Born to teach migrant children more effectively and optimally, STEM education technology is capturing more and more educators around the world every year. The abbreviation STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and denotes a practice — oriented approach to the construction of the content of education and the educational process’s organization. The STEM approach’s primary goal is to overcome the isolation inherent in traditional education from solving practical problems and build connections between academic disciplines that are understandable to students. More and more teachers are turning to STEM technologies, so a wide range of resources allows one to customize the lesson and solve educational problems dictated by modernity.
The STEM resources are available on open online educational platforms, such as Coursera, EdX, and Udemy. One of the most recognized resources for implementing the STEM approach in preschool is LEGO Education kits (Rizqiyana, 2021). They are designed to work with children in the age range of 4 years. For each of the sets, there are methodological materials adapted to the US academic standards. They can be found on the official resources of LEGO Education and materials for the training of teachers themselves. As a resource, one can also use various sets, for example, the Set of a young chemist. Using chemical reactions, children will be able to make toys with their own hands and get acquainted with chemical reactions. Competitive quest games with experimental tasks in engineering, mathematics, humanities, natural science, and information and communication fields using multimedia are also a powerful tool for increasing engagement. The resource market for educational products within STEM education is quite diverse, and every teacher can find appropriate resources for their students.
Such formats of educational programs solve a modern teacher working in STEM-online education and correspond to the development of the necessary competencies in students. Teachers note that modern children are children of the information type of development. They quickly grasp information, but at the same time, they do not perceive this information holistically; children’s thinking is abrupt and fragmented. Trying to find a solution to this problem, many teachers choose an innovative STEM technology that helps develop preschool children’s critical thinking (Rizqiyana, 2021). The teacher of the STEM format offers to solve real problems. His approach is based on the integration of subject knowledge and technologies, joint research activities with students. STEM-teacher understands how to create a space for each child to display his abilities, realize his potential and professional tests.
STEM education is a phenomenon based on interdisciplinarity and meta-subject, the use of technological solutions in cognition and transformation of the world. Mastering modern technologies, studying physics, mathematics, biology, and other natural science disciplines in connection with each other, the student forms a unified picture of the world, creating conditions for developing content through activities. This approach’s scope and methods allow students to form a holistic view of the world and show the value of scientific knowledge for life. STEM education combines a systematic approach and practice in the future. It is only a matter of time before this system of knowledge delivery becomes the main one worldwide, and training teachers to work in this paradigm is one of the critical tasks today.
Reference
Rizqiyana, A. Z. (2021). Stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) approaches using thematic learning media to develop critical thinking. Dinamika Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Dasar, 13(1), 20-26. Web.