Welcome to Vivify’s Blog!
Common Challenges of Afterschool Robotics
Last year, I helped organize four middle school Robotics Clubs that participated in GEAR and First Lego League competitions. While I believe robotics is an amazing component of STEM education, I wanted to highlight some of the challenges we faced in creating a quality after school program. I also outlined some possible solutions to help overcome these challenges, which I am implementing this year.
Top 10 STEM Video Resources
Exciting videos are a great hook for engaging students into a STEM lesson. Videos can allow students to meet STEM professionals, tour a STEM facility, learn about exciting STEM real-world applications, and really help bring STEM to life. Below are the top 10 more useful STEM video resources for your classroom or after school program. Most include videos with short duration of 1 - 3 minutes to fit easily into a classroom lesson.
STEMpressive Find Friday - Product Review of an Augmented Reality App
This is the first post of a new series that will explore and review products relating to science, technology, engineering, and math. With “STEM” becoming a highly sought-after buzzword, there are so many products advertising its membership in the exclusive world of STEM. But do they really belong? We will help you navigate the stores and internet to find products that live up to their STEM claims.
First up: the Augmenter App - by Trendyworks Technologies
The Power of Robotics
Once students get over the initial hurdle of learning the basics of programming and building, they can quickly feel a sense of accomplishment and a boost in confidence. Robotics in the real-world may only be a part of the wide world of engineering, but participating in robotics allows students to authentically experience the engineering design process.