Everything You Need to Know. Everyone You Need to Reach
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Sponsored by Everything You Need to Know. Everyone You Need to Reach. • Essentials for a school makerspace • Strategies to motivate students in science • How to inspire girls to pursue STEM • Personalizing learning with makerspaces • Why STEM and STEAM are critical for • It’s OK for students to struggle—here’s why the nation’s future • Using STEAM in storytelling Produced by eSchool Media | 2275 Research Blvd, Rockville, MD 20850 | 301.913.0115 | eSchoolNews.com What do a roboticist, architect, and engineer have in common? Your Classroom. At Kid Spark Education, we recognize educators are extremely busy. That’s why we make it easy to incorporate STEM activities into your classroom – even for the youngest Research students. Our progressive Pre-K through 8th grade STEM Backed program is designed to take the guesswork out of teaching science, technology, engineering and math – giving educators the confidence and tools they need to spark a fire in the next NGSS generation of leaders. Aligned Learn more about Kid Spark’s STEM program at www.KidSparkEducation.org Easy to Teach Ready to plan your STEM program? Contact Christine at [email protected] | 858.259.4413 233 A Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101 [email protected] | 858.259.4433 Guides About eSN Guides About eSchool News Guides We are excited to bring you the latest in the eSchool News Guides series. eSchool News Guides are full of resources, tips, trends, and insights from industry experts on a variety of topics that are essential to the classroom, school, and district. The February Guide, the eSchool News STEM, STEAM, & Makerspaces Guide, offers insight on the best approaches to STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces. The guide also highlights some resources and tools educators can use in the classroom to engage students, improve classroom climate, and create interactive classroom environments. In the guide, we take a look at how educators are implementing STEAM projects for very young learners. Plus, we examine one school’s successful transition from STEM to STEAM learning, and we learn some of the most-needed components for a successful makerspace. Have you dreamed of starting a makerspace in your school, but you’re not quite sure where to start or what you might need in the space? Maybe you’re hoping to learn the best way to introduce STEM across all disciplines, or perhaps you want to learn how to engage Thank you to our sponsors. key groups of students, including underrepresented groups like girls and minorities, in We appreciate your support! STEM and STEAM learning. Or maybe you just want to know some facts about STEM education and where it’s going. In the eSchool News STEM, STEAM, & Makerspaces Guide, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular tools for classrooms. We highlight examples of how real educators are using STEAM learning and makerspaces to personalize education and engage students with relevant learning challenges and topics. You also can find a complete list of STEM, STEAM, and makerspace partners and com- panies in the guide. We’ll release a new guide at the beginning of each month, and we’ll feature content focused around each guide’s topic throughout the month. Stay tuned for eSchool News Guides on library media technology, online/blended learning, and more. Each guide also offers a compre- hensive index of all the companies involved in that month’s specific focus area. We hope you’ll share this eSchool News STEM, STEAM, & Makerspaces Guide 2020-2021 MONTHLY GUIDE with your colleagues and use it to learn a bit more about how school leaders and educators EDITORIAL CALENDAR can create engaging learning experiences for students. March 2020 IT Solutions: P.S. – If you missed any of our other Guides, such as the eSchool News Multimedia Hardware & Management Presentation Systems Guide or the eSchool News Digital & Mobile Learning Guide, April 2020 Online and Personal/ you can find them here. Blended Learning Contents May 2020 Curriculum, SEL A look at the STEM landscape and Instructional Tools STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces–oh my! . .4 June 2020 Library & Media Technology K-12 STEM/STEAM Trending News July 2020 Wireless Products This program is determined to support girls in STEM . .6 August 2020 Data Management How a productive struggle motivates students in math . .7 & Storage Implementing STEAM projects in PreK and kindergarten classrooms . .10 September 2020 Communication 5 ways we’ve integrated STEAM education into storytelling . .11 Technology How our school transitioned from STEM to STEAM . .13 October 2020 Robotics K-12 STEM/STEAM/Makerspace Resources November 2020 Digital & Mobile 10 resources for STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces . .15 Learning K-12 Makerspace Trending News December 2020 School Safety 8 questions to ask before creating a makerspace . .16 J anuary 2021 Multimedia Presentation Systems Using design thinking to support makerspaces . .17 February 2021 STEM, STEAM, The New Librarian: How I created a makerspace . .18 & Makerspaces Company Profiles . .19 © eSchool Media Inc., All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. 3 K-12 STEM/STEAM/Makerspace Marketplace Update Guides A look at the STEM landscape STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces–oh my! Learn how three increasingly important components of a 21st-century education—STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces—are helping students get a leg up on global competition BY LAURA ASCIONE Managing Editor, Content Services By now, we’ve all heard about STEM, the acronym for science, tech- nology, engineering, and math educa- tion. Most people have heard of STEAM, which includes arts education along with STEM and allows students to be more creative in their exploration of more technical subjects. And it’s not a far leap to assume a lot of educators are familiar with maker- spaces, which offer open-ended cre- ative spaces for students to explore these concepts as they engage in proj- ect-based learning or attempt to solve real-world challenges. same survey say they prefer STEAM tools have proliferated in classrooms, But how are these three things impact- learning methods over STEM learning there is increased understanding that ing classrooms and the students in them? methods. students (and teachers!) need to move STEM and STEAM The group 100Kin10, which works beyond being consumers of technolo- to address the nation’s STEM teacher gy,” according to the 100Kin10 report. When students engage in STEM and shortage by training and supporting new “As daily activities at work and in per- STEAM learning, they’re building STEM teachers, emphasizes supporting sonal life are increasingly driven by skills that will make them more mar- students–especially students of color– tech, students need not only hard and ketable as employees in an economy by recruiting and supporting STEM soft skills in technology, but also digital that increasingly demands STEM profi- teachers of color. literacy and technological competency.” ciency. The nation still struggles to meet the Spotlight on a STEAM Many of the jobs today’s students need for teacher diversity, according to a learning center will have don’t presently exist, but most new report from 100Kin10 that looks at industry leaders agree that these future 2019 STEM trends and 2020 STEM pre- Last fall, the Groton Central School jobs will require STEM skills and the dictions. People of color represent 50 per- District (GCSD) in rural New York ability to work collaboratively in a cent of students in the U.S., but less than opened its new STEAM learning center. STEM-focused workforce. 20 percent of teachers–and abundant The $4.8 million center is a renovat- Research says the earlier students research shows that students are more ed 8,000-square-foot STEAM lab and engage in STEM, the better–a 2019 likely to pursue STEM education and shared-learning space. Ashley McGraw Brainly study notes that 84 percent of career paths when they see themselves in Architects merged the district’s curricu- people in a survey say they believe an their teachers and industry experts. lum with the overarching concept using educational background in STEM makes And STEM doesn’t just mean sci- form, light, and materials to create a someone more hireable, and 76 percent ence and math, though many tend to modern learning environment where say people with STEM backgrounds earn focus on those two components. The both teachers and students feel valued, higher salaries than those with traditional “T” for technology is equally important. focused, and inquisitive. educational backgrounds. “Technology used to mean getting According to 2017-2018 New York Sixty-three percent of people in the hardware into schools, but as digital State Education Department school 4 © eSchool Media Inc., All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Guides K-12 STEM/STEAM/Makerspace Marketplace Update report card data, less than 30 percent of cation also helps students become more actually get a finished product after Groton students in 7th and 8th grade were equipped to tackle those challenges and that,” said Grace Borst, one of two inno- proficient in English, math, or science. change the world for the better. vation specialists at the school. “But The multi-purpose STEAM space Makerspaces give students open- this has also been what has hooked includes a photo, video, and music edit- ended, interactive experiences that give many of our students. They come in to ing studio and will be used for a variety students freedom to explore creation start one project and they have one idea, of educational programs that are indus- and solutions to various problems. It is but they stick around because they fig- try-aligned, including: Building Trades, often cross-curricular, bringing in vari- ure out all of the other possibilities that Computer Science, Engineering & ous core subjects and helping students they can use the makerspace for—and Electronics, Agriculture Technology, build strong soft skills, or employability they keep coming back.” and Communications & Media Arts.