Recent articles
6 ways to personalize learning with flexible seating
02/17/2017
Topics: Learning spaces, Makerspaces, Personalized Learning
Putting students at the center of learning takes a double commitment. One to ensure that instruction and learning address distinct student needs, interests and aspirations, and one to provide spaces that support a student-centered program.
It also…
What happens when kids make their own makerspace?
01/31/2017
Topics: Coding & robotics, ISTE Conference & Expo, Makerspaces
It began as a donated box of K’nex set out on a library table.
Students started tinkering. Librarian Diana Rendina started asking questions.
Bit by bit, the makers who came in helped her decide what to add next: Snap Circuits. Legos. Rotating craft stations.…
Game Day: Playful PD for teachers and students
11/15/2016
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, Digital Citizenship, Digital storytelling, Gamification, Literacies, Makerspaces, professional learning, Robotics, Standards, STEM & STEAM
Much like school itself, professional development days are often regarded as a waste of instructional time. But what if PD days could be fun and effective for both teachers and students?…
8 questions to ask before creating a makerspace
09/01/2020
Topics: Makerspaces
You wouldn’t just randomly choose a tool from your toolbox and feel confident it was the right one to cut a board or attach a hinge. Same goes for school makerspaces.
Like everything in ed tech, it’s not enough to have a bunch of shiny gadgets in your makerspace. You need to have the…
7 STEM tools you can use for any subject
04/30/2019
Topics: Makerspaces, STEM & STEAM
Exposing students to STEM experiences can be an extremely engaging and effective way to foster the skills they will need in a global,…
5 things coding teaches the youngest learners
10/06/2016
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, Makerspaces
One day soon, computer science will be a required course at all U.S. high schools. That concept has school technology associate Trish Cloud thinking about how to prepare even her youngest learners for their future.
“If I can show K-5 students that coding is fun, that…
Let distracted students make DIY fidgets with 3D printers
10/13/2015
Topics: Makerspaces, STEM & STEAM
What kid doesn’t like to play with toys? And what kid wouldn’t like to play with toys in school?
More teachers are discovering that, rather than a distraction,…
4 easy ways to fit maker activities into your curriculum
10/09/2015
Topics: Makerspaces, Project-based learning, Robotics, STEM & STEAM
If student engagement equals deeper learning, then making school fun might just be the key to improved learning.
Imagine the looks on students’ faces when you tell them that today, right there at school, their job is to become toymakers. Once they get over the shock, they’ll be…
Dale Dougherty: Next stop for making? Classrooms everywhere
09/22/2015
Topics: Makerspaces
Making has finally made it in education.
The grassroots movement that inspires learning through tinkering, trial and error, and problem solving is finally taking hold in classrooms around the…
Turn your classroom into an active learning environment
09/03/2015
Topics: Learning spaces, Makerspaces, Mobile learning
When an approach to learning and teaching earns a nickname or two, that’s often a sign the approach has worn out its welcome and is being replaced with a more relevant method.
Such is the case with “sit and get” or “sage on the stage,” the teaching method that chains…