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HSTE has recently welcomed a new group of educators to the HSTE Executive Board team. One new member has worked in education since 2000, currently serving as the Technology Coordinator at Kailua Elementary School. Greg Kent, avid “maker” and educator, joined HSTE with hopes of connecting with other educators and growing the edtech community.
In August of 2016, Greg was one of 58 teachers selected nationwide for the Ultimaker Education Pioneers program. The Ultimaker Education Pioneers are a “community of educators who are committed to bringing digital fabrication to the classroom, fostering student engagement, and sharing their ideas with others,” as quoted in Ultimaker. Prior to this, in June of 2015, Greg won a 3D carving machine from Inventables. He is one of 49 teachers nationwide to have won this machine and has since used it to bring his Makerspace to life.
Get to know Greg in the Q & A section below.
Q: Why did you get involved in HSTE?
A: I wanted to find a place where I could get to know other teachers and start having conversations. I thought this would be the place we could connect.
Q: Tell me about your family.
A: I have a daughter in Kindergarten. Her name is Keiko and she’s 5 years old. She loves to tinker with things and she loves to draw. She draws all over this table I covered with paper - it’s great.
Q: What is your guilty pleasure?
A: My guilty pleasure is buying tools. I truly enjoy making stuff and I like coming up with schemes - I tell my wife that I’m going to buy this and make this. I always think it’ll take a short amount of time but then it’ll become this crazy thing - I have a lot of projects at my house. I think I want every kid to have tools in their hands - I don’t just mean screwdrivers - it can also be software like TinkerCad -I want students to make things and make meaning of out what they make.
Q: What is your pet peeve?
A: I don’t like it when people don’t take care of things or have respect for things.
Q: If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be and why?
A: I would be a bear so I could eat a lot of salmon...and I could hibernate - that would be pretty cool.
Q: Teach me something I don’t know in the next five minutes.
A: I could teach you how to adjust the valves on a Volkswagen engine.
Q: What do you think about when you’re alone in your car?
A: What do I think about… nothing. It’s usually total silence or I like to listen to podcasts. The podcast I listen to the most is called “Making It.” I also like “Radiolab”. Or music - I like listening to music.
Q: What is one thing you’ve done at your school that you’re proud of?
A: I think I’m proud of collaborating with teachers and really trying to meet them where they are and having them meet me where I am. In our meetings, I try my best to learn from them and take them forward in technology integration… I also invented the internet. Don’t write that. But really, when I think about it - I’ve had good opportunities to work with teachers and I am very lucky that we’ve just moved into a new space for our Makerspace. It’s an opportunity for students and teachers to have a space where we can try things out and continue to give opportunities for our students.
Q: Any advice for other educators getting involved in technology integration?
A: Don’t wait 16 years to get to where you want. Any project takes time - build a foundation and the students will make natural connections
Resources
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Kailua El teacher one of 58 selected for national pioneer program
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Photo credit: Hawaii Department of Education
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49 schools are getting this 3D carving machine for free
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http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/12/smallbusiness/3d-carving-machines-inventables-schools/
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