STREAM event overflows with ways to use technology in variety of classes

A mini robot that can illustrate a scene from “Romeo and Juliet” and a hand-held air monitor were just two of the technological tools touted Monday for grade school and high school students.

About 110 teachers and administrators from 15 Alle-Kiski Valley school districts attended the ABC CREATE STREAM conference at Penn State New Kensington to thread technology across curriculum.

“This is not just about educating future engineers,” said Colleen Smith, Penn State New Kensington outreach coordinator. “This is about engaging all students across all curriculums.”

Monday's conference is part of a three-year effort funded by the Grable Foundation bringing together local school districts with higher education. The goal is to integrate more technology into classes in order to help better prepare students for future careers.

It was the first time that all 15 school districts got together for the program: Allegheny Valley, Apollo-Ridge, Armstrong, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Highlands, Kiski Area, Leechburg, New Kensington-Arnold, Plum, Riverview and South Butler.

“We want to make sure that these kids have the skills they need to work in jobs of the future,” Smith said.

Shannon Wagner, superintendent of the Burrell School District, said: “This kind of education is not just for the cream of the crop. It is for everyone.”

District officials such as Wagner and teachers met to learn about the new technology to bring into the classroom as early as later in the year.

The use of technology, especially the smart phone and computer, by students daily will likely become a large part of work life, they say.

“The technology isn't just for engineers but for advanced manufacture, skilled trades, heath care and more,” said Smith.

School administrators are looking to bring more technology into the classroom. And they know they need to involve not just one teacher but many.

Brooke Pegher, a high school science teacher in the Riverview School District, was learning how to use a handheld air quality monitor.

“This will be easy for my seventh-graders to use,” she said.

The data from the monitor can be given to a senior class as part of a larger air quality study, said Pegher.

But the use of such technology goes beyond just a science class, according to Rachel Hill a fourth-grade teacher in the Kiski Area School District.

“This air monitor can be used in a math lesson, even an English class,” she said.

For example, the “Arts&Bots” robotics program, which a number of school are starting to use, features a circuit board that can create movement for, say, a character on a handmade stage, as students in a local school district have done recently for a Shakespeare play.

The Grable Foundation has provided a $300,000 grant for the ABC CREATE STREAM program.

“You are seeing the willingness among school districts to come together on this, and they are working with Penn State, CMU and other institutions of higher education,” said Greg Behr, executive director of the Grable Foundation.

Introducing the new technology and training teachers is just one part of the program.

“For the kids, we want to have an environment where they want to learn,” he said.

Mary Ann Thomas is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.