ISTELive 26: This STEM Loaner Library Checks Out

Andy Mann’s model is deceptively simple. Informed by years of experience as a technology teacher, he developed a vision to get $10,000 virtual reality headsets and other sought-after devices in the hands of teachers who wanted to try them in their classrooms without the steep investment of buying them. Using strategic funding, Mann meticulously amassed a collection of STEM items that teachers from the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District in Michigan can check out.

At his ISTELive 26 session, “Borrow Don’t Buy: Creating a STEM Loaner Library,” Mann shared how he built his STEM loaner library, which he dubs his Discovery Center, replete with access to VR headsets, 3D printers, codable robots and more. Teachers can browse a website, fill out a Google form, get a three-week loan window and orientation as needed. The instructional technology consultant debriefs with them to find out how it went, asks if anything was damaged and gets any other feedback they have to offer.

WATCH: A teacher supports learning and student leadership with a tech team of fifth graders.

 What makes the model sustainable isn’t just how it’s structured but also how it’s funded — which is especially helpful in a post-ESSER world:

• The Michigan Regional Education Media Center: A portion of statewide Chromebook and supply purchases flows back to the Discovery Center as funding through this cooperative purchasing program. Every time a district in his region buys devices through the cooperative, it indirectly supports the loaner library.
• The Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Member program: Mann encourages teachers to explore this largely unknown resource that requires only a one-time $35 membership fee in exchange for access to free STEM equipment.

“Even once you join, you could request indie robots. They might send you two. That’s $300 worth of robots you got immediately,” Mann said of the Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Member program. “Some schools have had every teacher in a grade level join and each request the same item, effectively building a building-level STEM library for almost nothing.”

For districts wondering how to fund the technology infrastructure that supports programs such as this, Amy Passow, senior manager of education funding solutions for CDW, offers the same starting point she gives every district: Begin with the project, then find the money. “When you’re looking at technology projects, start with the solution,” Passow said. “Then work with your CDW account team to say, ‘How are we going to fund it?’”

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