Thomson Reuters Foundation News: New website by Senegalese AI expert spotlights Africans in STEM. “Growing up in a trading town in Senegal, Adji Bousso Dieng loved school and had a particular talent for maths. But with a dearth of career role models, she had no idea which path to follow. Some two decades later and a research scientist working on artificial intelligence at Google, Dieng wants to give young Africans the inspiring examples she missed out on….This month, Dieng launched a website called ‘The Africa I Know’, which features profiles of successful African professionals working in fields such as science, technology and engineering.”
STEM
Marie Claire: Lyda Hill Philanthropies Launches the IF/THEN Collection to Educate About Women In STEM
Marie Claire: Lyda Hill Philanthropies Launches the IF/THEN Collection to Educate About Women In STEM. “The online resource features photos and videos of more than 125 female STEM change-makers selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Lyda Hill Philanthropies to be IF/THEN ambassadors. The diverse group of women, who represent a range of backgrounds, will serve as role models for young women interested in the sciences and technology.”
Globe Newswire: Free Virtual Coding, STEM, Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Programs Launch for Youth this Summer (PRESS RELEASE)
Globe Newswire: Free Virtual Coding, STEM, Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Programs Launch for Youth this Summer (PRESS RELEASE). (This is for Canada.) “As the school year officially comes to an end, Rogers Communications today announced its national Ted Rogers Community Grant partners have transitioned all youth programming online this summer, offering Canadian families free, self-directed educational experiences to fill the gap with many summer camps being cancelled due to COVID-19. These programs focus on developing critical skills across technology, innovation, financial literacy and education with engaging and empowering programs designed to prepare Canada’s next generation.”
Chronicle Live: Operating Theatre Live goes online with free lessons for teens during coronavirus lockdown
Chronicle Live: Operating Theatre Live goes online with free lessons for teens during coronavirus lockdown. “Award-winning show Operating Theatre Live is now running free online lessons for teenagers in lockdown. The show – described as the UK’s only touring surgical experience – has launched an educational channel to help 14 to 19-year-olds with distance learning. The viewers will follow the role of a trauma doctor as body systems are dissected and can ask questions during a live stream through social media.”
T74: From Coding and Origami for Robots to Electrical Circuits and Animation, 9 Online Sources that Bring Hands-On Technical Learning Home
T74: From Coding and Origami for Robots to Electrical Circuits and Animation, 9 Online Sources that Bring Hands-On Technical Learning Home. “There’s a YouTube crash course on how to build bots for WhatsApp messaging, and entire websites devoted to student coding, and from learning about how origami can make a difference when building robots to helping kids craft animations. Here’s a list of suggested starting points, all meant to give a glimpse of what is available while showing a depth of variety.”
Learning about artificial intelligence: A hub of MIT resources for K-12 students (MIT News)
MIT News: Learning about artificial intelligence: A hub of MIT resources for K-12 students. “In light of the recent events surrounding Covid-19, learning for grades K-12 looks very different than it did a month ago. Parents and educators may be feeling overwhelmed about turning their homes into classrooms. With that in mind, a team led by Media Lab Associate Professor Cynthia Breazeal has launched aieducation.mit.edu to share a variety of online activities for K-12 students to learn about artificial intelligence, with a focus on how to design and use it responsibly.”
University of Kansas: $2.5m Grant Will Support Online Tool That Helps Students Grasp Science Concepts
University of Kansas: $2.5m Grant Will Support Online Tool That Helps Students Grasp Science Concepts. “Researchers at the University of Kansas and CAST, a nonprofit and founders of the universal design for learning framework, have won a grant to improve a tool that has proven effective at helping students, especially those with disabilities, grasp science concepts by making it more teacher-friendly and sustainable to use in classrooms.”
3 Questions: Ritu Raman on the Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT (MIT)
MIT: 3 Questions: Ritu Raman on the Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT. “The Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT (WISDM) has relaunched in time for Women’s History Month. First created by Koch Institute postdoc Ritu Raman in 2018 as a way for women to gain visibility by providing a platform for female speakers at MIT, the updated site, powered by the MIT Innovation Initiative, enhances that functionality on a newly-designed platform offering an online space for community, collaboration, and visibility.”
Google Blog: Finalists from our Design Challenge are Changing the Game
Google Blog: Finalists from our Design Challenge are Changing the Game. “Research shows that while half of all mobile game players are women, only 23 percent of them think there’s equal treatment and opportunity in the industry. In order to promote women as players and creators, Change The Game empowers the next generation of game makers so all players can feel represented and engaged. Our annual Design Challenge encouraged teenagers nationwide to design an original game. We received over 1,500 entries and selected five finalists, who worked with Girls Make Games. These winning games are now available for download on Google Play.”
Ars Technica: The best science and math moments in Sesame Street’s first 50 years
Ars Technica: The best science and math moments in Sesame Street’s first 50 years. “There was nothing on television like Sesame Street when it premiered 50 years ago, and the truth is, there’s still nothing quite like it now. (That’s a big reason why it was such a valuable acquisition for HBO in 2015.) Throughout the years, the show has always been on the front lines of what’s important to teach children. And as some of the show’s greatest hits demonstrate, long before educational advocates began popularizing the STEM acronym (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), Sesame Street was already there with silly characters promoting serious lessons.” I am always here for the pinball song. One two three FOUR FIVE six seven eight NINE TEN eleven twelve….
Air & Space Magazine: Girl Scouts, Now You Can Earn a Badge in Space Science
Air & Space Magazine: Girl Scouts, Now You Can Earn a Badge in Space Science. “The Girl Scouts was just a year old when, in 1913, it began awarding badges to young women for electronics and aviation. More than a century later, it is challenging members to aim even higher, with the release this summer of three new space science badges encouraging girls to learn about astronomy and the exploration of other worlds.”
Institute of Museum and Library Services: IMLS Announces $1.9 Million Investment in STEM, Making Education for Underserved Youth
Institute of Museum and Library Services: IMLS Announces $1.9 Million Investment in STEM, Making Education for Underserved Youth. “IMLS is pleased to announce $1.9 million in new funding from the Department of Education expanding an initiative that introduces underserved youth to STEM and making-based activities. New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) will continue to lead this project through a cooperative agreement with IMLS. Originally initiated as a pilot in 2014, the project provides elementary and middle school students with engaging activities to inspire an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with the aim of improving retention in STEM disciplines.”
Lifehacker: Find Hundreds of Science Experiment Ideas in ‘Scientific American’
Lifehacker: Find Hundreds of Science Experiment Ideas in ‘Scientific American’. “A big part of being a kid is building things, deconstructing things and, in general, discovering how things work—that’s why we buy those starter science experiment kits and toy microscopes to encourage their curiosity. But it’s easy to run out of ideas to keep them interested in science, especially as they get older. Luckily for parents, Scientific American has for years been developing an archive of hundreds of science experiments for kids ages 6-12 to conduct with their parents.”
Australian Academy of Science: New database to boost the visibility of women in STEM
Australian Academy of Science: New database to boost the visibility of women in STEM. “Australian women in STEM will be more visible thanks to a new resource showcasing the depth of talent of those working in the field. STEM Women is an online directory of women in Australia working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).”
BIG NEWS: 42 New Girl Scout Badges to Change the World (Girl Scouts Blog)
Girl Scouts Blog: BIG NEWS: 42 New Girl Scout Badges to Change the World. “The new programming allows girls to make their own choices about how they want to experience and influence the world while preparing them to address some of society’s most pressing needs through hands-on learning and real-life problem-solving in cybersecurity, coding, space exploration, and citizen science.” This sounds sooooo much better than the Girl Scouts of my youth. I’m a bitty jealous.
