Using Makerspaces to start STEM/STEAM

A Makerspace is where students have the opportunity to perform learning. The recent movement in education is for students to not only learn information, but make knowledge. In order to do this, curriculum strategies have changed so that students are taking the information they have learned in the classroom, whether it is math or literacy skills, and applying that information to develop knowledge. There is a big difference between information and knowledge, and 21^st education starts to encourage students to bridge that gap between just knowing facts, to actually using the facts to make and create things.

21^st century education focuses on making students “use” the skills they have acquired in school so that they can enter the real-world with effectiveness. Makerspaces have come into the right century because it has aligned with the use of technology in the classroom. Combining these two ideas, will result in a classroom that reaches beyond the four corners of a classroom and make kids excited about learning. “​The maker movement is about teaching and learning that is focused on student centered inquiry. This is not the project done at the end of a unit of learning, but the actual vehicle and purpose of the learning” Stager, 2016).

Some of the reasons to use Makerspaces are they build perseverance, inspire further investigations, encourages rethinking the concept, teaches basic problem solving, help students focus, engages minds and encourages questions, and provide ways of expression and conversation (Lynch, 2017). All these reasons can be successfully done in elementary school. When young students have the chance to take ideas and be creative with those ideas, the more likely they will successfully able to be creative in higher grades and then in their adult lives.

You may be asking yourself, “Wait, how do I do this in my classroom”. Well, let me tell you. You can start with the type of Makerspace that work best for the students in your classroom, as well as the space in the school. These include portable carts of tools, materials that can be brought into a classroom; space in the school library where the stacks can operate as a lending library of tools; a specific workshop that is dedicated to a Makerspace; using a community space that is used for other gatherings, but you can also use with your students; or a mobile van that can actually travel among school buildings (Types of Makerspaces)

After picking a Makerspace, the tools that can be added to you Makerspace include those in this list (How to Build a Makerspace)

The best part is that Makerspaces can be used in all classrooms and with all students! In general education classrooms, in special education ones, in poor schools, or in richer schools!

References

How to build a makerspace. EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/how-to-build-your-makerspace

Lynch, M. (2017). 10 reasons to create makerspaces in your school. Tech Edvocate. https://www.thetechedvocate.org/10-reasons-to-create-makerspaces-in-your-school/

Stager, G. (2016). What’s the maker movement and why should I care? Scholastic Administrator. https://www.scribd.com/doc/304441023/whats-the-maker-movement-and-why-should-i-care-scholastic?secret_password=kyEP0jjLfIdzj0yGZETw#download&from_embed

Types of makerspaces. Makerspace Resources for K-12 Educators. http://k12maker.mit.edu/types-of-makerspaces.html

Personalized Learning

Teachers have the responsibility to teach to all students. This means providing education to everyone; students deemed “normal” and those labeled with a disability. As a classroom teacher with students of all kinds of abilities and likes and learning capabilities, it is important to know about the ever-morphing technology available to support students. The technology mentioned already in the previous blogs are great for the general classroom to teach to the majority of the classroom, but what about the students that need extra support?

That’s where knowing about the technological tools that can support specific needs comes into play. These tools include:

·      Text-to-speech tools

·      Adapted keyboards

·      Adapted writing tools

·      Hearing aids like cochlear implants

There are of course many more tools that support a student depending on their specific need. The most important thing is that teachers explore their options and use them to support all of them. Special Education has a phrase for this: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) and this is what all teachers must work together to achieve.

Using Specialized Search Tools

There are many tools that can be used to accompany lessons for student learning, while at the same there’s an abundance of tools that can simplify a teacher’s life. There are tools like Google Maps, Trends, News, Books, Finance, and alert. Below is a review of Google Maps.

The pros of using it as a teacher:

·      Teach about Longitude and Latitude

·      Teach digital mapping through a game called Earth Picker

·      Create Smarty Pins; this can easily involve other subjects such as math or language arts

·      Assign students to make their own map

·      Assign students to make a video tour

·      Create a map for your community

·      Create a route to show students the path an explorer or famous person took (like Harriet Tubman)

·      Measure area and distance

These ideas come from Jeff Utecht’s article “10 Ways to Use Google Maps in the Classroom”

These ideas are a great way to start introducing your students to Google, and to show them how to use technology for educational purposes!

Interactivity with Technology within the Classroom

There is a lot of connection between student engagement and overall student learning. “Student engagement is best understood as a relationship between the student and the learning environment” (Martin & Torres, 2000). This includes the school community, the parents, other students, the instruction, and the curriculum. Engagement is three-fold meaning that the teacher must think about ensuring students interact with their learning environment behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively. Additionally, “student engagement is increasingly viewed as one of the keys to addressing problems such as low achievement, boredom and alienation, and high dropout rates” Martin & Torres, 2000).

Engaged students are more likely to stay in school, which means a better chance at getting a diploma and going into the real-world with a better chance to be successful. “students who are motivated by and engaged in learning tend to perform considerably higher academically and are better behaved than unmotivated and un-engaged peers” (Fredricks, Bulumenfeld, & Paris, 2004).

So, since engagement is so important in the classroom, how can teachers achieve this with technology? Listed below are some ways that technological tools can be used to increase active student participation.

1.     Google Forms: This is a way teachers can make quizzes and different assessments for students that are lot more engaging then traditional pen and paper tests. In addition to this use though, Forms can be used to make Google Adventures. This is a virtual way to make a book, or another topic of choice, interactive. More information can be found at https://usingtechnologybetter.com/blog/how-to-use-google-forms-to-make-a-pick-a-path-book/

2.     Google Earth: This tool is part of the Google world that allows teachers to “show” students where something is in comparison to other places. The students can experience what a place actually looks like, both in birds-eye view as well as ground level

3.     Google Maps: This is similar to Google Earth, but Maps can be used to map out a journey that a character or explorer takes. This is another visually appealing way to boost student engagement.

4.     Google Hangouts, Skype, and YouTube Live: All three of these tools are ways for the students to engage with the real world. Either by calling a class across the sea, videoing in a professional, or watching how to do something are all ways that these chat tools can be used.

There is a plethora of other tools to increase student engagement, so I hope after you explore these, you go on to add more into your own classroom!

References

Fredericks, J., Blumenfeld, P., & Paris, A. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concepts, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59-109.

Martin, J, & Torres, A. (2000) What is engagement and why is it important? National Association of Independent Schools. Retrieved April 9, 2020, from https://www.nais.org/Articles/Documents/Member/2016%20HSSSE%20Chapter-1.pdf

Using Technology to Communicate with Parents and Students

Tasks Teachers Must Do as a Teacher... But Where Technology Can Help

As a teacher, there are tasks that we have to, no matter how long you've been teaching or how many tricks you learn to cut time off of grading. There's ways that technology that can help make these tasks a little easier and leave more time for the real reason we all became teachers: the students.

1.     Google Sheets- a way to keep grades. This is a tool that acts exactly like Excel as far as functions and can sort data, make charts from it etc, but the best part is that can be shared with other teachers who might need to see the grades like co-teachers.

2.     Google Classroom- a classroom website. Yes, it is similar to other websites that you can set up for your classroom. You can have it be only you who puts things on it, or have it interactive where students or parents can ask questions or add comments, but again this can be a place where multiple teachers can have access to it so that differentiation can easily happen. And Google Forms (feature of Google that can be formatted to be in assessment form) can be added as well as access to a live calendar operated by Google Calendars. In addition, there can be access from students as far as Google Drive can be easily accessed.

3.     Gmail- the Google email. Again, yes, it is an email. But there are features within it that makes it pretty user friendly. Such as a recall button that allows email to be recalled after sent too soon, or ability to be linked to Google Calendar.

With all this technology, there can be a tendency to still have a heavy workload. One way to manage this is to have a classroom calendar that allows you to easily and efficiently communicate with parents about school dates. Another is to use Gmail to sent up common replies that can be used instead of having to always take time to reply to the same response every time. Gmail also allows you to keep a task list which help keep track of to dos.

I hope some of these tips help:)

Key Features of a Technology Integrated Classroom

There are several key areas to consider when starting on the endeavour of integrating technology into your classroom. Below, are some areas that seems to be passed over, but are important to think about when wanting to do this.

Factor one: Lack of infrastructure for using technology

In order for teachers to fully utilise technology, they need to make sure that the school building actually has the capacity to allow them to do so. If the internet band width is weak, the wiring is not in place, or there aren't enough tools for everyone to use, then the actual use of technology in the classroom will fail. Whether the teacher wants class iPads or just wants to be able to show videos to students in school, there must be the capability to do so. 

So if this is a true want and desire for a teacher, the administration must be made aware.

Factor two: Lack of professional development

One of the reasons that teachers don't want to try technology integration is that they have never been taught how to effectively use different forms of technology. Schools must invest in various ways to get teacher training so that teachers feel comfortable using a tool. 

Factor three: Lack of resources

This factor is similar to the lack of infrastructure. Teachers must have the resources available to them in order to actually integrate technology. Whether a school provides laptops to students or individual iPads, the school needs to figure out a system if teachers are to integrate technology as much as possible.

Factor four: Thinking through classroom management

A big area that teachers tend to forget to think through is how will students use the technology properly. What are the rules? For getting tools out? For putting them away? When are the students allowed to use the tools?

There are many areas that teachers should consider involving the management part of technology integration beforehand.

Factor five: Selecting the tools that will be the most effective

Once the above mentioned factors are thought through, it is time to think about the specific tools that will be used. Maybe the tools are picked for you by the school, like individual iPads. Or maybe you decide what you want for your classroom. But at the end of the day, what will you use? What apps will you use? What can be added to the day that will be effective and efficient and not take away from learning?

The Initial Integration of Technology into the Classroom

You may ask yourself "why should I integrate technology in my classroom"; "I've been teaching for many years now, and technology is just another one of those fads that has been introduced, but it will fade away soon too". Well, if you are thinking along the same lines, following this blog may interest you.

Education has the goal to educate students in order that they may enter life after school with the ability to function well. Technology has become a reality in today's world that can be used to support this initiative. If teachers have the goal of teaching students how to properly function in life, then they need to teach their students how to use technology appropriately and wisely. 

One of the ways in to use a blog in the classroom. A blog is a tool that can affectively encourage students to collaborate on material learned in the classroom, as well as for the teacher to communicate with students on various topics. So the question is how can you practically use blogs in your classroom? Well, one of the first ways is to have a blog just for other teachers to view. In my own experience, seeing how other 5th grade teachers do classroom management, teach fractions, or do centers has been a great asset for me to improve my own teaching. Another way, is to create a classroom blog that your students can view and publish on; students can ask questions and other students can answer, or the teacher can publish a project and the students can see examples. In a sense, a blog can act as a WebQuest.

Another question you might be asking yourself is what is the impact for both teachers and students? At first, the impact might not be seen because there is a lot of initial set-up. Nevertheless, overtime, the classroom can be so changed that students are overly excited for school and the teacher can do more student-centered learning that teacher-centered. The trend towards student-centered learning can continue to be reached and achieved when blogs are used in the classroom.


An additional question that you may ask is are there any potential problems and/or risks with blog use in the classroom? With any new endeavour there is always the potential to have problems. To succeed in this world though, a problem has to be taken head-on and a growth mindset has to be seized. There will be problems with using a blog in the classroom such as internet problems or misalignment with curriculum, but these problems will eventually be taken out and the successes will outweigh the problems. As far as risks, there could be. Like misuse of the blog and not following netiquette, but along with problems these risks can be mitigated and students can be trained to properly use the blog.

May these initial questions be eased and may you wish to continue on to exploring how to use a blog in your own classroom!