We hear a lot about STEAM, but what does it mean to bring it to your school or district in a meaningful way? Some educators have found ways to integrate STEAM projects within the curriculum by working across subjects, while others have opted to build makerspaces in school libraries or hold school- and district-wide competitions.

For the past decade, politicians have highlighted the need for more U.S. students to excel in the STEM. Recently, though, a growing group of educators and others have called for adding the letter “A” for “art and design” in order to make sure that the spirit of creativity, experimentation and innovation are also part of these efforts. Find STEAM resources

littleBits are easy-to-use electronic building blocks that get both students and teachers excited about STEAM. The littleBits system teaches students about circuits, but more importantly, the intuitive, color-coded Bits inspire students to invent and think in 21st-century ways. Get your 15% educator discount!

littleBits has assembled a variety of resources to help you start or expand your STEAM program, from a TED Talk to case studies and lessons.

• littleBits CEO TED Talk
• District-Wide STEM Challenge
• STEAM Lessons Using littleBits
• School Library Makerspace
• How the littleBits System Works

Blended learning and STEAM -- or science, technology, engineering, arts and math -- are expected to accelerate the use of education technology in classrooms worldwide, according to a New Media Consortium Horizon Report released Monday. The report features education trends identified by 56 experts from 22 countries.

Teachers who will teach science, technology, engineering and math courses in the fall should do some summer planning, writes Anne Jolly, who works with teacher teams in schools across the Southeast. In this blog post, she offers tips to help teachers integrate problem-solving and technology, plus reflect on their own classroom practices.

Gender and racial gaps remain in science, technology, engineering and math fields, according to a recent report from U.S. News & World Report and Raytheon. The report found that high-school girls are less interested in STEM -- with male students showing greater interest in engineering and technology -- and female students are outperformed in STEM subjects by their male peers.

Parental support is critical for girls developing an interest in science, technology, engineering and math, panelists recently said at the 2015 U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference in San Diego. They said parents who model positive attitudes toward STEM fields can spark curiosity and encourage girls to pursue STEM careers.

Confidence in math abilities may play an important role in women's decisions to pursue math degrees and careers, according to a Washington State University study. Researchers found men were more likely to overestimate their math skills and pursue math careers, compared with women.

littleBits is the New York­-based hardware startup that is on a mission to democratize hardware by empowering everyone to create inventions, large and small, with a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks. The company’s innovative building blocks snap together with magnets to allow anyone to build, invent, and prototype with electronics independent of age, gender and technical background. littleBits is being used by more than 3,500 educators in 1,600 schools and 400 universities in over 70 countries. Get your 15% educator discount!