This year’s HackMIT hackathon will be held virtually over three days, September 18-20. It’s free and open to high-school and college students. Teams of up to four participants each will work on projects in one of four tracks: Health Tech, Education, Urban Innovation, and Communication Connectivity. Beginners may participate in introductory workshops, and all participants may attend talks by these speakers.
Category Archives: Virtual/Online
Newton Community Ed’s Fall Online STEM Programs
Newton Community Ed is offering these STEM-related online courses this fall:
- Mad Science Home Lab: Grades K-1
- Nature in Your Neighborhood: Grades 1-3
- Tiny Worlds: Grades 1-3
- Earth & Sea Science: Grades K-2, 3-5
- Circuitry 101: Grades 1-3
- Game Design with Tynker: Grades 2-5
- Intro to Programming — Scratch: Grades 3-5
- Roblox: Grades 3-5
- 3-D Printing, Coding & Design: Grades 3-5, 6-8
- Intro to Python: Grades 3-6
- Robotics Programming with Micro:bit: Grades 3-6
- App Inventors: Grades 4-7
- Interactive Electronics: Grades 5-8
- Mobile Apps: Grades 6-9
- Python Multi-Player Games: Grades 6-9
- Minecraft Modding with Java: Grades 9-12
- Object-Oriented Programming with Java: Grades 9-12
- Web Development: Grades 9-12
Adult Technology
Artisan’s Asylum: Online After-School Programs for Ages 11-15
Artisan’s Asylum offers STEAM-based online after-school programs for ages 11-15. Each week has a theme and a project that can either build on previous weeks or stand alone. Sessions are 3:30-5PM, Monday-Friday, and some programs are one week while others are over a few weeks. Artisan’s Asylum offers a Pay What You Can Afford model ($65 to $125 per week) to help defray the cost for families in need. Registration closes 72 hours before each week’s first session.
- September 14-18: Reimagining Your Home: A Photo Montage & Collage Unit
- September 21-25: Exploring “Yes, And…” in Creative Storytelling
- September 28-October 21: Get On My Level: Exploring the Relationship Between 2D and 3D
- October 5-8: Art & Activism: Using Your Illustrative Voice
Harvard Museums: Final Virtual Summer Science Week, Sept. 14-18
Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will present Spineless Wonders — the final week of the Virtual Summer Science Weeks series, September 14-18. It combines daily live Zoom sessions led by museum educators with at-home activities. Grades 1-2 meet at 2PM, and Grades 3-4 meet at 3PM. The cost is $90 ($80 for HMSC members). Advance registration is required.
Tufts CEEO Online Design & Engineering Workshops
Tuft’s Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) is offering these online Design and Engineering Workshops in September:
- LEGO Robotics Club: Wednesdays, 1:30-3PM, Grades 2-6
- Arduino for Absolute Beginners: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 3:30-5PM, Grades 6-12
- Arduino Project Workshop: Wednesdays, 3:30-5PM, Grades 6-12
MSEN Online: Equity and Anti-Racism Practices in STEM, Aug. 19
The MetroWest STEM Education Network will host a free, online workshop — Equity and Anti-Racism Practices in STEM: It’s Not a Simple Conversation, But It Can Be Achieved — on August 19, 8:30AM-10:30AM. It will be led by Dr. Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, the Interim Director for the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and the Graduate Program Director for the Gender, Leadership, and Public Policy Graduate Certificate Program at University of Massachusetts Boston. Register here.
Empow Studios Extends Summer Programs til Sept. 11
Empow Studios is extending through September 11 its in-person summer camps (in several locations, including its Newton studio) for full- or half-day sessions, as well as its virtual summer camps. Register here.
Z-Kai Offers Online Coding, Robotics, and STEM Literacy Enrichment for Elementary Students
Z-Kai USA, based in Arlington, started in 2018 as a U.S. subsidiary of the large Japanese college-prep training company Z-Kai, started in 1931. It’s pursuing a different strategy in the U.S. by focusing on coding and robotics classes for elementary students and partnering with LEGO Education, Tufts CEEO, and MIT Scratch. During the COVID shutdown, several of its classes are online: Zoom Up Math, Java Script Coding, Basic Robotics, and STEM Literacy. In the STEM Literacy course, students read a book (e.g., about bridges), learn relevant terminology, then are asked to define the problem to be solved, and finally solve the problem (using LEGO). See schedule here for summer and after-school programs. For more information, email info@zkai-usa.com.
New England Sci-Tech Gradually Opening for Members Only, Maintains Online Classes for All
The New England Sci-Tech STEM education center in Natick is gradually opening up with programs and activities for members only, including:
- 3-Day Summer Workshops for Grades 5-9 on Tuesdays-Thursdays, 9AM-Noon
- Private Astronomy Nights, limited to 8 people
In addition, NEST continues to offer online classes, many of which are free for members, and admission is low-cost for everyone else.
FSU Planetarium AstroNight: Prepare for the Perseids — Live Virtual Event, Aug. 7
The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University has moved its free planetarium events for families from onsite to online in its Dome to Home: AstroNights program. Their next live virtual event, the Prepare for the Perseids, will be August 7 at 7PM. You can view recordings of previous events on their YouTube playlist.