Recent articles
4 easy ways to fit maker activities into your curriculum
10/09/2015
Topics: Makerspaces, Project-based learning, Robotics, STEM & STEAM
If student engagement equals deeper learning, then making school fun might just be the key to improved learning.
Imagine the looks on students’ faces when you tell them that today, right there at school, their job is to become toymakers. Once they get over the shock, they’ll be…
EdTekTalk: Sergei Lupashin makes a case for challenge-based learning
09/08/2015
Topics: Gamification, ISTE Conference & Expo, Robotics, STEM & STEAM
Contrary to popular belief, not all engineers were born with an affinity for math. Some have to find the right inspiration.
Take Sergei Lupashin. The Russian aerial robotics researcher, inventor, businessman and…
Wegner's ed tech accomplishments get nod from Obama and peers
01/14/2015
Topics: Advocacy, Assistive and adaptive technologies, Augmented reality, Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, Digital Citizenship, Digital storytelling, Education leadership, Gamification, Gaming, Literacies, Makerspaces, Personalized Learning, professional learning, Project-based learning, Robotics, Standards, STEM & STEAM
There she was in the White House, along with 120 other school superintendents, and there was President Obama, at the podium. And then there was this:
" "And then you got Mary Wegner, superintendent of the Sitka, Alaska, School District. Where's Mary?" " Obama said. " "She came a long…
You don't have to be a scientist to incorporate STEM
12/18/2014
Topics: Mobile learning, Robotics, Standards, STEM & STEAM
Sara Hunter was recognized as a 2013 ISTE Emerging Leader. Nominations for 2015 awards are open now through Feb. 2015. Amazing educators are encouraged to apply!
Most people are…
3 ways to get every student coding
11/06/2014
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, Robotics, STEM & STEAM
Teach kids to code. You can't get away from this advice lately. Today everyone — from educators to industry leaders to policy makers — is talking about computer programming. In the past few years, it has gone from the once obscure purview of computer geeks to one of the…
Engage girls in STEM by starting early
06/30/2014
Topics: Coding & robotics, Makerspaces, Robotics, STEM & STEAM
Schools that want to improve learning outcomes for girls in science, technology, engineering and math classes may want to stop lecturing and start using active learning models.…
Student hacking: Awesome or awful? Awesome
06/09/2014
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, Digital Citizenship, Education leadership, Gaming, Robotics
While hackers appear frequently in the news and other media as criminals who steal vast amounts of data ranging from email passwords to Social…
What if every kid could learn through tinkering?
06/09/2014
Topics: Makerspaces, Robotics, STEM & STEAM
Quin Etnyre has been a featured speaker at Maker Faires in the United States and abroad, invented a product, founded his own company and taught introductory electronics classes to alumni of MIT — a school he one day plans to attend when he finishes middle school and…
Life lessons learned from robots
06/07/2014
Topics: Robotics, STEM & STEAM
This is a story about kids pushing through failure to achieve phenomenal success. And also robots.
In the rural town of Nuiqsut, Alaska — accessible year-round via air travel — seven middle school students took on the ultimate engineering challenge: Design, build and program a robot…