A child as the best technological ambassador of others

A child as the best technological ambassador of others

Beyond subjects such as programming, it is key that they understand the operation of applications they use every day

Ten-year-olds may not know what cloud computing is about when older people talk about technologies and services such as cloud storage. But they are one of its main users.

In order to be aware of all the possibilities offered by these technologies and to become technological ambassadors of other colleagues, Amazon Web Services conducted a workshop with students from the Santa María la Blanca school in which these students practiced first hand what technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) allows to do.

Every time it is more frequent that children receive in the classrooms all kinds of technological education. In fact, in communities such as Madrid, programming is already a compulsory subject starting in secondary school.


Generally, these subjects are taught by adults. But, what if we let the children themselves show their classmates how to use the technological tools? This is the great challenge of the workshop.

Thus, the students of 6th Primary and 1st Secondary received a theoretical and practical workshop in which they were explained what is behind the concept of 'cloud computing' (or the cloud), they told them practical and real cases of different initiatives They are using it and they saw how they could design and manufacture their own Internet of Things (IoT) solution.

Oihana Llovet Díaz is a teacher at the Santa María la Blanca school and works on the innovation project. He defends that the objective of his center is, through personalization, to achieve the established competences and "to ensure that students find learning in learning".

 Among those fundamental competences -such as personal and social development-, the digital part is one of the most important. "We are in a digital environment and that helps them a lot to get the students to be autonomous. We know that the source of information of the student is not only the teacher but they have many resources, "he says.

«Experiential learning»

Thus, this person in charge of the innovation area of ​​this center explains that the teaching of the subjects is done by adapting to the rhythm of learning of each of their students. Something in which the cooperative work of the students and their relationship with the environment plays a lot of weight. "Since they are small we reinforce these social competences. In 4th of ESO they complete a week of experience in companies so they can discover their concerns in different professions », explains Llovet Díaz.

Therefore, in the celebration of this workshop the learning of the students is very important, because it is an active session for the students and supposes an "experiential learning, because they are learning to use some kits of the Internet of Things that they can then use in the school. That's the big challenge:

In this workshop, the managers of Amazon Web Services also explained some social projects that would not be possible without the 'cloud computing'. "It is very interesting that they know how to use technology well, that they see that it is not just for fun, but that we can help people who are in another part of the world," he stresses.

This workshop is, at the moment, an experimental and unique project, but it is not excluded to extend it to other centers. Carlos Sanchis Salmerón, Solutions Architect manager at Amazon Web Services, was responsible for explaining to the children "what they have not yet heard about (the cloud) but who are using it for thousands of things".

Although many changes will occur throughout his life, he explained that "the cloud can be used to improve that change". Examples? "We've been sweeping the ground all our lives but now we have robots that do it."