Tag: Education Trends

Three Key Elements To Facilitate Successful Maker Learning (or Any Educational Intervention)

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We have written about maker spaces and maker learning in past issues and why we feel it can be an important part of the curriculum. After helping many schools worldwide develop and facilitate maker spaces, our Vice President of Education and maker space expert, Mark Barnett, shares his 3 key elements for successful maker learning.

After starting my own maker space in 2013, a mobile maker space in 2015, and helping dozens of schools worldwide design, use and teach in maker spaces, I have learned quite a bit about what works, what doesn’t, and why. Schools have made great strides in adding maker spaces to their curricula with a growing interest in maker learning. Some of these schools have done a remarkable job, and others have been left wondering what the hype is all about.

I see that maker learning is just one of many education interventions that a school can facilitate. Other education interventions include social-emotional learning, project-based learning, or even curricular products for math and literature.

To implement any of these strategies or interventions successfully, there are usually 3 main factors contributing to the success or failure of implementation. Each of these factors requires thorough commitment, and even if only one area lacks commitment, the whole intervention is likely to fail. 


Here are the 3 key elements of commitment required for maker learning (or any educational intervention):

  1. Commitment to the tool or technology
  2. Commitment to the pedagogy that supports the use of the tool or technology
  3. Institutional commitment to the success of the tools, technology and pedagogy


Commitment to the tool or technology

For the case of maker learning, this means that the school must commit to tools, technologies, and materials that support maker learning. Commitment in this element looks like this:

  • Acquiring the tools and technologies needed in a makerspace
  • Providing the proper use and training of the tools and technologies
  • Ongoing support and maintenance of the tools and technologies
  • Continued training and development of staff using the tools and technologies


Commitment to the pedagogy

Most educational interventions have an accompanying pedagogy that is best suited to support the intervention. For example, maker learning has its own pedagogy that includes tinkering, play, design thinking, and constructionism. Commitment to the pedagogy looks like this:

  • Providing training, support and professional development to teachers
  • Creating work-groups or cohorts of teachers who can spread the pedagogy and help pass along knowledge and training to other staff
  • Sending staff to conferences to attend and present shared knowledge on best practices and strategies
  • Provide access to educational research in the field of the pedagogy to stay current with the evolving understandings and to learn from others


Institutional Commitment

This final element is the most important one and, from my experience, the one element that makes or breaks the success of a maker learning program (or any intervention)

  • Creating a core team of champions who are charged with the success of implementation and are accountable for success
  • A strong team of leadership who truly believes that the intervention has merit and is dedicated to the hard work required to see the success
  • Financial commitment to all of the above mentioned points 

It really is a simple formula to follow, and it is easy to implement once you have thought through each key element. Typically when I work with new schools, we discuss all 3 key elements before deciding to do any work together to ensure that the school is prepared to commit to all 3 areas before any work is done.

Use these 3 keys to help guide you on the successful implementation of any educational intervention. If you want more information or have specific questions about maker learning and maker spaces, please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or by email.

Our Favorite Ways to Boost Student Engagement with Tech

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At BSD Education, we are always exploring new ideas to help boost students’ engagement in the classroom. It is important to boost engagement levels because engaged students are more curious and motivated in any given subject matter. With a growing sense of curiosity and motivation, this can greatly elevate and improve their overall learning achievements and experiences. 

Can we boost student engagement with technology initiatives at schools and districts – for example, with increased computer lab time, 1:1 device programs, etc.? Just by introducing tech tools like smart screens, online quizzes and games will only boost engagement for a little while. What we want is to establish sustainable engagement that has a meaningful impact. 

Technology in the classroom doesn’t have to be a  distraction and burden for teachers. Let’s explore ways to take advantage of our students’ interest in technology as a vehicle for better student engagement. Here are 3 of our favorite ways in boosting student engagement:

  • “What’s in it for me (as a student)?”

Our students want to know how and why the content they are presented with is relevant to them. This concept is not new and has long been associated with social psychology (Frymier and Shulman). As educators, we are on the lookout to connect with students to ensure that their learning is relevant to them. Consider introducing a simple tech project where students can gain practical skills in digital design and coding through online learning projects, such as creating a reading blog, or creating a dynamic adventure game to showcase their understanding instead of a traditional book report. Students will feel accomplished with a new skill that they have practiced and are able to apply in other areas of study.

  • Change it up

When students get familiar and in a routine in your classroom, you might feel that you have your classroom management secured and that your classroom is running like clockwork, but it is also important to try something different from time to time to keep your students interested. You can pique your students’ interests if you introduce a new concept through an interactive tech project (that they can also code and build) instead of a more traditional approach, such as showing them a documentary.

  • Give them choice

Allow students to make a choice in the projects that they do and how they want to learn. When students are given the opportunity to have an active role in their learning, they will feel more compelled to listen, engage themselves and take ownership in their learning. Technology projects may not be suitable or interesting to all students,  but we shouldn’t take away the opportunity for other students to thrive through tech projects. Promote student agency in your classroom by giving tech projects as an option of creative learning and output.

As educators, we should also ensure the content and learning objectives are presented clearly so that the chosen tech activities are meaningful and have immediate value to your students. When it is done right, technology can enhance student interest and understanding, as well as open opportunities for student agency and creativity.  

What strategies do you use to spark your students’ engagement and interest in their learning? Let us know by tagging us at @educationbsd on Twitter or find us on Linkedin.

The Biggest Trend in Tech Education This Past Decade Isn’t Even About Tech

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Looking back over the last ten years of trends and movements in K-12 Education, we have seen a rise in new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Coding, Robotics, and Makerspaces, with a heavy emphasis on building student agency with tech skills. 

However, the trend that has evolved over the last ten years doesn’t even involve tech. Instead, it is Social-Emotional learning, empathy, and what many call “soft skills development.” You may have even seen a shift to social-emotional thinking in your schools with mindfulness programs, empathy-building projects, or school-wide behavior management programs that focus on restorative practices. 

This past December, we attended the Transforming Education Conference for Humanity at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development in India and heard from experts worldwide who were implementing and practicing ways to develop social-emotional learning for students and teachers.

One of the main takeaways from the conference was that by introducing social-emotional learning to students, many institutions had reported overall positive results. These included better academic performance, improved attitudes, behaviors, relationships with peers, a deeper connection to the school, fewer delinquent acts, and reduced emotional distress (student depression, anxiety, stress, and social withdrawal).  

While at the conference, we spoke to Dr. Tara Lynn Fraiser, who researches and develops K-12 social-emotional learning programs at Emory University in collaboration with the Dalai Lama. She described the importance of providing opportunities for social-emotional learning to be as vital as the development and acquisition of academic knowledge and skills. She also spoke about how social-emotional learning programs can help deter anxiety and stress in the classroom for both the teacher and the students.

A common theme that we heard at the conference was that teachers also need to develop these skills to help facilitate more profound connections. Many social-emotional programs like those set at Emory focus on developing the capacity for the teacher. Teachers, take note! Don’t feel bad about taking that extra time for yourself at the spa, gym, or lounge.  

While at the conference, we were able to see evidence of social-emotional learning at work by hearing students speak at various panel discussions, workshops, and poster sessions. We met three young engineering students from a school in Visakhapatnam (India) who had been working on a semester-long project to use empathy as a way to solve problems in their local community. They met with local farmers to learn about issues with irrigation and planting and then made prototypes of technologies like remote digital soil moisture monitors and robots that could help the farmers with seed propagation.

By focusing on understanding the farmers’ problems through empathy, the students could design solutions that effectively compassionately solved the issues. Developing empathy like this has been made famous in tech education through using the Design Thinking Method, which starts with empathy as a foundation for understanding the need of people along with a social or technical problem.

We at BSD believe in developing social-emotional capacity and feel that social-emotional learning should fit together with any skill development. Therefore, our team has designed all of our curriculum around our philosophy of CARE. We want to grow students to be:

Curious – always seeking to learn new things.

Adaptable  – never afraid to try something new.

Resilient – willing to start again and learn from challenges.

Empathetic – thoughtful about how their technology impacts the world.

The CARE philosophy baked into our curriculum helps students develop the right mindset to solve complex problems. We help students develop self-esteem, empathy, and skills they need to shape their futures by carefully designing lessons that require students to ask difficult questions, reflect on their learning and think about solving big problems. Our CARE philosophy also extends to teachers’ needs by providing comprehensive lesson notes, guided practice, and even professional development. However, you will have to get your spa package for that extra level of self-care.

We recommend this getting started guide if you are new to social-emotional learning or want to learn more. Feel free to create a chat with me at @BarkMarnett on Twitter or email me at mb@bsd.education to talk about Social Emotional learning or anything on Education!

The Evolution of Technology and Education – Full

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Technology has become ubiquitous and intrinsic to every aspect of life. However, rather than the demands of what we need to create, it is the impact of what has been created that is driving change. Automation is the singularly most defining influence of technology in the workforce moving forward over the next 50 years. In this article I am not going to further define the potential stages of automation and its relationship with the evolution of machine intelligence and beyond. Simply put, automation is the means through which roles traditionally undertaken by humans have the potential to be replaced by technology. In theory, we will have the technological capability to replace all roles, but this is diminished in terms of both time and realization when you simultaneously consider implementation and validation, economics, and socio-political considerations.

What we are seeing now and will continue to witness in the coming decade is that automation is replacing the most sequenceable and repetitive tasks and is therefore changing the relationship of the person doing that job with their industry. This means that if the person does not evolve their skill set, then their value to the economy is diminished.

At the same time, we are seeing that roles requiring significant managerial, judgement and interpretation capacities are furthest from the sphere of automation so in essence are becoming increasingly valued. The breadth of data interpretation and implementation of technology that has to be  overseen and led at a managerial level is, however, dramatically increasing the necessary digital skill set requirements of this group.

Existing roles in the workplace, having been pushed up and down have left behind a need for workers to take on enhanced roles with different skill sets. My illustrative situation here is a manual laborer, previously working on a production line whose manual role has been replaced by a robot. The laborer, however, has a wealth of experience as to how the production line works and how different issues that occur on the production line will have an interdependent effect on other areas of the production process. The laborer now oversees a group of machines that do his / her former role monitoring data and information, making adjustments to production and communicating with the humans in other parts of the process to be aware that all the machines are operating in the optimal fashion to facilitate production. 

Whilst the laborer’s work is still based upon the knowledge of production, the skills through which the laborer now works involve data analysis and interpretation, critical thinking, and communication and collaboration with coworkers. This example is deliberately simple in this situation in reference to a single laborer. As we progress up the scale of seniority in companies, we will find that the range of technical capabilities held by an individual or understood by and individual as being present within their broader team will become increasingly demanding.

Aligning to this, McKinsey’s study from May 2018 illustrated the effect that skill shifts will have in the way that people use skills during their working time.

So what does all of this mean for schools and broader educational institutions in their capacity as organisations that contribute pivotally in preparing people to join the world of work? It means that the development of social and emotional skills and technology skills is a critical part of learning for students. It is simply not possible to continue to consider that educational needs of people are being met where traditional systems of education are failing to prepare students with technology and social emotional readiness as a forefront consideration in the ongoing development of educational programs. 

Considering the real world implementation of these skill sets as illustrated above, where educational institutions focus on implementing educational technology and technology education programs across schools they should be doing it with the development of “digital skills” in mind. So what does this mean?

I see digital skills as a more broadly defined skill set than hard technology skills alone encompassing technical skills, soft skills and values in a combined model as below. The world of technology is colossal and evolving quickly and is therefore becoming exponentially more complex than an individual can grasp on an ongoing basis by themselves. The technical skills a student learns at schools won’t be the same required 20 years into their careers which is why it is important to focus on transferable skills and values. 

It is really important that educators allow a range of experiences for learners to find the area of technology that is their strength and their passion, something that they will have a willingness to follow, be curious about and learn resiliently for the rest of their lives as it continually evolves. At the same time, developing the empathy to recognise the strengths in others that students can collaborate with, and valuing where they cover the gaps in what students themselves lack will be critical to be adaptable to challenges that arise.

It is important to note here that there really isn’t a right answer when it comes to selecting particular technologies like programming languages or software a learner will be exposed to. There are always a number of technologies available, the merits of which can be argued for or against. What I have recognized in observing what students achieve and how they apply what they have learned around the world is that the ability to create content, understand design and user experience, and analyze and interpret data really become the key abilities that are most critical to nurture.

My final comment on the evolving role of technology education revolves around the planning of the learning journey. So much of digital skills education is implemented on a piecemeal basis – short activities off the shelf without progression or interdisciplinary relationships properly considered. This would not be the case in the teaching and learning of mathematics or science and so should not be the case for digital skills. It does pose a greater challenge to educators as an area of learning that is not as well understood as the learning of more traditional subjects and enquiries. However, given that the world of work will not wait, technology is evolving ever faster and not to become any simpler, the longer that such effort is delayed and addressed, the higher the mountain to climb will become.

Whether introducing a young child to learning with and about technology for the first time, or re-skilling an adult learner, you must initially build confidence and self-awareness. I refer to this as the “primary” phase, although it is age agnostic, as all learners are generally coming to the learning of digital skills for the first time. This is the phase to experiment and discover interests, as broad a range of applications of technology as possible and a tool kit of projects that the learner is confident and able to re-use regularly.

The second, “middle” phase is the time to deepen understanding of both the learner’s own skills and abilities that have become most refined and interesting, as well as those of the peer group around them. It is notable that for community based learners, the library commons movement is promoting the capability of library spaces as enablers of circulation of individuals within them. The practice of networking amongst people is an excellent key to communication.

The final phase, that I call the “higher” phase, is really the point in learning at which the portfolio of work begins to turn towards demonstrating capability in relation to real or fictitious scenarios of the world of work. 

As digital skills are largely uncertified and untested, they are most effectively demonstrated by sharing what you can create within a portfolio of work. This gives everyone an incredible opportunity to show their skills as value is placed on what you can do rather than where the skills were learned or how the person performed on one test. 

Technology is driving the changing state of the workforce and the skill shifts across industries that are accompanying this. The change is already here which should compel educational systems to robustly and immediately implement digital skills learning that will prepare people at all career stages to be successful because of change not incase of it. 

Whilst job automation might appear daunting, and will certainly require adaptation at all levels, it by no means tolls a deathly bell for humans in the workforce. Economically and socially, countries need the humans and the machines producing side by side.

The learning process for digital skills requires reflection on, understanding of, and empathy for others. The judgements, considerations and interactions that define us most strongly and clearly as humans are what will most enduringly be of greatest value to us in an automated world. So perhaps in light of all of this, the greatest impact of technology in both the world of work and of education will eventually simply be to make us focus on and value what it is that makes us most human after all.

How Schools Are Encouraging Students Be Career-Ready

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During the 2019-20 academic year, any high school will likely discuss students’ career-ready IT skills. Hundreds of teachers say connecting digital projects to real-world results and career-ready skills is an important rising trend in education.

As educators, we understand that real-world application is a key factor for engaging students with any course material. We‘ve observed that students who can demonstrate critical thinking and technical skills through real-world outcomes are more likely to succeed when applying to higher education or an important entry-level role within the workforce. 

So how can schools deliver real-world experiences to students in a classroom setting? Let’s take a look at some of the ways BSD’s partner schools are achieving this today.

Students as In-House Tech Support

Several school partners have revealed that student-led teams are presently servicing some of their IT needs this academic year. At Barringer STEAM Academy, a cohort of seniors are becoming career-ready in their free time. The self-proclaimed “Geek Squad” spend designated class periods updating printer drivers, troubleshooting Smart Boards, and administering tablets. As a result, these students gain real-world experience while freeing up their IT staff to focus on critical services.

To help reduce the IT department’s workload, one school set up a student-monitored online ticketing system for school employees. In addition, the BSD team is presently working with two more schools to create online ticketing systems using the BSD Online Platform. These projects empower students to use the technical skills they learn in class to solve real problems for others.

Business Partnerships

Another approach to this trend that has been gaining momentum is developing partnerships between schools and local businesses. Of course, these relationships can vary from school to school, but we’ve seen success in a couple of specific forms:

One method is to help students find new talent for internships and full-time careers by providing tools. For example, ask a medium to big technology companies nearby if they have a community service program for their employees. Employees can mentor high school students who may not be aware of local employment prospects.

An authentic collaboration between students and local businesses is a BSD partner school connecting students with local small businesses to offer essential digital services. For example, teams of students helped build and maintain basic websites for small businesses with limited resources to reach customers online. Not only are they solving a real problem for small businesses, but students are also building a portfolio of career-ready work for post-high-school success.

Students in Leadership Roles

A school-based leadership program can give chances for students who lack access to real-world corporate partnerships. For example, two of BSD’s partner schools, String Theory Schools and the Pathway School, operate student-run cafes. This teaches students business skills, from customer service to handling payment, sourcing the raw material, and managing the online presence.

Teachers at Downey High School in California have found a new way to provide seniors leadership experience. This year, they’ve launched a unique enrichment program. A team of seniors is empowered to teach coding skills to younger students through a Video Game Development course. This format put students in the teacher’s role and was a  great way to build confidence and communication skills that prepare them for life.

Directly Transferable Technology Skills

Finally, you can prepare students for career opportunities by teaching technology skills directly transferable to the workplace. BSD’s curriculum uses text-based coding languages from website developers and software engineers to data scientists and app designers. As a result, our students’ projects are based in the real world, and students can apply their conclusions to real-world challenges.

Are you a teacher or school administrator that would like to ensure that your students have the technology skills they need to be college and career-ready? Then, feel free to reach out to BSD Education. We’ll help you prepare your students for the ever-changing challenges of tomorrow and help them build digital portfolios that will follow them into their future ambitions.

Inside The Professional Development Journey

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Professional Development (PD) training has played a key role in the rollout of Technology Education into schools across the world.

Since 2018, BSD Education has helped over 1000 teachers at 160 schools in 11 countries with our professional development.

When it comes to effectively integrating technology education into all classrooms, we have identified three hurdles that teachers normally face:

Confidence: Most teachers don’t usually have a background in technology, so can see it as risky and unfamiliar.

Content: Technology is constantly changing. which means that your curriculum can quickly become outdated and will require more time to redevelop.

Community: Teachers don’t have a large and accessible community of practice or peers to learn from and share ideas.

The objective of our PD training is to help teachers overcome these hurdles. Our trainings give teachers the skills and confidence they need to implement the TechEd curriculum seamlessly in their classrooms.

Our Foundation Professional Development training is six hours, delivered in person or virtually, and emphasizes the method of “learn by doing”. We apply this by having the training split across the school year to create a learn-apply-reflect-learn model.

After the first training, the teachers teach their first lesson and give their feedback and reflections to the instructor.

Not only does this guide the next PD lessons as we learn more about them and their methods, it also helps teachers identify the gaps in their knowledge and skills to specifically work on them.

After a few lessons, teachers can then focus on deepening the integration within their classroom without added stress.

Our journey with the teachers doesn’t end after PD lessons. We also communicate with our teachers throughout the year through offline events, online webinars, and regular coaching support.

After the PD training is done, our team works with the teachers one on one or in groups to learn more about their new approaches to the implementation of technology education in the classroom. This includes their successes and challenges.

Where there are challenges, we address them by providing support and further training if needed.

We share success stories with other teachers within the school and with other partner schools so they can be similarly inspired to tackle similar challenges they may face in their classrooms.

Through our professional development training, we aim to maintain a regular human connection with all our teachers across the world and help them bring exciting and new knowledge, skills, and technologies into their classrooms.

If you would like to learn more about our PD training or would love a sneak peek, please write to me at mq@bsd.education and I’d love to discuss it!

5 Tips We’ve Picked Up From Leading Virtual PD

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As more schools adopt BSD Technology Education programs, our team continues to innovate with high-quality virtual PD training for our teachers. Video conferencing enables our instructors to facilitate professional development sessions with teachers and accommodate busy schedules worldwide. However, virtual training comes with its own unique challenges. Here are some of the best tips that we’ve picked up after hundreds of sessions with thousands of teachers.

Welcome and Follow Up Emails

The communications that bookend virtual training are crucial opportunities to build trust and set expectations. Before every virtual session, BSD sends each teacher a welcome package, instructor bio, and a personalized PD agenda. Providing participants with the “who,” “what,” and “why” of training helps kick start solid relationships. These small gestures demonstrate that we respect teachers’ busy schedules and use our time together productively.

Once the virtual session is complete, a follow-up email is sent out containing a summary of the covered material. Follow-up communication is critical for verifying goals, reenforcing new knowledge, and outlining the next steps.

Show Face

One of the biggest challenges with virtual PD is creating a relationship between the instructor and participants. To be most effective, the instructor must use their camera in addition to audio, no exceptions! Our body language and expressions allow teachers to connect with instructors and more accurately interpret the lesson material.

Along with the camera, the instructor must be ready in the following aspects:

  • Attitude – The instructor is excited from start to finish and passionate about the material.
  • Environment – The instructor is in a setting with minimal background distractions, good lighting, where they will not be interrupted.
  • Wifi Connection – If the teacher cannot see or hear clearly, the training will not be effective.

Continuous Engagement

As a virtual instructor, it can sometimes feel like you’re playing in an empty room. However, our instructors keep teachers engaged throughout the session by asking questions that teachers will answer with confidence.

Ex. Prompting participants with directions such as “go ahead and click that button and let me know what happens.” Answering questions like these can build confidence for the teacher and help hold everyone accountable to follow along.

When leading 8+ participants, the chat log becomes an important tool as people are often hesitant to speak up when they know others are listening. For large webinar-style training with 20+ attendees, we recommend dedicating a second team member specifically to manage the chat.

Don’t underestimate the power of short breaks every 90 minutes to allow teachers to refuel and refocus!

Prepare Prepare Prepare

A successful virtual PD session is made in the days and hours before the live training begins. Even a slight hiccup can make the difference between an audience who is engaged or disconnected from your message.

We recommend pre-registering teachers for any accounts they may need before training and setting up those accounts with everything they’ll need before starting. At BSD, this means creating classrooms with demo students preloaded with relevant curriculum.  

Additionally, ensure that all browser tabs and supplementary documents you will need are on hand and organized. It’s also a good idea to ensure that your computer desktop is neutral and organized.

Record the Session

Professional development sessions are recorded to the cloud for two important reasons. First, it’s imperative to have an internal record of the session for training and quality control purposes. Second, recordings are a great resource for the teacher cohort to refer to when they want to review the material.

We use Zoom video conferences at BSD, which allows us to record to the cloud.

We want to know your thoughts on effective virtual PD. Have you run them yourself? What techniques have you come up with to connect with your attendees? Connect with us on social media or via email to share your virtual training experiences.

5 Things We Learned From Running Our Own Makerspaces

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The interest in educational makerspaces has seen an explosive growth over the past few years; you can now find them all over the world: in schools, museums, libraries and even in local garages. As a makerspace educator I can testify that these unique spaces provide transformational opportunities for students to get hands-on with learning while picking up new skills. If you are thinking of starting one, or already have one, I have some great advice from my experience. Here are the top five lessons I’ve learned from my experience in designing, maintaining and teaching in makerspaces.

  • Define Your Purpose

When I work with schools that want to start a new makerspace, we start with a school team to help them define a vision and purpose of the makerspace. Some schools want a fully integrated curriculum-driven space, some want an afterschool space, and others just want to focus on robotics. Once you define the purpose of the space, you can start to think about the tools, materials and physical layout of the space. There is no right or wrong way, you just have to design for what is best for your school. If you don’t know where to start, then I would suggest to visit a few makerspaces and look at different spaces. You can even visit professional makerspaces and hackerspaces. Here is another article that I wrote about defining the purpose of your makerspace.

  • Tools not Toys

Once you define the purpose of your space, you will need to think about what tools will be needed. I have found that a wide variety of hand tools and basic tools are more essential than big expensive equipment like laser cutters and 3D printers.  In order to facilitate a safe space with your chosen tools, it is vitally important to stress a safety protocol with tool usage that includes safety demonstrations and tool practice time. In my space, we allowed grade 1-4 students to start using full size hand saws, cordless drills and hammers after tool training and safety demonstrations. Our motto was always to treat materials and equipment like tools, not toys to create a safe space for all.

  • Accessibility

The school that I worked with in Hong Kong was an inclusive school that hosted learners with a wide range of skills, ability and height. Make sure to think about accessibility for all of your students as you design your space, keeping in mind things like table height, loud tools in one area and ease of movement around the space. Also, make sure to have a range of different sized protective gear like goggles, gloves and aprons.

  • Sustainability

A makerspace will need many different types of raw materials to work with, from wood, pvc, cardboard, plastic, sheet metal, styrofoam and others. Try to find a local vendor who can supply your material needs that can hopefully provide bulk orders and delivery to your campus as a bonus. The cost of restocking materials can start to add up quickly, so I recommend that you re-use as much as you can. When we would design something like a large wooden scale model, I would always ask the students to design it in a way that we can repurpose, use forever or disassemble and use the parts for another project.

  • Purposeful Play 

The Lego Foundation has been publishing research on constructionism-based play-pedagogy for years and I find it to be absolutely essential reading material for any makerspace teacher. I think that a makerspace can be a valuable space to bring learning to life that is curriculum driven, and at the same time fosters exploration, creativity and fun in learning,  as long as they are safe with the tools. This goes for the adults and teachers who are in the space as well, sometimes you’ll just want to play!

No matter what kind of makerspace you have or what kind of tools and materials you have, these lessons learned are sure to spark a conversation with your team. If you have any tips or lessons learned, we would love to hear those too!

Bonus:

Here are 2 invaluable resources that I highly recommend for any makerspace:

Fab Foundation Lesson Plans, classroom-ready lessons designed by makerspace teachers all over the world

Meaningful Making Books -free pdf download that includes lessons designed by k-12 FabLearn Fellows

Passionate Teaching: How to Inspire Students

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What do you remember most about the teachers you encountered in your school days? There might have been the one joke your philosophy teacher made about Immanuel Kant in Grade 11 that still makes you laugh decades after. Or your English teacher who encouraged your Grade 12 class to get through some challenging literature pieces by allowing you to take a chance to connect with it through culturally relevant comparisons. Maybe your Grade 7 science teacher started their lesson by engaging the class in reviewing a recent sci-fi movie. These three teachers are linked by how they care about students’ success in their subject area. They can see the relevance in enhancing their lives – they want students to care genuinely! As a result, these teachers usually like to listen closely too because their passion is infectious.

What makes a passionate teacher?

Effective and memorable teachers are keen to spread positivity and genuinely enjoy teaching and engaging with students. In addition, they are reflective, open to change, and always welcome new ideas. But with all these great qualities, there is one joint driving force behind it – the passion for what they do. 

Robert Fried defines passionate teaching in his book The Passionate Teacher: A Practical Guide (2001) as “someone in love with a field of knowledge, deeply stirred by issues and ideas that challenge our world, drawn to the dilemmas and potentials of the young people who come into class each day — or captivated by all of these.” 

In Alfred Thompson’s post “Why Passion is Important for Teachers” (2007), he observed how a teacher’s passion is a powerful driver of student outcome and performance in the class. Thompson followed the progression of a mathematics teacher assigned to teach a computer science class. The teacher was experienced, but the lack of enthusiasm in computer science dampened the course’s learning. Thompson also mentions that passion is not something we can fake. 

Then what can educators do if assigned to teach something they’re less passionate about in class? Luckily, passion is something that educators can cultivate.

Just get started – be inspired!

Passionate teaching might be difficult but try starting with simple things such as searching about a topic area. You might be surprised and find something you connect with. You can also watch some Ted Talk videos or podcasts about the subject area to get inspired. 

Find a community

Talk to teachers who are enthusiastic about the subject you are trying to get passionate about. It is helpful to see the subject through another teacher’s eyes. This technique is powerful, as you will find new approaches to passionate teaching that you can try in your classroom. In addition, you can try to see how the teacher sees their subject as relevant to the students’ future. You may also find great communities online in Facebook Groups and especially Twitter under #edchat!

Try new approaches in your own professional development

It is unnecessary to reinvent the wheel when teaching a new subject that you are unfamiliar with. Many educators in your local community share tried and tested classroom approaches. Additionally, you can find relevant workshops, events, or social gatherings organized for teachers through a simple Google search. These resources allow educators to exchange ideas in new teaching areas such as Tech and Computer Science.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. Hopefully, they will also get you excited about the new challenges that may be ahead this coming academic year!  Follow us on social media to see upcoming teacher events, ideas, and tips to enhance your classroom. 

If you have any ideas, recommendations,  thoughts, or questions, please get in touch with us at ey@bsd.education, and I would love to speak more about Passionate Teaching.

Code Is: Your Voice

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EdTech Tools for the Classroom

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In today’s digital age, an increasing number of schools are recognizing the value of introducing non-traditional learning tools in the classroom – namely, digital and “educational technology” (EdTech) tools. This list includes online learning platforms, mobile devices, web services, even AR (augmented reality)/VR (virtual reality), and more! 

Introducing EdTech in the classroom doesn’t mean relying on technology to teach a lesson for you. Rather, it is incorporating them in such a way that allows you to deliver lessons that enhance student learning and engagement. EdTech also helps students foster valuable, career-ready digital skills, all while learning at school. Embracing technology as a learning tool opens up a vast array of possibilities, especially when teaching curriculum and organizing classroom activities. For example, some students may struggle with the traditional, lecture-based classroom structure. Still, technology offers various approaches to teaching course material and helps to create more fun, dynamic, and social learning environment. 

Let’s look at a few popular examples of EdTech tools used in the classroom.

Gamifying Student Learning

Gamification uses game design and mechanics to promote student engagement and participation.

EdTech tools like Classcraft, GradeCraft, and Rezzly transform your lesson material into a class-wide adventure game. Your students can create their characters and work with their classmates to complete quests! Instead of earning grades such as “A” or “C,” students can earn experience points and badges to level up. Instead of traditional assignments, teachers can transform classroom tasks into “quests” that help students gain experience points and badges.

Using gamification EdTech software means that set-up, management, and assessment are taken care of for you. As a result, you can avoid the headache of creating every element you would need for gamifying your classrooms, such as quests, rewards, challenges, leveling, and progress-tracking.

Game-based Learning

Not to be used with gamification, game-based learning uses games as a direct source of learning material. We recommend embracing games as an EdTech tool by using them as a direct source of course material.

Tools such as Kahoot, Quizizz, and Socrative allow teachers to create interactive trivia games to reinforce or revise course material. After making a game, teachers can use quizzes as a classroom activity by displaying the game questions on a display. Students can use any device to “sign in” to the game to choose their answer and compete against their classmates.

Teachers will visualize, display, and track analytics in real-time, such as the number of participants, high score, question time, and live progress. In addition to trivia games, many game-based EdTech tools also allow teachers to create interactive questionnaires, discussions, and surveys. 

Creation and Collaboration

Brainstorming, collaboration, and communication can all be made more accessible with tools such as Padlet and Buncee. These EdTech tools are like virtual “bulletin boards” where students can create various projects, such as a storyboard, mindmap, flowchart, bulletin board, scrapbook, newspaper, discussion forum, and more! Additionally, students can add text, multimedia (e.g., videos, images, music, etc.) and invite others to collaborate on a project together.

Other ideas include hosting a live collaboration lesson where students can add their comments to your board in real-time or brainstorming ideas for a group project together.

Implementing EdTech tools in the classroom helps increase students’ digital literacy and fosters valuable digital skills like computational thinking. These tools help them prepare for the future and are all high in demand in today’s job market.

Integrating technology into the classroom can impact student learning in many ways. Echoed wholeheartedly in this article by Top Hat, this sentiment argues that technology has its limits. However, integrating it into the classroom increases learning outcomes, student engagement opens up education beyond the confines of a classroom. It offers many ways for students to interact with course material.

If you’d like to find out more about non-traditional learning tools, you can email us at info@bsd.education.

Code Is: Your Voice

Try Code Is Your Voice today with 6 free coding projects to start building something different today!

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Contact our team and we’ll show you how we can transform your tech curriculum and get your students ready for what’s next.   

 
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