SRI&ETTC

Guest Post by Ian Matty  The Mountain Lakes Makers Club @ the Mountain Lakes Public Library is a community makerspace whose mission is to provide maker education opportunities to all students.  We have found much success combining different types of maker technology (robotics, programming, 3d printing) with the arts, science, literature, and nature.  We focus on how robotics and programming are collaborative with all subject areas and not an independent discipline.  Building on the philosophy that all kids – even preschoolers – can benefit from maker education’s interdisciplinary approach, I worked with six educators from Hong Kong, Cyprus, Nigeria, Ohio, and Pittsburgh to develop the #ExploreEarthEveryday Global Makeathon.  The idea is simple.  Kids love nature.  Nature is very important.  How can we combine nature with robotics so kids can have a deeper sense of learning about their environment?  The makeathon approach allows stu...

Coding is making its way across the face of our elementary classrooms. This month the word is spreading thanks to the push generated by Computer Science Education Week's campaign to introduce one hour of coding for as many as 10 million students. They provide tutorials for students to get them started with absolutely no previous training needed. The integration of computer literacy, graphics, mathematics and personal narrative allow students to tap into the higher levels of the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy as they create worlds of their own using tools like Scratch and Minecraft. Watching your students as they develop their own robotic friends and make shapes and entire worlds appear on their screens will provide the buy in that you may need as an educator to include an introductory, interactive learning experience that will only take an hour. Mr Tyler Watts, Computer Applications teacher for grades 6-8 at Arrowhead Middle School in Kansas City, KS, "Believes that all ch...