The 2016-17 STEAM conference was an overwhelming success! More than 1150 teachers, students, parents, and community members came together at Golden Gate High school on Saturday, October 29, 2016 to learn about STEAM opportunities and STEAM Careers in Collier County Schools. Going from STEM to STEAM added creative elements throughout the opening session and STEAM village. The Steampunk Stompers, a professional musical organization, performed an original song, titled “Build Your Tomorrow”, complete with audience kazoo participation. The opening session also featured a fantastic display of Elephant Toothpaste and a shocking science demonstration on electricity. Participants were lead from the opening session in the auditorium to the conference breakout sessions by the East Naples Middle School drumline. There were over 30 breakout sessions and the STEAM village, which doubled in size from 2015, featured 28 interactive, hands-on activities for everyone. Participants experienced coding Ozobots, making pottery, building Lego Robotics, making nitrogen ice cream, piloting a flight simulator, and so much more. Participants also joined in the STEAM PIN Challenge to earn the first STEAM Team pin which is sure to become a collector’s item.

The day was a huge success and showcased the importance of STEAM education in our students’ education. Smiling faces could be seen all over campus as learning was made fun!

Fourth grade teachers are already beginning to prepare for the 4th Annual STEAM Competition in May 2017 by learning how to create inventions using littleBits. The training is provided for 4th grade teachers who are new to littleBits. Teachers learn to use the color-coded magnetic, reusable building blocks to create an invention that has a real world application. littleBits help to build creative confidence, develop critical thinking skills, and foster collaborative teamwork. During the training, teachers learn the different functions of the blocks and how they work together to accomplish a task. In the afternoon, teachers experience an actual littleBits challenge. They are given a problem to solve, a littleBits kit, and craft supplies like pipe cleaners, construction paper, glitter, glue, etc. By the end of the day, there are some spectacular new inventions! The teachers take this new experience back to their classrooms and share the learning and fun with their students. The students will work with the littleBits in their classrooms throughout the Spring before participating in a school-wide littleBits challenge. The winning team will represent their school at the 4th Annual STEAM Competition at Florida Southwestern State College in May.

The Digital Leaders of Collier (DLC) teachers are focused on supporting teachers in their school by setting a clear vision for effective teaching with technology. The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) is a tool that provides a framework for defining and evaluating technology integration in our classrooms. It provides teachers and administrators with a common language for setting goals in terms of technology integration in the classroom. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments and associates these characteristics with a level of technology integration. Technology integration ranges from entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion and finally, transformation. DLC teachers learn to identify the characteristics of a learning environment as one that is active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, or goal directed and then associate each learning environment to a level of technology integration. As teachers and administrators familiarize themselves with the tool, they can better observe classrooms and identify the learning environment and the level of technology integration.