{"id":132,"date":"2016-05-11T00:24:33","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T00:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/?p=132"},"modified":"2017-03-23T16:37:58","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T16:37:58","slug":"douglas-matute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/douglas-matute\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglas Matute"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1849\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/douglas-matute\/dsc_8293_high\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1802,2700\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;13&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Jennifer Waddell&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D800&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1460545684&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Jennifer Waddell Photography&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_8293_high\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high-1200x1798.jpg\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1849 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high-1200x1798.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high-1200x1798.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high-800x1199.jpg 800w, https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high-64x96.jpg 64w, https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/DSC_8293_high.jpg 1802w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>By\u00a0Douglas Matute<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today a new ideology is starting to gain reputation. STEAM is a new take on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). STEAM education incorporates the \u201cA\u201d for the arts\u2013 recognizing that to be successful in technical fields, we need to teach individuals to be creative and use critical thinking skills, which are usually best developed through exposure to the arts. According to Deron Cameron, former principal of the first STEAM-certified school in the country, \u201cSTEAM represents a paradigm shift from traditional education philosophy, based on standardized test scores, to a modern ideal which focuses on valuing the learning process as much as the results.\u201d<sup><sup><a href=\"#post-132-endnote-1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/166075558?title=0&amp;amp;byline=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>I interviewed Eric Gradman, CTO of Two Bit Circus, to learn more.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Douglas:<\/strong> So you\u2019re the CTO of Two Bit Circus, could you please explain to me what Two Bit Circus is?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Eric:<\/strong> TBC is focused on the future of entertainment, wherever that may lead. So many people know of us because of our Steam Carnival, but we do much more than that. In addition to the Steam Carnival we have an initiative called the Story Room Project, and that is all about making interactive adventures\u2014physical interactive adventures for groups of people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">So imagine you\u2019re trying to figure out what to do on a Saturday night. You and a couple of your friends buy a ticket, you come to our facility, and you have to save a scientist who\u2019s gone missing or you have to deliver an alien emissary to his home planet but you\u2019re doing this with physical games, physical puzzles that have to solved. We\u2019re doing some original content, some branding content\u2014and building our own cameras, building our own stitching software. We\u2019re a high-tech entertainment company.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Douglas:<\/strong> Cool. That sounds really sick. Alright, now in terms of my project, just so people will know, what is this \u201cSTEAM\u201d and what is the actual purpose of STEAM?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Eric:<\/strong> Well, I think the idea behind STEAM is to help people understand that STEM is great and all, but without the arts, STEM is boring. And even if you have a serious bent, and even if you want to use science and technology and engineering and math to make a change in the world, on your own time you should very much understand the fact that all of those sophisticated engineering disciplines can be used for fun and interesting and artistic outlets and those artistic pursuits will help inspire you and focus you even if you\u2019re doing something serious in the world. We think that especially when teaching kids or when inspiring kids, it\u2019s just not enough to tell them to become engineers. You have to tap into their preexisting interests and often those interests are artistic. People want to make beautiful things, they want to make music, they want to make art, they want to make fashion. If we can channel those pursuits into the pursuit of science, technology, engineering, and math, then we\u2019ll win.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Douglas:<\/strong> Neat. So in terms of a vocation, how can STEAM help an interested student get more involved in this aspect of making a better future with STEM and arts together?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Eric:<\/strong> Well, the more people we can convince to pursue STEAM, the better our culture will be. We need people inventing things, we need people solving problems. I\u2019m an engineer; that\u2019s what I do for a living. I don&#8217;t care what your path to engineering is, but if you wind up making things, if you wind up building things, if you wind up inspired to create serious or beautiful or frivolous or entertaining things, then as a culture, we all win.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Douglas:<\/strong> Nice. When you were in the STEAM Carnival, you were explaining how every day you woke up and you went to work in STEM but then you lost interest in it. Do you think that students nowadays feel the exact same way as you did before?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Eric:<\/strong> Well, I think it\u2019s sometimes hard to get excited about STEM without understanding its applications. I think the education system in particular suffers from a lack of project-based learning and without an understanding of why you\u2019re learning these things, so what you\u2019re learning doesn\u2019t have a purpose. And things without a purpose are boring, you know?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">When you\u2019re a teenager and you\u2019re going through school, and you\u2019re a middle schooler and you\u2019re going through school, you\u2019re not yet thinking about how you\u2019re going to change the world. You\u2019re not yet thinking about what job you\u2019re going to apply this stuff to, so how can you apply this stuff to your life right now? And the answer is: make art, make music, make robots that play music, make cool stuff, you know? And with that philosophy in mind anybody can be excited by pursuing STEM through STEAM.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li id=\"post-132-endnote-1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12px;\">Deron Cameron, &#8220;STEAM Education,&#8221; STEAM Education RSS. Accessed March 02, 2016. http:\/\/steamedu.com\/. <a href=\"#post-132-endnote-ref-1\">\u2191<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0Douglas Matute Today a new ideology is starting to gain reputation. STEAM is a new take on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). STEAM education incorporates the \u201cA\u201d for the arts\u2013 recognizing that to be successful in technical fields, we need to teach individuals to be creative and use critical thinking skills, which are usually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","has-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118,"url":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/christie-k-m-higgins\/","url_meta":{"origin":132,"position":0},"title":"Christie K. M. Higgins","author":"Christie Higgins","date":"April 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Christie Higgins All my life, people have told me to speak up\u2014 that I was too quiet. I never enjoyed being the center of attention, but in music class it's the opposite. My music teacher often tells me to play a little softer. In music, I like being the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Higgins-Christie-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Higgins-Christie-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Higgins-Christie-683x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108,"url":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/emilio-garcia\/","url_meta":{"origin":132,"position":1},"title":"Emilio Garc\u00eda","author":"Emilio Garcia","date":"April 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Emilio Garc\u00eda Art is not only things like paintings you see at the museum, the music you listen to on your way to work, or the sculptures created by the famous Michelangelo. Art is not only for the amusement of others; it gives the artist a broader understanding of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Garcia-Emilio-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Garcia-Emilio-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Garcia-Emilio-683x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":144,"url":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/fena-patel\/","url_meta":{"origin":132,"position":2},"title":"Fena Patel","author":"Fena Patel","date":"April 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Fena Patel If only money grew on trees for the Boston Public Schools. With less funds, BPS isn\u2019t able to provide students with all the resources they need, including AP classes, arts, music, and technology. This not only affects students\u2019 learning, but also the quality of public education. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Patel-Fena-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Patel-Fena-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Patel-Fena-683x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":156,"url":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/sebastian-pierre-louis\/","url_meta":{"origin":132,"position":3},"title":"Sebastian Pierre-Louis","author":"Sebastian Pierre-Louis","date":"April 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Sebastian Pierre-Louis Imagine this: You love music but you feel very worried and uncertain about your future. Playing music in high school is one thing, but making sure you know how to make music a career path coming out of high school is another. I spoke with Avi Mehta,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Pierre-Louis-Sebastian-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Pierre-Louis-Sebastian-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Pierre-Louis-Sebastian-683x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":180,"url":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/leidis-vasquez\/","url_meta":{"origin":132,"position":4},"title":"Leidis V\u00e1squez","author":"Leidis Vasquez","date":"April 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Leidis V\u00e1squez Have you ever felt trapped, like no matter how much you try to go out and explore a different zone, you can\u2019t? Well, that\u2019s how I feel every time I go to my art classroom. I think to myself, \u201cWhy am I here?\u201d This isn\u2019t going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Vazquez-Leidis-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Vazquez-Leidis-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/04\/Vazquez-Leidis-683x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73,"url":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/franlin-almonte\/","url_meta":{"origin":132,"position":5},"title":"Franlin Almonte","author":"Franlin Almonte","date":"May 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Franlin Almonte Why do some students skip school? Why do some of them eventually drop out? Is there a way to keep these students in school and actually caring about their futures? A large number of Boston Public high school students are interested in studying many different topics beside\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7wVLn-28","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/826boston.org\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}