(1528) STEAMING UP EDUCATION WITH APPS IN E-LEARNING

摘要

How can science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) come together in e-learning? Atone of the largest e-schools in the United States teachers and students have been using apps tointegrate these areas. Virtual education continues to increase in popularity worldwide. Modern daylearners have access to more resources than just a laptop and the internet. Students have access toa variety of mobile devices which allow them to learn in more places and ways than ever before.Currently there are well over a million apps available for mobile devices and there have been morethan fifty billion app downloads. With increased access to mobile devices and an increased use ofthese devices in many aspects of life, in what ways are these devices able to enhance virtuallearning? This exploratory study sought more specifically to understand how online educators canintegrate free apps into virtual classrooms to enhance learning in STEAM with particular focus onintegrating art and science. Through discussion and surveys, we collected qualitative and quantitativedata from students and teachers from one of the largest online k-12 schools in the United States. Theresults of this study detail how free apps in these categories have been successfully used in distanceeducation by teachers and students to enhance learning and participation and integrate science andart.