BoardBuzz woke up this morning thinking, what’s the best way to keep kids interesting in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related fields? Lo’ and behold, Ars Technica presents us with an answer:

We know that giving kids hands-on experience is one of the best ways to spark and keep their interest in STEM-related fields, and to this end, high schoolers all over the country are getting an opportunity to learn and apply STEM knowledge by participating in the annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest.

Reuben Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. He is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways – now known as Rube Goldberg machines.

If you’re having trouble envisioning such a machine, BoardBuzz would like to direct you to a recent video by the band OK Go. The band’s front man Damian Kulash sometimes makes big declarations like “We’re trying to be a DIY band in a post-major label world.” They are best known for making rather original and interesting music videos. In their latest, they teamed up with as many as 60 engineers and designers to create an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine synced to their song “This Too Shall Pass.” Check it out below.

According to Ars, in 1949, two engineering fraternities at Purdue University began a competition to devise the most complex machine to accomplish a given goal. Sometime in the 1980s, Purdue University revived the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, organized by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, a national engineering fraternity. The competition culminated in the first national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest in 1988. Starting in 2007, high schools were invited to participate in the national contest, exposing young minds to one of the most exciting and diabolical engineering competitions ever.

Today, the contest brings Rube’s comic genius to life for millions of fans. Covered widely by the national media, the winning team and their working invention always gets lots of attention. To get a real window into the machine contest, go to www.mousetraptomars.com where you can watch a 2 minute clip from the upcoming documentary that chronicles three teams vying for the winning slot.

This year’s goal: Dispense an appropriate amount of hand sanitizer into a hand.

So what’s so great about this contest? Most of the advisers agree that giving students a hands-on opportunity is a critical aspect of participating in the competition. “It’s a great way to get kids who might otherwise be intimidated by the math or hard science involved and interested in STEM,” says Alexis Kovacs, advisor for the Jones College Prep team. “For those that are already interested in science or engineering fields, this helps them be able to solve real problems and really use their hands.”

Clearly, at a time when the U.S. is looking to inspire young minds, Rube Goldberg’s legacy represents the best in American innovation, humor and unconventional thinking; an inspiring model for us all. Check out Ars Technica for complete coverage of this exciting contest.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a plan to allow the public to take advantage of schools’ internet access during non-operating hours. Schools that receive funding from the E-rate program (more formally, the schools and libraries universal service support program) may now provide internet access to the public during non-operating hours. This change attracted broad support in comments received while developing the National Broadband Plan.

This action will leverage universal service funding to serve a larger population at no increased cost to the E-rate program. If a school chooses to allow community access, the general public will be able to use the internet access already present in schools for purposes such as job searches and applications, digital literacy programs, and online access to governmental services and resources. The FCC feels that increasing community access to the internet is particularly critical in communities where residential adoption of broadband Internet access has historically lagged, including many rural, minority, and Tribal communities. Libraries already may provide internet access to their communities using E-rate support.

The order enables schools to provide similar access to the public. The E-rate program commits $2.25 billion in funding annually to schools and libraries for eligible telecommunications services, Internet access, internal connections, and basic maintenance of internal connections.

Current E-rate rules require schools to use the funding only for “educational purposes” directly related to student activities. The FCC says waiving that rule will maximize the use of school facilities and serve more of the community.

Ars Technica notes:

This expansion of E-rate facilities was first tried in Alaska. It could take some of the pressure off public libraries, which share their Internet stations with patrons for general use, and have been deluged with job seekers who have no access to broadband anywhere else. But one wonders how many cash-strapped public schools will avail themselves of this change, given that opening up their workstations will require them to spend additional money on access supervisors and technical support.

BoardBuzz wonders that too. Do you think your school will pursue opening its network to the public? Would it be worth the effort? We think it depends largely on how the rules are rewritten and who is expected to foot the bill of support and maintenance costs. Let us know your opinion.

The FCC’s broadband plan also recommends upgrading the E-rate program to improve broadband access in public elementary and secondary schools, working to improve online learning opportunities including the reduction of regulatory barriers, and promoting digital literacy for students and teachers.

Leveraging broadband to support education is just one of the areas the FCC’s Broadband Task Force outlined in its preview of the National Broadband Plan, due to Congress in 27 days. The Task Force also outlined a laundry list of ways that government could make broadband more useful for the public. These include:

• Setting up a broadband powered “national employment assistance platform,” which would offer the workforce “anytime, anywhere e-learning tools to drive enrollment in post-secondary education and job training programs”
• Authorizing the Rural Health Care Program to fund high speed Internet adoption at rural health care facilities, and encouraging the use of remote monitoring vital sign equipment hooked up to the ‘Net
• Fast tracking the digitization and accessibility of health care records
• Encouraging deployment of smart grid technology, and releasing more government data on digital platforms so that consumers have online access to their energy use records
• Creating a nationwide interoperable broadband wireless public safety network.

More detail can be found in the presentation made to the Commission.

Anyone with a teenager knows that the use of digital media is on the rise. As BoardBuzz previously mentioned, in a recent report issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit research organization, the average amount of time children ages 8 to 18 spend using media for non-school related activities is up to seven hours and 38 minutes per day — that’s an increase of more than an hour compared to the same study conducted in 2004. The report, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds, is based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,002 3rd-12th grade students. Included in this group was a self-selected group of 702 students who kept media-use diaries. These diaries were used to calculate the number of students who are multi-tasking in their media use – using their cell phones and their laptops or iPods simultaneously, for example. The number of multi-taskers was also up significantly. The study concluded that the percentage of students who were heavy media users were more likely to get fair or poor grades when compared to light users — but maybe that doesn’t have to be the case.

A recent article in Education Week looked at this study, and while acknowledging the negative aspects, also pointed out the potential for student engagement found in the results. Could students who are used to the constant stimulation of digital media just be bored by the more passive, traditional teaching techniques in their classrooms? BoardBuzz is hearing from school districts across the country that have successfully integrated digital media into the learning process, taking advantage of students’ passion for technology to boost student involvement and achievement.

Several leading districts will showcase their successful use of digital media to engage students at NSBA’s 2010 Annual Conference, April 10-12 in Chicago. In addition to district workshops, there will also be a pre-conference site visit to Avoca school district to see firsthand how technology is transforming the education experience.

BoardBuzz was interested to learn about a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) media usage study via Ars Technica. The study focuses on the media usage of 8- to 18-year-olds. We already had a pretty good idea that kids spend much of their time watching tv, playing video games, or interacting online. Well, this latest study reveals that kids spend almost every waking hour outside of school consuming some form of media. In 2009, the average 8- to 18-year-old had nearly 11 hours of media exposure per day.

A breakdown of media consumption among types and age groups. Total media use time is lower than exposure due to a 30 percent average of "media multitasking."

Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people’s media use. It includes data from all three waves of the study (1999, 2004, and 2009), and is among the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information about media use among American youth.

Additional findings include:

• Reading. Over the past 5 years, time spent reading books remained steady at about :25 a day, but time with magazines and newspapers dropped (from :14 to :09 for magazines, and from :06 to :03 for newspapers). The proportion of young people who read a newspaper in a typical day dropped from 42% in 1999 to 23% in 2009. On the other hand, young people now spend an average of :02 a day reading magazines or newspapers online.
• Media and homework. About half of young people say they use media either “most” (31%) or “some” (25%) of the time they’re doing their homework.
• Rules about media content. Fewer than half of all 8- to 18-year-olds say they have rules about what TV shows they can watch (46%), video games they can play (30%), or music they’re allowed to listen to (26%).  Half (52%) say they have rules about what they can do on the computer.
• Gender gap. Girls spend more time than boys using social networking sites (:25 vs. :19), listening to music (2:33 vs. 2:06), and reading (:43 vs. :33). Boys spend more time than girls playing console video games (:56 vs.: 14), computer games (:25 vs. :08), and going to video websites like YouTube (:17 vs. :12).
• Tweens and media. Media use increases substantially when children hit the 11-14 year-old age group, an increase of 1:22 with TV content, 1:14 with music, 1:00 using the computer, and :24 playing video games, for total media exposure of 11:53 per day (vs. 7:51 for 8-10 year-olds).
• Texting. 7th-12th graders report spending an average of 1:35 a day sending or receiving texts. (Time spent texting is not counted as media use in this study.)

What do you think of the study results? Read the full report and decide for yourself.

Planning to attend your state school boards association conference or NSBA’s Annual Conference this year? It’s a tough decision in today’s economic climate, but professional development is an investment in improving your district’s student achievement. Reno Contipelli, Board President from Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio, wouldn’t consider skipping either event.  Hear Reno’s thoughts on the importance of professional development, and see how he spent his time and what he learned at last year’s NSBA Annual Conference:

Yesterday Mashable raised the question how has social media changed us? Over the past several years, we’ve seen social media evolve from web 2.0 technologies. We’ve witnessed the rise and fall of social networks, the creation of a new industry, and the political, cultural, and social impact of this new form of media. But has it changed us?

The first trend Mashable mentions is child literacy: 

It stands to reason that children who read and write more are better at reading and writing. And writing blog posts, status updates, text messages, instant messages, and the like all motivate children to read and write. Last month, The National Literacy Trust released the results of a survey of over 3000 children. They observed a correlation between children’s engagement with social media and their literacy. Simply put, social media has helped children become more literate. Indeed, Eurostat recently published a report drawing a correlation between education and online activity, which found that online activity increased with the level of formal activity (socio-economic factors are, of course, potentially at play here as well).

The survey of children (from England and Scotland) who text, blog, and use other aspects of social media focused on those between the ages of nine and sixteen. 24 percent of these children maintain a personal blog, 73 percent use instant messaging, and 82 percent text regularly.

The survey also indicated that connected kids use written language more frequently and fluently than non-connected kids. They also seem more confident. Of non-connected kids, 47 percent said their writing skills were good. Of blog/text/chat-users, 61 percent said their writing was “good or very good.”

Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told BBC News, “Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing.”

While we don’t think technology is some magic bullet, BoardBuzz does believe that social media and other technologies can certainly improve student achievement. They key is effective implementation.

The XO-3 tablet should be coming to the market in 2012.

Do you remember the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project? A U.S.-based, non-profit organization, the project works to create a cheap, low-power, mobile computer for kids in developing countries. Their current XO-1 laptop is still being shipped to countries such as Rwanda and Uruguay, but the folks at OLPC are working on a next generation device—a tablet.

The plan for the next OLPC XO was originally a two-screen foldable device named XO-2, but that model was eventually scrapped. The XO-3 follows in line with the current tablet buzz that has cropped up because of rumors of an Apple tablet. Even the XO-3 is still a concept at this point, but the plan is to have a 8.5 x 11 touchscreen, a built-in camera, induction charger, and a foldable carrying ring on one of its corners. Priced at only $75, the device appears to be a pie-in-the-sky dream, but you have to start somewhere. So why not set a lofty goal?

Half the thickness of an iPhone, this concept is obviously banking heavily on technology advances by 2012 (the projected release date), but it’s not too hard to see somebody making this design a reality by then—maybe even Apple. OLPC’s Nick Negroponte isn’t all hubris, however: “…we’re not a commercial operation. If we only achieve half of what we’re setting out to do, it could have very big consequences.”

BoardBuzz would love to see this device succeed. Any endeavor that aims to bring modern technology into the hands of impoverished children is worthy of success.

The Washington Post reports that a delegation of Washington area students and a diamondback terrapin named Happy took part (via videoconferencing) in Thursday’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to help advance a solution for curbing carbon emissions.

Dressed in crisp white shirts and ties, seven students from Paul Public Charter School in the Northwest Washington and four girls from Clermont Elementary School in Fairfax County’s Alexandria section faced a camera at the U.S. Forest Service Building in the District and made a live presentation about the harmful effects of greenhouse-gas emissions and rising temperatures.

“Climate change … affects every living thing in every part of the world,” said Sophie Meyer, a Clermont fifth-grader. BoardBuzz couldn’t say it any better. More than 1,000 young people from many countries are among the participants at the conference who want to influence future climate policies. “You really have a lot of power,” said Danielle Ostafinski, a senior at Grand Valley State University who is representing Michigan as part of a delegation funded by the Will Steger Foundation. Many of these young delegates stood outside the Copenhagen conference center wearing shirts that say, “How old will you be in 2050?” “The message we wanted to send was, ‘Do not leave youth out in the cold,’ ” said Ostafinski. “It’s our future on the line.”

BoardBuzz agrees. Regardless of your own thoughts on climate change, climate and energy policy should be a global priority. In 2050 there will be nine billion of us, most in countries we currently refer to as developing countries. All these people will naturally be looking for the energy-consuming luxuries we enjoy today in our part of the world. The winners of the future will be the countries which improve energy efficiency, expand renewable energy production, and protect their environment. Our students get it. We hope the U.N. delegates do too.

We hear a lot about 21st century skills these days — how, why, and even if new methods and approaches should be incorporated into our public schools. Washington Post education editor, Jay Mathews recently weighed in on this topic, praising the Center for Public Education report “Defining a 21st Century Education” for moving beyond “Star Trek idealism” to provide practical advice.

The report gives concete suggestions on how districts can adapt what they already offer to include 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving. Even going beyond academics, the CPE report cites research demonstrating that after school athletic programs and other extracurricular activities help develop interpersonal and collaborative skills.

You can catch Center for Public Education staff at the upcoming NSBA Annual Conference in Chicago, where they will be sharing more findings to help school boards adapt to change and become 21st century education leaders.

When the Department of Education released the final application for more than $4 billion in Race to the Top Funds earlier this month, ”innovation” became the leading buzzword in education. To receive a share of these funds, states need to demonstrate innovative reforms that have raised student performance and have the capacity to accelerate achievement gains in the future.

That got BoardBuzz thinking about famous innovators, and one name at the top of our list was Steve Wozniak. In 1976, Wozniak, along with Steve Jobs, founded Apple Computer, and helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products. Now a Silicon Valley icon and noted philanthropist, in the early days of Apple, Wozniak was just a college drop out with a lot of great ideas and a unique vision for the future. Working with limited resources and a driving passion to succeed, Wozniak was able to achieve his vision.

In 1985, Wozniak was awarded the National Medal of Technology – the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators, and in 2000 he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame. Since leaving Apple, he has devoted a large part of his time and resources to education. Working at the local level, he “adopted” the Los Gatos School District. But, not only did he donate state-of-the-art technology equipment – he was right there in the classroom – sharing his passion for technology in the learning process as a volunteer teacher.

You can see Wozniak in person at the 2010 NSBA Annual Conference, where he will be the keynote speaker on Monday, April 12. His unique life story, his passion for classroom innovation, and his ideas for how technology can help transform education in the 21st century can inspire us all!