Samsung has a cool contest called the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow. Teachers are invited to submit ideas for how they will use STEM to solve a problem in their community. Out of all the teachers who apply they select five finalists from each state. The state finalists get two Samsung Galaxy Tablets for getting selected. I had been applying for this contest for years before getting selected as a state finalist. I was selected last year, applied for the next phase and didn’t make it. Deja vu. 🙂
Luckily, I received two Samsung Galaxy Tabs last year, which allowed me to replace two of my nearly useless iPad 1st Gen tablets. This is what I got (and yes, these are the ones that will not access Google Slides!!):
This year I got selected as a state finalist again! They sent me two Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 (haven’t tried to access Google Slides – I’ll check that soon):
Here’s how the new tablet compares to last year’s in size (they look like they are iPad Mini size):
The problem that I addressed is the lack of value in education when students are asked to use outdated textbooks or older, nearly useless, technology. In order to show students how to solve problems using current technologies and expose them to possible STEM careers, I plan to address that problem through my Environmental Stewardship project. That is the project that I just submitted in the hopes of being selected for phase 2 of the contest. Finalists of Phase 2 will receive video recording equipment to make a video of their activity or project. Those videos will then be used for the final phase of the project by getting votes. The projects with the most votes will get some pretty good funding for technology for their school. Let’s see what happens! I’ll hear whether I made it this year by December.
