TECHTERRA EDUCATION
  • Home
  • PRODUCTS
    • TOOLS
    • STEM IN A BOX >
      • What is STEM in a Box?
      • Ready-To-Go STEM Programs
    • STEM AT HOME
    • DISTANCE LEARNING
    • CAMPS
  • TRAINING
    • TRAINING INFORMATION
    • TRAINING REQUEST
  • CURRICULUM
    • CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
    • STEM IN A BOX CURRICULUM

Pitsco Education Shares TechTerra's STEM Maker Mission

10/23/2016

0 Comments

 
This article first appeared as “Kids become creators, not consumers - TechTerra’s STEM makerspace approach nurtures 21st-century learners” in the Pitsco Education Network Magazine, October-November 2016. Reprinted with permission.
Picture
ADA, OK – Working for 30 years in public education as a teacher and principal is ample time to build a reputation as an authority on what works and doesn’t work inside and outside the classroom.

So, with that wealth of knowledge and experience in her hip pocket, Susan Wells stepped firmly into the world of technology, STEM, and hands-on learning and started her own company, TechTerra Education, several years ago.

Her goal might be considered lofty by some. “We’re going to change the world,” she said with a tone of conviction. “Really. We’re working on it.” Be skeptical, if you must, but don’t fully doubt her ability to effect change.

It’s through a unique combination of digital tools, nature, science, and technology that Wells travels the world, putting on camps for students and teachers, whom she is preparing for life deep into the 21st century.

“We’ve seen kids begin to be creators, not consumers,” Wells said at the end of a summer camp for teachers in the Pitsco Maker Space Lab at East Central University in Ada, OK, this past summer. The foundation of TechTerra is STEM education, which naturally involves hands-on learning, and that is at the core of any well-designed makerspace.

“It’s hands-on, inquiry-based learning,” Wells said. “They’re putting this stuff in their hands, they’re playing with it, they’re exploring with it, they’re inventing with it. And it’s a totally different experience for them. . . . For four years we’ve run this Camp TechTerra across a number of different settings – private and public schools. It works everywhere with all kids. Kids get so excited and so engaged in this kind of learning.”

As a teacher and principal in North Carolina, Wells witnessed lots of students getting through their education “by jumping through the right hoops,” figuring out the formulas for academic success. But there often wasn’t much depth or meaning in the experience.
“Is that the best we can do in education? Or can we make something that’s really amazing and interesting and personalized for them?” she asked. “We can. We actually can. When the maker movement came out, we had already started an innovation lab. We knew that we had to start looking at kids’ interests. We knew that kids, in fact, have interests, and when they’re interested, they’re engaged.”

As part of the camp at ECU, Wells conducted an open-ended introduction to programming for teachers from elementary through high school. In the new Maker Space Lab in the Department of Education, she found a Pitsco Invention Explore-A-Pak that brought the activity to life. “I’m like, ‘That’s what we need right there, those materials,’” Wells said. “And sure enough, they got them out and you could just see some of the directions people went in with the different materials,” which include dowel rods, spools, basswood, balloons, string, straws, cardboard, and more.

Picture
0 Comments

Code.org, Inspired Work!

10/5/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Code.org® has a vision- That every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. Led by founder and CEO Hadi Partovi, and launched in 2013, Code.org is working to make coding and computational thinking accessible across the world for students and for teachers. 

I had the chance to visit the Code.org offices – located just two blocks from Seattle’s Pike Place Market –  this past week and talk with Jon Lanthier, who is Code.org’s Marketing and Communications Manager. Jon spoke with great excitement of the reach of their work, pointing to impressive numbers, with over six million students participating and 15,000 teachers trained as of 2015.  
Picture
Picture
I loved the collaborative learning and working environment of the code.org office space, There were no traditional walls to be seen, but instead collaborative meeting spaces, standing and sitting desks, wide open spaces, and plenty of comfortable work areas.  
Picture
Looking forward to working with code.org’s new coding curriculum. 
0 Comments

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Services

STEM Tools
STEM Programs
Distance Learning
Training
Curriculum

Company

About
Teachers & Trainers
​News
Catalog
Partners


Support

Contact
Policies
Submit a PO
Subscribe
© COPYRIGHT 2021 TECHTERRA EDUCATION.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • PRODUCTS
    • TOOLS
    • STEM IN A BOX >
      • What is STEM in a Box?
      • Ready-To-Go STEM Programs
    • STEM AT HOME
    • DISTANCE LEARNING
    • CAMPS
  • TRAINING
    • TRAINING INFORMATION
    • TRAINING REQUEST
  • CURRICULUM
    • CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
    • STEM IN A BOX CURRICULUM