How Libraries Can Promote Computational Thinking and Learning Among Preschool Families with Work It Out @ Your Library
eLearning
Webinar
Work It Out @ Your Library! is a new program for librarians and families built around Work It Out Wombats!, the national PBS Kids television series for four- to six-year-olds. The first public media series to promote computational thinking to preschoolers, Work It Out Wombats! follows the adventures of Malik, Zadie, and Zeke, a trio of marsupial siblings who live with their grandmother and an array of diverse friends and neighbors in a fantastical treehouse apartment complex called the Treeborhood.
Through hands-on activities, library storytime sessions, animated videos, and a family app (all available free of charge), Work It Out @ Your Library is a flexible program helps library staff guide families through the exploration of computational thinking (CT for short). CT is a creative way of solving problems in more organized ways. When children make believe they are running a restaurant, they explore sequencing by figuring out the steps for serving a customer a meal. When they play with blocks to make a castle, they can practice the design process by creating, testing, and improving the structure. It is important to start building children’s CT skills when they are young to get them ready for school success right from the start! The webinar will also cover why CT skills are important for young children; how to access these free, multimedia resources; how they have been used to run fun and engaging programs in libraries; and recent research findings that demonstrate significant impact.
Panelist
As the director of media engagement, Mary Haggerty oversees the development and implementation of national educational outreach and engagement initiatives for the WGBH Educational Foundation. She leads teams that work with informal educators, early childhood teachers and caregivers, and researchers to explore how interactive media and other resources can support the healthy development of children and youth. Ms. Haggerty works on research and development initiatives that explore the impact of digital tools on STEM engagement among youth in marginalized communities and emergent multilingual families. Before coming to the WGBH Educational Foundation, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania, and held various positions at Reading Is Fundamental. She speaks Spanish and holds a BA and MA in Spanish language and literature.
Accommodations
This live webinar will be captioned in English (United States). Zoom desktop client or mobile app is required to access captions.
Attendees using screen readers are advised to turn off speech prior to joining the Zoom event because PLA webinars make extensive use of chat functionality. Attendees who find chat distracting may wish to disable it in the Zoom event, as PLA moderators will verbally highlight important topics raised in chat and chat transcripts will be provided post-webinar.
If you have a physical or communication need that may affect your participation in this webinar, please contact us at [email protected] or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752) at least two weeks prior to the webinar. Without prior notification of need, we may not be able to provide appropriate accommodations for the live event.
Archived Recording
If you're unable to attend this live webinar, an archived recording will be available to all registrants typically within 1–3 business of the live event. Access to closed captions will be provided in the webinar recording.
Tech Requirements
This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. Please review Zoom technical requirements and support information, and test your connection.
Once you've joined the webinar, there are two ways to connect your audio: via computer or via telephone. No microphone is required. PLA works with its webinar platform provider to assure the highest quality audio is being delivered to attendees. However, variables over which PLA has no control—such as the speed of your Internet connection or traffic on your local network—can affect the end quality of the webinar audio delivered by your computer. Each webinar’s audio is also available by telephone via a toll number, so we recommend you have access to a long-distance enabled phone as a backup in case you experience audio issues with VoIP. If you do encounter any problems during the webinar, you will receive a link to its archived recording within a week of the live event and can review anything you missed.
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