ITEEA Announces New Association Management Software...

...and an Improved Member Experience

Coming this fall, ITEEA will be introducing “MemberPoint™” software. MemberPoint is on-demand association management software with enterprise-class member management tools and a powerful self-service member community platform—the tools needed to create engaging, memorable experiences for our members.

Here are just some of the highlights of MemberPoint:

• Web Experience
The MemberPoint™ online self-service solution helps members easily manage all aspects of their interactions with the association—anywhere, anytime—without the need for staff assistance, including membership renewals, member profile updates, conference registrations, professional development, and publications orders.

• Profile Management
At their convenience, members can edit their own member record, including name, address, phone, email, social, and other demographic information 24/7. They’ll also have the ability to access and print receipts, manage opt-in/opt-out communication preferences, and join other groups within the organization at any time.

• Member Directories
Members will be able to find each other with premier membership directory services, including the ability to give different types of professionals in the association a peer networking and collaboration site.

ITEEA is very excited about this improvement in how we interact with our members—and with how our members will interact with one another. More information will be forthcoming over the summer, so stay tuned!

CTE Goes Electronic

Beginning with the next volume year (2011-2012) Children’s Technology and Engineering (CTE), ITEEA’s journal for elementary educators, will be published in electronic format only. Issues will be delivered to customers as links to pdf files. Written by teachers for teachers, CTE is packed with articles and activities designed to help elementary teachers implement STEM learning in their classrooms. Each issue revolves around a central theme and includes recurring features such as Career Connections, Resources, Techno Tips, Web Links, and much more. Themes for the 2011-2012 volume year address  technology and engineering as they relate to Integrative Education, and each issue focuses on a specific subject area: September – Focus on Art; December – Focus on Music; March – Focus on PE/Health; and May/June – Focus on Cultures. Electronic subscriptions to CTE are $30 and can be ordered from ITEEA by phone, mail, fax, or online. For additional information, visit www.iteea.org/ Publications/t&c.htm.

ITEEA Continues Legislative Action

ITEEA has been working closely with STEM Education colleagues to visit Congressional Members in order to provide feedback pertaining to the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is currently in the legislative process. ITEEA has also been a part of letter writing campaigns to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee as they continue their work in this area.

Content related to this legislation now includes:

• Robust and educated programs to provide effective STEM-related professional development and preparation for educators and other educational innovation activities under Title II.B.
• Strengthening STEM-focused, formula-funded programs that provide resources to each state for high-need students and areas; complemented with competitive grant programs in STEM education to promote ambitious reform efforts.
• Federal efforts to empower each state to develop its own comprehensive STEM education action plan—including its own definition of STEM needs—that will include input from a wide range of business, professional, and education stakeholders.
• The integration of STEM-focused curricula, projects, and programs as high-priority allowable uses of funds under other ESEA programs that support classroom and field teaching and learning as well as out-of-school experiences such as afterschool and summer programs.
• A strong emphasis in K-12 learning environments on hands-on, experiential, inquiry-based and learner-centered student experiences and activities, including engineering design processes and digital access for STEM student and educators to help foster 21st Century skills.
• Federal efforts to encourage and foster ongoing collaborative state efforts to adopt “common core” or other high-quality standards in math and science.
• Targeted efforts to promote STEM-subject master teachers and teacher specialists.
• Federal efforts to expand the diversity of the STEM pipeline and workforce, including targeted initiatives to promote the inclusion of underrepresented minorities and women in STEM fields.

ITEEA members who are interested in tracking this and other legislation should become a part of ITEEA’s TIDEWatcher networking group. More information is available at www.iteea.org/Networking/learningcommunities.htm.

ITEEA Joins Triangle Coalition in Recommendations to Senator Begich

Triangle Coalition Recommends Changes to the Effective STEM Teaching and Learning Act

The Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) could soon be replaced with a new program that would provide states the option to include technology and engineering in K-12 education.

In his FY 2012 budget, President Obama proposed replacing the $180 million MSP with a $206 million comprehensive STEM program. Shortly thereafter, the Effective STEM Teaching and Learning Act of 2011 (S. 463) was introduced by Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) and currently has five cosponsors.

The legislation is intended to replace the U.S. Department of Education Mathematics and Science Partnerships (part B of title II) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) with a program entitled Effective Teaching and Learning: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

The Effective STEM Teaching and Learning Act has similar goals to the MSP program, but would target funds to students in high-need districts and states through competitive grants, rather than the traditional formula grants. It would also encourage states to include technology and engineering in K-12 education and grant priority to states that have adopted and are implementing college- and career-ready standards.

While Triangle Coalition supports the bill’s inclusion of technology and engineering education, the competitive grant structure is a point of concern as it could mean that some states, including some with very effective MSP programs, will be at risk and may lose funding. The recent competitive programs, Race to the Top and i3, give us some insight into the difficulties states, particularly rural states, have in these types of competitions. (Read more)

*This is a content summary only; click on the article title above to read the complete story at the Triangle Coalition Legislative News site.

New Children's Engineering Series

There is a new children’s engineering series available, titled Everyday STEM. It focuses on the T&E in STEM and aligns with K-5 Benchmarks of the Standards for Technological Literacy. Information is available at www.childrensengineering.com/. You can find out  more about the series at http://shop.pitsco.com/. Just click on Everyday STEM in the left column to find out more about the concept behind the series.  

Design Squad Nation Wants YOU to Build it Big by Entering the 2011 Build Big Contest!

We’re challenging kids across the country to show their creativity by creating a giant version of a Design Squad Nation activity. Form a team (that includes at least one adult), choose an activity, build it big, and upload a video of your design to YouTube. One prize (a Flip camera) will be awarded to the winning team along with an opportunity to Skype with hosts Judy and Adam and pick their brains! Submissions may also be posted on the Design Squad Nation website. No purchase is necessary, and entries must be received on or before August 1, 2011 at 12:00pm. For more details and complete official rules go to http://pbskids.org/designsquad/contest/index.html.

Real World Design Challenge Registration Open! Sign Up Now!

Sign up now for the Real World Design Challenge. It is an annual aviation design competition for teams of 3-7 high school students. The Challenge is FREE for students and teachers. Each teacher who signs up a team will receive $1 million in professional engineering software as well as access to mentors from industry, government, and academia. 

The Real World Design Challenge will create many opportunities for your students. Every state champion team receives an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC. Students have earned paid internships through their participation. And last year’s National Champions got to present their work to President Obama at the White House. 

Sign up today and take advantage of our summer teacher training. You can sign up as many teams as you want, and if you are not sure which students will participate, don’t worry—you can change the team members between now and the beginning of the competition. 

Just go to www.realworlddesignchallenge.org and click the link to register a team. 

Top Coder Programming Competitions Help Robotics Go Out of This World!

Zero Robotics is a student robotics programming competition that takes "arena robotics" to new heights, literally. The robots are miniature satellites called SPHERES, and the final tournament is aboard the International Space Station! TopCoder’s expertise in the world of online programming competitions that deliver high quality software has been used to create a custom platform designed to inspire future scientists and engineers so that they will view working in space as "normal," and will grow up pushing the limits of engineering and space exploration. TopCoder is working with MIT and Aurora Flight Sciences under the sponsorship of DARPA and NASA.

Zero Robotics opens the world-class research facilities on the International Space Station (ISS) to high school students. Students will actually write programs at their high school that may control a satellite in space! The competition will require students to develop an understanding of how to make these satellites work together by flying in formations and physically connecting, or docking. Such swarms of satellites could be used to create giant telescope mirrors in space with nano-meter precision and assemble future space stations without the need for human spacewalks.

The goal is to build critical engineering skills for students, such as problem solving, design thought process, operations training, and teamwork. To learn more about the platform and technology that is making this all happen, call 860-633-5540. For full details (and very cool video) please visit http://zerorobotics.mit.edu/.

What's the Secret for Increasing the Number of Women in STEM Classes?

Donna Milgram, the Executive Director of IWITTS, writes:
I know that many science, technology, engineering, and math instructors are eager to increase the number of women and girls in their classes. Here is my top secret to recruiting more female students: images of female role models on the job. Women don't think of themselves in careers like auto technology, engineering, and manufacturing because the percentage of women working in these jobs is still so small.

A highly regarded auto technology program that I worked with was naturally very proud of their program and their students. They hung 40 years of class pictures in their classrooms—as you can imagine, almost all of the students in the pictures were male. By hanging a six-foot banner of female role models next to the class pictures, this auto program sent a positive counteracting message. Hanging banners like this was part of the strategy that helped this particular college see the largest number of female students EVER to enroll in their auto technology program at one time! 

By hanging banners and posters at your career events and around campus, you'll help imprint images of female role models in the minds of your female (and male) students. Career videos provide valuable occupational information and help get these careers on the radar of women and girls. They're able to see someone who looks like them on the job, especially in a lab or field setting.

Don't let any more potential students miss out on high-paying, rewarding careers in STEM. Women bring a different perspective to the classroom and the workplace. It's up to you to help them picture themselves in these careers! For a selection of banners, posters, and videos, visit www.iwitts.org/store.

Do you want to see more women in your technology classes, but you don't know where to start?

The National WomenTech Educators Train-the-Trainer Workshop will get you started with proven, research-based strategies you can implement right away. You will take away:

• A realistic recruitment plan that will enable you to create the reality of having women and girls in your STEM classrooms.
• A retention plan for your school that will increase the completion rate of your female AND male students.
• The knowledge and confidence you need to put these plans into action, right away.

In the CalWomenTech Project, schools that implemented the recruitment strategies actually saw an increase in female enrollment of 10%-15% within 16 months. In addition, schools that successfully implemented the retention strategies had both an increase in the completion rates of women (by as much as 40%) as well as men.

Come to the training with a team to be even more effective in implementing this proven system in your school or program. Hurry, the early-bird discount is only good for a limited time!

National WomenTech Educators Train-the-Trainer Workshop
San Francisco Bay Area
October 13-14, 2011

Find out more about the WomenTech Educators Workshop 

Subscription Information
If you would like to subscribe to the WomenTech Educators Newsletter click here.

News from the Triangle Coalition

• Student Experiment Microgravity Kit Wins NASA-MAKE Tech Contest
"Bring It Back," a small and inexpensive microgravity spaceflight kit, has won the do-it-yourself technology and education space competition sponsored by NASA and MAKE Magazine. The competition challenged participants to design experiments that could be built for under $200 by high school students to eventually fly on a suborbital flight. In addition to being low cost, the winning entry also had to illustrate sound science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) principles. The competition was designed to inspire curiosity and create interest in STEM among classroom teachers and students. The "Bring It Back" concept, created by Houston engineers Prashant Rao and Subra Sankaran, outlines three experiments using molten wax to demonstrate important principles of science and engineering. Each experiment can be performed using the same equipment, making the kit versatile. The students will use wax to understand the dominance of surface tension, wetting effects, and the impact of a lack of buoyancy in the absence of gravity. Other science concepts include simulated boiling, fluid flow behavior, and bubble movements induced by temperature changes, natural convection, and wake flow.

Sponsored by Teachers in Space, a project of the Space Frontier Foundation in Nyack, NY, the first "Bring It Back" kits will fly aboard the Excelsior STEM mission scheduled to fly on a Masten Aerospace unmanned suborbital mission later this year. Teachers and students will assemble the experiment kits at a Suborbital Flight Experiment Workshop at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center's AERO Institute in Palmdale, CA, in early August. For more information about the NASA MAKE Challenge, visit http://makezine.com/space.

• JETS Names National 2011 TEAMS Competition High School Winners
Triangle Coalition member, the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS), has announced this year's high school winners in the annual national TEAMS engineering competition, including a four-way tie in the 11/12th grade category. Using engineering to solve the global energy "supply and demand" problem, the winning 11/12th grade students are from Boise High School (Boise, ID), Saratoga High School (Saratoga, CA), Terre Haute South Vigo High School (Terre Haute, IN), and Clayton High School (Clayton, MO). Students from Ladue Horton Watkins High School (St. Louis, MO) took the top national honor for the 9/10th grade level. As the highest ranking teams in the country, the students receive for their schools $2,500 and a trophy, plus medals and certificates of excellence. The 11/12th grade-level schools will split the $2,500 prize. The 2011 winners competed against more than 10,000 ninth- through twelfth-grade students from 43 states and the District of Columbia.

Like the other signature JETS programs, the purpose of TEAMS is to encourage more American students to pursue engineering by showing them how engineering impacts everyday life and how engineers help solve social and community problems. JETS is a national nonprofit education organization dedicated to promoting engineering and helping students discover their potential for the profession. A solid framework of high school educators, corporations, professional organizations, and universities incorporate JETS precollege engineering programs in local communities throughout the United States. JETS programs touch more than 40,000 students and 10,000 educators from 6,000 high schools across the country. JETS participants are a diverse group—more than 50 percent are from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in engineering and technology fields, including one-third who are female. For more information, please visit, www.JETS.org.

Source: Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin, June 2, 2011 - Volume 17, Number 21 Online Version

From ASEE

Engineering Workshops

ASEE'S K-12 Annual Workshop - ASEE's Annual K-12 workshop will be held on Saturday, June 25, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This one-day program for teachers and engineering educators from both Canada and the United States will provide a fast-paced, exciting overview of engineering education for the K-12 classroom. Attendees will discover valuable best practices, new contacts for collaboration, and the latest tools for effective teaching. To register, go to http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/2011-workshop-registration

ISTEC Workshop at Cornell - Cornell University will be hosting a university-industry workshop on the integration of simulation technology into engineering curricula July 22-23, 2011 in Ithaca, NY. The workshop will be of interest to all engineering faculty who use or would like to use simulation technology in their courses and projects. It will also be of interest to engineers in industry who work with simulation technology. If interested in participating, please register at www.mae.cornell.edu/swanson/workshop2011/. If you have any questions or need clarification, please contact Dr. Rajesh Bhaskaran at bhaskaran@cornell.edu or 607-255-0390.

Source: ASEE Action, May 2011

NASA News

• Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity
NASA is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, contact between the dates of January 15 and July 15, 2012. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is July 15, 2011.

During the first six months of 2012, crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in amateur radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via amateur radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space. Due to the nature of human spaceflight, organizations must demonstrate the flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times.

Interested parties should contact Teaching From Space to obtain information related to expectations, content, format, audience, proposal guidelines and forms by sending an email to JSC-TFS-ARISS@mail.nasa.gov or by calling 281-244-2320.

Additional information can be found at: www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/students/ariss.html.

Source: NASA Education Express Message - May 19, 2011

• Give Your Students the Space Shuttle Experience!
In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program and the upcoming final flight, NASA has released the Space Shuttle Experience website. This comprehensive and interactive tool provides a multitude of resources for students of all education levels. Users can participate in a variety of interactive experiences to learn about the Space Shuttle Program's accomplishments, what it takes to launch a shuttle, astronaut living, how the program affects life daily here on Earth, and much more. The site uses several engaging features that will keep students enthralled, including trivia games with Facebook score sharing, a poll for users to vote on the program's greatest achievement, and a virtual signature wall that gives users the opportunity to leave a personal message to the program.

And the fun and education doesn’t stop when students log off—the site also includes lesson plans that correspond with the site’s activities. As an educator, all the resources are supplied to seamlessly walk your students from the activities they experience online into engrossing lessons in the classroom.

Additionally, the successful Face in Space website now allows the public to upload their face or name for the final STS-135 mission. Have your students upload and launch their faces, or launch your entire class portrait in just a few clicks. Upon completion of the mission, participants will receive a personalized flight certificate signed by the mission commander! The mission is scheduled for a July 8th launch, so you still have time!

To take part in the Space Shuttle Experience and Face In Space, visit the sites at the following links:
http://shuttleexperience.nasa.gov
https://faceinspace.nasa.gov

• Launch High or Dig Deep! $5,000 Grants available for 2012 NASA University Challenges
The NASA Minority Innovation Challenges Institute, or MICI, is offering minority-serving institutions the opportunity to apply for a $5,000 grant to assist their schools in entering the 2012 University Student Launch Initiative or the 2012 NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition. The deadline for grant applications for both competitions has been extended to June 30, 2011.

USLI is a competition that challenges university-level students to design, build, and launch a reusable rocket with a scientific or engineering payload to one mile above ground level. The project engages students in scientific research and real-world engineering processes with NASA engineers. It culminates in an actual launch competition in April 2012 near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.

Lunabotics is a university-level competition that challenges students to design and build a remotely controlled or autonomous excavator called a lunabot. The lunabot must collect and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of lunar simulant within 15 minutes. The challenge culminates in an actual excavation competition in May 2012 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Those interested in this grant opportunity should visit http://nasamici.com/grants.html to download the grant application. Instructions on how to view recorded video sessions concerning the grant application are also available at this site.

Please email any questions about the grant opportunity and informational videoconferences to Mary Baker at mary@nasamici.com.

Source: NASA Education Express Message - May 26, 2011

• 2011 INSPIRE Project
U.S. high school students are invited to participate in NASA's Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research Experience, or INSPIRE, through an online learning community. INSPIRE is designed to encourage students in ninth through 12th grades to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Applications are being accepted through June 30, 2011. NASA will make selections for the program in September. The selected students and their parents will participate in an online learning community with opportunities to interact with peers, NASA engineers, and scientists. The online community also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards, and chat rooms for participants to gain exposure to careers and opportunities available at NASA.

Students selected for the program will also have the option to compete for unique grade-appropriate experiences during the summer of 2012 at NASA facilities and participating universities. The summer experience provides students with a hands-on opportunity to investigate education and careers in the STEM disciplines.

INSPIRE is part of NASA's education strategy to attract and retain students in the STEM disciplines critical to NASA's missions. For more information about INSPIRE, visit www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE.

To apply for the program, visit https://inspire.okstate.edu/index.cfm?liftoff=login.LoginForm.

• Because It Flew - Education Activities and Space Shuttle Art Competition
“Because It Flew” is a free educational program that introduces students in Grades 4-12 (ages 9-17) to the impact of the Space Shuttle Program on our planet and people. This engaging and informative project commemorates the 30-year history of the shuttle program.

“Because It Flew” consists of two elements: optional educational activities and the NASA Space Shuttle Art Competition. Four activities engage and introduce students to the history of NASA’s space shuttle missions. Completion of these activities is not a requirement for submitting an entry into the art competition, but they may be used to guide students through the process of creating an entry. The activities can be adapted easily to both formal and informal educational settings. Activities are aligned with national standards and support efforts to integrate science, technology, engineering, and math with language arts.

The NASA Space Shuttle Art Competition invites students to create original artwork that symbolizes the impact of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program on our planet and people. Students must also write a 250-word essay explaining their artistic entries. An expert panel of artists will review submissions. The top six entries in two age brackets (9-13 and 14-17) will receive cash prizes, a private tutoring session with an accomplished USA Today graphic artist, and a certificate of accomplishment. Entries in the competition are due August 5, 2011.

“Because It Flew” is a joint education initiative of NASA, the National Institute of Aerospace, and USA Today Education.

For more information, visit www.usatodayeducate.com/becauseitflew.

If you have any questions about this contest, please contact Jan Brown at janbrown@usatoday.com.

Source: NASA Education Express Message - June 9, 2011