Educational Leadership

A growing number of public schools in low-income areas have begun using "mobile makerspaces" housed in refurbished school buses and other vehicles to expose students to the joys of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The rolling initiative – which would make Ms. Frizzle, driver of "The Magic School Bus" proud – follows a broader trend of cash-strapped districts turning to mobile classrooms to provide students with opportunities too costly for individual schools to afford. 

These traveling miniature science and engineering labs, inspired by the modern do-it-yourself maker movement, provide disadvantaged students with hands-on experience in areas such as coding, 3D printing, and video game design. By exposing underserved students to careers that they may not otherwise have been aware of, even if just for a day, advocates hope to increase the number of low-income students in STEM careers, where they are traditionally underrepresented. 

Via Kim Flintoff