Featured 7-17-2014: Highlights for High School

 

Highlights for High School is a companion website to MIT OpenCourseWare* providing open educational resources for high school educators and students.

 

Highlights for High School includes content created specifically for high school students as well as resources collected from the MIT curriculum that can be used effectively in high school.

 

Available resources cover not only science and math, but also engineering, humanities, and social sciences. The material can be integrated into classroom lesson plans, shared, reused, and remixed. Though meant primarily for juniors and seniors in high school, motivated younger students can also benefit from these courses.

 

 

The website is organized into two main sections:

• The Subjects section is arranged by topics likely to be encountered in high school, such as mathematics, physics, and biology. Within each of these you will find a variety of content, such as labs, courses, and video resources.
• The Exam Preparation section is aimed at students who are preparing to take AP exams in biology, calculus, chemistry, or physics. These materials are meant to supplement classroom learning. Relevant OCW course materials have been mapped to the topics in these exams and are easily searchable.

 In addition to YouTube access, Highlights for High School has posted all of their videos to TechTV, an MIT-based video service similar to YouTube.

 

*See yesterday’s post

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Featured 7-16-2014: MIT OpenCourseWare

 

MIT OpenCourseWare makes the materials used in the teaching of almost all of MIT's undergraduate and graduate courses freely available on the web.

 

With more than 2200 courses available, OpenCourseWare provides free MIT educational content that can be used to augment your knowledge or in teaching others.

 

Each course consists of at least two parts: some type of instruction (a syllabus, lecture notes, reading list, calendar, etc) and a learning activity such as assignments, quizzes, or exams.

 

You may choose to use a complete course from beginning to end or just implement select concepts. You may use the material at your own pace.

 

 

OpenCourseWare offers several resources for you to use, adapt, and share with your students:

• Use advanced search to find assignments, recitations, exams, labs, study materials, or related resources on a specific topic.
• Simulations, applets, and visualizations let your students modify or control experiments.
• Audio and video lectures can facilitate a flipped classroom.
• Students can review concepts they should master for your course.

 Visit the MIT OpenCourseWare YouTube channel

 

MIT OpenCourseWare is free and requires no registration.

 

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Plus 7-11-2014: Makerspace

 

Simply described, Makerspaces are community centers with tools combining manufacturing equipment, community, and education in order to enable members to design, prototype, and create manufactured works that wouldn’t be possible with the resources available to individuals working alone.

 

Makerspaces can be organizations affiliated with or hosted within schools, universities or libraries sharing space and tools. Providing access to equipment, community, and education is common to all Makerspaces, but each is unique in how it is set up to meet the purposes of the community it serves.

 

 

A fairly new phenomenon, Makerspaces are beginning to produce significant concepts through the democratization of design, engineering, fabrication, and education. 

 

 Watch What is a Makerspace? by Andrew Goodin, Facilitator of the Makerspace at Grand Center Arts Academy in St. Louis, MO.

 

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Featured 7-1-2014: The GLOBE Program

 

The GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program is a worldwide hands-on science and education program for primary and secondary schools.

 

The vision of the GLOBE program is to promote and support students, teachers, and scientists collaborating on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system.

 

Participation in the GLOBE program is open to teachers in participating countries who become trained in GLOBE scientific protocols. These teachers mentor students in taking, reporting, and using high-quality data and using these data to perform investigations.

 

 

The GLOBE program works in partnership with NASA, NOAA and NSF Earth System Science Projects in study and research about the dynamics of Earth's environment.

 

 Visit the GLOBE program’s YouTube channel

 

Since its start on Earth Day, 1995, 112 countries have participated in the GLOBE program. There are more than 66,000 GLOBE-trained teachers representing over 24,000 schools around the world. More than 10 million students have participated and contributed more than 100 million measurements to the GLOBE database.

 

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Featured 6-23-2014: NISE Network

 

The NISE Network is an online digital library of public nano educational products and tools for educators and scientists to use to increase their ability to engage their people in nanoscale technology.

 

Launched in 2005, the NISE Network (Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network) has the target of engaging the public with the development of nanoscale research, as well as capturing the interest of young people and encouraging careers in nanoscale science or technology. The Network now includes fourteen museums and universities across the US.

The NISE Network is home to a selection of educational products designed to engage the public in nanoscale technology: educational programs and activities, media, exhibits, professional development tools, and evaluation and research reports designed for educators and scientists. All products are reviewed by scientists, educators, and tested with visitors. Most are available for free download and can be easily adapted and modified as needed.

 

 Visit the NISE Network Vimeo channel

 

Anyone interested in helping the public better understand nanoscale research is welcome to join. The NISE Network is funded by the National Science Foundation.

 

Note: Many NISE Network educational products are available in Spanish. The most popular programs have been adapted for Spanish-speaking audiences.

 

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Featured 6-19-2014: LEGO Education

 

LEGO Education was created to bring classroom tested and ready solutions that will engage and motivate young students.

 

Combining the fun, exciting aspects of LEGO bricks with subject-specific tools and curricula, LEGO Education can help teachers meet their objectives.

 

Based in Denmark, LEGO Education has been working with educators for more than three decades to provide classroom solutions and resources that can be used to bring subjects to life and make learning fun. 

 

 

LEGO Education educational sets, activity packs, teacher resources, and programming tools can make learning inspiring and meet your curriculum needs. Materials are designed to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering, computer science, math, and the humanities. 

 

 Visit the LEGO Education YouTube channel

 

The ultimate goal of LEGO Education is to "encourage students to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future."

 

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Featured 6-17-2014: Radix Endeavor

 

The Radix Endeavor is a multiplayer online game for STEM learning in high school.

 

When a player enters the Radix Endeavor  she finds herself on an island with many unknown species of plants and animals, many mysterious places waiting to be discovered, and many problems to be solved. She must try to determine what is causing the problems, how the natural systems work, and which factors need to be changed to improve the lives of the people and save the island from destruction.

 

 

The game offers students the opportunity to participate in a collaborative, social experience in a systems-based game world while they explore how that world works and discover important scientific concepts.

 

The initial phase of the Radix Endeavor will cover topics in biology, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics. Designed to align with the Common Core standards in mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards for high school students, there is also particular emphasis on developing key mathematics practices and 21st century skills.

 

 

Innovative task-based assessments will be embedded into the game, and that data will be used to track players’ strategies, progress, and potential misconceptions. The data will be analyzed in real time to offer feedback and support to the player to promote learning when concepts and skills are being first introduced. It will also be available on a 'Teacher Portal' to help teachers monitor student progress and differentiate their lessons to meet students’ needs.

 

 Watch The Radix Endeavor Trailer

 

The Radix Endeavor is being developed at the MIT Education Arcade in collaboration with Filament Games, and is funded by the Gates Foundation.

 

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Featured 6-10-2014: TERC

 

TERC is an independent, non-profit, research-based organization that has been introducing millions of students to math and science learning for nearly 50 years.

 

TERC has striven to engage and inspire all students through stimulating content intended to develop the knowledge and skills they need to ask questions, solve problems, and expand their opportunities.

 

Simply put, the mission of TERC is to improve mathematics and science education. TERC hopes to:

• Contribute to a deeper understanding of learning and teaching
• Enhance instruction through teacher professional development
• Develop applications of new technologies to education
• Create curricula and other products
• Support reform in both school and informal settings

 

Since it’s founding in 1965, the work of TERC has spread across all areas of STEM education to reach K-12 and postsecondary students as well as adult learners. TERC is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

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Featured 6-5-2014: European Schoolnet Academy

 

European Schoolnet Academy is a website where you can learn about innovation in education through online professional development courses for teachers in primary and secondary schools.

 

The courses offered by European Schoolnet Academy offer you an introduction to key concepts and ideas that can help you develop your practice as an educator as well as the opportunity to share these ideas and your experiences with your peers. These courses are completely free of charge.

 

It is the hope of the European Schoolnet Academy that by participating in these courses and by engaging with your peers "you will feel empowered and inspired to try out something new in your practice."

 

 Visit the European Schoolnet Academy YouTube channel

 

The two European Schoolnet Academy pilot courses starting in 2014 cover two key areas of expertise of European Schoolnet and link into their project activities: Future Classroom Scenarios and STEM education.

 

 

European Schoolnet is the network of 30 European Ministries of Education, based in Brussels. As a not-for-profit organisation, they aim to bring innovation in teaching and learning to key stakeholders: Ministries of Education, schools, teachers, researchers, and industry partners.

 

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Featured 6-2-2014: Q?rius

 

Created for teens and tweens, Smithsonian's Q?rius (pronounced curious) is intended to help students make sense of the connections between nature, the planet, the universe, and their  everyday experiences.

 

 

Q?rius is an interactive and experimental "learning space" that capitalizes on the science, researchers, and collections assets of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History  Visitors are encouraged to be an active part of this energetic and fascinating community.

 

Through conversations with scientists and interactions with thousands of authentic specimens and objects, visitors will boost their understanding of the natural world, find new interests, and develop inquiry skills. Educators will come away with fresh ideas for engaging their students in science.

 

 

A Q?rius teacher account allows a teacher to create one account with multiple associated student sub-users. Teachers add student sub-users by providing a user name (not the student’s real name) which is associated with the teacher’s email address. No personal information is requested or collected about the students.

 

Student sub-users can create, save, and access a digital field book as part of the Create Your Own Field Book activity. Students can also post moderated comments to the Q?rius user community. Comments are only visible to other Q?rius users, and only by the user name provided. Sharing features, such as sharing content via social media services or email, are disabled for teacher accounts.

 

 

For student sub-users under 13, teachers are responsible for obtaining verifiable parental consent prior to registration. Teachers must retain this information for the duration of the school year in which they created the teacher account.

 

 Watch Q?rius - Question Everything - Discover More

 

Q?rius allow users to include media from Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo into their field books. The AddThis service is used to allow certain users to share content via social media services using their own user names and passwords for those social media service accounts.

 

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Featured 5-15-2014: My Science Box

 

Offering science teachers free access to the best hands-on, classroom-tested, lessons is the pursuit of MyScienceBox.

 

The My Science Box teaching boxes provide everything you need to teach a 4-6 week middle school science unit: lesson plans, assessments, field trip planning materials, resources, and tips.

 

Over three months of lessons include classroom activities, labs and projects, field trips and outdoor activities, computer activities, and more. The 'printer friendly version' button at the bottom of any page generates a printable version of any lesson plan or even a complete teaching box. 

 

 

Registered users can post comments for other teachers to view or leave feedback.

 

Irene Salter developed and tested the MyScienceBox curriculum units in her own middle school classroom. Included are teaching boxes and individual lessons created by other teachers.

 

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Featured 5-7-2014: Shooloo Learning

 

 

Upper-elementary and middle school students can help one another practice word problems and apply math to real life using the collaborative learning platform, Shooloo, which means “Number Joy” in Chinese.

 

At Shooloo  students can write their own math word problems, publish them onto the web, get feedback from other students, demonstrate their solutions, and continuously clarify their math reasoning.

 

Tagged with the associated Common Core State Standard, word problems are accompanied by I Can statements. Students can easily compile their own I Can journals, enabling teachers to assess which students are struggling with which Common Core standard. Analytics provide automated progress tracking, real-time reporting, and standards-based grading.

 

 

Founded just last year, Shooloo already claims the world’s largest collection of student-authored math word problems that can be used for on-line learning, worksheets, discussions, and assessment.

 

 Watch Shooloo -- Collaborative Learning for Common Core Math

The Shooloo concept aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practices. Students publish their own math word problems, construct viable arguments, critique the reasoning of others, and model real life with mathematics.

 

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Featured 5-6-2014: AppInventor.org

 

Learn how to program Android mobile apps using MIT's App Inventor at AppInventor.org. An on-line book and video lessons walk you through the creation of successively more complex apps.

 

AppInventor.org is also intended to be used by teachers. The teaching materials included here have been used as a basis for middle school, high school, and college courses. The course-in-a-box provides structure and material to get a new course up and running quickly.

The book is designed for absolute beginners. It is organized in a way meant to motivate learning. The learner is walked through the creation of twelve successively more complex apps. The apps section is followed by a separate Inventor's Manual section which explains programming and computer science concepts in easily understood terms. Note: The book is a web document, not PDF.

These tutorials are refined versions of the tutorials that have been on the Google and MIT App Inventor sites since App Inventor's inception and have been used by thousands of beginners to learn programming.

 

 Go to the App Inventor YouTube channel

 

AppInventor.org is funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation and theNational Science Foundation. It is part of the Democratize Computing Lab at the University of San Francisco.

 

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http://www.appinventor.org/

Featured 4-2-2014: Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry

Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry is a creative, inquiry-based instruction program designed to promote active learning and stimulate student interest in medical topics. 

 

Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry brings cutting-edge medical science and basic research discoveries from the National Institutes of Health into middle school classrooms. The objective is to help students:

• Experience the process of scientific inquiry and develop an enhanced understanding of the nature and methods of science.
• Appreciate the role of science in society and the relationship between basic science and human health.

The Doing Science curriculum supplement has been designed to complement existing life science curricula and to be consistent with the National Science Education Standards. The supplement was developed and tested by a team composed of teachers, scientists, medical experts, representatives from the NIH, and curriculum-design experts. Real scientific data and actual case studies are incorporated into classroom activities.

 

 

Teachers can effectively facilitate learning and spark student interest by using scientific concepts in real-life scenarios. The inquiry-based activities promote active and collaborative learning and help students develop problem-solving strategies and critical-thinking skills.

 

 

The Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry curriculum supplements, available at no cost to teachers across the US, each come with a complete set of classroom materials including printed materials, background and resource information, and an interactive website.

 

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