iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Are you a fan of Shark Tank? On this show, hopeful entrepreneurs present their product or service, which they believe could be the “next big thing”, to a panel of Sharks—successful CEO’s and business icons. The goal is to get this panel of Sharks to buy a piece of their company to either boost sales or help grow their company.

While some ideas may seem like a great fit for a specific market, some end up being total flops. With shows like this and entrepreneurs like Gary V, entrepreneurship has been creeping more into the mainstream conversation. And thanks to social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, we see entrepreneurship being pushed as a lifestyle and not just something relegated to the uber wealthy. But what if we introduced entrepreneurship to our students and taught the power of ownership in creating ones future to our own classrooms?

The following is a guest post by Fran Kompar.  Fran is the Director, Digital Learning for Wilton Public Schools in Connecticut, who offers us insight into a fabulous professional learning exercise surrounding making, design thinking and entepreneurship.  It is my hope that readers will bring the learning experience that Fran outlines, back to their own school districts.

I am thrilled to be a guest author for this blog.  The following details the “Making to Learn” journey taken by teams of educators from Fairfield County, Connecticut. The experiences of this group, provides a connection to GREAT Makerspaces and the endless possibilities they provide in supporting a school’s plan for Social Emotional Learning, STEM, Personalized Learning, Inquiry, Reading, Math and Computational Thinking.  In fact, we can expand on the 21st Century Skills and develop our own 2025 vision for our students as confident, creative, collaborative and caring citizens – the new 4C’s.

f you’re an entrepreneur and have young children, it’s very easy to feel as if you’re involved in a constant war between giving enough time and energy to your business and spending sufficient time with your family. There doesn’t have to be so much friction between work and personal life, though. In fact, your children can benefit tremendously if you get them involved in your business pursuits.

Building apps teaches teens far more than just computer skills—they also learn social entrepreneurship and gain self-confidence.