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Harness the Power of Virtual Makerspaces to Create Equitable Access to STEAM!

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Colorado Convention Center, Mile High Ballroom 4EF

Explore and create: Deep-dive Creation lab
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Presenters

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HMS SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY
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Computer Science & Design Thinking STEAM Teacher/ Systems Admin/Technology Coordinator
Saint Raphael School
@twitter.com
@kmsdiscoveries
With over 25 years of dedication, I'm passionate about computer science, STEAM, and inclusive Makerspace education. I've taught inner-city students in summer school CS Career exploration, fostering a love for Computer Science. Proficient in 3D and Makerspace education, I integrate design thinking for creative problem-solving and engage in curriculum development. I contribute to the K-12 Offshore Wind Energy Project Advisory Panel, advocating for sustainability education. As a CSTA Reflective Teacher Committee member and a leader in CSTANJ, I drive creativity, critical thinking, and digital literacy for both students and educators. My mission is to make tech education accessible for all.

Session description

Leverage the power of 3D platforms and virtual makerspaces to create opportunities for all students to dive into emerging STEAM careers with real-world STEAM projects. Learn how to design authentic learning activities where students engage in high-fidelity prototyping and learn spatial reasoning, computational thinking and data analysis.

Purpose & objective

Learning objectives:
Teachers will be well-equipped to integrate 3D platforms and virtual makerspaces into their teaching practices, fostering a dynamic and inclusive learning environment that prepares students for emerging STEM careers.

Technology Interventions:
I introduce three virtual makerspaces that I highly recommend to teachers.
1. Maker’s Empire, www.makerempire.com
2. TinkerCAD, www.tinkercad.com
3. Qweebi Virtual Makerspace, www.qweebi.com

Instructional Activities:
Here is a summary of the lesson examples I will introduce to teachers

Pre K - 8 Activities:
Platform: Maker's Empire
Skills EDP, Design Thinking, Math

For example, with the activities I’m highlighting on MakersEmpire, teachers can put their students in the shoes real world job roles of architects, interior designers, and fashion designers. Students engage deeply in practical problem-solving scenarios and acquire valuable skills such as design proficiency, spatial reasoning, and a comprehensive grasp of 3D modeling.

4 to 12 Activities:
Platform: TinkerCAD
Skills: Measurement, Scale, Circuits, 3D Modeling

For example, I highlight an activity called ‘The wheelchair challenge: Create a Wheelchair for Difficult Terrain and Environments’. Students design wheelchair that’s capable of handling difficult terrain in 3D using TinkerCAD. They go on to test their designs by 3D printing physical prototypes and continue iterating through the build-test-improve loop of the engineering design process.

4 to 12 Activities
Platform: Qweebi Virtual Makerspace
Skills: EDP, Engineering mindset, Circuits, Forces, Newton's laws

Example, in the ‘Mar Rover Challenge’ from Qweebi, students are put in the shoes of NASA engineers where they design & build a rover that can climb over steep hills. When students test their rovers against the hilly terrain, they are able to see real time data on various parameters of their rover prototype. They can collect data on parameters like how much thrust force their rovers have, how heavy their rover is and how fast it’s going. Based on this data on their test runs and their knowledge of Newton’s second law (force = mass x acceleration), students then make design changes to either increase the propulsion thrust force or make their rover’s lighter to be able to gather enough acceleration to climb over the hilly terrain.

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Outline

    Interactive Discussion (15 min)
  • Presentor Introductions
  • Group Discussion with audiance
  • The problems with DEI in STEAM education
  • Introducing Virtual Makerspaces
  • How can Virtual Makerspaces solve these problems


Activity Time (75 min)


    Meet Maker’s Empire (15 min)
  • LIVE Demo
  • Lesson sample & student work showcase

    Meet TinkerCAD (15 min)
  • LIVE Demo
  • Lesson sample & student work showcase

    Meet Qweebi (35 min)
  • LIVE Demo
  • Do a hands-on STEAM project with audience

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Supporting research

https://www.makersempire.com/impact/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1138607/full

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Session specifications

Topic:
Maker activities and programs
Grade level:
PK-12
Skill level:
Beginner
Audience:
Coaches, Library media specialists, Teachers
Attendee devices:
Devices required
Attendee device specification:
Laptop: Chromebook, Mac, PC
Tablet: Android, iOS, Windows
Participant accounts, software and other materials:
The following apps should be preinstalled.

Makers Empire - Visit this link for info on setting up downloading and installing befor the session https://www.makersempire.com/iste2024/
When installing please use the follwong class code to join my ISTE24 Classroom : nor1280

Tinkercad - Join here and create an Educator Account
https://www.tinkercad.com/join

Qweebi - Accounts will be made during the hands on Qweebi Activity

Subject area:
Career and technical education, STEM/STEAM
ISTE Standards:
For Educators:
Designer
  • Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.
For Students:
Innovative Designer
  • Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
Computational Thinker
  • Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
Disclosure:
The submitter of this session has been supported by a company whose product is being included in the session
Related exhibitors:
Autodesk