Digital Initiatives in STEM Education

Digital Initiatives in STEM Education If you think the "information technology" transformation in schools and workplaces is new to the 21st century, you might want to look back thousands of years. Using technology to learn, play, and develop skills is a continuation of our quest to Learning with technology is a 200,000-year-old tradition survive and adapt. About 77,000 years ago, we used baboon bone and ochre plaques. Today, we use tablets, smartphones, and video games. XFM4T 200,000 O Now Years Ago 4 out of 5 During dramatic climate changes, human ability to craft tools and teach During rapid information technology changes, humans increasingly rely on digital technology to thrive. offspring is fundamental to survival. In a nationwide sample of nearly 2,400 families, more than four in five K-12 students occasionally use some sort of computing device such as a tablet, a smartphone, and/or a laptop computer. Children learn to Children learn to survive and survive and contribute to society by contribute to society playing with information. by playing with bows and arrows. 164,000 Years Ago Now 19th Century: New jobs in the Industrial Revolution require the ability to read and write. Modern humans collect Modern humans collect and analyze data to make a living. 21st Century: and cook shellfish to make a living. 26 million U.S. Jobs (20% of all U.S. jobs) require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fleld. STEM jobs have doubled as a proportion of all jobs since the Industrial Revolution. 1850 2010 $10 annually trillion 15.68 M 71% Americans are projected to be employed in STEM fields by 2018. is the estimated total of global of STEM Jobs by 2018 are projected to be in computing. online transactions. The human economy is web-based. Digital literacy and STEM education go hand-in-hand... 96% 62% but not in everyone's hands: of Americans use of Americans use new communication the Internet as an technologies as part of their daily lives. integral part of their jobs. (c~)) teachers of the lowest income students 56% teachers of the highest income )))) - students 32% 21% Percentage of teachers who say of U.S. households lack broadband that students' lack service. of access to digital 73% technologies is a "major challenge." of Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing (NW) teachers say that they and/or their students use mobile phones in the classroom or to complete assignments. of AP and NW teachers say: "Lack of access to digital 8470 affluent and disadvantaged schools and school districts." technologies is leading to greater disparity between 130,000 Years Ago Now U.S. population active on at least one social networking site 81% 72% Modern humans form Modern humans form person-to-person social networks, exchanging resources over long distances. digital social networks, exchanging information over long distances. in 186 miles 25,000 miles is the distance humans is the circumference of walk to trade between the Earth: the distance groups, obtain materials, and cement humans can exchange information without alliances. taking one step. Adults Teens 90,000 Years Ago O* Now American adults who have a cell phone 191% American adults who have a smartphone |56% Modern humans make Modern humans use American adults who have a tablet computer tools to gather information. tools for gathering plants. |34% Mid-1990s to Today: "Generation Net" kids are born. They don't think in terms of technology; they think in terms of the activity technology enables. They are oriented toward inductive discovery or making observations, formulating hypotheses, 10,000 vs. 5,000 hours hours and figuring out the rules. is the time U.S. Gen Net will have spent playing video games vs. reading by the time they are 21 years old. They are more comfortable in image-rich 23% 43% environments than with text. of teens have a tablet of teachers and students computer, a level comparable to the general adult population. use tablet computers in the classroom or to complete assignments. Opportunity for virtual learning depends on socioeconomic status: 56% 50% $00000 000 19% 35% 2$ %24 Teachers of low income students are 37% less likely than teachers of the highest income students (56%) to use tablet computers or e-readers in their classrooms. Over half of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class vs. 35% of teachers of the lowest income students. 12,000 Years Ago Now 170 million Americans play video games - 55% of the U.S. population. Education A Turning Point Game Changers Modern humans learn they Modern humans find they can Games drive innovation in industry: influence the growth and development of students of all ages with digital activities that are transforming learning landscapes everywhere. can control the growth and breeding of plants and animals and discover Graphical ... activities that transform Processors Earth's natural landscapes. Artificial Intelligence Human/Computer Interaction Massively Multiplayer Environments Computer simulations and games are catalysts to new approaches in science education: They enable learners to see and interact with representations of natural phenomena that would otherwise be impossible to observe. They motivate learners with challenges and rapid feedback. • Smithsonian Science Education Center assists in nurturing the ongoing development of tomorrow's tech-literate generation. 28-year legacy SSEC develops a science standards-aligned kindergarten app for its STCT™ program called Shutterbugs: Wiggle and Stomp. in inquiry-based science, developing authentic learning materials for classrooms nationwide. wiggle Options Back shuyterbug 5o Photos + adapts quickly to each player Certificate + provides children, parents, and teachers with feedback about the PLAY! child's progress + works on most current research Welcome back to the National Zoo! Grab your camera and come take more pictures with us! about how children learn + rigorously user-tested with children and educators 95% 70% 62% of teachers report that games make it of teachers use digital games that were designed specifically for educational use. of teachers agree that using digital games increases motivation and engagement. easier to effectively teach the range of learners in their classroom. 7 "I want you guys to be stuck on a video game that's teaching you something..." -President Barack Obama, TechBoston, March 2011 Smithsonian Science Education Center www.ssec.si.edu @SmithsonianScie SOURCES: Visual.ly; Transforming Science Education, Smithsonian Science Education Center; Humans Change the World, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History; Fact Sheet: Digital Literacy, The U.S. Department of Commerce; Living and Learning with Mobile Devices; What Parents Think About Mobile Devices forEarly Childhood and K-12 Learning, Grunwald Associates LLC; The Hidden STEM Economy, Brookings Institution; Is It Age or IT: First Steps Towards Understanding the Net Generation, Educause; Where are the STEM students? ASTRA, the Alliance for Science & Tech Research in America; How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms, The Pew Research Center; Report: Social Networking, Internet & American Life Project, The Pew Research Center; Pew Internet & Mobile, Internet & American Life Project, The Pew Research Center: Teens and Technology 2013: Internet & American Life Project, The Pew Research Center; NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center; Teacher Attitudes about Digital Games in the Classroom (2012), The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop; Games For Grand Challenges, Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House; Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations (2011); National Academy of Sciences DC