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Access to technology education is a challenge for broadening participation in STEM for remote rural communities that make up 20% of US public schools. Teleconferencing technology has provided some level of access to STEM teaching expertise to these underrepresented populations. Unfortunately, many challenges remain to provide quality technology instruction in remote scenarios. This paper presents, first, a pilot study that uncovered the problems faced in using videoconferencing technology for physically-predicated technical learning. Second, the paper describes a lab-based study investigating the use of telepresence robotics to better support students' hands-on technology learning. Two conditions embodying different types of instructor representations were compared: co-present instructor and instructor through a telepresence-robot. Results characterize key differences in students' experience and learning outcomes across the two conditions. We conclude by drawing implications for the designs of telepresence robotics to support hands-on STEM learning in remote scenarios. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → User studies.

We present Making activities designed and observed within the formal environment of elementary school classrooms. Using a collaborative curriculum-matching design process with teachers, 8 Maker activities and lesson plans were developed, and implemented in Science and Language Arts classrooms of a school with a large percentage of students from underrepresented populations, over the course of 18 weeks during one semester. Coded videos revealed three categories of Maker activities: those that enabled learning, demonstrated learning, and provided learning of the concept itself. Experiences of teachers and students also revealed eagerness to participate, engagement, and exploration in the activities, as observed in a series of analyses. Other themes include the importance of multi-sensory exploration and ownership of self-constructed apparatuses with electronics. The resulting Maker activities and lesson plans offer strategies for familiarizing students with electronic tools and fostering tinkering while remaining true to the learning standards of the classroom.