Andy Larmand

DJI’s drones are great for teaching coding and piloting basics. Having long been a staple of our STEM education offerings, these drones offer unprecedented levels of excitement and a ton of educational value for students. They can literally use one tool to learn about piloting, shooting video, and coding, making the Tello EDU a great value.

A multi-tiered system of support is an instructional framework with three different tiers. Students receive instruction and support on a much more general scale in the first tier and then it increases in personalization as needed. Simultaneously, educators use the data and assessments to make informed decisions about what each student needs at each phase.

Our newest Featured Educator is Patti Andreolas, an elementary teacher from Queens, NY. Patti has become involved in a variety of innovative projects with her students, helping them develop both hard and soft skills in the classroom. Whether it’s with physical or digital EdTech tools, she’s seen how hands-on learning can impact how students develop.

Codesters is a digital programming platform that’s great for helping educators keep student coding opportunities flowing. In this week’s Rising Resources post, we’re exploring Codesters and what makes it a valuable tool for teaching coding in the classroom. To start, it’s free to sign up and helps make coding fun and challenging for students.

As always, we’re excited to see how the grant will help Bonni and her colleagues realize their collective mission of making greater progress in their STEM education programs. According to her, they’ve spent many years talking about how to evolve their STEM offerings and now find themselves in the right position to truly make it happen for their students.

If you’ll be in Atlanta for the GAETC, we encourage you to come by to learn more about our offerings or to just say hi. Among the happenings at our booth, we’ll display some educator favorites, including tech tools for the classroom, library, and makerspace and share the benefits of some of the other services we provide.

Whether it’s classroom teachers or challenges students themselves are facing, it’s a different environment when it comes to STEM instruction. Since the value of of these classes lies in their hands-on nature, it’s been quite a physical and mental adjustment trying to provide students with the experiences they need.

We were joined by iRobot’s Anna Elzer and Daniella Bonazzoli, who shared the iRobot story, including how, despite being known for the world-famous Roomba robot, every member of their organization is also committed to education. With help from the audience, they discussed the Root robots, the tech within them, creating SEL connections, and more.

Students can use the Narrator AR app on tablets or mobile phones. It’s available on both the iOS app store and Google Play store. Drawing on the power of AR, this tool helps create an engaging experience. When using the Narrator AR app, children see words, letters, and sentences literally jump off the screen and start to recognize the right

Jacie is an author, consultant, and speaker from Pittsburgh, PA who’s done a lot to contribute to the betterment of STEM education. Whether it’s been creating PD resources for teachers or designing hands-on, engaging STEM lessons for students, she’s certainly helped extend the reach and impact of various programs.