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Related: Maker EducationA Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources "There were more than 135 million adult makers, more than half of the total adult population in America, in 2015." What is a makerspace? You’ve no doubt been hearing that word more than a few times over the past several years. Makerspaces, also called hackerspaces, hackspaces, and fablabs, are collaborative spaces where people gather to get creative with DIY projects, invent new ones, and share ideas. Since the first official makerspace convened six years ago in a library in upstate New York, libraries have remained an ideal setting for makerspace events across the country.
A guide to programming languages for coding in class So, you want to introduce coding in class but with so many programming languages out there how do you choose the one that’s right for you and your students? We asked Associate Professor James Curran, Director of the Australian Computing Academy and co-founder of Grok Learning, for help. Since 1954, when IBM’s John Backus invented the first widely-used programming language, FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) for scientific and engineering calculations, many weird and wonderful programming languages have been developed for coding. As a teacher, how do you choose which programming language is right for you and your students?
Tinkering Space Interview: Megan Schiller Today I’m joined by Megan Schiller of The Art Pantry, as part of our ongoing series of inspiring conversations that center on how to set up creativity hubs, or tinkerspaces. If you’re scratching your head because you can’t figure out where to put your child’s art materials, want to turn your laundry room into an art zone, or tend to shift furniture to make room for creative supplies, these interviews are sure to give you food for thought. Megan Schiller is a creative parent with an impressive background in art education, who now runs an amazing online kid-friendly art store called The Art Pantry where she also consults families on how to set up their very own Art Pantry (check out her very generous giveaway at the end of this post). I’ve drooled over pictures of Megan’s child-friendly tinkering space in her Instagram feed and also on her blog, and I asked her if she’d be so kind to share it with us today. Yay! We’re in for treat.
The Hole in the Wall Project and the Power of Self-Organized Learning In early 1999, some colleagues and I sunk a computer into the opening of a wall near our office in Kalkaji, New Delhi. The area was located in an expansive slum, with desperately poor people struggling to survive. The screen was visible from the street, and the PC was available to anyone who passed by. The computer had online access and a number of programs that could be used, but no instructions were given for its use. What happened next astonished us.
RAFT Bay Area - Resource Area For Teaching RAFT Needs Your Support Join RAFT and Silicon Valley Community Foundation for Silicon Valley Gives, a one-day event to bring community and nonprofits together in a big way. Donations will be matched 1:1, $10 becomes $20! Read More Autodesk Launches Tinkerplay App, Making 3D Modeling & Printing Easy & Fun We all know how important 3D modeling and printing will be in the years to come. If I had children, I would be teaching them at the earliest age possible how to model with CAD software, and ultimately how to use a 3D printer, as the world our children will be entering as adults will likely be foreign to what we are all familiar with today. Autodesk realizes the importance of 3D modeling and printing on future generations, and how important it is to get younger generations using their products and services at an early age. The best way to teach children, and even adults, about a new concept or how to use a new technology is by creating a learning experience which is fun, exciting, and rewarding.
How to Use the “4 C’s” Rubrics This excerpt appears in the Buck Institute for Education's book, "PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity." Rubrics for each of the "4 C's" are in the book, and we offer guidance below on how to use them in a PBL context. They are also available to download on BIE's website at the following links: What these rubrics assess Expect the Miraculous A few weeks ago, Gretchen Thomas, UGA instructional technology teacher, emailed me about a possible collaboration on the UGA campus. She wanted to bring her Maker Dawgs class to the UGA Tate Center Plaza to host a popup makerspace. The idea would be to have a variety of maker tools available for UGA students to try on the spot. She wondered if I had students who might join them. Without hesitation, I said yes and we started the logistics.
27 Ways to Inspire Students to Innovate (Infographic) via MindShift Educator Mia MacMeekin made this infographic about ways to inspire students to think more deeply about how innovation applies to them. It’s a helpful way to begin a conversation about what it means to innovate, a word that sometimes seems to belong in the adult domain of business and is estranged from how students think about living their lives. This article appeared on Mindshift on November 29 2013 and was written by Katrina Schwartz.
What’s Up with STEM for 2015? A MiddleWeb Blog My fingers are crossed for 2015 as the best STEM year ever! I’ve been looking around to see what directions STEM programs seem to be taking this year. 2013 Technology Outlook for STEM+ Education - The New Media Consortium The Technology Outlook for STEM+ Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Sector Analysis was released as a collaborative effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC), the Centro Superior para la Enseñanza Virtual (CSEV), Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Control at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Education Society (IEEE). This report will inform education leaders about significant developments in technologies supporting STEM+ (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Twelve emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, as well as key trends and challenges expected to continue over the same period, giving educators, administrators, and policymakers a valuable guide for strategic technology planning across STEM+ education.