Even with STEM tools and active learning, students oftentimes fail to feel fulfilled. With career and technical education, however, they’re able to gain skills in areas that can truly help them. CTE is proven to increase positive career outcomes, prepare students for college, and even improve success in other academic areas—not just STEM.
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.
Discovering connections through active experiences is a chief cornerstone of PBL and helps students establish authentic feelings for their causes. As such, knowing the impacts these connections can have among children is key for the educators who are leading them. And, this is especially true as they leverage them across the curriculum to connect different subjects.
There are, of course, many different pedagogical approaches that can lead to effective instruction. These days, teachers might be fond of promoting a growth mindset, a maker mindset, or perhaps even instilling a collaborative mindset in children. Whatever buzzwords we toss around, however, they’re only as effective as the purposeful teaching techniques that result.
Career readiness can mean any number of different things—especially as it pertains to today’s education landscape. As you know, students may move on to college, attend trade schools, or begin working right after completing high school. Thanks to career and technical education programs, however, many students can learn viable skills and quickly begin a relevant career.
When we talk about achievement gaps in education, we’re usually referring to measurable variance in achievements among students from different but often inherent groups. These include gaps in grades, attendance, and even soft skills development, and how not having truly equitable opportunities is affecting them. Moving forward, preventing and shrinking said gaps is key.
Helping students learn through both independent and guided experiences can enable them to view their education differently. When we use the term ‘scaffolding,’ we’re typically referring to any targeted teaching and learning approaches that gradually evolve and ultimately empower students to lead their own learning, which is very relevant in hands-on STEM experiences.
In the webinar, we joined RobotLAB’s VP of Business Development, Cedric Vaudel, who guided the audience through a demo of using RobotLAB’s VR systems, content, and hardware. He began with explaining how their team utilized feedback from educators for designing this final product, including some very specific, education-focused upgrades. Watch the replay inside!
ChatGPT’s vast knowledge base and uniquely effective imitation of human writing styles make it a powerful tool for both educators and students. But, as a lot of students employ ChatGPT as a homework aid, some educators are wondering whether its disadvantages outweigh its uses. Let’s see what ChatGPT can—and can’t—offer to kids in 21st century education.
