Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Why educational robotics is a critical STEM learning tool

Engineering is a critical part of STEM education, and engineers play a role in creating, improving, and maintaining some of today’s most valued and essential things, from smartphones and airplanes to zippers and roller coasters.

This year, Engineers Week celebrates “Creating the Future,” and it emphasizes the vital role engineers play in creating innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems and biggest challenges. Highlighting engineering also encourages students to pursue engineering classes and, potentially, engineering career paths.

When students become interested in STEM at a young age, their critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills have a chance to thrive. Sustaining that interest is important, too, particularly because girls and underrepresented minority groups quickly lose interest in STEM learning–and never regain motivation to pursue it.…Read More

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Discovery Education and Social Impact Partners Offer K-12 Teachers and Families Nationwide Digital Resources to Engage Students in Engineers Week  

Charlotte, NC — Discovery Education and its social impact partners present teachers and families nationwide a curated collection of engaging, no-cost digital learning resources designed to engage today’s students in Engineers Week. Established in 1951, Engineers Week immerses students in the future of engineering and helps create pathways to careers. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

Taking place February 19-25 with the theme “Creating the Future!” Engineers Week shows students the excitement of engineering and its importance to the world. To support this theme, Discovery Education is providing educators, students, and families with a collection of no-cost resources tailored for any learning environment. Among the resources created in collaboration with leading social impact partners are:   

Virtual Field Trips  
The Future is Now Virtual Field Trip from Reach for the Sky – designed with Edge at Hudson Yards – takes students on a virtual adventure into NYC’s newest and most forward-thinking neighborhood and the incredible observation deck where marvels of modern engineering elevate the possibilities of everyday life to meet with various leaders about the history, social impact, and STEM behind the new gravity-defying structure. After the VFT, students can start engineering by creating prototypes of their own design using the Engineering Design Process. …Read More

Students Go Behind the Scenes at the CMA Awards to Discover the Power of STEAM in a New Virtual Field Trip from Discovery Education and the Country Music Association 

Charlotte, NC — The Country Music Association and Discovery Education today announced a new virtual experience from their Working In Harmony: Every Voice is Instrumental educational initiative. Country Music’s Biggest Night: STEAM Takes the Spotlight Virtual Field Trip shows students in grades 6-12 how science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) drive innovation in Country Music.  

Premiering February 16th at 1 PM ET and available on-demand, this first-of-its-kind experience takes students behind the scenes of a major music event to discover the processes and people that make the televised production seem effortless. Students will meet the various STEAM professionals with diverse skills and backgrounds that help make Country Music’s Biggest Night™ a reality. By introducing students to critical behind-the-scenes professions, which include stage management, hair and makeup, production, and security, the Country Music’s Biggest Night: STEAM Takes the Spotlight Virtual Field Trip pulls back the curtain on the CMA Awards, the longest-running annual music awards program on network television. Learn more here. 

“STEAM is incredibly important to the arts, including the Country Music industry,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “In partnership with Discovery Education, students now have a one-of-a-kind glimpse into the exciting inner workings of Country Music’s Biggest Night™ that shows both how a production of this magnitude comes together and the talented people behind the scenes that make it happen. Our hope is for students to see themselves in these roles, inspiring their ambitions beyond the classroom.” …Read More

Back by Popular Demand: SHP Donates $10,000 to Students Across Ohio

Cincinnati – Architecture, interior design, and engineering firm SHP is awarding $1,000 scholarships to 10 high school students. The honors were announced during a reception at the 2022 Ohio School Board Association’s (OSBA) annual Capital Conference in November. The scholarships were presented to school districts as part of a random drawing at the conference reception.  

Each winning district will award the scholarship to a student by their own selection criteria.  

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to give back to Ohio communities—specifically the students; the future of those communities,” said Lauren Della Bella, president, SHP. “I am hopeful that we can continue this tradition for years to come.” …Read More

Explore Interactive Announces Partnership with Award-Winning Curriculum Developer, EiE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Explore Interactive and EiE, the award-winning curricula division of the Museum of Science, Boston,are now collaborating to expand engineering and STEM curricular resources to teachers and students across the globe. MindLabs by Explore Interactive brings state-of-the-art technology that, combined with award-winning EiE curricula, will provide teachers with standards-aligned, engaging activities to help students build skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, engineering design, and team collaboration — all skills required for jobs in the 21st century.

Explore Interactive and EiE will combine the power of research-driven curricula with engaging activities that use augmented reality (AR) for hands-on discovery. EiE currently develops research-based, classroom-tested programs that empower children to become lifelong STEM learners. Its pre-K-8 curriculum encourages all children, including those from underrepresented groups, to see themselves as engineers. MindLabs brings to the partnership expertise in augmented reality and digital resources for STEM learning as well as critical components for teaching, such as digital assessment, digital engineering notebooks, and integrated technology for social-emotional learning.

“Involvement in STEM subjects can help to develop a student’s critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills, all essential for success in STEM fields. Early exposure can also pique a student’s interest in STEM subjects and careers as well as dispel stereotypes or misconceptions about STEM fields,” said Katie O’Shea, Associate Director of Curriculum and Instructional Design at EIE, Museum of Science, Boston. “By incorporating MindLabs, we’re furthering our goals of helping students learn to think like engineers and promoting their STEM literacy.”…Read More

Museum of Science, Boston enters metaverse with “Mission: Mars” Roblox experience

The Museum of Science, Boston is making its first move into the world of immersive online education with its launch of “Mission: Mars,” an educational experience on Roblox, a global platform connecting millions of people through immersive 3D experiences.

Developed in partnership with Filament Games, “Mission: Mars” challenges participants to engage in the Engineering Design Process, developing and iterating on vehicles ready to navigate the mysterious red planet and complete exploratory missions with friends to survive on Mars.

The Museum of Science is the first Roblox Community Fund (RCF) recipient to launch their experience since the fund’s introduction in November of 2021. Through the initial $10M fund, RCF has been offering grants to educational organizations to develop innovative learning experiences and curriculum leveraging the platform in immersive and compelling ways. …Read More

Intelitek Opens the First of 20 STEAM centers in the Republic of Ghana

DERRY, N.H. – In partnership with the Ghanaian Ministry of Education and Israeli government, Intelitek and its parent company, Robogroup T.E.K. Ltd., have opened the first of 20 planned STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts, Engineering and Mathematics) centers in the Republic of Ghana. Located at the Accra High Senior High School, the new center is part of the ministry’s initiative to increase student interest and instructional quality around STEAM. Students ages 6-14 will be trained to use advanced STEAM technology in a modern interactive learning environment.

The Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education held a commissioning ceremony for the Accra High STEAM Centre in November. Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, commended all involved for their commitment to the project and called the center a testimony of the government’s commitment to STEAM education.

“We can become a developed nation,” Dr. Adutwum said, “but it is going to emanate from how well we focus ourselves, how we remain determined and focused in the midst of challenges and say to ourselves we can.”  …Read More

CoderZ Launches New Code Farm Coding and Robotics Course for Grades Four Through Six

DERRY, N.H. – When young students learn coding, they hone skills – such as computational thinking and collaboration – that enhance their success in school and future careers. CoderZ, an award-winning, cloud-based robotics and STEM platform, is helping educators introduce computer science in elementary and early middle school with its new Code Farm coding and robotics course for grades four through six.

Created for teachers and students with no prior experience in coding or robotics, Code Farm provides 45-60 hours of self-paced, gamified activities with real-time feedback and step-by-step instructions. The course offers a broad view of computer science education through a variety of lenses: engineering design, algorithms and coding, ethics and the social impact of technology, and more. The course is aligned with relevant standards frameworks, such as CSTA and NGSS, and includes extension opportunities for middle school classrooms.

Learners use the programming language Blockly to steer virtual robots through tasks such as collecting fruit, avoiding obstacles, and even planting a garden of their own design.…Read More

The ups and downs of girls in STEM

Are girls really underrepresented in STEM?

Yes. 

In the US, the workforce is pretty evenly split between men and women, but in STEM fields men make up 73 percent of the workforce to women’s 27 percent. Why?

It’s easy to want to find a well-meaning solution for this disparity, or even to brush it off as unimportant. But achieving a gender parity in STEM fields (particularly computer science, engineering, and programmers, among others) isn’t just a feel-good social justice crusade. The number of open tech jobs far outpaces the population of traditionally qualified candidates—data projections have pointed to a global shortage of 85 million tech workers by 2030.

It’s not a matter of encouraging girls to pursue STEM programs just for the heck of it, to prove they can and earn a good paycheck—it’s a matter of graduating enough highly-skilled workers to meet economic demand.

Still, the imbalanced statistics for the genders in STEM are damning. What can K-12 schools do to play their part in preparing the next generation for a talent-hungry workforce?

Let students lead…Read More

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Benetech Inclusive AI Initiatives Break down Barriers to STEM

PALO ALTO, Calif. — June 17, 2022 —Benetech, the leading software for social good nonprofit, today announced two significant AI initiatives to reduce barriers to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and employment for people with disabilities and learning and thinking differences. The programs, supported by General Motors (GM) and Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative of Eric and Wendy Schmidt, are focused on leveraging AI to make complex visuals, graphs, and equations in science and math educational materials accessible to people with dyslexia, vision loss, and other reading barriers. This technology will be used to enhance the accessibility of STEM education materials for students with reading barriers and empower other education stakeholders, including teachers, publishers, researchers, and students themselves, to improve the accessibility of their own materials. 

“Betting early on people and organizations addressing big challenges is one of our core guiding principles,” said Kumar Garg, Vice President of Partnerships, at Schmidt Futures. “Math literacy is essential for a 21st century STEM education, the foundation to compete for jobs of the future. Benetech’s vision to make tools that can provide new pathways to make STEM education accessible will transform the livelihoods of millions of students.” 

Benetech brings two decades of expertise leveraging new technology to make reading and learning accessible for people with reading barriers, at scale, through its Bookshare initiative. However, transforming STEM education materials into accessible formats poses a significant challenge. Textbooks have complex formats, full of charts, graphs, and equations that must be manually transformed into accessible formats. The average Math textbook has over 5,000 equations, and it can take three to four months for a human to transform a print math book into accessible formats that can be properly read by a screen reader. This is a significant obstacle for students with reading barriers. …Read More