EdTech has the unique ability to inspire students towards solving problems, spark their undying interest in a particular career or help them improve their community where it needs help most. You just don’t know it yet.
Nothing Not Fabulous About Fab Labs
For a fresh approach to learning through hands-on projects and experimentation, many contemporary schools have begun creating makerspaces on their campuses. Makerspaces have since evolved into “Fab Labs” and with a catchy title like that, what kid wouldn’t want to jump in and explore all the ways they can use technology to learn? Fab labs serve as an ideal way to promote project-based learning and teaching in a way that students have not previously seen. By making hands-on learning fun and less like work, the increasing Fab Lab phenomenon is really starting to pay off.
Understanding the principles behind the whole STEM education initiative makes it abundantly clear to thousands of educators that Fab Labs do serve an intangible purpose along with their measurable qualities. Since many parts of a modern education are trending towards hands-on work and often feature one tech tool or another, it’s important for the learning spaces kids use to be conducive to what they are trying to accomplish. As learning practices are changing to try to prepare kids for a future we are not yet fully familiar with, Fab Labs are beneficial because there are so many unique directions for student creativity to travel—from designing the space themselves to picking out the tools they’ll use.
One thing we do know about the future is that nobody will be learning by reading a textbook and memorizing an answer—they will be learning by doing. Fab Labs provide students with that ever-important hands-on approach to learning by interactively linking the fields of art, design and technology as they relate to science, math and engineering. Laser cutters, 3D printers, robotics kits, computers—you name it and there’s an innovative way to fit in into a Fab Lab to boost learning. Whatever way you look at it, Fab Labs are as innovative as the innovation they are striving to uncover in kids. Especially for those (smart) kids who don’t like reading from a textbook all day, Fab Labs will teach them the STEM concepts that were discussed during a conversation they have already zoned out of.
Should Education be all About Content?
For much of the time that we can all remember, education has been about learning the same things, in the same ways for the same amount of time each day, week and year. And, where has that gotten us? To a world in which a large portion of high-tech jobs are continually left vacant because there are not enough capable workers entering the workforce each year to fill them. These are the same students who spend their school days focused much more on content side of things than on hands-on concepts. While still important as a supplement to the deeper learning that happens when students get hands on, the way that students receive content can and should be undergoing a sizable shift.
That’s not to say there should be no content present in classrooms any longer. Content should still be taught, but it should have a clear and viable purpose and be more practical than philosophical. The rapid growth of technology today is having an impact on both our perspectives and tools for learning. The problem is that aside from some sporadic declarations to pursue STEM learning, usually, nothing ever changes. There needs to be change, however, if for no other reason that the way that students connect, access data and function on a daily basis has changed dramatically in just the last few years alone. Remember, there, of course, still needs to be a logical amount of content in lessons, but, going forward, that content needs be a mix of skills and knowledge.
So, what exactly do today’s students need to know to succeed in our future world? They need a larger focus on literacy, but that’s not just knowing how to read anymore—it’s reading and writing in physical as well as digital spaces. They should also be adept at recognizing patterns and systems and the fact that everything in this world is composed of smaller parts. Beyond that, it’s imperative they get a sense of design thinking, meaning that their ideas are born from a thought-out combination of creativity and analytics. Finally, we should be teaching today’s youth to become interdependent citizens, how to recognize and use all kinds of pertinent data, methods to identify, evaluate and synthesize diverse sets of ideas and guide them towards a nuance of thought. These are things they can’t fully learn from a textbook. In the future, it will be more about how students can adapt and solve problems than their ability to perfectly recite facts and information.
So, you Want to Get Some EdTech?
Deciding on which EdTech to use in class can be tricky and even overwhelming to those newly engaged in the process. There are so many great tools available available and many are catered towards specific areas of learning, such as circuitry, design thinking, robotics or any number of other disciplines. Each and every tool has purpose and they're able to be aligned with lessons that still illustrate the required concepts with the addition of a technology aspect. Although EdTech is supposed to support teachers and not result in them needing to solve additional problems, the fact is that there will simply be products that work better for them than others and they need to know how to make decisions.
It’s sometimes good to pause and take a second to remember why everyone was trying to convince you to use EdTech in your classroom. You’re trying to solve a problem—or problems. Technology can solidify learner engagement, alleviate administrative burdens or, if you’re lucky, kill two birds with one stone. There are tools that fit into each of these categories and probably more. It’s also important for teachers not to leave the decisions about the products they will use up to their administrators—they’re the one who know their students best. Teachers will be using the products, so aside from saving money, how will administrators benefit from purchasing one piece of technology over another?
Another approach could be to communicate with parents and encourage them to share their opinions about what tools they would or would not like their children using. Chances are, they have older kids who may have had a good experience with something or have at least heard conversations around town. Back in the classroom, the EdTech that teachers use should not only function as a catalyst for making existing practices better, but also sparking creative ways of doing things differently altogether. The latter, usually, is much more liberating. While the above considerations are all important, it may be most important to consider how the tech you choose to teach and learn with will bring about innovative ideas or help students complete community-oriented projects. There are so many options. It’s your move.
The Skills You’ll Actually Need and How to Get Them
In the real world, there are no multiple-choice questions, no reading aloud from textbooks and usually no multiplying long columns of numbers to see if you qualify for a promotion. Students spend years mastering these skills and then go on to never use them. In reality, the skills they need to know are not subjects in school, but rather personal qualities that could end up making or breaking them in the very near future. It’s not whether they can solve a tough math problem, but rather how they solve it. Are they collaborating with peers? Are they using technology? And, most importantly, are they being creative enough?
Intelligence will still be a major factor in their future success, but the world is changing drastically and today’s students will need to be proficient in many additional areas. First and foremost, they will be counted on to be problem solvers and will undoubtedly need to bring an innovative approach to solving problems in the most efficient way possible. This requires critical thinking skills as well as the ability to collaborate with others—two more skills they won’t learn from a textbook. How else do we solve problems? Ah, yes—with creativity. Creativity will be an exponentially important trait for today’s students to possess. Remember these four skills and find ways to challenge students with problems that will hone them.
The way to prepare today’s students for a world that will demand their proficiency in each of the above areas is widely debated among educators and those who are, well, not educators, but some kinds of “experts” or whatever they call themselves. In order to get ready, students should be faced with head-scratching problems and given the technology to creatively solve them. This needs to happen regularly and as it continues, their project-based approach to solving complex problems will become second nature, which is exactly what they need. They need to be problem solvers, leaders, innovators and, above all else, they need to be given the opportunity to develop these skills through relevant learning opportunities throughout the course of their K-12 education.
EdTech Programs Can Help Shape Career Paths
Believe it or not, the choices school systems make for current fourth, third and second graders could end up having a huge impact on their lives. And, the technology they use to learn could make all the difference. If you introduce students to an innovative way of learning—say a high school student to the fascinating world of robotics—there lies the potential for an instant hook. Before you know it, they’re telling their friends, getting them to join them, creating a school makerspace, staying late to work on projects and talking about now pursuing a career in the field. Technology in the classroom might just be powerful enough to shift a new kind of learning experience into a sustainable career.
An EdTech-inspired career is one pursued with the intentions of putting tech skills to use to help solve a problem or invent an innovative tool. It’s not about creating the next big thing and getting rich. Technology helps the greater good and starting to work with it during school plays a large part. In STEM education, everything is hands on. Most students agree that the skills they gain from their school’s EdTech programs are those that they will use time and time again. They even seem to know how much having these skills will help in the future—after their done with school—and knowing its importance is just as critical to their success as is developing the skills in the first place.
Up until recently, much of technology education had been wood shop, metal shop and trades like welding, but with the emergence of new kinds of everyday technology, the hands-on work that students are doing centers around the future tools. Today, the focus is largely on engineering as this STEM subject is a great way to get kids familiar with technology, working with it and prepared for a potential career in it. When it comes to engineering, specifically, kids can engage in the construction of many in-depth projects, including building DIY drones or 3D printing. All the things that students learn, from the technical skills to what it means to work as a team, translate into exactly what they need: future-ready skills. Once they get involved, they might just start to enjoy it and that might just lead them towards a successful career in the technology field.
For the latest EdTech, STEM, and 21st century education news, follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Like us on Facebook, too, or sign up for our newsletter for our latest product announcements and offerings. If you have an idea for an Eduporium Weekly theme, send us a message on social media or comment below.