Steam learning Education

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What Is STEAM Education?

If you’re familiar with STEM education, then you already know a bit about STEAM education. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math—a powerful combination of topics and techniques for educating our society.

When it comes to art, it goes beyond aesthetics. The ‘A’ includes the liberal arts as well, meaning language arts, social studies, physical arts, fine arts, and music.

STEM + Art = STEAM

The STEAM movement originated at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and has since been widely adopted among many institutions and organizations. The objectives of the STEAM movement were created to do the following:

·         Transform research policy to place art and design at the center of STEM

·         Encourage integration of art and design in education

·         Influence employers to hire artists and designers to drive innovation

These objectives can be just as easily be applied in the classroom by STEAM educators. We’ll deep dive into that throughout the following sections.

How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators

STEAM empowers teachers to employ project-based learning that crosses all 5 disciplines (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) and fosters an inclusive learning environment where all students are able to engage and contribute. As opposed to traditional models of teaching, educators using the STEAM framework bring the disciplines together, leveraging the dynamic synergy between the modeling process and math and science content in order to blur the boundaries between modeling techniques and scientific / mathematical thinking. Through this holistic approach, students are able to exercise both sides of their brain at once.

For example, a U.S. News article reported that a high school in Andover, MA teaches geometry through the lens of art. “Through a scavenger hunt at a local museum, math and art students come to understand that scale in geometry is the same thing as perspective in art, says Meghan Michaud, a teacher at Andover High,” according to the article.

Beyond the classroom both scientists and engineers use models—including sketches, diagrams, mathematical relationships, simulations, and physical models—to make predictions about the likely behavior of a system. They also collect data to evaluate the predictions and possibly revise the model as a result.

Michael Leak, a professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign said in a Richmond Art Center article, “Typically, engineering students are not comfortable with sketching,” he said. “They say, ‘Oh, I can’t draw.’” But being able to quickly sketch to communicate an idea, he said, “is an enormously useful tool.” It also helps “see” an idea. “To do engineering you’ve got to be able to visualize.”

What are Learning Analytics?

There is no universally agreed definition of the term ‘learning analytics‘. One popular definition states that learning analytics are “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs”

In a series of briefing papers on analytics the term was defined as “the process of developing actionable insights through problem definition and the application of statistical models and analysis against existing and/or simulated future data“.

Erik Duval has proposed the definition “learning analytics is about collecting traces that learners leave behind and using those traces to improve learning”.

In a presentation given to senior library staff Rebecca Ferguson places learning analytics in a continuum:

High-level figures: Which can provide an overview for internal and external reports and used for organisational planning purposes.

Academic analytics: Figures on retention and success, used by the institution to assess performance.

Educational data mining: Searching for patterns in the data.

Learning analytics: Use of data, which may include ‘big data’, to provide actionable intelligence for learners and teachers.

Adaptive learning

Adaptive learning, also known as adaptive teaching, is an educational method which uses computer algorithms to orchestrate the interaction with the learner and deliver customized resources and learning activities to address the unique needs of each learner. In professional learning contexts, individuals may "test out" of some training to ensure they engage with novel instruction. Computers adapt the presentation of educational material according to students' learning needs, as indicated by their responses to questions, tasks and experiences. The technology encompasses aspects derived from various fields of study including computer science, AI, psychometrics, education, psychology, and brain science.

Adaptive learning has been partially driven by a realization that tailored learning cannot be achieved on a large-scale using traditional, non-adaptive approaches. Adaptive learning systems endeavor to transform the learner from passive receptor of information to collaborator in the educational process. Adaptive learning systems' primary application is in education, but another popular application is business training. They have been designed as desktop computer applications, web applications, and are now being introduced into overall curricula.

Online Learning - What is it and how does it work?

Online learning is a challenging but extremely rewarding way to achieve an array of qualifications - there are online options for everything from certificates to PhDs. Once surrounded by stigma, online education is now a respected way to achieve a recognized qualification. With courses available in almost every subject, and flexible timetables to suit almost every schedule, students are increasingly turning to online learning as a viable alternative to campus study. It could allow you to study abroad remotely, at a university not in your home country.

Advances in technology now allow students to study entirely online while still socializing with classmates, watching lectures and participating in subject-specific discussions.

While some consider online learning to require a greater degree of self-motivation, institutions nowadays recognize that pastoral support is just as important as tutor feedback, and take great care to ensure that their students receive the same levels of support that they would receive on campus.

MOBILE LEARNING

For starters, let’s agree that mobile learning is learning based on mobility often through mobile devices like smartphones, iPads, other tablets, and wearable technology. Of course, there’s more to it than that. Years ago, I created a graphic that laid out some of the principles of mobile learning, which included Access, Transparency, Self-Actuation, and Metrics.

For a briefer definition of mobile learning, we might might offer that it is ‘a kind of learning characterized by the need and ability of the learner to be mobile.’ And that’s a critical difference.

Mobile technology as it is commonly used in public education today is characterized primarily by being ‘1:1’–that is, each student getting their own screen. This could theoretically be used to personalize learning for students. They no longer have to ‘share’ one teacher or a single chalkboard, whiteboard, projected screen, etc., but don’t have to move to a ‘computer lab’ to make that happen.

VIRTUAL AND REMOTE LAB

Laboratory experimentation plays an essential role in engineering and scientific education. Virtual and remote labs reduce the costs associated with conventional hands-on labs due to their required equipment, space, and maintenance staff. Furthermore, they provide additional benefits such as supporting distance learning, improving lab accessibility to handicapped people, and increasing safety for dangerous experimentation.

This paper analyzes the literature on virtual and remote labs from its beginnings to 2015, identifying the most influential publications, the most researched topics, and how the interest in those topics has evolved along the way. To do so, bibliographical data gathered from ISI Web of Science, Scopus and GRC2014 have been examined using two prominent bibliometric approaches: science mapping and performance analysis.

3D PRINTING

The term "3D printing" covers a variety of processes in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with material being added together (such as liquid molecules or powder grains being fused together), typically layer by layer. In the 1990s, 3D-printing techniques were considered suitable only for the production of functional or aesthetical prototypes and a more appropriate term was rapid prototyping. As of 2019 the precision, repeatability and material range have increased to the point that some 3D-printing processes are considered viable as an industrial-production technology, whereby the term additive manufacturing can be used synonymously with "3D printing". One of the key advantages of 3D printing is the ability to produce very complex shapes or geometries, and a prerequisite for producing any 3D printed part is a digital 3D model or a CAD file.

The most-commonly used 3D-printing process (46% as of 2018) is a material extrusion technique called fused deposition modeling (FDM). Metal Powder bed fusion has been gaining prominence lately during the immense applications of metal parts in the 3D-printing industry.

The 3D-printing process builds a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design (CAD) model, usually by successively adding material layer by layer (unlike the conventional machining process, where material is removed from a stock item, or the casting and forging processes which date to antiquity).

The term "3D printing" originally referred to a process that deposits a binder material onto a powder bed with inkjet-printer heads layer by layer. More recently, the popular vernacular has started using the term to encompass a wider variety of additive-manufacturing techniques. United States and global technical standards use the official term additive manufacturing for this broader sense.

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

Wearable technology in education can increase a child’s ability to more naturally interact with their environment, and to be be creative and innovative. Students can more easily access information without any obstructions. Examples of wearable technology in the classroom are: Autographer, Keyglove, Muse, VR, Smart Watches, GoPro, and Google Glass. Autographer allows students to capture students direct notes to ensure complete note taking. Keyglove are wireless gloves that are useful in gaming, design, art, music, data entry, device control, and 3D objects. Muse tracks students’ brain activity onto a smartphone or tablet so that it can detect what activities they might need to keep them focused on studying. Virtual Reality gives students hands-on experience that allows students to interact with the object in that particular environment. The iPod is also an effective learning tool that empowered students to creatively think about the subject as well as to allow greater collaboration. GoPro is a camera that can capture a student or teacher’s point of view of events, such as a lesson or student behavior. Finally, the Google Glass enables students and teachers to search, take a picture, record video, and answer and translate questions in a foreign language. One application would be for medical students to watch different medical procedures in real time.

GAMIFICATION

The gamification of learning is an educational approach to motivate students to learn by using video game design and game elements in learning environments. The goal is to maximize enjoyment and engagement through capturing the interest of learners and inspiring them to continue learning. Gamification, broadly defined, is the process of defining the elements which comprise games that make those games fun and motivate players to continue playing, and using those same elements in a non-game context to influence behaviour. In other words, gamification is the introduction of game elements in a non-game situation.

There are two forms of gamification, structural with no subject matter changes, and the altered content method that adds subject matter. Games applied in learning can be considered as serious games, where the learning experience is centred around serious stories. The serious story is "impressive in quality" and "part of a thoughtful process" to achieve learning goals. In educational contexts, examples of desired student behaviour which gamification can potentially influence include attending class, focusing on meaningful learning tasks, and taking initiative.

Distinguishable from game-based learning, gamification of learning does not involve students in designing and creating their own games, or in playing commercially produced video games. Within game-based learning initiatives, students might use Gamestar Mechanic or GameMaker to create their own video game, or play Minecraft, for example, where they explore and create 3D worlds. In these examples, along with games such as Surge for PlayStation and Angry Birds, the learning agenda is encompassed within the game itself.

Some authors contrast gamification of learning with game-based learning, claiming that gamification occurs only when learning happens in a non-game context, such as a school classroom, and when a series of game elements is arranged into a system or "game layer" which operates in coordination with the learning in that regular classroom. Others include games that are created to induce learning.

IMMERSIVE LEARNING

Speaking of immersive learning, there are many questions that might come to your mind before you start creating such an environment for your online course. Some of these many questions may include:

• ·         What does it take to ensure that your learners are fully ‘immersed’ in your eLearning course?
• ·         Is there a way to determine if the learners are fully immersed?
• ·         What are the chief benefits of attaining immersive learning for your online course?
• ·         What does it take to create such an effective environment for learners?
• ·         What are costs of establishing such an environment?

So before we dig deep into the details of immersive learning, let us first have a closer look at the phenomenon itself, and the concept behind it.