Tag: STEM

Screen Shot from Day of AI Video of teacher with 2 young children in front of a computer
Computer Science, K-12, Teaching Tools

Learn More About AI from MIT (For Free!)

Terri Eichholz

MIT has posted its free materials for the 2023 Day of AI, and I feel like anyone, from children to adults, should take advantage of it. In fact, the home page of the website invites everyone to participate with, “Open to all. No experience needed” as the top. All you need to do is register to get the password, and you don’t have to be an educator.

Even though this isn’t the first year MIT has hosted its Day of AI, I think it might be the most important, considering how discussions of AI have dominated the headlines in the last couple of months. With these resources, for grade K-12, you can step in wherever you feel comfortable and learn more about what AI is and what it isn’t — yet. And if you are an educator, you can help your students to be more informed about this technology that is rapidly growing more and more powerful whether you are interested in using it or not.

In a recent discussion that I had with Socrates, we debated the benefits and dangers of AI. (Okay, it wasn’t really Socrates, just his AI persona on Character.AI.) We both agreed that AI will be dangerous in the hands of those who prize profits above ethics. And we both agreed that there will also be some people who have compassion and greater purposes who will wield AI in the effort to change the world for the better. But the latter is not going to happen if only a small group of people understand the implications of AI. Widespread education is vital in order to apply critical thinking to decisions that may seem to have nothing to do with AI, but could be directly impacted in the future.

Many educators have been visiting my posts on Conker.AI and Curipod because these tools can increase their productivity immensely. If you can take a moment with some of the time you’ve saved using those AI tools, I hope you will consider learning more about AI and guiding your students with these lesson plans, slide presentations, and videos that MIT’s Day of AI provides. There are even tutorial videos for the teachers in case you want a walkthrough. Though MIT is planning to officially celebrate Day of AI on May 18, 2023, you can incorporate these lessons any time (maybe a great idea post-standardized testing?). Still not convinced? Watch their intro video below, and then head on over to their page!

Computer Science, K-12

CoCo for STEAM Co-Creation

Terri Eichholz

If you’re a STEAM educator who considers yourself a pioneer, early adopter, or just someone who loves to try new things, you are definitely going to want to sign up to be invited to try out CoCo by going to this page. Brought to you by a team at MIT in the Lifelong Kindergarten Research Group at the Media Lab (if you’re familiar with Scratch, Makey-Makey, or Lego Mindstorms, then you’ve had the pleasure of appreciating their projects), this new project is going to revolutionize students collaborating with each other on a global scale.

CoCo will allow students to code (block-based like Scratch or text-based like JavaScript), write stories, and create art together on its innovative platform. Children will be able to design their own projects, then publish and share them or work together as they create. The emphasis is truly on collaboration while discouraging comparison, as evidenced by the fact that there will be no individual user profiles, no way to collect likes, and no followers. In the screen shot below, you can see the distinguishing features of CoCo that set it apart from anything else students currently use in the digital realm.

Screenshot from CoCo

It’s difficult to explain the potential of CoCo without showing it, so I encourage you to watch the video below to better understand just how ingenious it is.

For an extremely thorough explanation of the philosophy behind CoCo and its mission, you will definitely want to read this post on Medium by two of team members behind it, Manuj Dhariwal (manuj@mit.edu) & Shruti Dhariwal (shrutid@mit.edu).

I contacted Shruti to see if there is a timeline for getting invited to try out CoCo once you’ve submitted your email to the invite list. Shruti was prompt to respond, saying that invites will be sent out in phases as they want to continue to get feedback from educators before opening it up to everyone.

This is your opportunity to be part of helping to develop a game-changing educational technology tool from practically the ground up. I’ve had the pleasure of involving my students with others over the years (Osmo, Wonder Workshop Robots, Kodable, and more), and it has always been an incredible learning experience none of us will forget. Submit your e-mail now at CoCo so you and your students can take advantage of this opportunity!

flowers petals blooming still life
3-12, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Math

Free March Digital Breakout and More!

Terri Eichholz

Leonardo the Leprechaun is one of my free digital breakouts, and it’s perfect for March. Students in grades 3 and up should be able to do this breakout in 45 minutes or less. Here is a list of all of my digital breakouts. Along that same theme (leprechauns), I also have a free St. Patrick’s Day S.C.A.M.P.E.R. packet available for download as a PDF. You can search on my Downloads page for digital versions or other S.C.A.M.P.E.R. packets. And you can also head on over to my St. Patrick’s Day Wakelet for even more resources for celebrating March 17th.

Click here to learn more about this free Digital Breakout!

Of course, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t the only holiday in March. There’s Read Across America Day (March 2), International Women’s Day (March 8th), Pi Day (March 14), and World Poetry Day (March 21). You can get links to activities for all of these on my March Wakelet.

By the way, the next potential SpaceX launch date is on Thursday, March 2 (Read Across America Day), and if all systems are go, a very special book will be going up to space. The book, Astronauts Zoom, by Deborah Lee Rose, will be read by an astronaut for the Storytime from Space program! Congratulations to her and everyone who is helping to make this happen!

Prompt that says, "Prototype a dog treat launcher using a microcomputer."
3-12, Creative Thinking

Sharpen Stem Activity and Design Generators

Terri Eichholz

I learned about the Sharpen Stem Activity and Design Generators to help with the Design Thinking process during the same #AppleEDULeaderChat where I learned about Susan Maynor’s Imaginariums. The Sharpen Generator tools are web-based, and offer randomized prompts to get you thinking about creating. They are similar to the Protobot tool I wrote about a little over a year ago. Though there are two separate generators — Design and Stem Activities — you could use for Design Thinking, the Stem Activities one is probably has the most potential to be utilized effectively by the readers of this blog.

From Sharpen Stem Activity Generator

As you can see in the image above, you can click on the “New Challenge” button to generate different prompts. You can also lock the parts you like and continue hitting the button for the segment you aren’t quite satisfied with, yet. There are three categories of challenges you can choose from: Inventions, Build and Engineer, and Create and Draw. Once you choose one, you can bookmark it and even set a timer for completing it.

The Design Generator seems better suited for secondary students due to the difficulty-level of some of the terms I generated. Of course, it is actually a tool that can be used by people who design for their professions, so it has some complicated suggestions.

Something else that you might note on the site is that there are STEM Lesson Packs available to download. However, these are not free. They run between $9-$12. I have not previewed them, so can’t offer an opinion about their worth.

I love doing workshops with teachers on Design Thinking, so contact me engagetheirminds@gmail.com if you are interested! For some free downloads that encourage creative thinking, check out my S.C.A.M.P.E.R. packs on the Downloads for Teachers page!

Design creates culture.
Culture shapes values.
Values determine the future.

Robert L. Peters, Graphic Designer & Educator
Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, K-5, Math

Valentine’s Day: Some “Heartfelt” Resources for Teachers

Terri Eichholz

If you’re looking for some “heartfelt” Valentine’s Day resources for teachers, this post has got you covered!

In the process of trying to update and collect my downloadable resources from over 11 years of writing this blog, I decided to start a “store” (located under “Downloads for Teachers” in my top menu) hosted on my website. The purpose of this store is not for me to make money, but to make it easier for teachers to search and filter through my resources. It has been a slow process, and I haven’t worked out some of the kinks. But I think it will be worthwhile eventually.

You do need to create a free login in order download items from the store. The majority of the items are free. However, I’ve decided to sell bundles of items for a low fee, donating $1 out of every $5 earned to teacher projects on Donors Choose. I am slowly removing my items from Teachers Pay Teachers and will eventually host everything I create on my store with the multiple goals of giving teachers easy access to free resources that are good for students and hopefully earning money to give back to teachers who have amazing ideas for which they need funding. Currently, all of my S.C.A.M.P.E.R. resources are available in the store and I am now working on getting my Visible Thinking Routine resources added.

Would You Rather Valentine’s Day Math for Elementary

While working on my store, I recently updated my “Would You Rather Math?” for Valentine’s Day using a cute Canva template. You can download the new PDF here. For the old versions (including Google Slides and PowerPoint), as well as a more detailed explanation, here is the post I originally wrote when I made this resource based on the work of John Stevens and his WYRM website. Want the free Canva template link so you can edit it and make your own? I’ll be posting it in this week’s newsletter, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t already!

[optin-monster-inline slug=”ucd37iq8avktmtawuyih”]

I haven’t had a chance to update and upload this next Valentine’s Day resource to the store, but if you like to give out something other than candy for Valentine’s Day (or any time of the year), these QR Code Coupons that I made way back in 20212 are a cute option to insert into an old chocolate box or into Valentine’s Day cards for your students.

If you are looking for more Valentine’s Day Resources, you can check out my Valentine’s Day Wakelet here.

serious girl in protective mask holding plush toy in mask and showing palm against steps
3-12

3d Toy Shop

Terri Eichholz

I’m home sick today, and of course that leads to me mindlessly scrolling through TikTok videos. Between my interests in education and DIY projects, I supposed that it was inevitable that TikTok would eventually recommend a video from 3d Toy Shop (@3dToyShop) owner Nick Hardman. Using his 3d printers, Hardman makes customized stuffed animals for children who have medical conditions. Outfitted with the same urine bags, PEG feeding tubes and dialysis machines, or other lifesaving accessories their young owners themselves wear, these toys are each one-of-a-kind, and give the patients comfort as well as understanding about the care they are receiving.

@3dtoyshop

♬ original sound – 3dtoyshop

I had that instant adrenaline rush that I often get when I see an idea I could use in my classroom (although I no longer have a classroom) because I frequently preach about engaging students with authentic projects, and I can totally see posing this scenario to them to see if they would like to do something similar. This would be an amazing PBL unit or Genius Hour project.

You can find Nick’s website here. He also has a GoFundMe page because this incredible man is not trying to make money from his specialized toys so he formed a nonprofit instead.

image from BBC video about Nick Hardman’s 3d Toy Shop