On October 19, 2024, a group of upper primary school teachers from Luxembourg participated in an Exploration Teacher Training workshop, which featured a mix of outdoor and indoor activities aimed at enhancing their data literacy skills.
The workshop began with collecting various types of leaves from a nearby park. Back in the training room, the teachers worked in groups to sort the leaves by shape, thinking about how their students might approach the task. Each group arrived at unique and interesting sorting results.
As the next step, participants photographed their sorted leaves and uploaded the images into the Orange Data Mining tool. Using Orange’s various features, the teachers explored the criteria a computer might use to sort the leaves and compared the results with their own. This hands-on activity helped the teachers deepen their understanding of data classification and analysis. They practiced organizing tree leaves into folders, comparing data sets, identifying patterns, predicting outcomes, and clustering similar items.
In addition to leaf classification, other potential classroom applications of the Orange Tool were introduced, such as analysing data sets on topics like dogs, houses, and clouds. The workshop concluded with a reflection session, where the teachers discussed the potential of the Orange Tool for classroom activities. They emphasized the importance of helping students understand, interpret, and use data meaningfully in their everyday lives. Seeing that data is all around them, the students can learn to collect and use it to make informed decisions. The teachers also discussed the possibility of simplifying the Orange Tool and introducing a version tailored for younger learners. This reflection was vital for the progress of the project, as it fostered discussions on how to make data literacy more accessible and engaging for students.
News also on Pumice.si: Workshop for Teachers in Luxembourg
More about that and about the upcoming DALI4US teacher training in Ireland coming soon, so stay tuned!
