All about STEAM in the Virtual Village

This term a small group of passionate, creative and inspiring young people have been meeting Wednesdays 4-5:15 for STEAM Club. A beautiful email exchange between Dr Greg Giannis, our awesome STEAM Club facilitator and one of the parents highlights exactly what STEAM (or STEM) is all about. So I asked them if they’d mind if I shared it with you. Being generous Virtual Village members they said yes!

First though what is STEAM? STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths and one of the things I love about this umbrella term is its intent to look at these domains as a collective rather than as silos (as has so long been the case in our education system). STEM has become a “priority focus” for education systems and governments from around the world.

Why?

The rate of change being facilitated by digital technologies is immense. I don’t need to tell you that it has and is changing everything! “It’s predicted that future workers will spend more than twice as much time on job tasks requiring science, maths and critical thinking than today.” (National-stem-education-resources-toolkit) Whilst government documents argue “It’s vital that Australia keeps pace with technological change to advance its economy and prosperity.”, (National-stem-education-resources-toolkit) if you know me, you’ll know I think about it more from a personal than an economic, systemic perspective.

We want our young people to be empowered, knowledgeable, self-aware, creative, critical-thinkers, collaborative, caring and connected to their world. Giving them the support to understand more fully the world they inhabit will empower our young people to take control. These very skills are embedded when holistic STEM learning takes place. Effective STEM learning (well any learning really) enables students to engage in authentic, active, meaningful learning which will give them the attributes they need for life. To show you what I mean, here’s a window into how learners are being enabled and empowered in Virtually There STEAM Club.

Conversation between Adrian’s (7yo) mum and Greg (STEAM Facilitator):

“Thanks so much for this fun opportunity for Adrian to engage with yourself and the other kids, and also to explore being creative with tech (which he loves). Adrian really loves STEAM club. Thank you so much for running the sessions and please feel free to reach out if you want me to encourage anything outside of class (or during). He is quite young and easily distracted. He gets really into scratch but do let me know if you think he goes off task! Sometimes I think it’s best when Trevor or I are not actively about- he relaxes into it more. However, I’m happy to be directed on that matter also.” (Cara)

“Hi Cara,
Its an absolute pleasure. I’m striving for a space where the kids have agency and are able to discuss things among themselves, share ideas and show each other their projects and discoveries, with me providing support in any way I can. Sometimes I need to take the lead, but my experience and research clearly shows the importance of allowing the children to play/lead and follow their intuition. Its key to creativity and self-confidence.

Another aspect that I feel is important is the engendering of computational and digital literacy. This is going to be a big issue in their lives (if it isnt already) and arming them with the tools and understanding of what's 'under the hood' will hopefully better prepare them for the future. But all in a fun and creative way.

I will definitely reach out and thank you for the offer. They are kids so understandably easily distracted, but i hate the idea of stifling their curiosity so will often let them run with the distraction and try and bring something of relevance into what they are distracted by. For example, Adrian was looking at others' creations on Scratch (and there are thousands!) so I asked him to show me how one particular game worked and he enjoyed the feeling of teaching me something and I did indeed learn a lot. It became an opportunity to highlight some of the important elements when creating something that engages an audience.” (Greg)

“This is truly awesome, thank you Greg. I love and appreciate everything in here. What a fantastic opportunity for that little guy! Thanks again.” (Cara)

Further Reading:

https://www.education.gov.au/national-stem-education-resources-toolkit/why-stem-important-0

https://www.socialventures.com.au/assets/STEM-education-for-all-young-Australians-Smaller.pdf

https://www.smh.com.au/education/explainer-stem-and-what-it-means-to-australias-education-system-20170105-gtm93f.html