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"Functioning with the quadruped MekaMon robot, Reach EDU will utlise MekaMon's sophisticated locomotion and personality to entertain, inspire and educate students from across the academic spectrum by bringing creative learning and advanced robotics together. Operating alongside the existing MekaMon gaming app, Reach EDU will launch with six guided missions to support the KS2 Computer Science curriculum with plans to formally expand into KS3 and 4 in the next academic year."

"Teachers in England are being invited to join a professional development opportunity through EarthEcho International sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation. The 'EarthEcho Expeditions: What's the Catch?' programme leverages the rich Cousteau legacy of exploration and discovery to bring Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education alive for today's 21st-century learners and their educators. The free, expenses-paid opportunity is planned to allow secondary school teachers to participate as Expedition Fellows to learn first-hand from scientists and engineers the consequences of fisheries mismanagement and how this can be changed for the better with new technological approaches and discoveries."

"There's something about origami that really seems to capture children's imagination. In most of the classes that I have taught over the years, there has been at least one child with a real passion for origami. Many a show-and-tell has been dominated by incredible paper-folding creations, from water bombs to paper dragons. Think back to your own school days; which of these origami classics do you remember creating?"

"The importance of offering a broad curriculum within the school system cannot be over-stated, allowing students to explore a range of topics that spark their interest, and potentially inspire them to follow a career path that can have a positive impact on their lives, society and the environment. STEM activities (built around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) offer a broad range of opportunities, opening up the potential of enquiry based learning that is relevant to the world we live in. Many education systems globally place a great emphasis on a STEM curriculum for all students, no matter of age, race, gender or ability, but what STEM based activities work best in your setting, helping students see the world differently, and potentially inspiring to enter STEM careers of the future?"

"How does STEM education differ between these countries? Who is doing it 'best'? We've done our research and these are the findings"

Girls who play video games are three times more likely to choose physical science, technology, engineering or maths (PSTEM) degrees compared to their non-gaming counterparts, according to new research from the University of Surrey

"New research from Monash University has found that girls in single-sex schools are more likely to study chemistry, intermediate mathematics, advanced mathematics and physics in their senior years when compared to their co-ed counterparts."

"Countries with greater gender equality see a smaller proportion of women taking degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a new study has found. Policymakers could use the findings to reconsider initiatives to increase women's participation in STEM, say the researchers. Dubbed the 'gender equality paradox', the research found that countries such as Albania and Algeria have a greater percentage of women amongst their STEM graduates than countries lauded for their high levels of gender equality, such as Finland, Norway or Sweden."

"English…done! Reading…done! Assembly…go, go, go! Packed primary timetables can sometimes feel like you're racing through an army drill. It can be difficult to stop, and allow children time for deeper thought and study. Integrating meaningful STEM into the week can often feel like a bit of a headache. Project Based Learning as a method of teaching STEM, could be the solution to this. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths are the four disciplines many schools are hoping to focus on this academic year, looking at an applied and integrated approach."

UKEd Magazine with educational articles on pedagogy and teaching ideas. This issue has a STEM theme.

If you're looking for free resources for Science,English,Math,and Social Studies to add some interest during December, this page from Discover;y has lots of great things separated by grade level including lesson plans and "learning adventures."

Tutorials to teach students of all ages about computational thinking and coding.

Don't let the title mislead you, but yes, there are many uses of Minecraft in schools.This versatile, compelling but pretty low bandwidth tool gives us so many things Second Life never did - and with minecraft.edu it is affordable for most of us. This list is trending on Twitter which just shows how many people are interested (or how many people don't read to know it isn't really 1001 ;-) You might just find one way to teach coding in your classroom for the Hour of Code coming up.

If you want to understand why STEM jobs are such a big deal, then this NPR interview really helps us understand why so many people are talking about STEM even though it makes up only 7% of the jobs. Read (and share) this NPR interview or download it for a listen as you travel. "That is, a technical education now allows you to do anything. And anything, for most workers, means having a job that's fairly focused as a STEM worker, but then moving on to management or into a regulatory roll or into a government job. So STEM has become the place where you go if you want to have a lot of alternatives 10 years down the road."

If you need ideas for science careers, this is a great resource. Students could research careers using this information.

Excited to see Discovery work with an incredible nonprofit, Girls Inc to bring STEM to girls. Now THIS Is something with a lot of potential. Girls INc is a great organization that I worked with here in Albany (yes, back in the 90 - has been a while) but I was always impressed with their programs. Excited to watch this develop.

"Join the maker movement! There's a technological and creative revolution underway. Amazing new tools, materials and skills turn us all into makers. Using technology to make, repair or customize the things we need brings engineering, design and computer science to the masses. Fortunately for educators, this maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing. The active learner is at the center of the learning process, amplifying the best traditions of progressive education. This book helps educators bring the exciting opportunities of the maker movement to every classroom."

I'm recording another episode of "Every Classroom matters" interviewing some of the teachers and organizers in the Chicago Early STEM college movement. As I researched for this show, I found this report out of North Carolina reporting an increase in test scores. A county here in Georgia is also implementing Early college stem as well. STEM is something every school needs (listen to the earlier show I recorded w/ Kevin Jarrett) but this is an interesting approach. "Just two years after it opened, a North Carolina high school has found that teaching students the principles of STEM can boost test scores and keep learners engaged. That's prompting the school to ask, "If we can do it, why can't other schools do it, too?" The school has a mouthful of a name: the Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School. It has attracted many students to its Raleigh campus - first generation-college students, minorities, and students from poor backgrounds - who are underrepresented in STEM fields. But in 2012, students did far better than average on the state's standardized exams, with more than 95 percent passing."