Arts & Bots. We are so excited to begin using this project in our teaching and professional development. In fact, it only took one of our teacher partners 2 days to begin using the technology with her students. We look forward to a long partnership with the CREATE Lab on this exciting and timely project.


Darwin Deming, Science Teacher, Mount Nebo Junior High:

At first the training for the Arts and Bots seemed like it would be applicable to only a technology class, but as we went through the training, it was apparent that it could be applied to a variety of curriculum. The trick is you need to get creative!

Lynae Puckett, School Librarian, North Elementary:

The Hummingbirds are an excellent fit for my library makerspace. I started the 5th graders in my school just a few days after I came back from the workshop. We've already talked about the different components and their possible uses. The next time they rotate through we will start making the connection between the hardware and programming pieces. I really enjoyed the workshop. The facilitators were patient and enthusiastic, and I have a lot of great ideas for applications at my school.



Cecily Heiner, Assistant Professor at SUU:

I thought the cup-bot project was cool because it was so simple and still helped people learn electronics and robotics, and I thought the concept of using painters tape and hot glue to hold things together and still be able to re-use them was also great! I think you should add string and maybe balloons or tubes to your stuff stash for building robots.


CREATE Lab Satellites in Utah and this workshop made possible by Infosys Foundation USA

Utah Satellites Zoom into GigaPan

"I cannot tell you how excited I am," wrote Kerstin Bolton, a teacher from North Elementary school in Cedar City that participated at a GigaPan workshop at Southern Utah University this November. Bolton used the GigaPan website the next morning in her classroom. "I used a picture of Rome to start our discussion for our lesson. Every one of my students was engaged in the conversation and in awe of the details they could see when we zoomed in on the picture. They are very eager to create their own GigaPan picture!"

At the workshop, members of the Marshall University CREATE Lab Satellite shared GigaPan techniques and practices with teams from the new Satellites at Utah Valley University and Southern Utah University and some of the partners they support. The new Satellites will be offering professional development, support and GigaPan equipment lending library to the educators they serve. This work is made possible by generous support from Infosys Foundation USA. 

Read on to hear what some of the participants had to say and check out some of their great work: 

Bill Heyborne of Southern Utah University - "The opportunities for using this technology for engaging our students is endless. We anticipate tremendous usage in the coming months and years," said Heyborne, who leads the Satellite at Southern Utah University. "The faculty from the SUU Center for Teaching and Learning are very excited to begin using GigaPan in our professional development activities, as well as with our own University students."/p>


Southern Utah University Upper Quad by Bill Heyborne (SUU) 

Kerstin Bolton of North Elementary - "The training on the GigaPan was highly engaging. The hands-on component, as well as the printed directions and support, from trainers made learning the process of setting up and utilizing the GigaPan a breeze. To further enhance the training there were several in-depth conversations discussing applications of the GigaPan, resources, and website. I was able to immediately return to school the next day and not only access but utilize the resources which were available. My students were highly engaged and excited at new learning opportunities. "


SUU College Of Education Stained Glass by Krista Ruggles (UVU)

Jackie Grant of Southern Utah University - "Because I am a part of the Southern Utah University Semester in the Parks program, I was exceptionally interested in learning how to use Gigapan technology from the CREATE team. We take our students to national parks all over the region, which gives us a phenomenal opportunity to use Gigapan to introduce students to each park's unique resources. After a day of working with the CREATE team, I felt confident about using the equipment and integrating it in my courses."


Alisa Petersen of Southern Utah University - "I loved the GigaPan training. It was great to be able to explore the website and talk about it as a group of educators. I was not surprised at how many really different and interesting ideas the participants had about how to use the online resources with different student populations. I also enjoyed getting to use the technology. I felt that the written directions about how to prepare the camera settings and assemble the camera, tripod, and GigaPan were so thorough and helpful. I was pleased with how easy the stitch software was to use.

I have lots of ideas for using GigaPan and introducing it to teachers and students in our area. I am planning to teach an introductory session at the statewide Utah Art Educators Conference in February for K-12 arts teachers. In the summer I will host a two day workshop at SUU for elementary classroom teachers and arts teachers about how to use GigaPan and Visual Thinking Strategies.

I'm even finding all kind of applications for GigaPan on campus at SUU. Just today I recommended the GigaPan website to an honors professor who is teaching a freshman cohort in SUU's Jumpstart program. They are studying National Parks this year. I think GigaPan is a perfect tool for them."


Outside Roots of Knowledge by Susy Cox (UVU)