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"I am always curious to see the words and ideas that are growing.  It was from individual classrooms and schools that ideas around self-regulation, inquiry and digital access have exploded.  I have also written before about the growth of outdoor learning among other trends that are taking hold.  It is sometimes hard to track their growth - it comes from students, teachers, parents and the community and when they stick - they become the new normal. The two ideas this fall that I would add to the list and I think are just beginning to blossom are coding and robotics.  When I look at the growth plans of staff, or the inquiry questions of our Innovation teams, or listen to the interests of parents, these ideas are coming up more and more. Coding is not new, and it is part of the ICT 9-12 curriculum.  In part driven by the global Hour of Code initiative, there are efforts to expose all students to the possibilities around coding not just those who select it as a secondary school elective.  More and more we are hearing from students, teachers and parents that we want to engage younger learners with these skills.  Cari Wilson has done a wonderful job leading the Hour of Code initiative in our district - getting into elementary and secondary classrooms.  Given the Star Wars theme this year I am sure students in classrooms and at kitchen tables across our community will be engaging with coding."

"Coding and robotics can help students develop critical skills for success after high school--here are some resources for the classroom"

"The educational acronyms of the 21st century look a bit different from those of previous generations. The "Three R's" (which, confusingly enough, weren't even R's to begin with) have since largely been replaced by STEM, and parents of the newest generation are doing everything they can to better prepare their progeny for success in an increasingly digitized world. Updated on 04-07-2016 by Lulu Chang: Cubetto finishes Kickstarter campaign as the most funded ed-tech project to date. Key to that success appears to be an early start - an extremely early start - when it comes to learning important skills like computer programming and other technical talents. Here to help is Cubetto, and adorable little wooden robot that is specifically designed for pre-literate children ages 3 and older that teaches the basics of computer programming and STEM, sans screen. "

"The idea for this bot came from the book Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future. The specific project that motivated this activity was the Art-Making Vibrobot on pages 24 to 26, though I modified the supplies considerably and the technique slightly. Basically this little "robot" is just a cup with marker legs that vibrates and spins due to the motor being off balance. As it jiggles around on a piece of paper it makes interesting designs. While I hope to make more exciting and complicated projects with my kids as they get older, this was a nice unthreatening activity to start with which showed my child how to hook up a simple DC motor to a battery. He's already familiar with some of these electrical concepts through our Snap Circuits set (link to my review), but this was a fun, hands-on supplement to the more structured activities in that set."

"This summer, Apple will introduce an addition to its usual Apple Camp program: a coding course for children ages 8 to 12. Besides its usual interactive storytelling and iMovie classes, kids will have the option to enroll in Coding Games and Programming Robots. The class will use Tynker's software to teach the basics of coding using blocks that can animate characters and move robots. In May, Tynker raised $7.1 million in funding."

"In this article I would like to explore a new coding app called Robot School from Next is Great (@nextisgreat). What hooked me immediately was how this app teachings kids to block code, but then shows them the syntax written in Swift. If you are unfamiliar, Swift is a new programming language for iOS. I love the concept of block code and syntax. It's a perfect next step for avid coders."

"For nearly a decade, Maker Faires have been a way to bring together a community of people who've tapped into their creative and innovative sensibilities to build a wonderful array of original works: flashy robots and drones, tools programmed for novel applications, to weird fashion accessories and jewelry, stuff you can't even name, and on and on."

"Tickle (Tickle Labs, Inc, free) is a free app that lets you program a wide variety of robots through a simple programming language and drag and drop visual interface, then control them from an iPad. Just some of the 'bots and systems controllable by Tickle include the Sphero robotic ball, a wide variety of flyable drones, the Arduino open-source electronic prototyping platform and Philips Hue smart home lighting. You can also program interactive stories and simple games using a library of animated characters and sounds."

"A 3D-printed robotic hand that costs just £1,000 to produce has won the 2015 James Dyson Award in the UK."

"What makerspace materials and supplies should you buy or stock for your hands-on learning lab?  There are a lot of options out there to choose from and it can be confusing when you're first starting out as a maker educator.  Instead of just spending money randomly on items you think you will need, it's always a great idea to work backwards first.  You need to make a list of your goals for your makerspace and then define some of the projects you want to do in your makerspace.  Once you have defined the projects, you will have a better idea of the materials you need to buy.  Since money is always tight and you can't buy everything, try partnering with another maker educator and share/trade some of your items.  Lets say you're both working on a series of robotics lessons.  Each of you can buy one type of robotics kit and then when you have completed a few lessons you can trade with each other.  This is also a great way to try out new types of kits, equipment or materials before buying them. Now keep in mind makerspaces don't always need structured lessons and are great for open ended exploration.  Give your students some materials, maybe a little instruction and then let them loose to see what they do. Here are some of the top makerspace materials and supplies a classroom or library should consider adding to their space.  They are not ranked in any particular order and they all have a STEM component to them.  Please let us know in the comments section if we are missing any good materials so we can send out an updated post later on."

"To celebrate Computer Science Education Week, students around the world are participating in the Hour of Code.  This global event brings computer science into schools to allow students, for one hour, to learn basic programming and coding to nurture problem-solving skills, logic, and creativity. My class spent some time designing an Iditarod Trail course for students to travel using round Sphero robots.  What is a Sphero?  It is simply an app-enabled ball that students code or program to move.  It can jump, change colors, and roll in any direction up to 4.5mph. Our robots represented an Iditarod dog team in the 2016 race.  Students used the free Sphero app for programming its movement along the course we created.  "

"Does STEM scare you? I know it scared me. When I was a kid, I watched my brother take apart an entire computer and put it back together without a manual or guide. Me, I could barely change a lightbulb. And no matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to put IKEA furniture together backward. You should see my bookcase. Very embarrassing. It was with this same trepidation and insecurity that I approached STEM. What could I teach kids? I'm not an engineer! I'm not a scientist! I'm not a mathematician! It wasn't until I reluctantly volunteered to help out with a robotics after school program that I started gaining confidence. I put together my first robot (with a lot of help, TLC from the co-instructor, and even guidance from some eight-year-old kids) and its been downhill from there. I soon realized that leading successful STEM experiences has less to do with your actual knowledge as an instructor (though it helps), and more to do with the MINDSET you take with kids. Here are the five MAKER mindsets and how YOU can develop them starting tomorrow."

"In the last few years, machine learning applications have quietly entered every aspect of life: social media to speech recognition, radiology to retail, warfare to writing articles, coding to customer service, robotics to route optimization. During the 40 year information age, we told computers what to do. With advances in artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning, and faster processing chips we can feed computers giant data sets and they can (in narrow slivers) draw some inferences on their own. As we reported in Ask About AI, the rise of code that learns marks the beginning of a new era of augmented intelligence. It's a great opportunity for us to expand access to a great education and for young people to make a big contribution. Given the importance of relationships in human development, AI will augment rather than replace the work of educators in many ways. We'll all have to get better at collaborating with teams that include smart machines. In other professions, augmentation will lead to automation with the potential for significant dislocation. Amazon's workforce, for example, is about 20% robots."

"Cardboard Creations Maker Education Camp utilized no technology (except for projecting images of example projects on the whiteboard) and low/no cost materials. Many of the discussions about and actions related to integrating maker education into educational environments center around the use of new technologies such computer components (Raspberry Pis, Arduinos), interactive robots for kids (Dash and Dot, Ozobots, Spheros), and 3D printers. These technologies are lots of fun and I facilitate Robotics and Computer Science with my gifted students and at one of my summer camps. The learners engaged in these high tech learning activities with high excitement and motivation. Such high excitement, engagement and motivation, though, were also seen at my low tech/low cost maker education camps: LED crafts, Toy Hacking and Making, and Cardboard Creations."

"Have you noticed more discussion recently about Artificial Intelligence or AI? When first hearing "Artificial Intelligence" is there an image that pops into your mind? Is it something that you can easily define? Perhaps your understanding/reference point is something you've seen in the movies. For myself, being an 80s child, my initial frame of reference is Star Wars, I immediately think of R2D2 or C3PO. My mind then wanders to thoughts of "I, Robot" starring Will Smith, in which the robots developed the capacity to think like humans, to feel and to take action on their own. And more currently, I think of the Alexa, Echo, Siri and others that have gained popularity, even more so recently. But what is the true meaning of AI and how do we see it in daily life?"

"The adventure begins! Episode 1: Ethic awakens in a mysterious cell. Can she and robot Hedge solve the programming puzzles blocking their escape? This is episode 1 of our animated series "Think Like A Coder." This 10-episode narrative follows a girl, Ethic, and her robot companion, Hedge, as they attempt to save the world. The two embark on a quest to collect three artifacts and must solve their way through a series of programming puzzles."

"This is part one of a four-part series examining how automation will change Canadians' lives, for better or worse. The robot future has already arrived at the home of Daniel Nieto. They're fully in control, with no need for human input, and Nieto says the home is better for it. Well, when it comes to the thermostat, anyways. Nieto, a tech executive living in Toronto, Ont. has smart devices throughout his home where he lives with his wife and nine-year-old son."

"At the beginning, people thought she was nuts. Sue Mellon, the Gifted support coordinator for Springdale Junior and Senior High/Colfax School in the Allegheny Valley School District, thought 7th and 8th graders could develop a deeper understanding of poetry by playing around with robotics."