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"App Inventor is a free, cloud-based service that you access using a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). With these beginner-friendly tutorials, you will learn the basics of programming apps for Android devices. You will need:      * A Mac or Windows computer (see system requirements)      * A free Google account (Gmail or school email tied to Google      * An Android mobile device (phone or tablet). If you don't have a mobile device, you can still use App        Inventor with the on-screen Emulator To see your app on your phone as you build:      * Follow the instructions to connect your phone to App Inventor on your computer      * If you hit any snags, we're here to help! Teachers: Get support and tips for preparing for App Inventor hour of code with your students."

"Our 5th grade is currently studying the impact on American life that several famous inventors had. When I was brainstorming with Shelley Olin, 5th grade social studies teacher, we began to wonder about connections these standards had to makerspace.  It started as an idea seed and grew into a set of experiences for all 5th graders to engage in. I wanted students to put themselves into the shoes of an inventor so that they could begin to understand the perseverance and curiosity that inventors have. We focused on 3 of the inventors: Thomas Edison (electricity), Alexander Graham Bell (communication), and the Wright Brothers (flight)."

"You've always wanted to create your own droid, right? Well now is your chance with the new littleBits Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit! See my invention and find out where you can purchase this kit before it sells out. This post is in collaboration with littleBits and all galactic opinions are my own. "

"There's an old saying that the things that change your life are the books you read, the places you go, and the people you meet. But I'd like to add a fourth: the challenges you face (and how you face them) will always change your life. If we want our students to respond to challenges with creativity and inventiveness, we must create the conditions in which innovation is not only possible but encouraged. You don't help students learn to invent by giving worksheets or cookie-cutter assignments. In fact, these one-size-fits-all approaches may actually take up the time that could be used for such creativity. ADVERTISEMENT According to the Torrance Test-which measures CQ, or creativity quotient-the United States has been declining in creativity since 1990. There has to be a reason. Perhaps it is because we focus on students' weaknesses instead of their strengths. In many schools, we'll put a math genius who struggles with grammar into extra English classes. Should we not give this math genius access to college-level advanced math work, and figure out the basic English requirements he or she needs for a basic understanding of grammar? Why do we think that all students should be good at everything? We can either be average at everything or exceptional at something. With this in mind, here are some things we need to do to encourage student inventors as we nurture student passions, interests, and strengths."

"Kid Inventors Day falls on Benjamin Franklin's birthday (January 17, 1706) and celebrates the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of kids. To encourage your students to dream about their own inventions, try some of these activities in your classroom."

"We've heard the importance of failure and experimentation in learning. In this excellent interview on Science Friday, inventor James Dyson speaks about his direct experience with failures and schools' need to accommodate it. "My life and my day are full of failures," he says. "Failures are interesting.""

"With these beginner-friendly tutorials, you will learn the basics of programming apps for Android. App Inventor is a free, cloud-based service that you access using a web browser. Log in with a Google account (Gmail or school email tied to Google) to start inventing right away!"

"MIT App Inventor provides the fastest way to build apps for Android phones and tablets. Even with no prior experience, you can learn to build apps within hours. Here, you'll learn from USF Professor David Wolber, who has been teaching beginners programming with App Inventor since its inception in 2009. With step-by-step video screencasts, Wolber starts with the basics then leads you through the development of successively more complex apps, teaching you programming concepts as you go."

"There's an old saying that the things that change your life are the books you read, the places you go, and the people you meet. But I'd like to add a fourth: the challenges you face (and how you face them) will always change your life. If we want our students to respond to challenges with creativity and inventiveness, we must create the conditions in which innovation is not only possible but encouraged. You don't help students learn to invent by giving worksheets or cookie-cutter assignments. In fact, these one-size-fits-all approaches may actually take up the time that could be used for such creativity. Get the best of Edutopia in your inbox each week. According to the Torrance Test-which measures CQ, or creativity quotient-the United States has been declining in creativity since 1990. There has to be a reason. Perhaps it is because we focus on students' weaknesses instead of their strengths. In many schools, we'll put a math genius who struggles with grammar into extra English classes. Should we not give this math genius access to college-level advanced math work, and figure out the basic English requirements he or she needs for a basic understanding of grammar? Why do we think that all students should be good at everything? We can either be average at everything or exceptional at something. With this in mind, here are some things we need to do to encourage student inventors as we nurture student passions, interests, and strengths."

"Asked to name important inventors and you might start with Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell or Leonardo da Vinci. But what about Mary Anderson? Or Ann Tsukamoto? You might not know their names, but they are just two of the female inventors behind everyday objects and scientific innovations."

"Four years ago, TED Senior Fellow Ayah Bdeir founded littleBits "so everyone could unleash their inner inventor - without having to be an engineer." Since then, many people have used littleBits' electronic building blocks to do just that - and two of them happened to speak at TEDWomen 2015. Want to find out how inventor Christina Mercando used littleBits to prototype a ring that connects to the Internet? Or how guitarist Kaki King created her latest show using a littleBits synth kit? Read on …"

"In New Haven, Connecticut, where I live with my husband and two sons, we are lucky to have nearby the Eli Whitney Museum. This place is the opposite of a please don't touch repository of fine art. It's an "experimental learning workshop" where kids engage in an essential but increasingly rare activity: they make stuff. Right now, looking around my living room, I can see lots of the stuff made there by my older son: a model ship that can move around in water with the aid of a battery-powered motor he put together; a "camera obscura" that can project a real-world scene onto a wall in a darkened room; a wooden pinball game he designed himself. (You can view an archive of Eli Whitney Museum projects here.)"

"There's an old saying that the things that change your life are the books you read, the places you go, and the people you meet. But I'd like to add a fourth: the challenges you face (and how you face them) will always change your life. If we want our students to respond to challenges with creativity and inventiveness, we must create the conditions in which innovation is not only possible but encouraged. You don't help students learn to invent by giving worksheets or cookie-cutter assignments. In fact, these one-size-fits-all approaches may actually take up the time that could be used for such creativity. "

"Spark your students' curiosity in engineering and technology by introducing them to the designers, inventors, and clever thinkers featured in PBS LearningMedia. Use their stories to illustrate various themes of study like the engineering design process and the impact of technology."

"Invention literacy is the ability to read and write human made stuff, from toasters to apps. People think inventors perform magic, but invention is no more magical than reading and writing a sentence. There is a grammar to inventing from mechanical tools, to design thinking, coding, and beyond. There is a literature of inventions, from bicycles to televisions, all around us to draw inspiration from. "

"Taking friendship bracelets into the digital age, Jewelbots teaches young girls to tinker and code their way into the exploding world of wearable technology. Whether it's the Queen of Coding Grace Hopper or the new wave of women innovation engineers, fashion brand CEOs and musicians, young girls today have a growing number of role models who use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in their recipes for success. Having more role models is critical, but according to the founders of Jewelbots-the so-called friendship bracelets for the iPhone era-the next generation of women leaders and inventors will chase STEM endeavors at an early age, like a game of tag."

"If you read my blog then you know I love all things Makey Makey!  While I was writing Makey Makey lesson plans last summer, I was super stoked to hear the announcement of their Kickstarter campaign for the super portable Makey Makey Go. Mine came just in time for Christmas, but unfortunately, I had to hold off on tinkering with it right away because Aaron and I have been busy working on projects for our upcoming book deadline. We've finally had some time to work out a few projects with the Go and I am in LOVE with it!"