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Summer of STEM
ALCOA Foundation offering scholarships for USI STEM camp (Evansville Courier & Press)
Do you know a student who qualifies for free/reduced lunch that you think may benefit from a weeklong STEM summer day camp? The ALCOA Foundation is generously providing scholarship money to allow more students to participate in a University of Southern Indiana STEM camp. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch will pay only $20. USI's Middle School STEM Innovation Camp will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 6-10. This camp will offer middle school students the opportunity to "Think Outside the Box" by exploring a variety of techniques and activities from across multiple STEM disciplines in an engaging weeklong day camp experience on the campus of USI. 
STEM Teaching
MSU offers summer online graduate courses for science teachers (Montana State)
Montana State University?s online graduate courses for science teachers are now open for summer registration. The courses are all part of MSU?s National Teachers Enhancement Network (NTEN). Most courses start in early to mid-June. Summer 2015 courses include offerings in biology; physics; earth science; land resources and environmental science (LRES); microbiology; math; and education, curriculum and instruction (EDCI). One popular summer offering includes ?Streamside Science: Hands-On Approaches to Water Quality Education? (LRES 591). Students participating in this course adopt a local stream for the duration of the course to better understand hands-on water quality monitoring techniques.
Wipro Science Education Fellowship Inducts Second Cohort of 61 Teachers in the United States (Business Wire)
Wipro Ltd. WIT, a global information technology, consulting and business process services company along with partner universities, University of Massachusetts Boston, Mercy College and Montclair State University today announced the induction of 61 school teachers into the Wipro Science Education Fellowship (SEF) program in the United States. This is the second cohort of teachers who are being inducted into the program. The Wipro Science Education Fellowship is a two-year science teacher-leadership program which aims to address the needs of improving STEM teaching and learning. The aim of the program is to support teachers to become local leaders and to serve the needs and vision of the school district in which they teach in grades K-12.
STEM Jobs
A Tool for Analyzing H-1B Visa Applications Reveals Tech Salary Secrets (IEEE Spectrum)
For years the U.S. Department of Labor has regularly published detailed reports of Labor Condition Applications. These cryptically named documents are filed when an employer seeks to bring in workers from outside the United States under H-1B visas and their variants. The data has been available as downloadable files for years, but only the most motivated have tackled the analysis, it wasn?t easy to navigate. But last week a French software engineer, Th?o N?gri, who has been running a job search web site for tech professionals, released a much more user friendly version of that database, and suddenly, the numbers look very interesting.
The happiest job in America pays $150,000 a year (Mashable)
Unhappy at work? Consider switching to a career in coding. You may think of web developers as chained to their computers, but a new survey shows that a majority of developers are probably happier with their career than you, with high salaries and personal autonomy. The survey?commissioned by education site SkilledUP and conducted by market research firm ProvokeInsights?indicated that 88% of the 303 developers surveyed were completely satisfied with their career, 11% were somewhat satisfied, and only 1% were not at all satisfied. The happiest developers specialized in mobile/responsive programming.
EdTech
Google Partners With Udacity To Launch Android Development Nanodegree (TechCrunch)
At its I/O developer conference in San Francisco, Google today announced that it has partnered with Udacity to launch a six-course Android development nanodegree. The idea here is to help developers learn how to write apps for Google?s mobile operating system ?the right way? up to the point where they could potentially be hired by Google itself. Just like Udacity?s other degree programs, students can watch all of the video content for free, but if they want to get a certificate and access to teaching assistants, they will have to pay a fee, which is $200 for this course (though if they complete the degree, they can get half of their money back).
Diversity in STEM
Natalie Kalin: Calling All Young Ladies for FIRST Robotics (ImpactX)
I was once a na?ve, lost girl without robotics. I joined just two years ago, when I was a junior. My older sister had joined our local team a year prior; my dad had suggested that I give it a try over the summer, and I took his advice come fall. At the first meeting, we had to sign up for what sub-team we wanted to be a part of -- wiring and pneumatics, programming, drive train, manipulator. Wanting to be on the most involved part of the team, I naturally chose manipulator -- the sub-team in charge of the overall construction and design of the robot.
Science Gallery Dublin to host Women in STEM Wiki edit-a-thon (Silicon Republic)
The Science Gallery Dublin and Women In Technology and Science (WITS) will fight the good fight for women in STEM on Wikipedia on 4 June with an edit-a-thon for Ireland?s female STEM pioneers. The effort is part of WITS? campaign to ?stem the tide? in articles that appear about women in science on the giant web encyclopaedia, which they say shows a gender bias against them compared with the treatment of men in identical fields. Research earlier this year as part of a paper entitled It?s a Man?s Wikipedia? Assessing Gender Inequality in an Online Encyclopaedia showed that, in many cases, the female scientists had their gender specifically referenced, such as ?lady? or ?woman?, while in many cases the males? gender was not mentioned.
Viewpoints
Daniela Jorge (VP, AT&T?s Digital Design & UX Organization): 6 Tips on How to Succeed in STEM (ImpactX)
People often ask what inspired me to pursue a career in STEM. I tell them it's a lifetime of inspiration. For starters, I've always enjoyed art and creating things. I've always been very analytical and a good problem solver. Both of my parents were supportive and successful in their careers. I never thought anything was off-limits. When I was in the eighth grade, my dad introduced me to industrial design. It hooked me. I loved the idea of designing products that people use every day and I loved computers and creating in a digital space. Then, I met the Internet and it all coalesced. The Internet gave me the tools to create digital experiences that touch millions of people.
Illinois
Peoria area schools receive grant to promote science and math education (CINewsNow)
The Peoria Regional Office of Education, in partnership with Bradley University, Western Illinois University, McDonough/Hancock Regional Office of Education, Peoria School District 150, Schuyler-Industry School District 5, Macomb School District 185, St. Marks Catholic School, the Peoria Riverfront Museum, and the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council (EDC), are excited to announce they have been awarded a $1.5 million I-STEM grant from the Illinois State Board of Education for both the science and math strands.
New York
Common Core, testing and teacher evaluations will test Elia as NY education chief (Buffalo Business First)
MaryEllen Elia spent nearly a decade leading one of the country?s largest school districts, Florida-based Hillsborough County, and her tenure was anything but stagnant. The Lewiston native ? who was appointed New York state education commissioner on Tuesday ? won a $100 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a teacher evaluation system, negotiated merit pay with the district?s teachers union and supported Common Core standards.. Public education stakeholders and observers say Elia?s task will be to continue driving forward on a reform agenda whose basic tenets ? Common Core, standardized testing and teacher evaluations ? have caused waves of controversy across the state in recent years.
International
Australia's prime minister doesn't get why kids should learn to code (Mashable)
Question Time in Australia's Federal Parliament is hardly a place for elevated discussion ? after all, this is when spurious references to Judas, Dr. Goebbels and the Nazis fly about like confetti. Still, it would be better if Prime Minister Tony Abbott did not use the parliamentary session as an opportunity to make light of a serious problem: The future of skilled, tech-savvy labour in Australia. On Wednesday, Bill Shorten, the leader of the Labor Party and Australia's opposition, asked the prime minister whether he would commit to supporting Labor's push to have coding taught in every primary school in Australia. |
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Stay Connected       
 STEMconnector?
Nissan Partners with SAE International to Bring STEM Education to Tennessee
 On May 15, fourth- and fifth-graders from Homer Pittard School and Mitchell-Neilson Schools participated in a Jet Toy Challenge at the Campus School for Middle Tennessee State University, thanks to SAE International?s A World in Motion (AWIM) program sponsored by Nissan North America. Students worked in teams to design a car made from construction paper, balloons, plastic wheels and plastic tubing of different sizes with the objective of making the car go far and straight. They quickly learned that the precision of the chassis made from construction paper and the wheel axle placement were critical to making the car go as straight as possible. After working with and adjusting the designs, students then realized how plastic tubing size affected the ability to blow up the balloon, and ultimately, the functionality of the car.
WITI Announces 2015 Hall Of Fame Winners
 WITI (Women in Technology International), the leading global business organization for women in technology with more than 150,000 members worldwide, announced today its 2015 Women In Technology Hall of Fame Honorees. Industry leaders, technology executives, and advocates dedicated to helping women in technology evolve with positive support systems, will join hundreds of women in tech to celebrate and honor the achievements of the inductees at the 20th Annual WITI Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony which will be held on Monday, June 1, 2015, from 7-9 pm at the Doubletree by Hilton San Jose. WITI is still taking reservations for the Summit. The WITI Summit will focus on IoT (Internet of Things), Big Data, Cloud, Enterprise, Innovation, Leadership and Collaboration. WITI?s mission is to collaborate with company leaders to find effective solutions for retaining, attracting and advancing women. Helping more companies move these commitments into business initiatives will yield higher returns for the millions of dollars they are willing to spend to address these issues. The Women in Technology Hall of Fame Award, considered to be one of the most prestigious honors for women in technology, was established in 1996 by WITI to recognize, honor, and promote the outstanding contributions women make to the business of technology
The EdTech Weekly Report: May 27, 2015
 In this week's all-new EdTech Weekly Report, we discuss how Chromebook sales are expected to soar thanks to education sector's embrace, Columbia University expanded online engineering enrollment thanks to startup Ranku, U.S. News ranks online programs for vets, EdTech tools for social studies classes, an edtech startup using technology to get kids to play outside, and much more! |
