Multi-Institutional Development of Mobile Studio Based Education and Outreach

The Mobile Studio I/O Board is a small, inexpensive hardware platform for use in a home, classroom or remote environment. When coupled with the Mobile Studio Desktop software, the system duplicates a large amount of the hardware often used to teach electrical engineering, computer engineering, control systems, physics courses and K-12 technologyoriented courses. The project's goal is to enable hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education principles, devices, and systems that have historically been restricted to expensive laboratory facilities. The Mobile Studio Project is now being utilized to enhance STEM education around the world. Mobile Studio instrumentation capabilities are similar to those available with traditional, stand alone instruments, but the experience of building a course or outreach activity can be quite different. Thus, a significant milestone for this new pedagogy is the expansion of its use beyond the original core partner institutions. The Mobile Studio learning platform began development at three schools, where it has been used to teach electrical engineering courses for both majors and non-majors. This activity has recently been expanded to additional schools with some notable early success that demonstrates how this approach can be transferred elsewhere, eventually improving programs at the original partner schools. Content development continues at several schools with new partners being added, including some in Africa. In addition to application in electrical engineering education and outreach, Mobile Studio materials are being developed by and for students in adolescent education and computer science at a small liberal arts college. Activities at all involved schools have added significantly to the value of Mobile Studio pedagogy.