Every student has his or her own story and brings a diverse set of perspectives to school each day. Our life experiences and worldview affect how we approach and solve problems. The more voices we hear and stories we tell, the more we can learn from each other and be innovative while creating or solving problems. To increase the speed and depth of innovation, we need to engage and provide opportunities for all students to learn in meaningful ways.
Current research reports that underrepresented populations are not achieving at the same levels in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as their counterparts. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, professional opportunities in STEM fields are expected to grow 12.5 percent by 2022, a faster rate than non-STEM fields. Despite that, black and Latino people each make up only six percent of the STEM workforce.
Each Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
Each Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!