Leveraging guest speakers to promote STEAM Learning

Inviting the community and the world into your classroom gives context to your student’s learning. Learn about the possibilities of using community partners and student world travelers to inspire a future forward mindset in your students. Outside speakers are more accessible through virtual meeting platforms and cost is minimal due to excluding travel expenses. Virtual platforms are more inclusive since one speaker can interact with entire grade levels in real time and sessions can be recorded for those who are not able to attend. This pandemic has generated a new way at experiencing virtual learning through virtual platforms and allowed us to think "outside of the box" when choosing community connections. From culture to careers to conservation, community and global partners can inform and inspire our students in a way that can be sustained. The diversity of these community connections are vital to inform our students in our evolving world.