by Lara Kirk

A collection of UTB blog posts that discuss getting STEAM learning up and running in your classroom and a few more things to consider - tools, teacher as a learner and professional development.

by Donna Golightly

How do we use STEAM tools and ideas in our everyday classroom programmes without it being just one more thing we have to include in an already incredibly busy environment? The micro:bit offers an excellent entry point. With some subtle adjustments we can begin to incorporate coding into what we are already doing.

by Donna Golightly

The New Zealand Digital Technologies Curriculum is now in its draft from and teachers all around NZ have begun to implement it in their classrooms. But are you one of the many teachers who are sitting there thinking about where on earth to begin with it, and how will you possibly be able to fit one more thing into your already frantic class timetable?

by Lara Kirk

Scratch 3.0 is available to try in beta version and it has some awesome new features. I’ll show you a couple of them in this video. If you’ve never used Scratch before or are an old pro you’ll be delighted by how much computational thinking can be developed in this user friendly system to design games, animations and stories.

by Mark Herring

Mark is the Lead STEAM Trainer and an Apple Learning Specialist at Using Technology Better. Based in New Zealand with over 10 years experience as digital learning leader in schools, Mark understands what it takes to structure digital learning programmes that ‘flow’ and is known for demonstrating ‘creative learning’ approaches for maximum learning outcomes. Mark is also a Google Certified Educator, and experienced with developing education initiatives and strategies for the new digital curriculum for schools.

This review is about Makeblocks new addition to their robotics lineup, the ‘Codey Rocky’, which the team at Makeblock have been kind enough to give me an advance trial of.

by Lara Kirk

QR (Quick Response) codes are a great tool for using in your classroom. The latest software in smartphones has the capability to read them from the camera app, and it’s quick and easy to download a QR code reader if not. Use them to engage your students, bring classroom displays to life digitally and more!

by Mark Herring

Mark is the Lead STEAM Trainer and an Apple Learning Specialist at Using Technology Better. Based in New Zealand with over 10 years experience as digital learning leader in schools, Mark understands what it takes to structure digital learning programmes that ‘flow’ and is known for demonstrating ‘creative learning’ approaches for maximum learning outcomes. Mark is also a Google Certified Educator, and experienced with developing education initiatives and strategies for the new digital curriculum for schools.

Have you been engaging your students with STEM or STEAM projects and experiences but wondering how you can better focus the learning? Here are two simple ways you can maximise the learning outcomes for your students and they both begin at the planning phase.

by Mark Herring

Mark is the Lead STEAM Trainer and an Apple Learning Specialist at Using Technology Better. Based in New Zealand with over 10 years experience as digital learning leader in schools, Mark understands what it takes to structure digital learning programmes that ‘flow’ and is known for demonstrating ‘creative learning’ approaches for maximum learning outcomes. Mark is also a Google Certified Educator, and experienced with developing education initiatives and strategies for the new digital curriculum for schools.

The STEAM learning approach can look incredibly different from school to school. Here are some different approaches that we see in schools, and some positives and negatives about each approach.