The Tech Monsters

07/19/2017

We are facilitating a two day, hands on introduction, for our Tech Monsters program. If you know a girl scout who might like to attend, have them register for our event at the Girl Scouts of Nebraska events page.

05/20/2017

We wrote a blog post for Tech-Based Learning, a new blog sponsored by Wolfram Research.

The Tech Monsters recently had the opportunity to contribute to Tech-Based Teaching, a blog sponsored by Wolfram Research. We wrote about our experiences creating the most engaging, edtech extravaganza, we could think of: Real World Data: 3 Strategies for Cultivating STEAM Engagement. Catchy...

01/19/2017

So, we do a little something here. Figured we would let you all know how great the other stuff that goes on there is.

At Wilson Focus School, the culture of the school is kid-centric. Students can be seen working independently, seated on stability balls or curled up on beanbags. A quick turn down the hallway and s…

09/12/2016

Before knowledge comes curiosity. Every expert was once just curious. A successful STEAM education experience must first and foremost be engaging. The Tech Monsters have been turning our gears for a while, developing engaging STEAM content. We would like to share some of our strategies we have found useful for getting and keeping students engaged. We have found that using real world data, one to one hands on learning, and keeping a fun, campy environment to be key for creating an engaging experience. [ 676 more words ]

http://thetechmonsters.org/student-engagement/

The Tech Monsters Drives Student Engagement using real world data and a few other tricks of the trade. Read on to hear our experiences with teaching STEAM.

11/28/2015

The title says it all.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation, a U.K.-based nonprofit that makes cheap, bare-necessities computer processors, on Thursday released its cheapest product yet: a $5 computer called Pi Zero.

09/03/2015

The One Where We Build A Light Sensing Circuit!

http://thetechmonsters.org/the-one-where-we-build-a-light-sensing-circuit/

This post describes our experiences teaching students how to assemble a simple light sensing circuit.

09/03/2015

The Next Tech Monsters Session Begins

http://thetechmonsters.org/the-next-tech-monsters-session-begins/

Using open source hardware and software, The Tech Monsters works to foster tech literacy with students in Omaha, Nebraska.

03/20/2015

Seems like something our readers might be interested in.

Announcing Raspberry Pi Creative Technologists 2015-16 20th March, 2015 By: FutureEverything Click here to Apply Now. FutureEverything is proud to announce that we are partnering with Raspberry Pi as part of the Creative Technologists programme for 2015-16. As part of the programme we are on the loo…

03/16/2015

System Resources and IDE’s http://wp.me/p5sBWA-6f

Day 4: Arduino IDE What We Planned Review the hardware reference material, introduce the Arduino IDE, and guide students through using and modifying their light sensor sketch. The students will be able to use their light sensor circuits from last class with their raspberry pi to measure their light levels. While introducing the Arduino IDE we will go into detail to aid in the student’s understanding of the light sensor Arduino sketch.

02/05/2015

Raspberry Pi http://wp.me/p5sBWA-60

Assembly Required The Plan Review the proper terminology for all of the equipment. Show the students how to hook up their workstations, including: all cables, components, etc. After the Pi’s are turned on, students will log in and interact with their light sensing circuit via the Arduino IDE sketch we have prepared. What Went Well We showed the students how to conceptually plug in all of the cables using a diagram of photographs of the components. [ 300 more words. ]

01/26/2015

A Light Sensing Circuit http://wp.me/s5sBWA-circuit

The plan Our goal is to review material from last week, and introduce this weeks concept: building the light sensing circuit. The students will first learn the basic properties, e.g., direction of electrical flow, components, etc., while building a paper mock up of the circuit. Finally the Students will build their own photo sensing circuit using the diagram as a guide. [ 117 more words. ]

01/16/2015

Creating A Common Vocabulary http://wp.me/p5sBWA-4A

The Plan We have just started a new session with a new group of students. For our first week we wanted to go over the syllabus and tech-dictionary to give the students a better understanding of the material they will encounter. We especially wanted to emphasize the use of nouns (like microcontroller) over pronouns (like thing) to so that we could all communicate more effectively using a common vocabulary. [ 74 more words. ]