Connected Learning Summit 2018

The Expressive & Creative Interactive Technologies Center (ExCITe) at Drexel University has developed a series of STEAM (STEM + Arts & Design) research and education projects involving novel actuated and robotic instruments. Our Magnetic Resonator Piano has been featured in performances world-wide, and another project, DrumHenge was recently showcased in an installation at the Sundance Film Festival. These projects have informed and been influenced by our STEAM education outreach programs, a integral part of the ExCITe Center’s mission. As we expand the ExCITe Center’s STEAM education programs, we have adapted these music “making” concepts into a curriculum for middle school students. This new curriculum was developed as a 9-week short course for students of the Science Leadership Academy Middle School (SLA-MS), an inquiry-driven learning school. Students use littleBits, a system of electronic building blocks, and K’nex pieces to build their own actuated instruments.