STEM – K12 Online Conference

2015-Overcoming Obstacles

Robots in Class: Mimetics’s Experience

October 28, 2015 Published by: Leslie Pralle Keehn

Presenter: Michael Predko
Location: Toronto, Canada
@MimeticsCanada

Presentation Description: Thinking about using robots in your classroom?

Robots can be a very powerful tool to interest and engage students in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (aka STEM). Unfortunately, they’ve often only being used with a small number of enriched students who are already interested in STEM and will not get the full benefit that other students will get from a fun, interactive program that brings the practical side of STEM to students.

Girls, who are normally much less interested in STEM than boys, benefit from robotics programs, gaining experience, knowledge and confidence that will help them consider a STEM career in their future.

Mimetics cofounder and Chief Designer, Myke Predko discusses what they’ve learned after almost 15 years bringing robots and STEM education to 15,000 students.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://www.mimetics.ca

Additional Information:
Please feel free to contact Myke at myke.predko@mimetics.ca for any questions, comments or suggestions.

2015 2015-Maker Ed

Getting Started with Maker Ed!

October 23, 2015 Published by: Karen Fasimpaur

Presenters: Barbara Johnson and Jenny Lussier
Location: Colchester and Durham, CT, USA
@technojohnson, @jluss

Presentation Title: Getting Started with Maker Ed!

Presentation Description: School libraries are leading the way as innovators in the area of Maker Ed. Join two elementary library media specialists as they share their experiences in creating makerspaces in their buildings. Whether you are a classroom teacher looking to incorporate different types of making in your classroom, a media specialist looking to get making going in your library space or an administrator looking for ways to begin this process in your school, this session will introduce you to the ideas behind Maker Ed, resources, including materials and guides, and how to incorporate them into your students learning. Hear from students about their experiences with making and learning. Specific examples of student work will be included to give a complete picture of what Maker Ed can be!

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://www.smore.com/fr4f6

2015 2015-Maker Ed

Merry Makers

October 22, 2015 Published by: Karen Fasimpaur

Presenter: Steve Sherman
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
@LivingMaths

Presentation Title: Merry Makers

Presentation Description: As the Head of the Imagination Chapter in Cape Town, I get to help young students and their parents get in touch with their creative juices every week. I then connect with other chapter leaders around the world and we share our ideas and experiences. I will include footage and photos in my presentation, share ideas and give you a small taste of some of our projects. I hope that you are encouraged to create a maker space at school and promote making activities to your students.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://www.livingmaths.com/maker-movement-resources/

Additional Information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Living-Maths-191424357561419/timeline/

2015 2015-Maker Ed

Maker Ed: The work and the impact

October 19, 2015 Published by: Karen Fasimpaur

Presenter: Stephanie Chang, Trey Lathe
Location: Oakland, CA, USA
@MakerEdOrg

Presentation Title: Maker Ed: The work and the impact

Presentation Description: The maker education movement carries with it the momentum and promise to transform education — and ultimately, how we view learning and teaching altogether. It brings together elements of various educational pedagogies and practices, historical movements, and current trends, engaging all youth in interdisciplinary, hands-on learning experiences that are reflective and purposeful. Maker Ed, a non-profit organization that works with educators, organizations, and communities nationwide, help to train, support, and connect educator’s efforts to integrate making into their educational approaches and make a deep, long-lasting impact on their youth.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://makered.org/makerspaces

Additional Information:
makered.org/resources
makered.org/makercorps

2014 2014-STEAM

What Makes a Quality STEM Activity?

October 30, 2014 Published by: PaulaN

Presenter: Mike Anderson & Scott McLeod
Location: Iowa
@MikeAnderson_34 and @mcleod

Presentation Description: To create high quality STEM learning opportunities several factors must be considered. Is it hands-on? Do students have the opportunity to collaborate? Is significant content and conceptual understanding uncovered through the activity? Join us as we talk about these factors and others, their importance, and explore STEM activities that exhibit them at work.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://rethinkredesign.org/stuff-weve-done/k12-online-2014/

2014 2014-STEAM

Educator with a Maker Mindset

October 30, 2014 Published by: PaulaN

Presenter: Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D.
Location: Santa Fe, NM, USA
@jackiegerstein

Presentation Description: Being a maker educator often requires developing a new mindset; a new set of skills and roles. Discover, through this presentation, first, why we are in a perfect storm for maker education in both formal and informal learning environments, and second, through a self-assessment, the characteristics and qualities of the mindsets of an educator who is embracing making education.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/the-mindset-of-the-maker-educator/

2014 2014-STEAM

Full Steam Ahead!

October 29, 2014 Published by: PaulaN

Presenter: Melanie Thompson
Location: Jefferson City, MO USA
@mahsati22

Presentation Description: This presentation will illustrate how I transformed my library, creating a learning space for exploration and invention. The video will highlight the steps I took to make this change, from rearranging the physical space to the creation of an after school STEAM club/MakerSpace. I will explain the rationale behind my plan, objectives that guide the program, and explain what STEAM means to my students and me. I will share the planned calendar of topics, resources for activities, and show how easy it is to create a space and time for students to explore and engineer. I will also include tips for gathering materials. The video will include links to files, photos, and audio reflections from teachers and students.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://techtinkering.weebly.com/k12-online-conference-resources.html

Additional Information:
http://techtinkering.weebly.com/

2014 2014-Keynote 2014-STEAM

Making, Tinkering & Design

October 28, 2014 Published by: PaulaN

Presenter: Karen Wilkinson – Director, Tinkering Studio
Location: San Francisco, CA / United States
@TinkeringStudio

Presentation Description: The Tinkering Studio is a public space within the Exploratorium in San Francisco, where we design opportunities for people to “think with their hands” in order to construct meaning and understanding through STEM-rich learning experiences. In this talk, I’ll touch on some of the underlying ideas behind this work and hopefully show why a constructionist theory of learning is ideally suited to maker-centered education.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/coursera

Additional Information:
http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/blog

2014 2014-STEAM

STEAMmaker: Merging Classroom STEM and Afterschool MakerEducation

October 28, 2014 Published by: PaulaN

Presenter: Ginger Lewman
Location: Hutchinson, Kansas, USA
@GingerLewman

Presentation Description: If we truly believe that teachers teach how they are taught, then our professional learning should look radically different than most inservices and workshops currently do. This presentation outlines one approach to helping teachers learn and experience what a MakerSpace might look like inside either a STEAM classroom or as a club outside the regular school day.

At our STEAMmaker camp, students and teachers become true learners, as they experience a hands-on learning environment unlike their traditional school classroom. Here, they get to think, ideate, prototype, test, and publish answers to challenges that are issued to them, all while working on self-designed challenges. Students and teachers work in teams as parallel learners to create solutions to various challenges, all while fostering a sense of independence and joy inside collaborative learning. And as a result, both students and teachers develop understanding and leadership to be a core member of a STEAMmaker movement in their own schools/districts, should they choose to take summer camp back home!

If you want students and teachers to learn how to be risk-takers, to be hands-on tinkerers, to be active builders and growers, then you want a STEAMmaker Camp.

2013 Building Learning

Energy 101: KidWind & the SHS Chevy Volt Project

October 30, 2013 Published by: ginger.lewman

Presenter: Dan Whisler
Location: Sterling, KS
@DanWhisler

Presentation Title: Energy 101: KidWind & the SHS Chevy Volt Project

Presentation Description: In this presentation I will use a presentation with videos imbedded to share how our energy-related projects combine STEM-related concepts in a PBL environment to help create a more student-centered learning experience. Real-life studies help make connections and create relevance for students. Through their study of these energy-related projects, students are exposed to environmental and economics lessons not possible simply by using a textbook. Videos will include me presenting background information (presentation) to help explain the projects along with videos of students working on various projects in the classroom to demonstrate the PBL approach being used.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/filter_detail.asp?itemid=3904