Activities and events connected to the SDSU Digital Ambassador Program:
Maker Education Leadership Meeting and 3rd Annual Convening In May 2017, Donna Ross, the SDSU digital ambassador, attended the Maker Education Leadership Summit hosted by Maker Ed, Chevron, and AutoDesk in San Francisco. This was followed by the MakerEd Convening. These both served as opportunities to network and consider how to create sustainability opportunities for Making in education.
Introduction to Coding As part of the Math and Science Cohort Credential Program, future math and science teachers learned the basics of coding. They were introduced to Scratch and Arduinos. This was initiated by a collaboration between the digital ambassador and the Qualcomm Think-a-bit lab. There was a 3-day training for the prospective teachers, including time to explore the Think-a-bit lab. On one of the days, the prospective teachers observed a middle school class learn how to program arduinos. The prospective teachers were then able to use the arduinos in their student teaching placements or bring classes to Qualcomm for field trips.
Aztec Science Camp is a two-week science camp for children ages 8-14. It is held on the SDSU campus. Donna Ross and her colleague Lisa Lamb are the founding faculty members. Multiple subject credential students are hired as the lead teachers in each room. Three science or engineering undergraduates are hired to serve as camp counselors in each classroom. Over the past three summers we have been incorporating science, maker activities, and engineering into camp. We will continue in August, 2017. As part of the camp, children will have an opportunity to go to the Build-IT lab in the SDSU library. Among other activities in the lab, they can use TinkerCad to design something to 3-D print.
On November 9th, 2016 Donna Ross hosted two round table discussions for faculty in the College of Education. One focused on using video-based coaching in student teaching (Documenting Learner Progress using the Video Analysis Tool) and the other focused on incorporating making in education (Making Gadgets and Gizmos Spin: Making and Coding in the Credential Program). Two preservice teachers helped to facilitate the hands-on activities.
CUE Conference The CSU Digital Ambassadors attended the CUE conference in Palm Springs in March, 2016. This conference provided new ideas. It was also an excellent opportunity for Digital Ambassadors to meet in person and augment their on-line community.
TASTE of TECH Central to the role of the Digital Ambassador at SDSU are the Taste of Tech activities. These are a series of one hour technology training sessions, open to preservice and inservice teachers and university faculty. Click on the Taste of Tech Tab for more information!
Maker Education in the Master's Program at SDSU In 2017, Donna Ross offered a master's course on current topics in Science Education. 1.5 units of the 3.0 unit course were dedicated to the modern Maker Movement in education. This grew from a course developed in conjunction with Sonoma State University (SSU). The School of Education at SSU, in partnership with the Sonoma County Office of Education, offers a Maker Certificate Program for educators. During summer 2015, a small group of SDSU science education masters students and Donna Ross, the SDSU DA, participated in the Introduction to Making course which sparked the 2017 SDSU course.
Teaching with Technology Lab In the School of Teacher Education at SDSU it has been a long time since we have had material resources for teaching technology. Donna Ross served on the Technology Users Group that was instrumental in getting the resources for a new Technology lab. The lab will be open to all faculty who teach in any of the credential programs. They can bring their classes to the lab and incorporate into their curriculum the technology that is common in schools. Donna Ross, along with Andrea Saltzman Martin are developing the open house and orientations for faculty.
Virtual Reality During the Spring 2017 semester, Donna Ross collaborated with Sean Hauze to provide science education students the opportunity to explore educational possibilities using virtual reality. This may be the start of some exciting collaborations.
During the 2015-2016 year, the Digital Ambassadors paired up with the CSU STAR fellows. The STAR fellows are pre-service or recently graduated secondary science students. They conduct scientific research in labs and field sites around the country. The Digital Ambassadors are working with the STAR fellows to translate that research into lessons for secondary math and science teachers.