Maker Ed has rapidly evolved into a big and important component of 21st century learning. Born out of the culturally impactful Maker Movement, maker education involves providing students with opportunities for hands-on construction, investigation, problem solving, collaboration, and more—all with this community-centric approach. In Maker Ed, students often excel with new types of opportunities to showcase their skills or to develop new ones. With so many potential projects to work on in the classroom or in school makerspaces, adding purposeful, hands-on work to the school day is very effective and inspiring. And, more importantly for educators, there's no wrong way for them to go about introducing maker education. It can be as complex as using various advanced 3D printers or as simple as building with popsicle sticks.
Aside from the likelihood of positively impacting students, Maker Ed is also popular because of its real-world connections. Not only can children further develop key technical skills, maker opportunities also help them to bolster some top soft skills. Making typically involves a lot of collaboration and this is especially true as students move into middle or high school. With unique, fluid opportunities, kids can simultaneously work on bolstering communication, teamwork, and other soft skills in the process. Plus, whether they are using classroom 3D printers, CNC machines, or even low-tech tools, they'll grasp a better understanding on using technology for good as well. Some solid product lines across Maker Ed are 3Doodler, MakerBot, LulzBot, Glowforge, and more. With these innovative solutions, students in all grade levels can truly propel their creative acumen.
Understanding 3D printing, its benefits, and its uses are critical pieces of 21st century STEAM learning, which is why, at the Eduporium office, we have begun researching and stocking the best 3D printers on the market today. Take a look at one of the best starter 3D printers in the MOD-t from New Matter.
Finding a simple robot arm that is affordable but still complete enough so that more than one could be used in the classroom might seem tough. After a large number of requests rolled in, Bentz sought funding for a fleet of equipment with which to produce his affordable, 3D-printed robotic arms. Thus, the LittleArm was born.
We’re guessing you’re already familiar with both littleBits and the Makey Makey, but, if you’re not, you can learn a bit about them by exploring our blog and store. Basically, littleBits are electronic building blocks that each have their own specific function and allow kids to build inventions with purpose. Read on to learn more about it.
College is traditionally considered to be the four years in which students are molded into the successful workers they will become and given the opportunity to practice their craft through hands-on classes, internships and co-ops. It’s becoming more and more common, however, that college is just the second stop on this train.
Makerspaces have burst onto the scene in recent years and they are only becoming more popular as time passes, including in school environments. Perhaps because their benefits are so impactful or maybe because they’re super affordable and fun, makerspaces have helped spur a storm of STEM stimulation—for everyone from kids to teachers and even grandparents.
When it comes to Squishy Circuits, you can try, but you probably will not be able to find an EdTech kit better catered to easy-going, open-ended play! Each of the three Squishy Circuits kits (Lite, Standard and Deluxe) encourage children as young as 8 years old to roll up their proverbial sleeves and start building.
The littleBits Space Kit, developed in collaboration with NASA, brings an aspect of interactive exploration to problem-based learning. Designed for use in junior high and high school, the Space Kit is one of the more advanced kits in the littleBits progression, but definitely one of the most exciting to use!
Let’s blend art and light technology with Circuit Stickers! Circuit stickers are LED circuits in the form of peel-and-stick stickers. They enable students to build real circuits without soldering, plugging wires, or clips. Instead, students use the stickers and conductive tapes to draw their circuits on paper, adding an intriguing element to their crafts.
Project-based learning, interactive engagement, and real-life relevance are among some of the most important characteristics that today’s instruction should contain. Teachers know that they need to update their pedagogical styles and approaches to better relate to students and facilitate a true 21st century education. So, here’s how you can do just that.
Kids can draw circuits instantly and learn the basics of electronic principles with this no-mess conductive ink pen. I experimented with the Circuit Scribe Lite Kit, which comes with one conductive ink pen, two coin cell batteries and one Bi-LED module. The kit includes components like, motors, buzzers, resistors, and more.
