Don't miss Angelica Lim's playlist of TED Talks by Women in Computer Science, a list of 24 videos with super smart women talking about bleeding edge technology. These fab women in computer science cover topics like: Ground-breaking wearable tech--this is not your tech geek friend's wristwatch. Don't miss this talk by MIT's Pattie Maes. Robotics Tinkering Online education These videos are especially great to share with girls based on ... [ Read More ]
THOR SMS App for Hot Topics in Reddit
I'm super proud of the Older Maker Teen(OMT) for making something. Last week he created a really cool text app for that lets users get a link to a hot topic on reddit! Reddit is a popular news site, a social network, a community. It skews male and techy. Maybe young, too? At any rate, OMT was procrastinating on some back-to-school summer homework and created a cool SMS app that let's you text to get links to hot topics on subreddits, smaller ... [ Read More ]
Abril Vela, Founder of Chicago Girls in Computing: It’s STEM Girl Friday!
Abril Vela is the founder of the non-profit organization Chicago Girls in Computing, which aims to support high school girls in the Chicagoland area who are interested in technology. A FIRST robotics alum, Microsoft Youthspark Star, and a 2013 Awardee of the National Award for Aspirations in Computing from the National Center for Women & Information Technology, she will be attending the University of Michigan for Computer Engineering in the ... [ Read More ]
Recruiting High School Girls for Tech: It’s STEM Girl Friday
This computer club needs X chromosones! I'm super proud of my son for organizing a App Development (computer programming) club at high school. There are many requirements for starting a new club and he's tackling his to-do list with gusto. Not surprisingly, one of his tasks is to demonstrate student interest. He's assembling a list of students who signed on to participate. "Any girls?" I asked. "Um, one," he admitted as I gave him ... [ Read More ]
Help Your Kids Soar, Not Slide, This Summer. And Sphero 2.0 Giveaway!
Sphero with charging base and ramps. I'm pleased to announce that I'm a Sphero Ambassador. This is a sponsored post as part of my work with the brand. This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to GR, entrant #42, chosen by random.org. The summer slide refers to academic skills that slip and dip over the summer when reading and writing take a backseat to swimming and s'mores. Some parents head off the dreaded slip in academic skills with ... [ Read More ]
Helping Young Kids Code: Scratch Day Resources
Scratch Day Chicago was a huge success! Hats off to Brian Myers for organizing the day, West Ridge School for hosting and Google Chicago for feeding hundreds of hungry tweens and teens. There was a big crowd! Kids of all ages (and their parents) had opportunities to learn Scratch as well as build their skills and even show off a project or two. As the event tag line promised, it was indeed a day of meeting, sharing and learning. I was part ... [ Read More ]
Three Robotics Competitions for Kids
Are you robo-curious? I'm always interested in learning about how to get kids involved in different STEM experiences and what it's like from the parent perspective, so I was glad to feature three women on STEMchatOnAir sharing mom's-eye views of three popular robotics programs, FIRST LEGO League, VEX and MATE- ROV (in more than 140 characters!). Given that this was Leticia's and my first time hosting a #STEMchatOnAir, I'd say we did a pretty ... [ Read More ]