Andy Larmand

We began the month with a table and a constant crowd on Feb. 2 and 3 at Learn Launch’s annual Across Boundaries Conference held at the amazing Hynes Convention Center in Boston. A local organization, Learn Launch is dedicated to expanding Boston’s EdTech ecosystem by connecting many of today’s educators with innovative products and companies (like us)!

In the 21st century, those who are most successful are always thinking at least one—sometimes two, three, or four steps ahead. Why? Because they have to. No longer can the most successful workers and students get by on basic skills. The times have changed and now essentially require them to have increasingly innovative skill sets just to survive.

The pi-top isn’t the only build-it-yourself computer on the market these days! As the Maker Movement snowballs in popularity, innovators are starting to wholly buy in to the idea that students need to learn not only in software skills, but hardware skills as well. This is where Piper, the wooden, kid-friendly, DIY laptop kit comes in and shines.

According to Code.org statistics, about 90 percent of parents in the United States want their children to learn how to code. On the other hand, only 40 percent of students in K-12 schools are currently learning about computer science. Considering the huge demand for technically competent workers in today’s growing-by-the-minute IT sector, learning how to code is key.

For decades, literacy has been considered the absolute most fundamental skill any person could have. With the emergence of the automated era and the now complete commonality of technology tools, the necessary skill has changed from literacy to digital literacy. People need to know technology—how it works, what they can do with it, and how to maximize efficiency.

Designed to make engineering fun for girls, Roominate empowers them to control exploration by making them the architect, the engineer, or even the electrician! It’s a neat way to build Future Ready kids while they strengthen design and engineering skills by building cafés, cars, and even brand-new houses! And, we’ve got some new STEAM kits just for that!

The search continues to provide teachers and parents with an entry-level robot that ensures little ones aren’t left out of STEM learning. This week I experimented with one of our simpler robotics toys, the Mini MiP, which is developed by WowWee and serves as a smaller, less complex version of WowWee’s MiP robot.

Every student has different skill sets, different strong points, and, as we all know, also varied weaknesses. Some learn more quickly and might prefer visual lessons, while others require hands-on experience and maybe more than one attempt to master a concept. Luckily, in the 21st century, there is plenty of technology to help close this gap and level the playing

Did you know we’ve partnered with some of the best computing brands, like HP, Lenovo, and Samsung to bring educators the best deals around for the current craze of Chromebooks? And, to top it all off, we also accept purchase orders and are willing to take as big of an order as you’d like! If you don’t know, now you

Creative thinking, self-expression, and independent learning are all essential ingredients in student success! Here to help students develop that all-important creative streak is Stikbot—a personable, posable toy that brings a stop motion animation studio to your own living room or classroom.