iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Amy is usually a happy and enthusiastic student in grade five who loves to dance, but she is struggling with a tough math assignment. She doesn’t think she is good at math because her classmates always get the answers faster than she does and sometimes she uses her fingers to help her count. Even though her mom tries to help her, Amy is convinced she just cannot do math. She decides not to do the assignment at all since she thinks she wouldn’t do well anyway.

As Amy goes about her day, her experiences at ballet class, the playground, and gym class have her thinking back to how she gave up on her math assignment. She starts to notice that hard-work, practice, and dedication lead to success, thanks to her friends and teachers. She soon comes to understand that learning math is no different than learning any other skill in life. With some extra encouragement from her math teacher, a little help from her mom, and a new attitude, Amy realizes that she can do math!…

As education is becoming increasingly focused on teaching students STEM skills, we must remember that literacy skills are just as important. While science and math have traditionally separated from literature and humanities courses, today’s literature teachers are looking for ways to engage their students using STEM.

Some people may balk at the idea of STEM activities in an English class, but as you will see, it is easier than ever before to combine STEM and Literature to bring characters and stories to life.

What does Possum Magic by Mem Fox have to do with computational thinking and digital technologies?
Possum Magic by Mem Fox is a story about a magic grandma that makes her grandson Hush become invisible.

To solve the problem they travel Australia looking for ways to make Hush visible again. Luckily the problem is solved for Hush as he consumes classically Australian foods. Strangely they need to travel to most of the capital cities to do it. 

In recent years, libraries have broadened their scope of offerings to the local community to involve more making activities like 3-D printing and sewing. Some libraries even have a facilitator for maker projects.

At Millvale Community Library in Pennsylvania, maker program coordinator Nora Peters saw an opportunity to better connect the activities of the maker space with the library’s mission to promote literacy. So, she set out to build a bridge between making and reading by creating maker activities for children’s books.

Math is at play in every sphere of our lives, from recipes to internet security to the electoral college. But that reality can be hard to convey through the drills, static numbers and strict rules that make up so much of K-12 math education. Educators have made strides to engage students through math. One way to bring the subject to life, according to a math research organization, is through literature.

I was mesmerized by the two-hour launch of PBS Great American Read campaign.  While I believe choosing one book is impossible and not actually the point of this celebration,  I was enchanted by one compelling little book talk after another.  And it was delightful to listen to people talk with such passion about their books.

Yesterday, I discovered When the Book is Better than the Movie.  The new video marks the launch of the new PBS Digital Studios series, It’s Lit, featuring video essayist Lindsay Ellis. More episodes are planned for every Monday.

Math is at play in every sphere of our lives, from recipes to internet security to the electoral college. But that reality can be hard to convey through the drills, static numbers and strict rules that make up so much of K-12 math education. Educators have made strides to engage students through math. One way to bring the subject to life, according to a math research organization, is through literature.