The Tech Edvocate

Top Menu

  • Advertisement
  • Apps
  • Home Page
  • Home Page Five (No Sidebar)
  • Home Page Four
  • Home Page Three
  • Home Page Two
  • Home Tech2
  • Icons [No Sidebar]
  • Left Sidbear Page
  • My Account
  • My Speaking Page
  • Newsletter Sign Up Confirmation
  • Newsletter Unsubscription
  • Our Brands
  • Page Example
  • Protected Content
  • Register
  • Request a Product Review
  • Shop
  • Shortcodes Examples
  • Signup
  • Start Here
    • Governance
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • The Edvocate
  • Topics
  • Write For Us
  • Advertise

Main Menu

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • Contact Us
    • Books
    • Edupedia
    • The Edvocate Podcast
  • Topics
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development Tech
    • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
    • EdTech Futures
    • EdTech News
    • EdTech Policy & Reform
    • EdTech Startups & Businesses
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • Online Learning & eLearning
    • Parent & Family Tech
    • Personalized Learning
    • Product Reviews
  • Advertise
    • Request a Product Review
  • Apps
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • Pedagogue

logo

The Tech Edvocate

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
        • My Speaking Page
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • Contact Us
    • Books
    • Edupedia
    • The Edvocate Podcast
  • Topics
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development Tech
    • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
    • EdTech Futures
    • EdTech News
    • EdTech Policy & Reform
    • EdTech Startups & Businesses
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • Online Learning & eLearning
    • Parent & Family Tech
    • Personalized Learning
    • Product Reviews
  • Advertise
    • Request a Product Review
  • Apps
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • Pedagogue
  • Universities Deploy Chatbots To Aid Students In The Admissions Process And Beyond

  • Generational Differences Affect Tech Initiatives In Higher Education

  • Mixing And Matching: How To Blend Online Learning And AI

  • Understanding Institutional Reasons to Move to Cloud

  • How to Get Your Educators Excited About Using Edtech

  • Teaching Intelligence: Digital Literacy In the ‘Alternative Facts’ Era

  • The Digital Revolution in Schools: It’s Not Just Remote Learning

  • 3 Perks of Network Management on a University Campus

  • How To Secure Distance Learning Information In The Hacking Prone Environment

  • Stepping Up Your Online Class Delivery Game

Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
Home›Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech›Preparing K-12 Students for Future STEM Careers

Preparing K-12 Students for Future STEM Careers

By Matthew Lynch
February 27, 2017
Spread the love

It’s become a well-known fact that most students are woefully unprepared for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (otherwise known as STEM). Students in the United States regularly score low on math and science tests, lagging behind other developed nations.

This is despite the fact that STEM careers pay exceptionally well—college students who graduate with STEM degrees earn quite a bit more than their counterparts with degrees in other fields. Not to mention, the demand for workers with STEM degrees is huge and continues to grow.

These facts should leave no question about the importance of preparing students for careers in STEM. The real question is, how can we get students ready for STEM careers?

Get Students Excited

The first challenge educators face is getting students excited about STEM. Traditional approaches to STEM subjects can bore students and turn them off from future studies in STEM fields. Incorporating more hands-on learning activities is one sure-fire way to boost student interest in STEM. Giving students the opportunity to build a robot, conduct experiments, or take an STEM-related field trip can boost their desire to succeed in math and science class.

Inviting professionals from various STEM careers can also increase student engagement. Students need to see first-hand that a good STEM education can lead to exciting and high-paying jobs. For girls, seeing a woman with a successful STEM career can be even more helpful, as girls too often don’t see themselves reflected in STEM professionals. The same is true for minority students who are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Increase Rigor

One of the reasons students fall behind in STEM is a lack of rigor in K-12 education. Students who don’t have the opportunity to take challenging STEM courses in middle and high school fall behind when they get to college. Many students who enter college with a STEM major change their major after the first year or two—likely due to the challenging STEM courses they encounter at the college level.

Preparing K-12 students for STEM careers means exposing them to more rigorous STEM content. Teachers can scaffold material, so more students experience success with difficult science and math content, and schools can offer more challenging STEM courses. Middle and high schools should be offering STEM-related electives, and more high schools must offer students honors and AP level STEM courses.

While not every student will succeed in tackling more rigorous STEM material, even just giving gifted students the opportunity to try can produce results. After all, if schools don’t attempt to expose students to challenging material, they’ll never know what students may be capable of.

Start Early

A crucial mistake educators and schools are making when it comes to preparing students for STEM careers is simply waiting too long. While math and science are required subjects for elementary students, many elementary educators ignore the technology and engineering components of STEM. This means when students are exposed to technology and engineering in middle and high school, they may lack the foundational knowledge needed to succeed.

Why don’t elementary schools focus more on STEM? One reason may be a lack of knowledge or interest from educators themselves. Elementary educators are already tasked with teaching students the basics of reading and writing and may find incorporating STEM overwhelming. Many elementary educators report feeling anxious about teaching STEM.

In order to empower elementary educators to teach STEM, teacher preparation programs must focus more heavily on STEM content. Elementary teachers who themselves lack a good STEM education cannot be expected to teach STEM subjects well. By requiring future elementary educators to take more STEM-related coursework, colleges can help boost the level of STEM education students receive.

However, elementary educators must also challenge themselves to incorporate STEM into their lessons. This can be as simple as adding STEM vocabulary to activities they already use—referring to activities as experiments, calling a theory a hypothesis, etc. STEM is a natural fit for younger students, who by nature enjoy experimenting and discovering the world around them.

Whose Job Is It Anyway?

It’s easy for educators to pass the blame for a lack of STEM education on to schools and principals, who can then blame the county or school district, and so on. In reality, preparing K-12 students for STEM careers is a shared responsibility. Superintendents and higher-ups must make STEM a priority when it comes to budgeting and funds. Schools must support teachers and offer STEM electives, as well as challenging STEM courses. Lastly, teachers of all grades and subjects must make an effort to include at least the basic principles of STEM in their classrooms.


Spread the love
TagsEdtechedtechchatelearningSTEAMSTEM
Previous Article

The Slow Gamification of K-12 Classrooms

Next Article

Wasted Data: 5 Facts about Why We ...

Matthew Lynch

Related articles More from author

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    Has Blended Learning Reached the Tipping Point?

    September 7, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechHigher Education EdTech

    5 Ways That Edtech is Democratizing Education

    February 1, 2018
    By Matthew Lynch
  • EdTech & Innovation

    Creating a Makerspace on a Budget

    June 5, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Higher Education EdTech

    8 Must-Have Apps and Tools for College Prep

    October 12, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • EdTech News

    Newer studies say online instruction neither harms nor benefits the average university student

    July 8, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • EdTech News

    Preparing for the future: Summits to help schools make smart technology choices

    October 28, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch

2 comments

  1. Ted Brown 4 March, 2017 at 07:38 Reply

    Thanks Mathew for the update.It is enlightening to learn that education has taken a twist in the right direction.STEM subjects need to be re-emphasized and more enrollment and student engagements would to a robust and market ready workforce in the future.Schools administrators, the local government, and community at large should spare resources to fund such a noble cause.

  2. Rodney Smith 13 March, 2017 at 09:57 Reply

    STEM subjects need to be reinforced by more enjoyable ways of learning to break down the boredom and perception many people have about these subjects. The future of many things is based on STEM. The government and other governing bodies should create an enabling environment to help increase enrolment in schools to take up STEM subjects.
    I appreciate the job well done.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • EdTech Policy & Reform

    What Happens When School Buses Get Wi-Fi?

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    Empowering All Students through Mobile Device Filmmaking

  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Should My Edtech Company Sell to Teachers, Schools, or Districts?

Search

Login & Registration

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Newsletter

Signup for The Tech Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in EdTech news and opinion delivered to your email address!

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Universities Deploy Chatbots To Aid Students In The Admissions Process And Beyond

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 24, 2021
  • Generational Differences Affect Tech Initiatives In Higher Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 23, 2021
  • Mixing And Matching: How To Blend Online Learning And AI

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 22, 2021
  • Understanding Institutional Reasons to Move to Cloud

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 19, 2021
  • How to Get Your Educators Excited About Using Edtech

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 18, 2021
  • 20 Top Virtual Reality Apps that are Changing Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 11, 2017
  • 7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 4, 2017
  • Why Mobile Technology Enhances Instruction

    By Matthew Lynch
    December 14, 2016
  • What is the Future of Online Learning in Higher Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 2, 2018
  • 7 Roles for Artificial Intelligence in Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 5, 2018
  • Universities Deploy Chatbots To Aid Students In The Admissions Process And Beyond - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 24, 2021

    How Can We Use Chatbots in Education?

    […] chatbot is any ...
  • Let’s talk Tech – Sine up for Math
    on
    February 23, 2021

    7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

    […] Lynch, M. (2017, ...
  • Promoting Literacy In Early Education - The Edvocate
    on
    February 23, 2021

    Top 7 Education Apps for the Classroom

    […] of the best ...
  • Generational Differences Affect Tech Initiatives In Higher Education - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 23, 2021

    Good News Stories About Edtech From Across the Globe

    […] the past twenty ...
  • Mixing And Matching: How To Blend Online Learning And AI - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 22, 2021

    Stop Expecting Artificial Intelligence to Do It All

    […] we will discuss ...

EdTech Policy & Reform

  • EdTech Policy & Reform

    How Much Bias Is Okay in Your School?

    Spread the loveThe algorithm has proven itself to be a handy tool when it comes to solving education problems. It’s also not without bias.  You may be wondering how some ...
  • EdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    Edtech Should Complement Good Pedagogy, Not Attempt to Replace It

    Spread the loveThe newest generation of edtech is downright amazing; it’s no wonder that various education stakeholders might be a little excited about its potential to transform education. However, edtech ...
  • EdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    How to Teach Kids to Communicate in This Digital Age

    Spread the loveWhen even the youngest children are spending the equivalent of a full work day looking at screens, it is perhaps no surprise that parents are wondering how to ...
  • EdTech FuturesEdTech Policy & Reform

    3 Reasons Why India Will Be A Leader in the EdTech Industry in the 21st ...

    Spread the loveAccording to a joint report by KPMG and Google, the online education industry is expected to grow at a healthy rate of 8 times to become a $1.96B ...
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    How Does Technology Immersion Shape the Brain?

    Spread the loveDo you wonder what all of the screen time we have is really doing to our brains? As edtech continues to rise in prominence throughout the world, this ...

EdTech Startups & Businesses

  • EdTech Startups & BusinessesOnline Learning & eLearning

    Using Nudge Theory in Your Corporate Online Learning Classes

    Spread the loveAfter reading this headline, you may be asking yourself, what is nudge theory? Nudge theory centers on positive reinforcement and inferred suggestions to motivate a person to complete ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Bringing Education into the Business World

    Spread the loveU.S. businesses spent nearly $20 billion on training in 2019. That number decreased by roughly half from the year before. Companies aren’t providing fewer professional development opportunities for ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    You Must Include These 3 Things in Your Edtech Business Plan

    Spread the loveDo you have a business plan? It’s the one question you’re going to be asked a lot as you begin your edtech business. The reasons to write a ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Edtech Marketing Ideas to Implement Right Now

    Spread the loveEven if you do have the most exceptional edtech product or service in the world, you’ve still got to market it. Your sales and your success depend on ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    How Your Edtech Startup Can Make the Leap from Failure to Funded

    Spread the loveThe best ideas in edtech are often only ideas. They never become a reality because they lack the funding they need to get off the ground. Taking an ...

Digital Equity

  • Digital EquityDigital Leadership

    How Can You Assess the Tech Needs of Your Students Outside of School?

    Spread the loveToday, I received an email from the middle school principal in Los Angeles. She explained to me that the school that she ran was in one of the ...
  • Digital Equity

    It Is Time for the Edtech Industry to Stop Denying Its Equity and Race Problem

    Spread the loveThe EdTech industry is dominated by white employees, white leaders, and white entrepreneurs. If you doubt this statement, just attend an Edtech conference. Admittedly, educators and others don’t ...
  • Digital Equity

    How OER Can Help Overcome the Higher Education Equity Barrier

    Spread the loveThe cornerstone of the American dream is the ability to succeed in life regardless of one’s family of origin. And, for most people, that requires a college education. ...

EdTech Futures

  • EdTech FuturesOnline Learning & eLearning

    IT Trends To Watch As Higher Education Moves Into a New Decade

    Spread the loveEdtech couldn’t have hoped for a better launch into the new decade than the push the industry received from COVID-19. Even the most tech-resistant institutions and individuals have ...
  • EdTech Futures

    4 Emerging EdTech Trends in 2021

    Spread the loveCovid-19 has not only changed education as we know it, but it has forced education technology (EdTech) to up its game. EdTech has been crucial since the start of this ...
  • Adult EducationEdTech & InnovationEdTech FuturesEducation LeadershipEducational LeadershipHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechThe Future of Education

    Education Technology and the Future of Higher Ed Leadership

    Spread the loveEducation Technology (EdTech) has had a more significant impact on education than anyone expected. Now its effects are reaching into the field of higher education. In this article, ...
  • EdTech Futures

    Top Edtech Trends for 2021

    Spread the loveAre you ready to look ahead? Schools will soon be reflecting on what’s been working this year and what’s not. They’ll also begin thinking about their budgets for ...
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech Futures

    In the Wake of Teacher Shortages, Schools are Turning to Virtual Teachers

    Spread the loveTeaching was once a greatly respected position, and today, morally it still seems to be of high value to many Americans. Institutionally, however, teaching no longer seems to ...

About Us

Since technology is not going anywhere and does more good than harm, adapting is the best course of action. That is where The Tech Edvocate comes in. We plan to cover the PreK-12 and Higher Education EdTech sectors and provide our readers with the latest news and opinion on the subject. From time to time, I will invite other voices to weigh in on important issues in EdTech. We hope to provide a well-rounded, multi-faceted look at the past, present, the future of EdTech in the US and internationally.

We started this journey back in June 2016, and we plan to continue it for many more years to come. I hope that you will join us in this discussion of the past, present and future of EdTech and lend your own insight to the issues that are discussed.

Newsletter

Signup for The Tech Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in EdTech news and opinion delivered to your email address!

Contact Us

The Tech Edvocate
5322 Markel Road, Suite 104
Richmond, VA 23230
(601) 630-5238
advocatefored@gmail.com

Follow us

Copyright © 2021 Matthew Lynch. All rights reserved.