Education in 21st century schools, especially when educational technology plays a role, is very much aligned with progress, growth, and the scaling of programs. Now that the summer is here, it seems appropriate to talk about some of the programs that students take part in outside of their structured school activities, including various afterschool programs and fun clubs.
Every student receives grades and uses them to determine if they did well enough on an assignment, for the quarter, or to move on to the next grade. Of course, this can also create some pressure on students and sometimes lead to shortcomings in their performance. Plus, a letter grade isn’t always indicative of whether or not a student has truly mastered something.
Self-paced learning is a form of differentiated instruction that teachers can integrate into learning experiences. In self-paced learning, teachers can let their students decide how many lessons they need and how much practice constitutes them mastering something. There are also various instructional techniques you could use and many potentially positive outcomes for kids.
It’s not just the seasoned scientists and computer programmers who might invent world-changing and progress-focused solutions. In fact, there’s also plenty of inventive kids and teens out there who have left their mark on the world with both big and small inventions, and some have even contributed to key inventions throughout history. So, let’s learn about a few of them.
The importance of providing all children with the opportunities to learn key computer science skills is often a really legitimate emphasis among STEM-minded instructors. We know how vital these skills may turn out to be for a larger number of them. Empowering students to learn these skills early and perfect them often could also help open up career opportunities later on.
All indications are that coding competencies will continue to open up many promising professional opportunities for today’s students. Coding’s not the only skill that will separate them, however, as we see how soft skills remain equally important but, based on what we see from the workforce, students who build up their coding skills won’t be learning something outdated.
A multi-tiered system of support is an instructional framework that involves three separate tiers. These students will receive instruction and support on a much more general scale in the first tier and then this attention increases in personalization as needed. Simultaneously, instructors use the data and assessments they create to inform what each child needs at each phase.
Diversity efforts, in every area of education and the workforce, should open opportunities for everybody to elevate personal thoughts, talents, opinions, and experiences. As we keep striving to overcome a lack of diversity in the STEM community, it’s crucial across all industries and we believe everyone should be open to discovering new points of view and potential solutions.
Many children love to have STEM experiences in their education and many teachers love creating those opportunities. They don’t typically just fall into place, however, and, like all lesson plans, require careful design. In STEAM education, impactful lessons and activities are almost endless, which often makes it easier for teachers to find or create something that’s relevant.
Inventiveness, if you ask us, is something that goes hand in hand with 21st century problem solving and creativity, but, despite how it could potentially really help enable instructors to challenge student creativity, it is oftentimes overlooked. Luckily, inventiveness is key in STEM education and one of the key soft skills students can work on as soon as they enter the classroom.
