Newsletter #2

We are very happy to announce that Modra delavnica - Zavod Simetris’ from Slovenia have won the SySTEM 2020 STEAM Award. They develop and implement activities for the integrated development of children and adults such as robotics, 3D printing etc. As winners, they will be able to attend the upcoming Ecsite conference in Copenhagen for free,  meet the SySTEM 2020 team and learn from each other in organising STEAM activities.

Combining his interests in both sociology and website design, Alain Otjens has landed himself at Waag in Amsterdam as a front-end developer. His role at Waag is varied, pushing him towards making technology that is better attuned to democratic values and technology that fosters positive societal change. His newest project encouraged him to think outside the box and design something new, a Europe wide network cataloguing initiatives that provide science learning outside the classroom – the SySTEM 2020 map.

We spoke to Alain about his role in helping to construct the SySTEM 2020 map, the challenges he faced and the steps we need to think about in making sure this resource is sustained into the future.

Q. Alain, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

For two years, I’ve been a front-end developer and designer at Waag. My background is in sociology, but on the side, I was always working as a freelance website developer. Waag is a great combination of both of these things.

Q. How did you go about making the map, what was your starting point?

I knew what STEAM stood for, but I wasn’t very familiar with the topic. I specialise more on the internet, technology and privacy. Having said that, of course, STEAM is one of the priorities of Waag. The process started with digging into the subject, first through the project proposal, then through discussions with colleagues at the LEARN team – one of Waag’s research groups.  An important step in the process was really to gather requirements from different stakeholders. For me, it was crucial to understand that I was to make a tool for researchers who want to have a better understanding of the field.

Q. Waag has been involved in other data visualisation projects, haven't you?

Right now, we are working on a number of citizens science projects, measuring air quality, gamma radiation and noise pollution. In all these projects we have maps showing the data. But Waag has a history of building interactive maps. We have a somewhat famous map of Amsterdam that visualises the age of buildings, artistically it is quite beautiful. Моre than 15 years ago we made Amsterdam RealTime, where cyclists were given GPS trackers and were asked to cycle around Amsterdam. This was really in the early days before proper GPS’ were made. This project had actually led to a whole new direction for Waag, that resulted in developing software for mobile games and tours for cell phones equipped with GPS.

Read the full interview here.
 

We all hold a degree of expertise – our background, upbringing and life experiences provide us all with a rich amount of knowledge and experiential expertise. By utilising a range of learners and educators we were able to address a range of common problems found within out of school learning initiatives. The topics discussed were broad, but by the end of day one, three common issues were raised.

1. How do we increase inclusivity in science learning outside the classroom?
2. Should and how can accreditation be devised and awarded to young learners taking part in science learning outside the classroom?
3. Lastly, how do we engage and connect with young learners with science learning outside the classroom – what is it about their environment that may push them towards or away from science?

However, outlining the problems facing science learning outside the classroom was not the only purpose of this meeting. In reply to these problems, educators and learners collaborated to co-design solutions to address and overcome these problems. From new committees in the local council for young learners to join, providing a new voice for STEAM subjects and the community, to creating a badge system that accredits and certifies involvement in initiatives that provide informal learning. By the end of our two- day workshop in Helsinki that took place in March, a total of 12 designs were showcased, and over the next few months, some will be chosen to be prototyped and put into action. 

1. Tinkering and Making: from practising to reflecting: the ideology, mechanisms and effectiveness of the tinkering and the maker movement.
2. Finland, Switzerland and New Zealand lead the way at teaching skills for the future: an article based on the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index’s (WEFFI) ranking
3. 10 European edtech startups that are transforming the way we learn: showcasing a variety of new technologies applied to education
4. The Roots of STEM Success: Changing Early Learning Experiences to Build Lifelong Thinking Skills: The American Center for Childhood Creativity’s (CCC) report on how young children approach STEAM 

• EUSEA conference 2019 I 9-10 May, Vienna (AT) 
• #Ecsite2019: Pushing Boundaries I 6-8 June, Copenhagen (DK)
• International STEM Education conference I 13-14 June, Istanbul (TR)
• MaSDiV Final Conference – Educating the Educators I 7-8 October 2019, Freiburg (DE)