Celebrating the second anniversary of the UK’s national STEM education resource library

The National STEM Centre brought together partners to celebrate the second anniversary of the UK’s national STEM education resource library.

The event took place on Thursday 12 July at the Natural History Museum who provided the wonderful Earth Hall location for this year’s event.

The evening provided an opportunity to thank the many organisations working with the National STEM Centre this year, to celebrate progress during 2012, and look forward at future plans.

The National STEM Centre offers teachers and lecturers of STEM subjects the largest open library of resource materials in the UK. This year has seen the National STEM Centre’s eLibrary grow to over 5,000 resources, with contributions from hundreds of resource providers.

Over half a million individuals have visited the National STEM Centre eLibrary since its launch in 2010, making more than a million downloads of resource files.

At the event Jenifer Burden, Director of the National STEM Centre, spoke about the growth of the eLibrary over the next twelve months to host 6,500 plus resources, with an emphasis on building support for primary teachers and technology.

Work will also continue to provide teacher networks, and the partner organisations that support them, with an online Community that facilitates sharing of resources and expertise – for example, via mapping of resource packages to curriculum topics.

The eLibrary is a free-to-use service for teachers and resource providers. All resource providers are prominently credited, and receive usage statistics from the National STEM Centre, and the eLibrary is marketed to schools and colleges across the UK.

If you would like to explore the possibility of including resources in the National STEM Centre eLibrary please contact resources@nationalstemcentre.org.uk

The National STEM Centre is also well-placed to advise on availability of resources, and provide subject specialists to assist in the development of new materials. If your organisation is looking to develop materials for schools and colleges, please do not hesitate to contact Jenifer Burden at j.burden@nationalstemcentre.org.uk