Let's Recap FIVE years ago Australia's Chief Scientist published the National STEM Strategy. Two years ago all of the Education Ministers endorsed the Australian Education Council's National School STEM Strategy. Last year the Queensland Government mandated that coding and robotics would be taught to all childrenfrom Prep to Year 10 from 2018. The Australian government has a policy and is providing support for STEM.  Yet as the article We have a national STEM strategy, but what we need is a successful one points out it is actually up to schools to embrace the opportunities that come with this. They make the point that some schools are moving ahead with innovating in the classroom while others are yet to start. All schools need a plan for what they want to do and how they want to do it. There is no one size fits all model so planning is essential. At the top of the planning list is teacher training. There are numerous free online resourcesfunded by the Government and organisations such as Google. Teachers need to be given time or incentivised to up-skill to deliver the new Digital Technologies subject specifically and improve their skills in the other STEM subjects generally. Additionally, lesson plans need to be reviewed to provide students opportunities to develop the 4 Cs - Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Communication. These concerns were addressed in the article STEM education in primary schools will fall flat unless serious issues are addressed.  The failure of schools to properly do this disadvantages our children as they grow up into an increasingly global, competitive and technologically advanced world. Concerned parents who have the means are turning to third party providers to bridge the gap but this means that poor kids are being left behind. Doing STEM at home is an alternative and one worth pursuing. If you are concerned about the pace of change at your school then start a dialogue and ask the school to come up with a clearly defined strategy which has SMART goals.

Share Tweet +1 Pin Forward

Stuff in the News Australian of the Year choice highlights the need to talk about STEM education- The choice of a distinguished scientist as the Australian of the Year for the second year in succession has highlighted the major contribution people versed in science and technology make to our society every day. An article from the Brisbane Times 26 January 2018 Here's the best piece of advice Sal Khan received from Bill Gates - A short video for you to reflect on the question "How does your child feel about maths?" 19 August 2016 7 skills your child needs to survive the changing world of work - Education may be the passport to the future, but for all the good teaching out there, it would seem that schools are failing to impart some of the most important life skills, according to one educational expert. An article from the World Economic Forum4 Sep 2017

Stuff to buy Piper Raspberry Pi Computer Kit -  The Piper computer kit is a great package to build a real, general use computer and electronics programs. *At this point in time I earn no money from any product I list and I am not affiliated with any other company.

Stuff in education We have a national STEM strategy, but what we need is a successful one- Schools need to set aside substantial professional development time for their staff to properly develop confidence and competence in delivering the Digital Technologies subject. An article from the Conversation 2 February 2018. STEM must include focus on literacy, critical thinking as much as hard skills- While much of the focus on STEM subjects has been on teaching students hard skills like coding, soft skills in areas like creative and critical thinking, communication and collaboration are much more important when it comes to producing graduates who are lifelong learners, capable of pivoting amid major changes in whatever career field they choose. An article from Education Dive22 December 2017 Top 5: tech trends in education this year - A blog post on EducationHQ Australia on what technologies could be taking centre stage in education this year. 30 January 2018

Stuff to do Australia Wide 5 Podcasts That Will Change The Way Your Kids See The World (and that you’ll enjoy too) - A list of five podcasts that will entertain your kids and they will learn something along the way! Give a Child the Gift of Science - A great collection of activities you can do at home CSIRO CREST Program - CREativity in Science and Technology. Engage your students with open-ended science investigations and technology projects through the CREST program. - - - Bricks 4 Kidz® | Awesome Fun With LEGO® Bricks  Young Engineers Australia - Provides an engaging, hands-on learning platform using LEGO® and K’nex® assembly kits CoderDojo - A volunteer run programming club Code Club Australia - A global network of coding clubs for kids aged 9 to 11.

Stuff to do in Brisbane Stuartholme STEAM Residential Program - Stuartholme School together with Clearing Skies present the STEAM Residential Program, a three day residential for gifted girls currently in Years 5 and 6. The Residential will be held from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 April 2018. - - - STEM in a Box has ongoing coding, robotics and 3D printing activities Brisbane Library Service has purchased the very flash NAO Robot and is showing it off in various libraries. The Cube at QUT has a number of changing programs.  Brisbane Planetarium - Features entertaining and informative shows for adults and children STEMPUNKS STEM classes for kids in Brisbane STEAMPUNX - Not to be confused with the organisation above! Offers in-school and out of school workshop programs Flying Fox Studios - A studio offering programs in the arts, music and construction areas from babies to teenagers in Brisbane Building Block Studio | Learning Activity Centre in Brisbane For Budding Coders And Engineers Fun Chess Classes For Kids in Brisbane | Chess Mates Red Cat Science | Kids get to do what they can't at school It's Rocket Science School Incursions - Educational and fully interactive project based rocket science incursions for primary and secondary schools in a safe and empowering learning environment.

Adaptive Learning Software

Stuff this week - Adaptive Learning Software Adaptive Learning Software sounds very complex but it just means software that teaches or assesses a student and at the same time learns what they do and don't know and then adapts its questions or exercises to only cover what they need. As a simple example, if the student knows what 2 times 5 is then why keep asking this in subsequent questions. This also ties into a concept known as mastery learning. Consider a test given to three students where the results are 95%, 75% and 50%. All three students "pass" yet one student didn't know half of the content and even the best student had a gap in their knowledge (assuming the exam has been set well). In mastery learning students do not progress until they master 100% of the topic. Adaptive learning software is able to narrow down the gaps and only deliver instruction and assessment for what is yet to be mastered. I highly recommend you watch Salman Khan's Ted Talk Let's Teach for Mastery - Not Test Scores to listen to his view on what is possible and where society could be heading. So you might be thinking well this is all great in theory but actually this is available now! The Khan Academy is providing an adaptive mathematics course for free to help kids all over the world. My kids use this fantastic resource to generally check for gaps in their knowledge but also to reinforce what they are learning at school. I have also recently discovered xtramath.orgwhich focuses on basic math facts and is available from pre-grade 1 through primary. My kids are working their way through this as well. So far I have found them to be engaging and highly beneficial, so much more than the "math games" that the school has suggested they play. Many schools are rolling out 1:1 device programs yet too often they are nothing more than a $1000 pencil. Yet they could be using these with adaptive software such as the two free programs I mentioned above or other paid programs such as Mathletics or Maths Pathway (both Australian companies by the way!). I have little exposure to either of these programs but each will have their strengths and schools should be leveraging these technological innovations to personalise learning for each child and to embrace the notion of mastery learning. So much could be done if schools would do some SMART planning. Is your school using any adaptive software packages? If so, what has your experience been with them?

Share Tweet +1 Pin Forward

Stuff in the news The Engineers of the Future Will Not Resemble the Engineers of the Past - An article from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers online magazine 30 May 2017 "When our grade one students who started school this year leave in 2027, it's going to be a totally different world" - A short talk by Professor Patrick Griffin on the Australian Learning Network

Stuff to buy Scientific Explorer's Mind Blowing Science Kit for Young Scientists - Simple science experiments to whet the appetite. *At this point in time I earn no money from any product I list and I am not affiliated with any other company.

Stuff in education Keeping up with STEM in the classroom - Starting in 2019, teachers in Washington state (USA) will have to document professional development in STEM disciplines. Looking outside comfort zone assists in educators’ growth - An education consultant is currently working on a professional learning development programme for Auckland school teachers of STEM subjects.

Stuff to do Australia Wide Australian STEM Video Game Challenge - For grades 5+.The Australian STEM Video Game Challenge will ask participants to develop games in response to a central theme or idea. Registration open 1 May and submissions close 25 August. Young ICT Explorers -  A non-profit competition, which has been created by SAP to encourage school students to create their best Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related projects. Registrations are OPEN. See the YouTube video here! CSIRO CREST Program - CREativity in Science and Technology. Engage your students with open-ended science investigations and technology projects through the CREST program. Edutech 2017 - EduTECH is the LARGEST education event in Asia-Pac and the Southern Hemisphere. 7-9 June 2017 in Sydney. National Science Week - Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology and thousands of individuals – from students, to scientists to chefs and musicians – get involved, taking part in more than 1000 science events across the nation. 12 - 20 August 2017 - - - Bricks 4 Kidz® | Awesome Fun With LEGO® Bricks  Young Engineers Australia - Provides an engaging, hands-on learning platform using LEGO® and K’nex® assembly kits CoderDojo - A volunteer run programming club Code Club Australia - A network of coding clubs for kids aged 9 to 11.

Stuff to do in Brisbane Robogals Holiday Workshops - Robogals from UQ are advertising for their next holiday sessions in June. Get in quick! (Grades 4+) Robotronica 2017 - Robotronica is a groundbreaking one-day event showcasing the latest developments in robotics and interactive design. QUT's The Cube 20 August 2017  - - - Brisbane Library Service has purchased the very flash NAO Robot and is showing it off in various libraries. The Cube at QUT has a number of changing programs.  Brisbane Planetarium - Features entertaining and informative shows for adults and children STEMPUNKS STEM classes for kids in Brisbane STEAMPUNX - Not to be confused with the organisation above! Offers in-school and out of school workshop programs Flying Fox Studios - A studio offering programs in the arts, music and construction areas from babies to teenagers in Brisbane Building Block Studio | Learning Activity Centre in Brisbane For Budding Coders And Engineers Fun Chess Classes For Kids in Brisbane | Chess Mates Red Cat Science | Kids get to do what they can't at school It's Rocket Science School Incursions - Educational and fully interactive project based rocket science incursions for primary and secondary schools in a safe and empowering learning environment.

The Scientific Method

Stuff this week - The Scientific Method In simple terms studying science is about attempting to understand the world. As it happens kids are naturally curious so they regularly wonder about why things are the way they are in the world. You can foster this interest by encouraging them to use the "Scientific Method" to conduct experiments to answer their questions. The scientific method follows these steps: Ask a question Gather information and observe (research) Make a hypothesis (guess the answer) Experiment and test the hypothesis Analyze the test results Present a conclusion It is a fairly simple process and yet one that can engage and cement understanding of fundamental concepts. So when presented with an assignment from school or homework try and think of a way that you can turn the task into an experiment that is fun to do. Recently my daughter was looking at the properties of materials so we decided to test which ones would catch on FIRE! Small children and burning objects, what could possibly go wrong! It was a great success as she observed how some would burn, some would melt and some would not burn at all. We also videoed the results and were able to play it back in slow motion to see exactly what was happening. From there I showed her how to edit videos and include them in a PowerPoint. It was a fun filled and educational afternoon. So take the next opportunity you have to teach your kids about the Scientific Method, this video from the Khan Academy is a good starting point. Also you can keep your eye out for the various state based and national young scientist competitions. Happy science-ing!

Share Tweet +1 Pin Forward

Stuff in the news Exposing Students Early to STEM Education Inspires Discovery and Innovation in the Future - An article from Newswise 17 April 2017 Robots will wipe out backpacker jobs within five years - This article covers the automation of jobs as well as the slow pace of adoption of coding and robotics into schools. An article from the Brisbane Times 27 April 2017.

Stuff to buy Snap Circuits - Makes learning electronics easy and fun! Just follow the colorful pictures in the manual and build exciting projects, *At this point in time I earn no money from any product I list and I am not affiliated with any other company.

Stuff in education Teachers say major change needed to stop students drifting away from STEM subjects - In an era where children and teenagers are using technology at unprecedented levels, why are they no longer keen to study the subjects that underpin it? An article from ABC Online 2 May 2017 Microsoft thinks Minecraft can help STEM education - Microsoft has announced a new version of Windows, with a suite of programs aimed at promoting coding and collaboration in classrooms. An article from marketplace.org 2 May 2017

Stuff to do Australia Wide Australian STEM Video Game Challenge - For grades 5+.The Australian STEM Video Game Challenge will ask participants to develop games in response to a central theme or idea. Registration open 1 May and submissions close 25 August. Young ICT Explorers -  A non-profit competition, which has been created by SAP to encourage school students to create their best Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related projects. Registrations are OPEN. See the YouTube video here! CSIRO CREST Program - CREativity in Science and Technology. Engage your students with open-ended science investigations and technology projects through the CREST program. Edutech 2017 - EduTECH is the LARGEST education event in Asia-Pac and the Southern Hemisphere. 7-9 June 2017 in Sydney. - - - Bricks 4 Kidz® | Awesome Fun With LEGO® Bricks  Young Engineers Australia - Provides an engaging, hands-on learning platform using LEGO® and K’nex® assembly kits CoderDojo - A volunteer run programming club Code Club Australia - A network of coding clubs for kids aged 9 to 11.

Stuff to do in Brisbane Robotronica 2017 - Robotronica is a groundbreaking one-day event showcasing the latest developments in robotics and interactive design. QUT's The Cube 20 August 2017  - - - Brisbane Library Service has purchased the very flash NAO Robot and is showing it off in various libraries. The Cube at QUT has a number of changing programs.  Brisbane Planetarium - Features entertaining and informative shows for adults and children STEMPUNKS STEM classes for kids in Brisbane Flying Fox Studios - A studio offering programs in the arts, music and construction areas from babies to teenagers in Brisbane Building Block Studio | Learning Activity Centre in Brisbane For Budding Coders And Engineers Fun Chess Classes For Kids in Brisbane | Chess Mates Red Cat Science | Kids get to do what they can't at school It's Rocket Science School Incursions - Educational and fully interactive project based rocket science incursions for primary and secondary schools in a safe and empowering learning environment.