The state of STEM

The new normal for post-pandemic classrooms continues to be a mixed bag. There was a ton of learning loss and missed experiences, especially when it came to hands-on lab time. At the same time, there was a surge of teacher innovation, student agency, and new remote tools and processes to compensate. 

For the past 13 years, Ann Woo, Head of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung, has been paving the way for students at US public middle and high schools to embark on solving real-world problems with STEM-based solutions through Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow national STEM competition. This year’s contests concluded with three national winners who created inspiring STEM solutions tackling their community issues of pollinator collapse, veterans’ PTSD and heat stroke in sports. Their projects should be an inspiration for any STEM educator. Click through for the whole conversation. Below are some edited highlights:…Read More

STEM learning offers unique rewards, despite challenges

The positive impacts that U.S. public schools and their communities enjoy from STEM programs were underscored in a new survey conducted among some of the nation’s leading middle and high school STEM educators. Nearly 60 percent of teachers indicate that although teaching STEM is challenging, it offers educators unique rewards by engaging their student’s curiosity and enhancing their motivation, according to Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’s “The State of STEM Education” survey.

Additionally, the study finds that STEM education has been insulated from controversial issues (35 percent), with 65 percent reporting that local school boards and communities are either “generally supportive” of STEM in their school or that the success of the STEM program has been a “solid positive” with the community.

Teachers also told us that implementing the problem-based learning (PBL) techniques utilized in their Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM projects helped counteract the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on education at their schools. Among respondents, 46 percent agreed that by helping students see that their work can have an impact outside of the classroom and in their communities PBL has been a strong antidote to COVID-induced feelings of isolation, helplessness, and anxiety about the state of the world.…Read More

Problem-based learning helped boost my underserved students’ engagement

As educators, our charge is to impart knowledge onto our students, open new doors for them, and encourage them to stretch beyond their comfort zones. We try to show them every day that they are capable of doing anything that they set their minds to, but how often do we follow our own advice and push our own boundaries to try or learn something new?

As a physical education teacher in an underserved community, finding ways to connect with my classes during the pandemic and a time of remote learning was challenging. With sports being canceled, I was searching for new avenues to engage my students when I came across the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest, a program encouraging problem-based learning.

The contest tasks middle and high school students with identifying a solution to a real-world problem using STEM, and I was hesitant to apply as I do not teach a traditional STEM discipline. However, I knew that my students have a passion for making their community a better place for themselves and their families, and I decided to step outside the box and go for it.…Read More

Pikmykid Achieves Success With Positive Reviews and Excellent Ranking

TAMPA, Fla., Apr. 29, 2022 Pikmykid, the leading provider of school safety and dismissal solutions, today shares its success among schools nationwide, including its impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS), measuring customer experience and predicting business growth.

The Pikmykid platform has achieved an NPS score of 60, putting the platform in the same category of customer experience management as major brands including Starbucks, Netflix and Amazon, as well as Samsung, Intel and John Deere. Additionally, Pikmykid’s NPS score remains higher than mega-companies, such as Apple and Google.

The intent of NPS is to measure the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging the customer’s overall satisfaction with a company’s product or service and the customer’s loyalty to the brand.…Read More

Samsung Launches Annual $2 Million Solve for Tomorrow Contest

Samsung today announced the launch of  the 11th annual $2 million* Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, which challenges students in grades 6–12 and their teachers to use STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) to tackle local issues of national importance. Now through December 13, 2020, public school teachers across the U.S. can apply** for this year’s program and submit their activity plans that enable students to create real-world change in their communities using problem-based learning.

As students and teachers continue to navigate a complex learning environment – whether virtual, in-person or a hybrid of both – Solve for Tomorrow provides a unique opportunity for teachers to bring their students together regardless of classroom format using problem-based learning and hands-on STEM skills. Solve for Tomorrow empowers thousands of students to create innovative solutions that transform communities as they address issues ranging from mental health and wildfire safety to sustainability and climate change.

“Teachers are the backbone of our education system and Samsung recognizes the challenges that today’s educators are facing. We are in awe of the resiliency of teachers and students who have adapted to a new learning environment, and we remain focused on encouraging unique ways for students to engage in hands-on STEM learning all across the country,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “Over the last decade, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has enabled our youth to pave the way towards real, meaningful change. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we guide students on the value of STEM skills to solve the greatest issues impacting their local communities and we look forward to this year’s STEM innovations.”…Read More

Samsung’s Display Solutions Help Reimagine the Classroom for one of the U.S.’s Largest Charter School Support Organizations, Academica

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced today its partnership with Academica – one of the largest charter school support organizations in the U.S., serving more than 200 public charter schools and 125,000 students in nine states – to reimagine the classroom for the 21st century.

The partnership arrives during the new learn-from-home era, as traditional classroom settings are being enhanced with virtual setups that are interactive and engaging. Samsung delivers a complete ecosystem of display products and solutions optimized for all variations of back to school, including remote learning and hybrid teaching models. With long standing education programs including Solve for Tomorrow, Samsung understands how technology impacts education, and how now more than ever, it is critical to learning and creating change in grades K-12.

“As we continue to navigate this new normal together, we need to take a practical approach to helping students and educators adapting to a new learning environment,” said Mark Quiroz, Vice President of Marketing for the Samsung Display Division. “We’re offering new solutions and working with education networks like Academica to bring ease to the transition to remote and hybrid learning models. Students’ safety and health are top of mind and we are proud to be able to offer tools that bring the classroom into the home.”…Read More

Build a Brighter Future With STEAM

Enter the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest to empower students, inspire ideas, and create change by incorporating STEAM into projects designed to help advance the interests of local communities. Apply by 11/9/17, for a chance to win!

Samsung takes on Apple with iPad rival

Samsung on Sept. 2 unveiled what the South Korean electronics giant hopes will be a major rival to Apple’s highly successful iPad tablet computer, AFP reports. The Galaxy Tab, presented at the IFA electronics trade fair in Berlin, has a seven-inch touch screen, slightly smaller than the iPad’s 9.7 inches, and uses Google’s Android 2.2 operating system. Weighing 0.8 pounds—only half the iPad’s 1.5 pounds—the device launches in Europe in mid-September and in other markets (including the U.S.) in the coming months. But Samsung gave no indication of whether the Galaxy Tab will undercut the iPad on price, which retails from $499 for the basic model. In an indication of how much Apple’s iPad has influenced the computer market, Japan’s Toshiba is rumored to be unveiling its own tablet PC in Berlin, and Samsung’s South Korean rival, LG Electronics, has promised to release a tablet PC using Android before December…

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