April STEM Newsletter
tools, tricks, tips, and resources -April 2024
Makey Makeys In Elementary Classrooms
Makey Makeys allow students to be active learners in all subject areas. Students can use conductive materials to innovatively explore all subject areas.
Interactive Posters and Student Created Designs Using Makey Makeys
Check out these examples of how students can use Makey Makeys to design interactive products showcasing what they have learned, critical thinking, and creativity.
7 Cool & Exciting Makey Makey Projects To Get You Started
Check out this article from STEM Education Guide on using Makey Makeys in your classroom.
Free Makey Makey 101 PD
Check out this free PD on using Makey Makeys for beginners. This resource includes tutorials, ideas, and step-by-step instructions on how to use Makey Makeys.
Virtual Field Trips from North Carolina Museum of Art
Virtual Field Trips with NCMA offer students the unique opportunity to engage with objects in the museum's permanent collection, all from the comfort of their classroom, while learning about quality literature, math, science, social studies, etc. content. The cross-curricular standards-based programs promote critical thinking, connections between subject areas, and deeper thinking for students.
During these FREE, interactive experiences with a museum educator, students actively participate in discussions and develop visual literacy skills by closely examining, describing, and connecting with 2-3 works of art.
The length of the virtual field trip depends on the grade level. For Kindergarten to 5th grade, it is 30 minutes, while for 6th to 12th grade, it can be either 30 or 45 minutes as per the teacher's choice. The class size must be between 5 to 30 students.
NCMA virtual field trips welcomes students with disabilities and diverse learning needs to participate in our virtual field trip program. NCMA can customize virtual field trips according to a teacher’s recommendations to ensure the accessibility of the experience for learners. Virtual field trip sessions also provide captioning, audio description, and ASL interpretation upon request to meet student needs.
NCMA offers a variety of cross-curricular standards-based programs, each of which includes an optional pre-visit slideshow, a live virtual experience with an NCMA educator, and optional post-visit resources. T
To sign up for your FREE virtual field trip(s), please click here.
Here below are a few samples of virtual field trip! They are amazing!
Science Virtual Trips
Math Virtual Trips
NC - Learn About Our State- Virtual Trips
U.S. Department of Education Releases 2024 National Educational Technology Plan
The U.S. Department of Education Released the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) which framed three key divides that limited the impact of educational technology to support teaching and learning, including. The NETP focused on decreasing the digital divide by focusing on 3 areas:
- The Digital Use Divide, addressing opportunities to improve how students use technology to enhance their learning, including dynamic applications of technology to explore, create, and engage in critical analysis of academic content and knowledge.
- The Digital Design Divide, addressing opportunities for educators to expand their professional learning and build the capacities necessary to design learning experiences enabled by technology; and
- The Digital Access Divide, addressing opportunities for students and educators to gain equitable access to educational technology, including connectivity, devices, and digital content. This also includes accessibility and digital health, safety, and citizenship as key elements of digital access.
The 2024 NETP maps each of the three divides to the “instructional core” (i.e., students, teachers, content) and focuses on how schools, districts, and states can use educational technology to help design learning experiences that improve student access to educational opportunities and their outcomes. This focuses not just on having technology or passive use of online programs for personalized instruction and students to complete assignments, but rather how technology is actively used in the classroom.
The state of North Carolina has already started to develop strategies to target these three main areas, beginning with the new Portrait Of A Graduate.
Recommendations to close the digital divide:
- Develop a “Profile of a Learner/Graduate” outlining cognitive, personal, and interpersonal competencies students should have when transitioning between grade levels and graduation. (States, Districts)
- Design and sustain systems, including needs assessments, technology plans, and evaluation processes supporting the development of competencies outlined in the “Profile of a Learner/Graduate” through the active use of technology to support learning. (States, Districts, Schools)
- Implement feedback mechanisms that empower students to become co-designers of learning experiences. (Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Develop rubrics for digital resource and technology adoption to ensure that tools are accessible and integrated into the larger educational ecosystem, that they support Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, and that they can be customized in response to accommodation or modification needs of learners with disabilities. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Review subject area curricula or program scopes and sequences to ensure that student learning experiences build age-appropriate digital literacy skills through active technology use for learning. (States, Districts)
- Build public-private partnerships with local businesses, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations to help students access edtech-enabled hands-on learning and work-based learning experiences. (States, Districts)
- Provide professional learning and technical assistance to district leaders, building-level administrators, and educators to support the use of evidence to inform edtech use. (States, Districts)
- Develop guidelines for emerging technologies which protect student data privacy and ensure alignment with shared educational vision and learning principles. (States, Districts)
Recommendations for Closing the Design Divide:
- Develop a “Portrait of an Educator” outlining the cognitive, personal, and interpersonal competencies educators should have to design learning experiences that help students develop the skills and attributes outlined in the profile of a graduate. (States, Districts)
- Design and sustain systems that support ongoing learning for new and veteran teachers and administrators, providing them with the time and space needed to design learning opportunities aligned with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Implement feedback mechanisms that empower educators to become leaders and co-designers of professional learning experiences. (Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Provide educators and administrators with professional learning that supports the development of digital literacy skills so that they can model these skills for students and the broader school community. (States, Districts, Building-Level)
- Develop processes for evaluating the potential effectiveness of digital tools before purchase, including the use of research and evidence. (State, District, Building-Level Administrators)
- Foster an inclusive technology ecosystem that solicits input from diverse stakeholders to collaborate on decision-making for technology purchases, learning space design, and curriculum planning. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Support and facilitate a systemic culture that builds trust and empowers educators to enhance and grow their professional practice to meet the needs of each student. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Regularly solicit educator feedback and evaluate professional learning efforts to ensure alignment with the Portrait of an Educator. (District, Building-Level Administrators)
Recommendations for Closing the Access Divide:
- Develop a “Portrait of a Learning Environment” to set expectations around habits and abilities no matter what the space. (States, District)
- Establish and maintain a cabinet-level edtech director to ensure the wise and effective spending of edtech funds. (States, Districts)
- Conduct regular needs assessments to ensure technology properly supports learning. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Develop model processes and guidelines for device refresh policies based on local funding structures. (States, Districts)
- Leverage state purchasing power or regional buying consortia when purchasing edtech hardware, software, and services. (States, Districts)
- Develop learning technology plans in consultation with a broad group of stakeholders and according to established review cycles. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Leverage public/private partnerships and community collaboration to bring broadband internet access to previously under-connected areas and ensure student access to everywhere, all-the-time learning. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Develop processes and structures that ensure the inclusion of accessibility as a component of procurement processes. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
- Plan for and incorporate skills and expectations across all grade levels and subject areas for Digital Health, Safety, and Citizenship, and Media Literacy. (States, Districts, Building-Level Administrators)
North Carolina's Portrait of a Graduated Highlighted By The US Department of Ed
Leveraging Technology to Support the Portrait of a Graduate in North Carolina
In October 2022, North Carolina Superintendent of Education, Catherine Truitt, announced the release of the North Carolina Portrait of a Graduate, developed in collaboration with close to 1,200 K-12 educators, administrators, families, employers, communities, and higher education institutions. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), in collaboration with educators and technologists from across the state, has also developed a comprehensible Digital Learning Plan aligned to the Portrait of a Graduate.
The Digital Learning Plan includes goals and rubrics for the state, Public School Units (PSUs), and schools that allow organizations to evaluate their progress and track their growth. The NCDPI has developed a robust professional learning infrastructure to help educators and administrators leverage technology to develop the Portrait of a Graduate competencies. The state has adopted ISTE standards for students, teachers, administrators, and coaches, providing every educator with an ISTE membership. In addition, they sponsor educator cohorts to pursue ISTE educator certification. The state also pays for CoSN memberships for all PSUs and encourages PSU edtech leaders to pursue CoSN’s Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) certification. The NCDPI pays for interested edtech leaders to take the CoSN CETL course, and the annual NCTIES conference offers the CETL certification exam.
Using Digital Learning Initiative funds, the NCDPI launched a series of summer mini-conferences for educators called NCBOLD. The state provides teachers exemplifying best practices in digital teaching and learning with a stipend and travel funds to visit all eight state regions over two weeks to present free mini edtech conferences for educators. Attendees get CEU credit towards their teacher licensure renewal.
By aligning the Digital Learning Plan to the State Portrait of a Graduate and focusing on capacity building at the classroom, building, and PSU levels, the NCDPI is supporting a shared vision of student learning to help North Carolina students be truly prepared for civic life, careers, or college after graduation.
Edweek Article on How Schools Can Tackle The Big Digital Inequities
As highlighted by the U.S. Department of Education Releases 2024 National Educational Technology Plan, there are 3 Digital Inequities that are creating a digital divide in classrooms. Check out this article on how to address these in classrooms.
Using Universal Design Paired With Technology
Check out how various digital tools can be used to support students with disabilities and language learners in your classroom. Each fact sheet provides a list of digital tools, describes what it does, how you can use it for an online lesson, and its alignment to the UDL guidelines.
- Digital Tools for Engagement
- Digital Tools for Representation
- Digital Tools for Action and Expression
Tech Better Using UDL
Check out this article from Tech Better on using technology to support UDL in classrooms.
Tools For Classrooms
Want to use AI, but you are intimidated by the technology? Check this out!
The NCDPI Generative AI Implementation Recommendations and Considerations for PK-13 Public Schools
The NCDPI Generative AI Implementation Recommendations and Considerations for PK-13 Public Schools document provides guidance for educators on effectively integrating AI technology into their teaching practices. The most important tips for educators include:
- Leveraging AI as a Supportive Tool: Educators can use AI tools like chatbots for brainstorming sessions, AI-generated content for lesson materials, personalized learning platforms for individual student needs, data analytics for performance assessment, automated grading systems for efficiency, and AI-powered creativity tools for lesson planning .
- Ensuring Responsible Use of AI Tools: Teachers can receive professional development on using AI tools effectively in the classroom, collaborate with AI systems to assess student work while maintaining oversight, and teach students how to work alongside AI tools to enhance their learning experiences .
- Being Cautious of Common Issues: Educators should be aware of the limitations of generative AI tools, such as unreliable grading systems that may produce inaccuracies or biases, false positives and negatives in assessments, the potential for AI tools to generate incorrect information, and the importance of training users to verify data and protect data privacy .
- Engaging in Continuous Professional Development: Teachers can participate in ongoing training sessions on generative AI, understand the impact of AI on education, update classroom policies to align with AI integrity guidelines, and shift assessments to be resistant to AI manipulation while promoting academic integrity in the AI age .
- Educating Students and the Community: Educators can share AI guidelines at school-wide events, review guidelines in classrooms with examples of appropriate and inappropriate student use, provide generative AI training to students to mitigate biases and inaccuracies, and offer content reviews and training opportunities to the school community
Examples on using this in the elementary classroom include:
Examples In Kindergarten - Second Grade:
- Increased Focus on Media Literacy: Educators can introduce young students to the concept that images and videos may be altered by AI, teaching them to be critical consumers of media. They can use age-appropriate examples to demonstrate how technology can manipulate visuals, fostering early media literacy skills.
- Interactive Storytelling with AI Tools: Teachers can engage students in collaborative storytelling activities where they provide input on colors, shapes, events, etc., using educational AI tools like Adobe Express and Canva. This hands-on approach allows young learners to explore creativity while understanding the role of AI in content creation.
- Basic Coding and Computational Thinking: Introducing basic coding concepts through platforms like code.org and hands-on activities with robots like BeeBots, Sphero Indies, and Spheros can help build computational thinking skills in young students. These activities lay the foundation for understanding how AI technologies function.
Examples For Third Grade - Sixth Grade:
- AI Awareness Discussions: Educators can facilitate discussions with students about the presence of AI in their daily lives, such as voice assistants and GPS technology. By exploring how AI impacts their routines, students can develop a deeper understanding of technology's role in society and its potential benefits and challenges.
- Critical Analysis of AI-Generated Content: Students can analyze AI-generated images and content using tools like Google Image search to identify distortions, watermarks, and other indicators of AI manipulation. This exercise enhances their critical thinking skills and awareness of AI's influence on visual media.
- Engagement with Teacher-Created AI Assignments: Teachers can create AI-based assignments on platforms like Schoolai.com that do not require student account creation and comply with privacy regulations. These assignments provide students with hands-on experience in working with AI tools under teacher supervision, promoting responsible and informed use of technology.
There are several AI resources to help teachers save time and create resources, not just chatGPT. Check out this resource that shows you have to craft a power prompt. Don't just ask AI a question, but rather:
- Give it context.
- Assign a role.
- Provide details about the intended audience.
- Give a specific format.
- Provide a tone and task
This will save you time instead of having to refine what you ask when working with AI.
Also, when using AI, evaluate the answer provided, revise the response using your tone and creativity, and edit to make sure it is correct. AI is a tool to help you, but you must also be proactive in using it responsibly.
NC TIES Presentation Resources For Teachers
Page Turners and Thinkers: Sparking STEAM Interest With Picture Books
Sphero: Engaging Primary Students in Innovative Learning
Google Slides: Not Just For Presentations
Transforming Student Engagement With Discovery Education
Unveiling the Magic of Magic School
Science House Summer Professional Development
Are you, or someone you know, working to build early foundational data skills among your students by using data to enrich student learning? The DSA would like to highlight teachers across North Carolina who are finding small ways to bring data and data science skills into their classrooms.
Whether you are helping young learners recognize patterns and trends in the weather or temperature, collecting and analyzing data in your science class, or exploring different and interesting ways to visualize data in art, we would love to spotlight you in our quarterly newsletter!
This one-day workshop will provide teachers with visits and interactions in the Research Station fields with faculty and graduate students involved with research on different varieties of plants. The morning will be filled with discussions, site visits, and activities exploring the research happening at Center. The afternoon will be spent in the classroom doing investigations related to the research and includes resources to take with you so you can implement in your classroom.
Date: August 28, 2024
Location: Mountain Horticultural Crops Research & Ext. Center, 455 Research Drive, Mills River, NC 28759
Cost: Free
Register at www.wresa.org
Participate in a day of training presented by The Science House of NC State University. You will use MacBooks, LabQuests and various probes to explore science and math concepts. After the training session, you will be eligible to participate in the equipment loan program through The Mountain Satellite Office of The Science House. Participants will be trained on equipment use and equipment implementation through the use of grade level activities.
Date: August 30, 2024
Location: Mountain Horticultural Crops Research & Ext. Center, 455 Research Drive, Mills River, NC 28759
Cost: $65
Register at www.wresa.org
Professional Development Opportunities
JUNE
July
August
September:
Expanding your Technology Toolbox: Getting the Most out of Digital Learning on Ocracoke
Breathing New Life into Your Science Lessons: Updating with Science and Engineering in Mind
The Role of Nurse Educators in the High School Classroom: Empowering Future Healthcare Professionals
Go Outside Grant
Go Outside (GO) Grants (Grades K-12)
Schools can apply for:
- Up to $2,500 for visiting on-campus outdoor educational programs such as museums, zoos, aquariums, beekeepers, and gardeners.
- Up to $3,000 for single-day field trips – field trips must contain an outdoor learning component/activity and may include visits to National/State Parks, city/county parks, outdoor recreation areas, etc.
- Up to $4,000 for 2-day 1-night field trips.
- Up to $5,000 for 3-day 2-night field trips.
- Up to $15,000 for outdoor learning structures and equipment, including greenhouses, apiaries, pollinator, and vegetable gardens.
- Up to $20,000 for outdoor agricultural structures and equipment, including large/aquaponic/hydroponic greenhouses, animal barns, corrals, milking stations, etc.
- Up to $20,000 for outdoor archery ranges and equipment.
- Up to $20,000 for outdoor aquatic activity structures and equipment, including fishing docks, canoes, kayaks, etc.
- Up to $20,000 for onsite nature trails and educational signage.
Learn more and apply at http://www.GoOutside.nc.gov/go-grants