NY District Invests in Woz U STEAM Lessons
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 04/15/19
A
New York school district is investing $70,000 into STEAM
curriculum
developed by Woz
U, a
for-profit company that focuses on delivering career education. The
board of education for Salamanca
City Central School District
near Buffalo recently approved the purchase of the resources for
grades K-10, for use over the next two school years.
Content
covers coding, engineering design, drones, cybersecurity and mobile
app development. In the future, according to the company, curriculum
will also cover animation, data analysis and artificial intelligence.
The company said the lessons adhere to Next
Generation Science Standards.
The
kits include all of the specialized materials needed, aside from
computing tablets or Chromebooks. Each of three or four grade levels
have their own learning outcomes, goals and projects.
"For
the past several years, our teachers have been incorporating
STEAM-based learning across the K-12 spectrum and developed a solid
curriculum," said Mark Beehler, assistant superintendent for the
school system, in a statement. "But after experiencing the Woz U
Education STEAM kits, our educators realized the value in
implementing this comprehensive solution."
Superintendent
Robert Breidenstein added that he believes the implementation of the
STEAM curriculum "will accelerate the Salamanca School
District's technological expertise and truly support our vision of
becoming a STEAM district of excellence."
Woz
U, which also has a coding bootcamp, uses branding from Steve
Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, who has publicly stated that he has no
involvement in the operational aspects of the company.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.