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. Fab labs serve as an ideal way to promote project-based learning and teaching in a way that students have not previously seen.
One way to introduce students to STEM is to make it fun while they learn key skills through active interaction. Digital curricula are a great idea, especially if you can learn from educators who have initiated similar journeys. There are so many projects and fun activities students can do right in the classroom or take home for collaboration outside school.
Whether it’s establishing a fully hands-on classroom or employing some of the latest trends like 3D printing, we are definitely in the midst of an education revolution. Kids are adapting to become almost entirely self-sufficient or at least able to know that they do not always need guided instructions in order to learn and develop.
Innovation is often born out of creativity. And creativity, more so than ever, is the driving force that opens the door for innovation. Someone who is innovative uses all available tools and technologies to bring about some kind of improvement. In education, that innovation has been cemented as using technology as a tool to enhance learning.
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.
With all the buzz surrounding STEM education, teaching students skills that will be vital to succeeding post-education is something that the best modern instructors seek to accomplish. What they could be doing, however, is not only teaching students the skills they will need, but also putting them to the test now right in the classroom.
I wholeheartedly suggest encouraging kids, students, and peers to attend hackathons or makeathons, or community innovation days. Better yet, host one in your community! Let me tell you about my experience, and why I feel that being part of a group of people, making something together, is an invaluable experience.
