At Eduporium, we really try to build our expertise on STEM and makerspace topics continually. As the popular learning initiatives within STEM evolve and adapt to better serve students in the 21st century, we’re always doing our best to gauge how we can help teachers and students be a part of them. We’ve even created content for school and district leaders, classroom teachers, librarians, and others to make things clearer. Over the last couple years, our team has published various white papers, hosted STEAM webinars, and created dedicated resources to help educators learn more about some of the most intriguing areas of STEM education. This now includes everything from esports in schools to why makerspaces are important and how grants can help out.
Esports in Education
As we mentioned, we're now offering solutions for a new STEM discipline—esports. If you’re not all that familiar with esports, it’s the competitive, team-based playing of popular video games. Typically, students in a school (usually at the high school level, but some middle school esports teams have popped up, too) will try out and make the team just like in other varsity sports. In fact, esports is the latest varsity sport to emerge in high schools, creating new opportunities for students. Some benefits of offering esports opportunities in high school include students finding a new way to belong in the school community, the chance to learn about different careers, and even potentially earn esports scholarships to play in college.
Esports, relationships, and SEL.
While we can't necessarily support educators who are looking to create a gaming curriculum, we do have a white paper on the topic of esports in education. It features some valuable insights from esports coaches and athletic directors who we spoke to while working on the content. Esports in high schools and colleges is very relevant currently—offering students real-world exposure to careers beyond gaming. Participating in esports programs allows students to connect from anywhere. More importantly, they can stay close with their friends, which is such a huge social-emotional factor that still lingers from the remote learning era. The coaches with whom we spoke echoed this sentiment and, since many students have their own gaming systems, participating in school esports remotely is often simple.
Should esports be in schools?
So, in the white paper, which is free to download, we broke down some of the most important things that somebody who may be completely new to esports would need to know. These include more specifics on the benefits of interscholastic esports, how coaches or school administrators might go about starting a school esports team, and both the short-term and long-term benefits that esports can provide to students. We’ve also added efficient and affordable esports equipment on our store, including computers, mice, keyboards, and more. As esports continues to grow in popularity, it can certainly provide value, enrich STEM experiences, and boost social-emotional connections. To learn more about how to incorporate high school varsity esports and more, download our white paper!
Makerspaces in the School Library
Besides esports, another trend that we’ve been in on for a long time is makerspaces in education. If you’re familiar with makerspaces or the Maker Movement, you might know that school makerspaces have unique designs and spring up in many different places. They can also feature high-end technologies, like 3D printers, and no-tech items, like cardboard, tape, and screwdrivers. Whatever is commonly in your school makerspace, there’s a decent chance that it’s located in the library. Some school leaders have turned to librarians to help facilitate innovative learning opportunities. As hands-on learning expands, many school librarians have seen their roles shift to accommodate maker learning and the importance of creativity.
Our makerspace white paper.
To better highlight the value and importance of makerspaces in school libraries, we created a white paper. Focusing on the role that libraries and, more importantly, school librarians and media specialists play in facilitating MakerEd in schools, the white paper provides real value for any educator looking to bring 21st century opportunities to students. Though it's certainly unique, there's definitely a correlation between school librarians and student opportunities for MakerEd. In the white paper, we provide inspiration for leveraging the popularity of the Maker Movement in creating legitimate opportunities. Starting with embracing a maker mindset and the values of maker culture, makerspaces in the school library can be eye-opening for both students and teachers.
Adding makerspace learning to the curriculum.
In the white paper, we talk about how the rapid onset of utilizing library spaces for maker learning has affected both students and librarians as well as the growing number of K-12 maker experiences taking place in school libraries. We also discuss how librarians can leverage a maker mindset and MakerEd tools to create beneficial experiences. Beyond that, we touch on adopting the principles that have propelled the Maker Movement in K-12 education and some of the elements that go into successfully adopting maker education in school libraries. Finally, you'll learn about creating synergy between learning in the classroom and learning in the makerspace or library. For more on creating valuable MakerEd experiences and why the library might be the place to do so, download the white paper.
What to Prioritize in your School Makerspace
Aside from sharing the benefits of librarians facilitating MakerEd opportunities, we’ve also learned a lot about how to build a makerspace. We’ve often said that no two makerspaces are created equal and we certainly do believe that. There are some elements, however, that help educators create inspiring and effective environments in which students can create, invent, and learn. Ultimately, makerspace design comes down to a lot of different factors, like the amount of physical space you have, the technology you already have in place, budget, tech knowledge, and even student interest. Keeping in mind that makerspaces don’t need flashy machines or the latest electronics equipment, in this white paper, we discuss some obvious things—and some not so obvious—that can help you design a great makerspace.
What to put in a school makerspace.
Some tools in school makerspaces are physical and tangible while others can't be picked up or measured. At the top of the list is manufacturing, which involves students using typical maker tools, like 3D printers, to create something tangible. Other items that educators can use to facilitate hands-on learning and problem solving include educational robotics tools—some of which students have to build—and coding kits—which help them boost problem solving, collaboration, and debugging skills. That leads to some of the other effects you can’t necessarily measure. We can, however, certainly tell when things like collaboration and creativity are present. Collaboration is such a huge part of the 21st century workforce and of the Maker Movement. Plus, creativity, of course, helps us all explore innovative approaches and discover new solutions—one of the cornerstones of makerspace learning.
Designing successful MakerEd experiences.
A couple of other elements of a good makerspace include problem solving and productive failure. With all the hands-on exploration, problem solving often comes naturally but, sometimes, students might need a few tries, which is completely fine. That leads us to productive failure. Finding solutions in makerspaces isn’t always necessarily going to yield a clearly “correct” approach or answer. Students often learn a lot through failed attempts, which certainly counts as being productive in our minds. Finally, the last two elements are the opportunity to make something (anything really) and the need for a resource—a skilled and informed member of the school faculty who can help with both project completion and social-emotional stability. To explore these elements more in-depth, set up a chat with our team.
Makerspace Grants and Grant Support
Switching gears from our content, we’d also like to share some of the other ways we can help. One thing that helps enable innovation in education—especially with technology—is the opportunity to apply for grants. We offer our own EdTech grant, awarding $500 of credit to our store for one deserving educator every month. Our grant, of course, is one of thousands available to educators at all grade levels across the country. So, we know that managing grant applications, deadlines, and more can be very time consuming on educators. That’s why we'll also offer support to help streamline the process no matter what grant you’re applying for.
Making grant applications stand out.
When teachers apply for makerspace grants, they have to impress the selection committee while also competing against many other deserving educators. When it comes to differentiating themselves on grant applications and standing out, we can help set those applications apart. So, let’s break this down for you. Essentially, our knowledge of the latest EdTech trends and educational needs helps us make suggestions for applications. Our insights and recommendations can help educators discover new ways to potentially use technology in the curriculum, align lessons to standards, and keep students engaged as they learn vital 21st century skills. Having seen so many ways in which STEM tools benefit students allows us to pass these nuggets on to educators to then use in their applications.
How to get our help.
We encourage educators who are applying for a specific grant or any who have already begun the grant writing process to get in touch with us. Whether you need EdTech product recommendations for if you are selected or help pinpointing the 21st century value of various STEM tools for your application, we can certainly help shed some new light on things. We would begin the process with a conversation to learn about the grant you’re applying for. This helps us gauge your existing EdTech knowledge and capacity for integrating different technologies in the classroom. It also helps us recommend what to include in your application and, hopefully, increase your chances of selection. If this would benefit you or other educators in your school, we definitely encourage you to contact us.
Eduporium Robotics Progression
This final offering we’d love for educators to learn more about is our Robotics Progression Chart. There are so many educational robots available to teachers and students. With this clearly illustrated timeline, we’ve made it easier to learn about which bots work best for teaching students different programming languages and concepts at different grade levels whether in the classroom or in a makerspace. It features 10 of the most popular and effective robotics tools—all of which (except the NAO V6) also have class pack options that come with accessories and even curriculum or STEM lesson plans. Essentially, the chart shows our favorite options starting with early education robotics. Then, there's the elementary and middle school options and our top suggestions for the high school level to wrap things up.
Early education and elementary school robotics.
Though there are only 10 robots on the chart, they're certainly not the only ones we like. If it’s on our store or blog, we find tremendous educational value for using it in the classroom. Talking about these 10, however, the progression starts with Cubetto and Bee-Bot, which are easy enough for students to use as early as Pre-K. These simplistic systems help them explore basic programming concepts with a screen-free approach to learning logic. Next, we have Dash from Wonder Workshop, which is perfect for robotics for elementary students. Its vibrant personality and fun activities help students learn more coding skills through block coding. Then, there’s the Edison Robot, which students can use with or without a screen. Using one of its apps, however, opens up more with block or text coding.
Upper elementary, middle school, and high school.
Moving on, next is the Ozobot Evo with a sweet spot in first through fifth grade. Students can use it without a screen (programming with color codes) and gradually build up to block coding with OzoBlockly. Then, there’s the Finch 2.0, which enables students to try more advanced coding in MakeCode, Python, or Java. Next up, we have Root, which is viable in early education but ideal for upper elementary school. It allows kids to program in three levels: blocks, hybrid, and text. There's also a virtual version kids could use at home without the physical robot. Finally, for high school students, we have the Marty Robot, the Cue Robot and the NAO Robot. With the Cue and the Marty V2, students can try more text coding. Plus, with the NAO, they can learn advanced CS concepts with its specialized Choregraphe software.
If you'd like to learn more about these educational robots and other STEM resources, reach out any time. For the latest EdTech, STEM, and 21st century education news, follow Eduporium on Twitter and Instagram. Like us on Facebook, too, or sign up for our newsletter for our latest product announcements and offerings. If you have an idea for an Eduporium Weekly theme, send us a message on social media or comment below.