TechSplash2025

Are you ready to explore a creative paradise with your young students? Grab your sunglasses and dive into the vibrant world of 3D printing, designed with elementary learners in mind. Using Tinkercad’s intuitive design tools and a variety of classroom-ready templates, we’ll navigate a landscape where imagination meets innovation—empowering even the youngest students to turn their ideas into tangible creations. We’ll look at real classroom examples that align with core content, try our hand at designing and creating our own, and share practical tips and tricks to make the experience fun, manageable, and meaningful for littles. Participants will walk away with ready-to-use templates and inspiration to immediately use in their classrooms.

Curious about how to bring artificial intelligence and machine learning into your classroom in a fun, approachable way? Stop by this hands-on station to explore Google’s Teachable Machine—a beginner-friendly tool that lets users train their own machine learning models using images, sounds, or poses, all without writing a single line of code. Participants are invited to experiment, ask questions, and play, building and testing models on the spot. You’ll see how even younger students can use this tool to learn about data collection, model training, and bias—concepts that are covered in the Virginia Computer Science Standards of Learning. Whether you're new to AI or looking for fresh ideas to engage your students, this interactive space will spark new possibilities for teaching and learning with machine learning!