Microsoft’s Mission to get students to study STEM

During its “Learn What’s Next” event, Microsoft took the time to display a new, vast and affordable STEM lesson plan library. Available to all educators, Microsoft’s lessons are free to use and teach with. They target the various aspects of STEM, from constructing robotic hands to making a simple seismograph.

Demoing the robotic hand activity, the main idea of Microsoft’s lessons are to empower anyone to learn STEM, no matter their economic state or knowledge. For the hand, the lowest cost for construction is just three dollars per student. Utilizing simple, cheap materials like copper tape, straws and string, the activity proved to be effective in teaching many different ideals, depending on the viewpoint. The lesson could be adapted to teach medical students, who may be studying how ligaments and bones in the hand work. Or, the lesson could be targeted towards roboticists, explaining and understanding how sensor data can be used to improve movement and understand motion. Overall, the lessons were designed to teach varying subjects and be easy to build and afford for learning.

Microsoft’s stem lessons are free for all to use, and can be found on the educator’s section of the Microsoft Education site, here.