The Eduporium team recently cemented a new partnership with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. Out of Norristown, Pa., the MCIU is among the 29 intermediate units that support local schools or districts.
“We’re all really excited to partner with an organization like MCIU,” said Eduporium co-founder, Irina Tuule. “We believe that we can work together to create some wonderful and mutually beneficial opportunities for innovative education.”
The MCIU team offers dynamic programs and services to its educators and students, including workshops, academies, and other offerings. The Eduporium team attended MCIU’s Maker Learning Resource Fair back in March 2017, which promoted the vital importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in building 21st century skills, leading to the establishment of this partnership.
“Everyone at the MCIU is honored to work with Eduporium,” said STEM Program Administrator, Stephanie Schwab. “This relationship has allowed us to develop our capacity around STEAM and the integration of EdTech tools into the curriculum. By partnering, professional development soars up to the next level with relevant, experiential learning.”
The MCIU team went on to apply for Eduporium’s monthly EdTech grant and received this award in June 2017. That then led to the finalization of the partnership in the following month. Those technology products awarded to the MCIU will go towards stocking their new makerspace.
“Access to Eduporium’s resources, combined with facilitated professional learning opportunities, gives teachers the confidence to transfer theory into practice. We truly hold a lot of collective excitement about the potential of this partnership,” said Schwab.
As this relationship continues to grow, we see a lot of potential for helping these educators enhance their programs using technology like 3D printers, robotics, and even virtual reality.
“We have a store where educators can get everything they'll need in terms of STEM tools—basically like a one-stop shop for innovative education,” said Eduporium President and CEO, Rick Fredkin. “They needed some specific tools and we knew exactly what to recommend.”
As partners, we each hope to leverage technology to better provide teachers with means to help students reach their potential.
“They want to bolster their STEM programs with greater access to a wide variety of tools—the tools that we research and have in our store, so it’s a win-win,” said Tuule.
We also set up an online portal to select tech tools, publish and distribute lessons, share projects, and buy technology. Most notably, all MCIU users will now receive Eduporium’s Educator Discount (between 5 and 20% when purchasing new EdTech).
The two organizations will continue working together and they hope to establish a long-lasting, cooperative effort for innovation in the classroom as the 2017-18 school year begins. Any other academic organizations who have people interested in partnering with Eduporium can contact us to learn more.