Pittsburgh area high school students came together at the University of Pittsburgh to address world water crises and spread awareness. Without a formal structure, creativity thrived and students took ownership of their campaigns.

The tech industry’s lack of social diversity isn’t breaking news. Major tech companies have announced their numbers and the largest tech giants are nearly 90 percent white and Asian, with a predominantly male leadership. But the lack of diversity shows up in more than company stats—it shows up in the products millions of people use and depend on in their daily lives.

Nourbakhsh recognizes the advent of digital education as certain and full of opportunities for new kinds of learning. But he advises parents to ask, “How do I give my child the best possible preparation for a post-human future powered by technology?

Close your eyes. Now picture a scientist. Do you see a white man, maybe cloaked in a laboratory coat with his hair in wild disarray? If so, you’re hardly alone. In 1957, Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux had 35,000 high school students write essays describing their perceptions of a scientist. Nearly everyone’s descriptions matched the one above.

Everyone, from oil execs to President Obama, has called for stronger education in STEM. After all, there’s a shortage of people prepared for the tech and engineering jobs crucial for our economy’s well-being. But those employed in STEM fields are sometimes the strongest advocates for education in the humanities.

A small segment of the economy dubbed the “advanced industries” is a main source of economic power. Ranging from software publishing to ship building, the 50-industry segment is characterized by its deep involvement in technology research and development, and in STEM. But to keep it sustainable, the country needs to reinvest in STEM education.

A national video game design contest takes the game controller out of kids’ hands and replaces it with the reins. The National STEM Video Game Challenge, an initiative of the Smithsonian Institution in partnership with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and E-Line Media, is soliciting applications for its fourth annual game design competition. High school and middle school students are invited to submit entries by February 25, 2015.

When President Obama called on higher-ed institutions to create more maker initiatives last summer, Carnegie Mellon University answered the call. Partnering with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation, and the other members of the MakeSchools Alliance, CMU recently launched MakeSchools.org, a site aiming to connect the dots between the making happening in universities and best practices in maker education.

The signal that “arts matter,” in STEM or any other discipline, is not one that every education institution has received. Changing this line of thinking, at universities and in K–12 schools, is at the core of the national push for stronger STEAM education—or STEM with the inclusion of arts and all the skills they nurture.

New research shows how music lessons can help kids develop early literacy skills.

When media reports dive into the impending shortage of STEM workers, they often pose the question, “How do we get more kids to pick STEM majors, and stick with them?” Better qualified teachers, more hands-on learning, and earlier introduction are all tossed around as potential pieces to a solution. But there’s another aspect to the pipeline of workers heading into STEM fields: Low-income kids, who make up almost one-half of US public school students, too often are shortchanged on STEM classes.

Concerned about the global food crisis, Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey, and Sophie Healy-Thow were compelled to study the impact of bacteria on crop growth. Their findings—that naturally occurring strains of certain bacteria could significantly speed up crop growth and increase crop yield—may certainly contribute to the fight against global hunger. The research is impressive even without considering that Judge, Hickey, and Healy-Thow are just 16 years old.

When we think of the most cutting-edge examples of STEM education and making, lasers, 3-D printing, and programmable robots most quickly come to mind. But as eye-catching as tech is, educators with school gardens are teaching kids how a single turnip has systems just as amazing and complex. When school and community gardens are matched with STEM learning, it’s just one more way for kids to see, feel, and smell how STEM takes root in the real world. And earthworms and onions not only provide an unmatched chance for science learning, they’re also a springboard for talking about healthy eating and rethinking where our food comes from.

The game is “disease transmission.” Players try to keep their population of avatars alive in a simulated outbreak situation, factoring conditions like population size, availability of medical and food resources, and bacterial versus viral disease modes. No, this isn’t the latest technology the Centers for Disease Control is using to help combat the spread of infectious disease. (Though it probably could be.) It’s a game scenario created by SMALLab Learning, whose technology is being used in an increasing number of schools in the Pittsburgh area.

Layer by layer, 3-D printing is creating a whole new avenue for educators to bring hands-on making and STEM skills into the classroom.

As the school year gets underway, there is growing attention on the importance of STEM learning for our students and our economy. Here are (at least) seven readings to get you up to speed.

Many may think preschool is too young to learn any “real math.” Not so, according to the National Science Foundation, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU), and the Fred Rogers Company.

How four cities are using their home turf to connect more kids with learning opportunities and to document what they learn with digital badges.

Strengthening STEM knowledge prepares students for the lucrative, high-demand jobs of the future.

How does art plus science lead to innovation? Educators and future employers are taking a closer look.

NASA partnerships with schools create opportunities for students to participate in space exploration.

In Pittsburgh, we’re preparing local youth from all backgrounds to be the creative problem solvers of tomorrow’s innovation economy.

This summer, Pittsburgh will joining other Cities of Learning in a groundbreaking initiative to pair summer learning with digital badges. Apply now.

How do we encourage girls to take the lead in STEM fields? Sheryl Sandberg suggests banning the word “bossy.”