According to research, project-based learning can improve student retention and engagement. Additionally, project-based learning is ideal for support 21st century skills, including critical thinking and self-direction. “One of the most important skills in the 21st century is reading think things through independently,” emphasized Bacon. Ossining Middle School’s Genius Bar is aligned with students’ interests while equipping them appropriate skills navigating and adapting to an ever-changing technological landscape.
Promoting agency and independent learning
Learning didn’t stop at computer batteries, according to Bacon. Learning to fix something they use every day with their own hands sparked the students’ interest. Bacon and the network experts brought a few broken Chromebooks to one of the afternoon training sessions and took them apart. “[The network specialist] it actually showed all the pieces, all the wires, what it is, what it does and how to take it apart,” said Bacon. The children could take all these broken pieces of metal and harvest different parts and use them to repair other things.
Genius Bar’s success has gone from an informal lunchtime group to an after-school club where students can learn more about fixing Chromebooks. Students saw how to do hardware repair with their peers. The students were learning to be independent, Bacon said. “Instead of going upstairs to have someone do it, they can do it right there in the library,” Bacon added.
Last year, Bacon got a grant to get a 3D printer and the Genius Bar students said they would get together after school to put it together. “I was like ‘They’re 11 and 12 [years old] and this is like $2000 worth of stuff,” Bacon said. “But the truth is that people will wake up and go to the place that was given to them.” With help from one of the technology instructors, the students put together their own 3D printer. Since then, they’ve also included podcasting microphones and a mixing board.
It includes all students, not just the top achievers
Students, regardless of academic standing, have found value in the Genius Bar program, including those who need additional learning support and English language learners. Bacon puts this down to the fact that technology doesn’t just affect high-achieving students. “We were all using technology,” he said.Some students learned how to log into Chromebooks for the first time, while others eagerly dismantled computers. “[Hardware repair] It’s not a skill we teach every day in school,” said Bacon. “Unfortunately, children have these amazing abilities don’t always align academically with the things we do. So this space allows children to shine in fixing and understanding and just seeing how things are put together. ” Because of that, others students now desire jobs related to technologywhile others just value useful information.
21st century skills and high school
The impact of the Genius Bar was so significant that students advocated for a similar program at the high school level. They suggested that a high school principal be elected, who agreed to offer the approved courses. Bacon helped the students present their proposal to the Board of Education, which resulted in the establishment of the Ossining High School Genius Bar class for the 2023-24 school year.
“We want them to be able to run a help desk — a student help desk,” said Oumar Sarr, who teaches the high school’s Genius Bar class. “We also work in collaboration with the technology department so that students learn the basics of solving computer problems, and we fix minor problems that students and other teachers have with their technology equipment.” The class also includes a Google Level 1 certification that teaches students skills in Google Classroom tools such as Gmail, Drive, and Calendar.
Sarr’s goal is to encourage students to do so think creatively with technologynot just as consumers but as critical thinkers who can shape it. “We started talking AI technology and the impact it can have on students and our communities,” explains Sarr. “They discovered that technology, like everything else, needs to be moved. It needs to be included in the route that will help, because if not, the technology can be dangerous. “
