Did you know that that Rochester, the home of the NYSCATE 2018 conference, is also home of the Kodak Film Company? In 1888, Rochester, businessman and innovator George Eastman established his famous company’s headquarters immediately following the patent and release of his new Kodak Box Camera — the first camera designed specifically for rolls of film.

But that success didn’t come over night. George had started working on his camera prototype four years earlier, tinkering every night on his design while sitting at his kitchen table. From defining a problem and brainstorming solutions, to developing his idea and creating prototypes of his design, George refined his camera until the final version was complete.

In today’s classrooms, we encourage our students to emulate that process when crafting their own inventions.

STEM Solutions at NYSCATE 2018

At this year’s NYSCATE, Teq will be showcasing some of our favorite STEM products for the classroom — products that will ignite student imaginations and encourage them to prototype just like George Eastman.

In our booth, we’ll be showcasing solutions for all subjects and ages including the following:

Robotics Solutions

For those who don’t consider themselves to be tech-savvy, robotics can seem intimidating. If you’re one of those people, we will be bringing two of our favorite robotics solutions that are excellent for easing both teachers and students alike into the subject.

Kibo, specifically designed for young learners ages 4-7, encourages students build their own working robots using blocks. Great for tactile learners, KIBO requires no devices, minimizing unnecessary screen time.

For those looking for a beginner robot that offers learner progression, we recommend checking out Ozobot. This small smart robot is programmable through drawn lines and color codes or through the easy-to-use OzoBlockly block-based coding editor. Students of all skill and grade levels from K–12 will learn robotics and programming with a hands-on approach.

3D Printers

We will be bringing two of our favorite classroom printers to NYSCATE and we can’t wait to show you how simple it is to print your designs. Makerbot (the most popular classroom printer in the country) specializes in fast high-quality prints that allow students to see their work quickly come to life. Have a print that is more complicated? The Ultimaker is the perfect tool for that. With dual extrusion capabilities, Ultimaker allows students to print with two different materials simultaneously, which can add color to your designs, or make printing easier by with water soluble support material.

Coding

We hear it all the time — coding is going to be the major driver of innovation for the future of the United States. According to Code.org, 58% of all new jobs in STEM will be in computing but only 40% of U.S. schools teach computer programming. To better prepare our students to graduate with coding competency that will prepare them for the jobs of the future, we will be highlighting pi-top and Sphero.

Pi-top is a modular laptop that gives students the tools to complete amazing DIY projects through coding. With built-in coding activities, students can learn everything from block-based coding to Python.

Sphero, originally made famous by its BB8 droid model, is a less traditional tool for teaching students coding. Students can control the robotic ball, as they would a remote-controlled car through its companion app, Sphero Edu. There, students can code to ball to move around the room or transform into useful objects like a die. To see it in action, take a look at the video below.

More NSYCATE!

Want to schedule time with our team at NYSCATE 2018? Email us at Events@teq.com

Teq at NYSCATE 2018:  Stop by booth 407 and 409 to learn about new ways to support and integrate your STEM initiatives. We’ll be showcasing the robotics, coding, and maker solutions that bring learning to life – and talking about how to build your teacher toolkit with Online Professional Development: the best technology-centric eLearning platform out there.

Find out more about the conference from NYSCATE.