When it comes to STEM in 21st century teaching and learning, there are few limits to what students can accomplish. Besides helping boost their overall engagement and enjoyment levels in the here and now, access to STEM learning and opportunities to build real-world skills often significantly improve how students prepare for the future. Whether it's with introducing them to coding in the early grades, engineering in their middle years, or the benefits of more complex technologies, like virtual reality or artificial intelligence, in high school, STEM education is a crucial piece of student development. With such huge potential and importance, however, this instruction requires planning, guidance, and equipment. And, as the economy keeps trending toward STEM-dominated professions and opportunities, exposure to these areas is vital. Thankfully, there are few restrictions to leading effective STEM lessons.
Our mission is helping educators develop students who are truly Future Ready and helping them facilitate relevant learning is how. To that end, we offer a robust online store filled with the latest STEM solutions. But, beyond that, we love creating and sharing impactful content to help enhance how educators use these tools in instruction. In this section of our blog, you'll find countless posts on trending STEM topics, how-to articles, many recommendations for classroom solutions and projects, industry updates, connections between STEAM tools and the future, and a lot more. We are also extremely committed to closing certain gaps and increasing equity in STEM education. As such, a lot of this content contains context for advancing inclusive opportunities for all kids. We encourage you to search through the posts to find something relevant for you. And, if there's any topics we've missed, let us know.
Karim’s a kindergarten teacher who’s committed to leading STEM learning opportunities for early education students in the core classroom. Realizing the importance and value of STEM in early education, he’ll also be leading a new afterschool program beginning this fall to help introduce children to EarlyEd coding while also aiming to reduce inequities in STEM access.
For the bulk of 2020 and 2021, learning—and STEAM lessons—happened largely online and, though many children are digital natives, navigating this era of education created plenty of new and unique challenges. Now, as we strive to ensure hands-on STEAM experiences are always accessible, kids can code almost anywhere with these tools, which is key for the summer.
We love highlighting how teachers in all grades use STEM tools in robotics, coding, engineering, 3D printing, or even classroom VR lessons to redefine readiness and boost students’ development. If you’re a classroom teacher, librarian, administrator, makerspace facilitator, SEL specialist, or have any other title, we’d love to highlight your work across our digital channels.
Jennifer works mostly with middle school kids and helps them boost many STEAM skills through real-world experiences. Whether in introducing them to computer science and robotics or digital design experiences using CAD platforms like TinkerCAD, she’s helped them to build new problem-solving competencies and increased the interest many have in computer science.
The Google Arts & Culture app was the frontrunner for Google Expeditions replacements when it was first announced this app would be discontinued. It definitely was one option but these other app-based alternatives provide students with different experiences and instructors can use them either as a basis for classroom VR lessons or to supplement other STEAM activities.
The class packs on our store—available for many top STEAM items across disciplines—come with everything teachers need, and they fit into different instructional formats. The components often include your main product—it is often around 6-30 units depending on the size of the bundle. Then, there are various accessories, like chargers, project guides, and teacher content.
Detailed planning and commitment are both essential in managing student learning loss as educators work to understand the pandemic’s impact. Not only are tons of students experiencing new, academic-related gaps, others still need a whole lot of social-emotional support. And, it’s our belief that in returning to social-emotional norms, we can truly help kids academically.
Renee is an education technology specialist with the Atlanta Public School System and she’s seen firsthand how shifting from traditional instruction to more detailed strategies often truly impact how students learn. To that end, one of the biggest areas that she and her colleagues have placed focus on is personalized learning in education. Read on to learn how she’s done
Essentially, government officials passed legislation in support of financial assistance for key education-related projects, initiatives, and resources to come from the state level. This means that each state government must provide funds for the schools in that state. And, there’s a lot that school and district leaders can spend it on—as well as a time frame.
Brian’s mission is to help all educators get comfortable with using more technology in their instruction—specifically technology tools that help students develop relevant skills. By sharing insights and focusing on how problem-solving technology fits into education, Brian’s community has grown, especially with his Code Breaker and Block Breaker books.
