Exploring STEM with @MyStemKits and @Robo3D

I'm always on the lookout for programs that can help support teachers interested in expanding their work in STEM, but are not sure where to start. It is tough to find the right balance of a program or tool that is easy to use and understand and then implement with students in a seamless fashion. When Braydon Moreno reached out to me to let me know that Robo3D had acquired My Stem Kits and were bringing the companies together to support teachers, I was very interested.

Braydon sent me a Robo3D to explore and then I was given access to My Stem Kits to see what they had to offer. I have to say, right out of the box, the Robo E3 is phenomenal. Here are some of the specs that are worth noting,

This is a wonderful print size and resolution for a printer. An average school doesn't need more than this. While there are other 3D printers that are larger and much more expensive, schools are paying for something they do not need. At $999, the Robo E3 is all the printer a classroom will need. 

Some other nice aspects of the printer is that it offers Cloud printing. You set up the printer to be connected to wifi and you can send to the printer from anywhere in the school. It is a nice feature to have so a computer does not need to be tethered to the printer at all times. The printer is fully enclosed and has a HEPA filter built in. Depending on the type of filament you are using, Robo E3 can use over 20 different kinds, it is nice to have the filter to grab any fumes or particles that might be created while printing. The E3 also has a heated bed that allows for easy print job removals. It has an auto calibration feature and the print head is removable. These are amazing features to have at great price point. The print jobs themselves look amazing as well. 

This is a Ballista that a student printed and will assemble. This came from a great lesson on My Stem Kits that explored force in Physics. The print is very solid and perfect for the student to assemble and see what the Ballista can do. The student still needs to assemble it, but when he does, I will be tweeting it out using the hashtag #Robo3D.

This takes me to My Stem Kits and I have to say, this is a nice program filled with wonderful lessons that can help any teacher new to the world of 3D printing. Here is a short video that explains what is. 

This paid platform is a full of wonderful resources that cover K12 curriculum. Here is a quick screenshot of the first page of projects and lessons. 

There are literally hundreds of different lessons and projects that students and teachers can use. The year long subscription is a great way to explore the different aspects of 3D printing by using wonderfully curated content that can be tweaked to fit any learning environment. 

Overall, this is a two punch knockout of an amazing system. Reach out for a quote on getting My Stem Kits and the E3 bundled together for a reduced price. That is a great deal! Click here for more details. 

Robo and My Stem Kits provided me with a demo for the purpose of this review, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. 

Can we please retire the word tomboy? #EdChat

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard parents and seen some tweets on the Internets referring to girls or themselves as Tomboys and it is bugging me. When people use this term, they are clearly saying that the things a girl like to do are actually boy things and they are different because they like those things. The term has been around for hundreds of years and it has been used as a way to make sense of the fact that there were girls or women that wanted to do things like, wear pants, exercise, play sports, or be more than just barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. It was to make it clear that the actions these ladies were partaking in were, in fact, boy things. Calling a girl a tomboy was to make it known those were boy things and being a tomboy was something a girl would eventually grow out of in time. 

In 2019, we should really be moving away from classifying young girls as being tomboys because we do not need to reinforce archaic views of what a girl should be doing with their time. We have a serious gap in gender when it comes to STEAM fields and part of that has to do with the notion that science is a boy thing. A term like tomboy supports such crazy notions. Just because a girl likes to get dirty, look at bugs, or run around and noisy, does not make them a tomboy. It makes them a kid.

As educators, it is important to make sure that our kids have a diverse collection of books to choose from that show women in a wide variety of roles. Show all children that women can do anything they want. Need specific titles, check out Pernille Ripp, Matthew Winner, Colby Sharp, or Donalyn Miller for a ton of book recommendations for all types of students. Their twitter feeds are littered with amazing book titles for all ages. As teachers, we need to add the term tomboy to our list of retired words. 

Using the word tomboy might seem like an innocent, little thing, but it’s the little, innocent things that need to go if we hope to make real, big, and lasting change.

Season 2 of The Maker Mentality Podcast #EdChat

Hello everyone!

I'm so sorry it has taken this long to release the first part of Season 2 of the Maker Mentality Podcast. Life has been feeding me a steady diet of curveballs and I finally just decided to release the first three episodes today and I can release the others when they are done.

This season is all about creativity. I have asked my guests about their thoughts on what creativity means to them and what role it plays in learning.

These three episodes feature some of my favorite people sharing great ideas. Check them out here or anywhere else you can find podcasts.

Jessica L. Williams

Meenoo Rami

Andrew Collins

Stay tuned for more episodes in the coming weeks. 

Hugs and High Fives!

NP

Adding Interactivity to the Makerspace with @newlineIDEAMAX

A while ago, I was at FETC checking out the vendor floor when I came across an Interactive Board company. I stopped and watched a demo and my interest was piqued enough to go in and ask some questions. What I found out blew my mind and I had to get a demo for the makerspace. The refresh for our boards in school is around the corner, so testing out boards is a great way to get an idea on what we need for the classroom. I'm super excited about the possibilities of the Newline TRUTOUCH RS Series.

One of things that has been lacking in the Prototyping Space in the Knight's Forge Innovation Lab was access to a screen that allowed students to explore their designs more fully after they have created a prototype. I needed to be able to have students easily connect their device so they can showcase their design work as well. Doing this wireless would be even better. Lastly, I wanted an interactive board that would allow for multiple people to use it at the same time. These were lots of asks from my end, but the RS Series does all of these and more!

One of the cool things about the RS Series is that it can come equipped with a Windows Device. That means you do not even need to connect a computer to have it work. The image above shows that my computer is connected, but that is not the image on the screen. That is the OPS running Windows 10. I can easily switch between the Windows Device and my attached Mac with just a couple of taps on the screen. I like this because it allows for a standard device that can always run and be accessed even if you don't have a device connected. Then, a student can quickly add their device and show their screen. The OPS has a touch screen keyboard that pops up when you need to type, but you can also just connect a keyboard and mouse if you want to work with the OPS that way. 

The OPS has Intel processors that work flawlessly with the Newline board and allow for quick processing speed and minimal lag. This is important to note for the techy people out there because that processing speed needs to be quality. Fast speeds allow for smooth transitions and powerful computing across the board. It is awesome to see Newline invest in quality by going with Intel. If you have used different boards, you will notice the different. If not, the Newline boards will spoil you with their quality. 

Another awesome aspect if the 4K Ultra HD screen. It is bright. That is perfect because I have these windows without shades that let in wonderful natural light, but make it near impossible to project anything on the board. I could cover the windows and turn off the lights, but having the natural light is awesome and the RS board allows me to have the best of both worlds! 

This is the main screen that allows you to choose which screen you want to display. There are multiple options to choose from on this board. 6 total options to be specific and that doesn't even cover the ability to use AirPlay for Macs, Chromecast, or another downloadable app for Windows mirroring. All of these options are great for my school because we are BYOD and the students have a wide variety of devices. The flexibility of the device is key in getting more students to be able to showcase their work seamlessly. 

Another awesome feature is the ability to annotate on the screen directly. The screen is still active and you can annotate write on top of it. Here is a shot of me pointing something out to a student on Minecraft. I was able to click on the menu that runs on the side of the screen to pull up the annotation tool, I chose the color of the pen and started writing. It was so smooth to do. When I was done, I was able to take a screenshot so I could save the annotations and share them as needed. 

The board also allows for multiple users at once. This is great for students trying to work out problems together. Here are a couple of students working on factoring some problems. This is a great example of how a board can be used in a Math class. Multiple students on the board working out a problem and screenshot saved could be shared to the class or students that were out of school that day. It is responsive up to 20 touch points. That is a crazy amount at one time, but perfect if you have multiple students using the board at once.

Below is a tweet where I shared a video of Cospaces and their Quidditch program being Airplayed from my Mac. The quality is amazing! The ability to stream video through Airplay without the lag is huge. For any teacher that connects to the device wirelessly, not having to worry about the lag of videos being played saved tons of stress. 

Quidditch! Holy crap! Imagine this on a VR headset. @cospaces_edu @NewlineIDEAMAX #MakerEd pic.twitter.com/uZ13yw8zEt

— Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) February 27, 2019

 The fact that this is on a stand has made it very easy for us to wheel it to our common space to allow for morning meetings to be much nice than trying to project onto a tiny wall space. The picture is vivid and the screen is large enough that all of the students in our large commons area can see the screen.

The build in speakers can be controlled from the remote control and they are loud for a large room. Sometimes speakers on monitors like this can be wimpy, but these are legit.

Final Thoughts:

For schools or districts that are looking to change the way students and teachers interact with screens in the classroom, the newline RS Series is worth exploring more in depth. With multiple connections points, 20 touch point capability, built in OPS, wireless mirroring, 4K Ultra HD, built in annotating tools, built in whiteboard app, and so much more, it would be crazy not check out the board. Oh, did I mention that it is software agnostic? It doesn't matter if you run other whiteboard software. This board works with it all! For more specifics on the specs, check out this download.




Nerdy Disclosure:

Newline Interactive sent me the board to demo for the purposes of this review, but that doesn't make it less awesome.