E-skateboards: Learning STEM in hands-on ways

The electric skateboard has emerged as one the newest hands-on STEM education tools in Nassau County, according to East Meadow resident Daniel Tellerman.

Tellerman is the director of growth for Lectec, which is based in New York City, a growing small business made for the do-it-yourself tinkerer, aspiring engineer and skateboard hobbyist. Lectec’s partnerships have placed electric skateboards in Mineola High School, and in schools in Pennsylvania, Georgia and California.

“We are incredibly dedicated to this vision that came out of a dusty old warehouse to change education and provide students with opportunities to be engaged that they wouldn’t have anywhere else, and we believe that skateboards are the answer to that,” Tellerman said.

Community residents will have an opportunity to use Lectec products hands-on, during an E-SkateBoard Middle School STEM camp at Samanea Mall in Westbury on Aug. 17. Those who attend will participate in an instructional class and get their own Lectec skateboard kit to keep. To register and learn more, visit Camp.Lectec.link.

More students are being introduced to hands-on activities involving STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

Using e-skateboards as an education tool makes education more fun and memorable than learning the same topics in a conventional classroom, Tellerman said.

“I can’t think of any child that wakes up one day and says they want to learn all about mechanical engineering,” Tellerman said. “But if you attribute it to an activity, a passion, to something fun, it won’t feel like something you’re being forced to do because you know that it will inherently make you better at the thing you like.”

Lectec’s lesson plans involve students assembling their own skateboards using component kits. Through the process, students learn about electrical and mechanical engineering, Bluetooth frequencies, and physics concepts — and their reward is taking their invention out for a ride, as long as they use protective gear, like helmets.

The skateboards are designed to support adventurous lesson plans in safe environments, and at safe speeds — since the boards have a default speed of 8 mph and can be modified to go a maximum of 12 mph by skillful students. 

The partnership between Lectec and the schools is designed to provide students with the tools that they could put to many different uses. The e-skateboards could be used as transportation for children in urban environments, Tellerman said, adding that it also serves as physical activity and an extracurricular hobby.

Riding an e-skateboard involves learning how to balance on it, and brake and accelerate to different speeds.

“That’s really what I think of when I think about the capability of the board,” Tellerman said. “It’s not just to have fun and learn — those are our biggest priorities — but it has so many applications. It’s a multifaceted solution.”

Tellerman’s friend and former classmate, Jared Ebersole, founded Lectec with his classmates from Long Island University Post in 2022. Ebersole first started tinkering with electric skateboards at the age of 15.

“I saw a video of a guy online riding in New York City, and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen,” Ebersole said. “I was like, ‘I gotta buy one of those electric skateboards,’ but they were $1,600. I didn’t have that kind of money because I was in high school, so I spent the next couple of months hacking together a board of my own.”

After he posted his invention online, he was hit by a wave of requests for curated skateboard components. So, he began selling kits.

Years later, he built a skateboard for his curious young nephew — and as he explained how it worked, the educational power of the technology was discovered.

That educational experience is now available to the public. Lectec, in partnership with Snapology, will hold events around Nassau County, such as the Aug. 17 camp, for young people to learn about electric skateboards and have fun.

Snapology is a Nassau-focused education group that hosts classes for children to learn about STEM through hands-on activities.

Snapology head manager Tom Girolamo has been a technology teacher at Baldwin Middle School for 18 years. Girolamo’s curriculum focuses heavily on teaching through experience, having students work on projects with 3-D printers and electronics.

“This is one of my passions,” Girolamo said. “I think it should be worldwide. Everybody should have at least some sort of hands-on experience with technology, even if it’s not something they want to go into, just to broaden their views.”