Technology towers in full use at De Marel
Marie-José van de Vegt, teaching assistant at Kindcentrum De Marel uses special technology towers that were offered a few years ago by Tata Steel to elementary school in the IJmond region. The technology towers are available for the lower, middle and upper grades. Marie-José: "With the groups 4/5, 5 and 6 we did a circuit around care and hygiene, based on the technology towers. The children could choose from making bath salts, hair gel, toothpaste and a soap. It was a real technical laboratory here. The children were extremely enthusiastic and positive feedback came back from the parents as well."
Experience shows that children are often more technical than the teacher. Marie-José: "You don't have to know a lot about it, but daring is important. I am keen to enthuse the teachers in every theme to actively use the boxes and actively support them myself where possible. What is important is to make one person responsible for the technology towers. Someone who takes care of inventory, purchasing and replenishing."
Marie-José thinks it's important to teach students technology: "This way they learn completely different skills, get to know materials, explore what you can do with them, and of course that's very stimulating. It is also a piece of the future. If you offer it at school, it broadens their horizons for when they leave school later. In addition, it is a very nice support of the theme."