“Fwuffy Bunny”, “Fwuwwy Bwunneh”, “Fwwwwy Bwwwwy”. Seeing who can fit the most marshmallows in their mouth isn’t an activity you’d expect to see in a computer science class, but this month in KidsTek’s Business Computing class at North High School, marshmallows became a teaching tool.
KidsTek students at North competed in “Weirdo Olympics” to generate data for use in learning Microsoft Excel. Working together in teams, North students built paper airplanes, tested their chopstick skills, and cracked each other up playing Fluffy Bunny.
Currently, the students at North are learning to use Excel’s table features. Using these tools, students are able to more easily and efficiently analyze data such as that from the Weirdo Olympics. “When students are given the opportunity to engage in collaborative play, it not only helps build positive classroom dynamics, but also makes them feel more engaged and connected with their work. When you’re analyzing data to find out if your team won, it’s more relevant to you than made-up sales data or other random numbers,” says Emily Tow, KidsTek’s Senior Instructor.
