Aim: To improve artistic sensibility and basic education while learning STEM education! Creator Course" Report (1)

STELABO, a STEM and programming school operated by SB C&S, the IT distribution arm of the SoftBank Group, is offering a 2-day intensive course "STEAM," which incorporates a wide range of basic liberal arts (Arts and Liberal Arts), including arts in STEM* education. A 2-day intensive course "Aim! Creator Course" was held at the "STEAM Lab" below. On the first day of this course, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe) provided technical support with visual content creation tools, and other original curriculum that differed from the regular class was prepared. Here is a report on the advanced and practical course that stimulated the children's sensibilities.

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

STEAM" is a combination of "STEM" and a broad range of basic education (Arts and Liberal Arts), including the arts, to nurture design thinking.

The "Aim for Creator Course" is a short-term course designed to develop design and programming skills for third to sixth graders! Creator Course" is a short-term course designed to develop design and programming skills for third- to sixth-grade elementary school students, who spend the first day learning the basics of design, such as how to express text and colors, and then try their hand at creating restaurant menus, posters, and signboards.

The instructor was Ryohei Hayasaka of Sterlab. He lectured children on the basics of design, such as legibility and ease of communication. He also takes the time to teach the children about the nature of color and the colors used in the signs they see on the street.

Adobe Spark Post, a visual content creation tool launched by Adobe in Japan, was used to create a menu for a restaurant! One of the main features of "Adobe Spark Post" is that it is easy to operate and can be used to create graphics to your heart's content. The children mastered the basic operations in a short time and mastered their use.

Following the menu creation, they tried their hand at making posters. The participants' expressions were serious as they operated their tablets, imagining what kind of people they wanted to attract and what colors they wanted to use.

What surprised me in this lesson was the concentration of the children. They worked on their assignments with single-minded devotion, using the allotted time limit to the fullest, and not a single one of them gave up.

When they have finished creating their assignments, they come forward and present their innovations and particular points. Listening to everyone's presentations is also a very important part of the process for the children.

Print out the completed poster at the end of the lesson. When you go home, you can show it off to everyone in your family!

Even the children who were nervous at first had expressions on their faces. Some of the children were inspired to make posters of actual bakeries after making the posters this time.

<After the interview

This lesson was the first time for most of the participants to touch a tablet. Many of them were puzzled by the difference from drawing on paper, but they quickly became accustomed to the tablet operation, and it was impressive to see them immersed in creating their own works of art. In the next issue, we will report on the second day of the lesson.