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Ponsonby PS receives grant to help students create and invent using new learning tool

For Immediate Release
January 12, 2016

GUELPH, Ontario – Ponsonby Public School has been awarded a grant that will help students create and design using modern technology.

The school is the recipient of a $2,000 grant from CH2M Hill, a company that provides a range of environmental and engineering consulting services in the U.S, Canada and abroad.

Ponsonby PS receives grant for learning tool

With the funds, the school hopes to purchase a learning tool called Little Bits.

LittleBits offers different kits made up of easy-to-use electronic building blocks. The kits allow students to create inventions big and small. They also engage students in hands-on learning in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math), while fostering group problem-solving skills and teamwork in project-based learning.

Classes can embark in engaging design challenges that promote exploration, experimentation and creativity.

“Little Bits takes technology learning to the next level in my mind, because not only do kids learn how to use the technology to create something amazing, they learn the basic fundamentals of how technology works,” said Ponsonby teacher Jason Boyce. “It avoids the complications of soldering and wiring by using magnetic connections.”

Currently, Ponsonby PS is in the process of transforming the school library, from a traditional one into a learning commons that incorporates technology, inquiry-based learning and a collaborative learning environment. 

The goal is that the LittleBits kit would become the centerpiece of a new “makerspace” area in the library.

“By providing collaborative projects, students might use the library books to do research, use available technology such as iPads or Chromebooks to plan it, use makerspace elements such as cardboard, glue, material or wood to create it, then use technology once again to showcase it and share it with friends and family in our digital portfolios,” explained Boyce.

In researching learning tools for the makerspace, school staff looked for technology that would embrace STEM principles while being accessible to all grades in the school. School staff also thought the learning tool would tie into the science and technology curriculum in many areas.

“This grant enables us to have a major head start on putting ordinarily expensive equipment into the hands of very deserving young minds who are brimming with potential and provides them a fantastic opportunity to explore the world around them from a creative yet foundational level,” said Boyce.

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For more information:
Heather Loney, Communications and Community Engagement Officer
519-822-4420 ext.725
[email protected]

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