One of Brilliant Labs' Minecraft zones (Brilliant Labs)
New Brunswick’s Brilliant Labs is creating an abundance of content for utilizing technology and project-based learning to inspire children and involve the entire family during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were trying to think outside the box a little it,” said executive director Jeff Wilson. “We know parents and teachers alike are kind of wondering, ‘Hey what do we do with the kids?’”
The #MakerFun Daily Challenge was created in response to the quarantine. “It was a kind of an easy pivot for us to go from doing it in classroom centres for after school programs or in our summer camps to something virtual,” said Wilson.
Brilliant Labs’ #MakerFun Daily Challenge, offered Monday-to-Friday, begins at 9 am with a Sustainable Development Goals question, to get families having discussions about topics from gender equality to good health and well-being.
#MakerFun Hour begins at 10 am when kids dive into a fun, maker-centered learning creative opportunity and learn by doing or making something, usually with household supplies.
Examples of creative activities include making a lunar lander, an action-reaction challenge with a Rube Goldberg-esque machine, and a scavenger hunt blending together equity and responsible consumption with literacy outcomes.
Build a Structure Challenge – a small house/maze for our pet rats, Zap & Ratatouille @labos_creatifs @brilliant_labs #funcreatif #makerfun pic.twitter.com/vaGND7C1dv
— Julie Gautreau (@julie_gautreau) March 20, 2020
A digital learning skills activity is held Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon, while an outdoor activity is done on Tuesday and Thursday.
Show & Tell Project Sharing, which kids and their families can share their projects, is held 3 pm with Discover Challenges & Initiatives at 5 pm.
Liam LeBlanc with his 3-D scale figure from Brilliant Labs’ workshop (Pauline LeBlanc)
“We’ve got the teachers that are kind of wondering ‘Hey what do we do?’” said Wilson, who’s also noted the lack of programming yet from the province about what teachers can do to support families.
“Many are turning to us for some ideas and some examples they can share with their parents, their kids because as of last week in New Brunswick, teachers are encouraged to reach out to families and their students to start promoting some learning opportunities.”
Brilliant Labs provides some francophone content after growing their francophone division to seven programs that are bilingual or francophone first.
“A lot of people from Quebec in the last couple weeks have been jumping on and trying our challenges and sharing some of the things they’ve been doing with their family,” he said.
“A lot of people from Quebec in the last couple weeks have been jumping on and trying our challenges and sharing some of the things they’ve been doing with their family,” he said.
Kids across Atlantic Canada can also build things related to sustainable development goals and creativity on Brilliant Minds’ Minecraft server, which is moderated by educators in shifts, who vet and verify its members.
“We set everything up and then within a couple of weeks, we’ve had close to 400 people sign up for it,” said Wilson.
While more and more technological tools, such as 3-D printers are making their way into homes, the non-profit organization deliberately focuses on projects and skills that would be available for everyone to do.
Nathan LeBlanc with his 3-D scale figure (Pauline LeBlanc)
“If they do have internet access, a lot of the things we’re doing are free online,” he said.
“For example, we did some scratch coding, free software from MIT that a lot of them have been exposed to in the classroom already, so they’re not starting from zero but then those that are starting from zero, they can follow along with these tutorials and try to build a little bit of comfort with it.”
The non-profit organization is aware that not everybody has access to the internet or social media and is currently working on partnerships across Atlantic Canada for television programming.
“We’re currently working on developing content for Rogers TV and testing out an 11 am time slot sometime,” said Wilson, adding they would focus on low-tech to no-tech activities which kids can do at home.
The response to the #MakerFun Challenges has been overwhelming, with people from across Canada and the U.S. taking part. Many teachers are participating with their families and many people have discovered them through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Brilliant Labs also hosts Twitter Live events for parents and teachers on Thursday nights from 8- 9 pm with the #BrilliantLabsLIVE hashtag where educators can share and learn along with parents on different weekly topics.
On April 9th, the #BrilliantLabsLIVE Twitter Live topic will be “Science for Change.”
They are also working on populating an open-source LMS (Learning Management System) to host online courses and MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) on a variety of topics, including digital skills and pedagogy.
The content is being developed for students, teachers, and parents and will include an open-source web conferencing tool that will allow Brilliant Labs to give free live virtual instruction at scheduled times. This system will launch the week of April 13.
The investment Brilliant Labs has made in visualizing things and moving forward is energy and time investment very well spent.
“We’ve always wanted to try to develop additional content that lives online that are accessible,” said Wilson. “We’re kind of, I guess in a strange way, taking advantage of this opportunity to develop some of that content, which will then be available for perpetuity.”
“If we can bring a little bit of, you know, positivity and creativity in the difficult times, it’s awesome.”
This story was originally published on Huddle.Today – an Acadia Broadcasting Limited content partner.
