Think teens only know how to work an iPhone? Watch This!
These are candid videos of teens caught doing amazing things during Engineering Camp. Listen to these students describing what they have been doing. Lots of experimentation. Lots of learning.
These guys built the world’s coolest “Hello World” program:
They modified the program even further, and this is what they had to show the audience during their project exhibitions.
Major 3D design and 3D printing innovation for the interplanetary ship docking challenge:
Amazing electronic wizardry. These guys were creating wireless communication between the two blue boards. They managed to make it work despite interruptions from a persistent little brother!
This young man is an inspiration. He’s describing an algorithm on blue tape that they then translated into computer code:
This is the result when they ran the autonomous docking program in front of an audience. Impressive!
Our students focus on process learning rather than outcomes learning. Even though there may be lots of false starts, the end product is a deeper understanding of the subject.
Muahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!! Ok, now that I have that out... I can get to work. For as long as I can remember, I have been making things. This habit used to be called "Inventing" but has lately been repurposed by the Maker community with the term "Maker". While there are some subtle differences between Inventing and Making, I have discovered my passion for both by inspiring a new generation of Makers. In this quest to spark creative thinking and problem solving through practical and exciting projects, I draw on my background in biomedical research, high energy fiber laser development, and 15 years of building laboratory devices. As an experimental physicist with a PhD from Case Western Reserve University, I have seen research and development from many angles and am now bringing that experience to middle school and high school students who want to make everything from catapults to cybernetic augmentations. Through the medium of Making and Inventing, students are transformed from passive observers of education to active learners. This powerful shift fosters deep insights, creative expression, collaborative thinking and a host of other skills that are difficult to learn in traditional settings. Along with my wife Debby, an accomplished constructivist educator, I am on a quest to transform education and am looking for like-minded collaborators to bring hands-on learning to future generations.
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