On September 25 and 26, remote workshops were held at a special needs classroom in Hachioji City. This time, we used Programmable Battery for the lower grades and PICO Cricket for the upper grades to make toys that work with computers and programs. 37 children participated in the workshop, which was divided into 5 sessions of 2 hours each. The workshop was run by 6 teachers.
The workshop began with the children watching the remote control screen, but the moment came when they turned it on, and the rest of the workshop was on autopilot. The children’s voices coming through the speakers and the images of the children moving around the classroom at a dizzying pace, programming and assembling at their desks, fetching materials, experimenting on the floor, and visiting other children’s work, conveyed the message.
Then, just as in a face-to-face workshop, I will be the nice 👍uncle, watching the children and their work and repeating the nice, nice, nice. Of course, I myself cannot move around, so I ask the teacher to hold a remote camera (a.k.a. “eyeball daddy”) and move around with me. It was a very quick two days, as if I was there.
I feel that it was very significant that we were able to hold a hands-on workshop for teachers during the summer vacation to familiarize them with the tools and activities, and most importantly, that Dr. Okada, who has been working with us for some time now, was able to come to the site. It is probably important not only to have someone who knows how to use the tools well, but also to be able to share how to proceed with the workshop. Looking back on this workshop, I would like to review the sequence of remote workshops from preparation to operation and clean-up.
This remote workshop was also an opportunity for me to rediscover the importance of being able to rely on others well. This is not only a challenge for me in the workshop, but also in my first year of disability to depend on others well, from work to daily life. I would also like to explore “how to rely well on others.”
This time, we had Micheal Smith-Welch, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group, who developed Cricket and Scratch, join us via Zoom. It is one of the strengths of a remote workshop.
After the workshop, a child muttered in a whispered voice, “I wish I could meet Mori-sensei 😭. This will help me do my best for the next few years.