STEMwave: Empowering students through technology

As advances in technology drive globalization and digital transformation, digital learning tools have become essential for students today. From virtual classrooms to augmented reality and robots, these tools are making classrooms more lively.

And if used effectively, they can increase student engagement, help teachers improve their lesson plans, and facilitate personalized learning.

We partnered with STEMI and Milestone C. to launch STEMwave, an educational initiative that launched in the U.S. at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.

In a recent interview with Infobip, Marin Troselj, Co-Founder and CEO of STEMI, explains this initiative in detail and talks about how schools of the future are bridging the gap between the tech industry and education to become relevant sources for diverse skills that are necessary for the future workforce.

STEMwave is a global movement changing STEM education with innovative industry-based programs for middle schools and high schools. The program’s initial focus is on artificial intelligence centered around AI-driven communication.

Together with Infobip, STEMwave is teaching students basic AI fundamentals, such as natural language processing, and how to create a chatbot from scratch to understand what can be achieved with this new technology.

Through Infobip’s cutting-edge technology, STEMwave will help schools evolve into those of the future and bridge the gap between the tech industry and education.

Technology also helps students build essential skills that foster collaboration and curiosity and prepare them for the future workforce. These students mostly belong to Generation Alpha, a generation that has grown up in a world of technology.

They are distinctively different than the generations before. And because of their tech-savvy upbringing, they are more accustomed to using smart devices and the internet as a primary source of information.

To them, going to a physical classroom is rather questionable than accessing all the knowledge they need from YouTube or online. So to keep them engaged, schools should prepare by incorporating new technology systems for teaching to maintain an interactive environment in the classroom.

As our world is driven by artificial intelligence, it becomes essential for all industries, including education, to incorporate it in their digital transformation journey. Due to the increasing use of smart devices, Interactions with AI are being normalized. People today are far more comfortable having “real conversations” with technology such as chatbots and smart speakers.

The Infobip and STEMwave partnership inspires the future of communication inside the classroom by preparing students for success in this technology-driven world. The program introduces the students to AI through a chatbot-building project. Students will take on the task of building chatbots for their school’s website using our chatbot building platform, Answers.

But not only does STEMwave teach students how to build chatbots, it also explores their ability to create positive change in their community. The skills learned while developing their chatbots will allow students to give back to their communities by working on socially responsible projects that positively impact their environments.

Most companies in the tech industry base their success on talent, and unfortunately, it’s pretty challenging to find that very easily today. What we need for the future workforce are more problem solvers and creative thinkers.

However, this causes a huge problem for the education sector because we’re constantly teaching kids that the right answer is found in a book. Instead, we should raise problem solvers and teach kids how to come up with a solution or how to challenge a simple theory.   

With STEMwave, not only do students gain a better understanding of crucial technologies, but they also have an opportunity to influence and change the world into something better. This unique experience serves as a stepping stone in creating schools of the future and raising a new generation of engineers.

STEMI is doing several things to prepare students for the future workforce, such as providing virtual tours to tech companies and STEM universities. Through STEMwave, students learn about product development and technical skills like coding, mathematics, engineering, and more.

They organize virtual lectures called GOAT (Greatest of All Tech) Talks which are given by experts in the Tech and Science industries. They also guide them through teaching the entire engineering process and how to build products.

And although not everyone will grow up to become an engineer or a developer, STEMwave follows this approach to teach students how to communicate and collaborate with engineers in their future workplace.

Traditional teaching that doesn’t feature dynamic technology will not work with students today. It is time to get ready, and by that, we don’t mean for you to just adopt specific technology. Instead, partner with the right technology provider and invest in a proactive teaching method such as STEMwave to match the world these kids will grow up in. A world that is very different from the one we found upon graduation.