STEM & iPads!
First of all what is STEM?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, and the combination
of these opportunities provide excellent leaning experiences for students. STEM
activities are great for any grade, because they can be as simple or complex as
the teacher needs them to be. They also can be implemented across all areas of
the curriculum, because it combines so many skills and learning occasions that
students need to be exposed to in the classroom. STEM activities can be implemented
in the classroom for early finishers, center time, morning work, behavior
incentives, and fine motor practice. Students absolutely love having STEM
challenges implemented in their classroom schedule. There are also various ways
to incorporate the use of iPads into STEM challenges. Just a few ideas consist
of the Seesaw app, using the infrared feature on the camera, using the slow motion
feature on the camera, the Pic Collage app, digital story telling apps to
explain the process that was used for the STEM challenge, the timer or
stopwatch feature, and the level feature on the compass. I have already incorporated
STEM challenges in the classroom before, and I absolutely love the learning experience
that it gives the students. These challenges provide endless opportunities for
the students, and I am very excited to implement STEM challenges and the use of
iPads in my own classroom. Implementing the use of iPads in STEM challenges
allows students to use critical thinking, creativeness, communication, and
collaboration. The students use critical thinking and creativeness throughout
the entire STEM challenge while using the engineering design process. This
process consists of the steps of asking, imagining, planning, creating, and
improving. The students are able to communicate and collaborate with their
peers are they work in their cooperative groups to solve the STEM challenge.
There is so much learning built up in this one activity, and I believe that STEM
challenges should be implemented in all classrooms of all grade levels. We all
know that there is so much to get done during the school day, and yet there
does not feel like there is nearly enough time to get all of the curriculum taught
and for students to enjoy the process of learning. Well, STEM challenges makes
all of this happen. By STEM challenges combining science, technology, engineering,
and math, teachers are able to teach the many areas of the curriculum and
combine it into one lesson. This allows the teachers to make the lesson more engaging
and interactive for the students. STEM challenges and iPads provide endless
learning opportunities for students, and the students are eager to be exposed
to these learning experiences. It is the teacher’s responsibility to take
notice to the need that students have for these types of learning experiences,
and implement them whenever and wherever they can have a beneficial purpose in
the classroom’s schedule. There are more STEM jobs today than ever before, and
there will be more when these students are going to college and getting jobs.
Teachers need to help better prepare their students for the STEM enriched job opportunities
in the future.
This link provides 50 of the best iPad apps for STEM challenges! For example Seismograph, 3D Sun, 3D Brain, and much more!
No comments:
Post a Comment