Questacon Smart Skills focuses on failing well
Questacon, The National Science and Technology Centre, got a head start with STEM education, about 30 years’ worth, and it has brought that experience to its Smart Skills program which is aimed at students and teachers alike.
     Momentum is building as Samsung, the Ian Potter Foundation and the Australian Government have backed the program. To date some 23,000 students and more than 3000 teachers from 290 schools have been exposed to Smart Skills’ practical, context based STEAM teaching. Read more

Oz schools gun for world F1 championships
For a country that doesn’t have a lot of people, Australia routinely punches above its weight in professional sports; rugby, soccer, tennis, MMA and increasingly basketball and gridiron all have a strong if unlikely contingent of Aussies.
     F1 is another one; we’ve always had a big presence among the drivers and our mechanics and engineers are known to be top drawer.
     The F1 in Schools competition has been around for years now with entrants participating in any of the jobs that a real F1 team offers and guess what? The Australian kids are rather too good at it. Read more

School days in the garden of STEAM
If you want an immersive STE(A)M experience the STEM garden at Quantum Victoria is a very literal example.
     Quantum Victoria is a Centre of Excellence and Innovation devoted to STEM and is co-located with Charles La Trobe P–12 College at Macleod West (Victoria).
     Its STEM Garden, where students congregate at breaks and for informal learning sessions, is designed create an atmosphere conducive to technology and science learning. It locates students within a playful environment using scientific concepts like formulae and illustrations of chemical structures as design elements. Read more

What is your understanding of literacy in the digital age?
As teachers we all know that literacy (and numeracy, but I’m not touching on that in this post) is the core skill everyone needs to be effective and empowered members of our society. At a top level to be literate can be simply defined as to be able to communicate meaning. 
     This meaning involves using the communication and understanding of the user’s role and responsibility in a feedback loop. While our focus in the primary years has been and will continue to be about teaching reading, writing, listening and speaking, these 4 strands of the curriculum are much broader when the various modalities of meaning are included in our thinking. Consider the issues in the media in recent times touching on e-safety or aspects of digital citizenship, Read More

STEAM clubs need structure 
STEAM clubs have been popping up everywhere and that’s a good thing as they bring young people together who have in interest in STEAM and want to explore the subjects in innovative ways outside the school curriculum.
     While STEM/STEAM clubs are a great way to get students involved in the area, a framework under which they operate brings their intention and processes into focus.
     Successful STEAM club frameworks need to consider several factors if they’re to be effective. The STEAM club evaluation table from Education Scotland is a good place to find inspiration or opportunity for appropriation. Read more