The full title of this presentation is “Combining SEL, STEAM, and Maker Ed tools to increase student learning capacity.” If selected, we’ll be discussing the commonalities that STEAM and SEL efforts share as well as how some MakerEd tools help teachers create these experiences. Specifically, maker tools help teachers connect the heads, hearts, and hands of students.
We have awarded our final $500 EdTech grant of the year (and of the decade!), closing out 2019 with over $5,000 worth of technology contributions to schools and teachers around the country! For the month of December, we’ve awarded our grant to Ellen Peterson, a STEM and technology teacher at the Smithfield Middle School in Smithfield, VA.
You might know that Sphero’s robots can be programmed using engaging computer science concepts and the Sphero Edu app while littleBits helps kids understand the important elements of circuitry by snapping together their magnetic blocks to construct circuits. What you might not realize, however, is that Sphero and littleBits are now one.
It marked the third straight year we attended the AESA and NAMTC Conferences, which are always scheduled side by side, but more importantly, it was memorable because our own Irina Tuule was presented with the NAMTC Partner in Excellence Award during the event—an honor we are all very excited about and grateful for.
For the month of November, we’ve awarded the grant to Jason Kissel, who works with students and teachers at over 30 schools! Jason is the Tech Liaison from the South-Western City School District in Grove City, Ohio and he is responsible for helping teachers at the district’s 32 schools integrate new tech into their instruction.
The Root robot can help children of all different ages learn key tech and programming skills by introducing them to coding gradually. Teaching and learning with Root, however, is made much more effective when educators are masters themselves. So, the iRobot Education team has created Root Academy—an all-encompassing educator PD tool.
For one week in December, we put a little bit of an extra emphasis on the importance of computer science and teaching students coding skills so that they may excel in an economy that’s driven by technology. There are hundreds of ways that school and district leaders can help their students participate in Hour of Code activities and so many creative options.
Andy made his final school visit and Merge Cube donation on Thursday as he left New York City and headed back to his home in southern Rhode Island. The donation was just outside New York City at the Amani Public Charter School in Mt. Vernon, NY, where he met with one of the school’s administrators, Harvey Zuckerman.
The road trip and Merge Cube donations are coming to a close, but Eduporium’s Andy made his eighth stop in his series of donations on Wednesday afternoon. The last stop was NYC, giving the road trippers the chance to see the Big Apple once again. While there, he traveled across the river into Jersey City, NJ to meet with Michelle Velho
Andy made stop No. 7 on Monday, visiting Yanaka Bernal at the Newark Charter School in Newark, Delaware. He presented her with the seventh of 10 Merge Cube donations and got a quick tour of the school. Yanaka and some of her colleagues have some pretty cool technologies to use with their students, including her own set of Merge Cubes!
