In this week’s Eduporium Experiment, we are taking a deeper look at Stikbot and its potential to enrich hands-on education in the early grades. Besides being an entertaining, posable toy that allows kids to use stop motion animation anywhere, it’s also a great way for them to learn to work in small groups, problem solve, and more.
When kids are sitting back, being spoken to, and completely passive about the content they’re absorbing in the classroom, how does that benefit them? They need active experiences and hands-on problem solving in order to become Future Ready. They need project-based learning and they need it to be of high quality.
Teachers are often hoping that students spend their free time innovating in the makerspace and taking advantage of this unique way to learn. There’s only one small problem. There’s nowhere to put it. Makerspaces are super versatile, however, so if you are struggling with finding the right placement in your school (or any place), it shouldn’t bee too much of a challenge.
The littleBits Rule Your Room Kit is one of littleBits’ newest kits and it’s nothing short of awesome. If you’re familiar with littleBits already, you are more than welcome to skip to the next paragraph! So what are littleBits!? They are easy-to-use electronic building blocks that are magnetic and color-coded by function.
Wouldn’t it be nice if students got everything they needed to know perfect every single time? Things would run so much more smoothly and everyone would be happier. Right? Wrong. Yes, failure is an absolutely critical part of student learning especially in many of today’s hands-on, STEM-focused atmosphere and making mistakes helps students grow.
Our culture empowers everyone to think outside the box, engineer, innovate, and grow. ‘Why be tied down to one place when I could be inventing in my own backyard?’ Joy Labz, creators of one of the original and most popular maker tools (the Makey Makey), has come up with an ingenious solution to this very problem: The Makey Makey GO!
When it comes to Squishy Circuits, you can try, but you probably will not be able to find an EdTech kit better catered to easy-going, open-ended play! Each of the three Squishy Circuits kits (Lite, Standard and Deluxe) encourage children as young as 8 years old to roll up their proverbial sleeves and start building.
Technology in the classroom allows creativity to flow, but can we actually teach kids to instinctively be creative? Is there a final exam teachers can give to determine their creative levels? In order to be as creative as possible, everyone, including students, needs to be open to new experiences and methods of carrying out old ones.
Did you know how viable it is to create a makerspace for kids at your school? And did you know how easy it is? For that reason, educators across the country are beginning to rethink how and what they teach to kids in their K-12 years and many are taking a new approach that includes a much heavier emphasis on technology and STEM
Knowing her students needed to be incorporating modern STEM projects into their education, she and her team set out to create the perfect makerspace for all they wanted to accomplish. Officially coined, the “Fab Lab,” Elizabeth’s final product is one that students can use every day—collaboratively or individually—to construct creative projects.
