Almost every student today has their own unique passions, different levels of excitement for some academic subjects, and evolving preferences when it comes to studying from just books, learning from hands-on experiences, attending college, or entering the workforce. Thankfully, with all these new options, education leaders have actively updated school CTE offerings.
Just as they would participate in traditional school sports, like football and basketball, establishing school esports programs has become much more common with students even leading the charges in many cases. Similar to receiving athletic scholarships to play sports in college, students can now also do the same with esports—just one of the benefits it provides.
Whether you’re off researching the best robots for the classroom, focused more on teaching students about sensors, or looking to prep them for CTE programs, our list of middle school must-have STEAM tools offers children a whole lot. Head inside to learn more about why our team will consistently recommend these classroom STEM kits for kids in Grades 3–8.
Capitalizing on a great deal of genuine learning opportunities that, perhaps surprisingly, we can find within television shows and movies, ClassHook is a platform that helps turn the programs kids are watching into educational experiences. While TV usually serves as a break from learning, there’s also knowledge weaved in and ClassHook helps you find top media resources.
So many factors go into how education leaders ensure students are ready for the real world and, often, it involves STEM. Factors like technology, the economy, emerging careers, and the state of the workforce each continue to affect how teachers introduce students to STEM. And, as of now, there isn’t much indication that the elements fueling STEM education will slow.
While we don’t want to place too much pressure on any educators starting new STEM programs, there are some key suggestions we can provide. The first of those is to decide on and define the direction of the STEM program, including its identity, purposes, and objectives, which often means that the learning experiences should reflect real-world problem solving.
With a reputation that’s always improving, the entire MakerBot line is highly regarded within both STEM and MakerEd. Joining these are their METHOD and METHOD X Carbon Fiber Edition printers, which allow kids to 3D print carbon fiber reinforced nylon and other composite pieces with 3D strength and accuracy. And, of course, they’re great in STEM and CTE programs.
If you are excited but stressing just a little bit about your plans for including STEM instruction in the classroom this school year and, also potentially, on a district-wide scale, we’d encourage all to share any ideas with us. We are happy to set up a consultative call to help us better understand your STEM goals with an eye on how our team, products, and services can help.
Starting with the pi-top [4], this revamped DIY device empowers students to design, code, and create within the pi-top platform. It also helps them focus on exploring key physical computing concepts with a sprinkle of project-based learning along the way. Then, there’s the Robotics and Electronics Supersets for building and programming in deeper detail.
Erika’s helped out launching school-wide aerospace and drone technology initiatives to help expose all students to various career opportunities. She’s been working toward securing some new STEAM supplies while designing new curricula for enabling students to develop key skills as it relates to the evolution of technology in the aerospace industry, so we’re helping out!
