Education trends come and go but we sure hope these stick around!

  1. Block Coding. We LOVE the simplicity of block coding and truly believe this trend will open doors for both students and corporations. Block coding allows students (and professionals) to quickly program a piece of technology to complete a task(s). Any command you can think of “flip backwards”, “follow line”, or “flash light” can be easily accessed and programmed. Block coding allows students to quickly program drones and bots to conquer tasks, which is necessary given the time restraints of classes and makerspace visits (30-90 minutes). We are using Drone Blocks with this drone. You can demo it at FETC with us! We will have an education expert as well as an engineer present to answer any questions you may have about coding and drones.
  2. Growth Mindset. Students absolutely have to believe they can continue to learn and refine STEM skills if they are going to stick with STEM all the way through high school AND into college. You can read all about growth mindset in STEM here.
  3. High School STEM. We lose a lot of students interested in STEM when they move into grades 10-12. The lack of curriculum, supplies, teachers, and overall interest can be blamed. There are thousands of curriculums and activities for grades k-8 but STEM is lacking in grades 9-12. Here is a STEM kit perfect for grades 9-12 that lasts an ENTIRE SEMESTER. The kit is based on a murder mystery and involves intensive forensic evidence analysis, including data analysis using Excel.

 

Xandy Whitman

www.practicaleducator.com