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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Plus 7-3-2014: Make Math a Game

 

Make Math a Game is devoted to helping people, both kids and adults, improve their math skills while having a good math experience.

 

Browse the Make Math a Game blog for ideas that can improve your math ability. The free website helps you understand the basics and alleviate confusion so that math becomes fun. The goal is to "give help to kids, teens, and adults who want to get better at math – and it doesn’t matter what your current math level is!”

 

In addition to the blog, there are sections on Math Concepts, Practice, Everyday Math, Math Tricks and Teasers, as well as special featured items.

 

 

The philosophy of Make Math a Game is that you can do math better with practice and the practice will be easier if it is fun.

 

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Featured 6-25-2014: MathTerms

MathTerms is a free illustrated glossary of nearly 1000 mathematics terms for middle- and high-school students and teachers in both English and Spanish.

 

With its colorful, annotated illustrations, MathTerms has been accessed online by millions of students over the past five years. It is now available as an iPad and Android app with permission of The Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin and Agile Mind, Inc.

 

Key features of MathTerms:

• Free with no advertising
• Covers Middle School Math, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Precalculus, Calculus, and Statistics
• Colorful, annotated illustrations
• Complete, sentence-based definitions
• Alphabetical indexes
• Flash card function
• No internet connection required for use

 

Complete definitions are available in both English and Spanish. Display toggles between English and Spanish terms, and the search function is available in both languages.

 

 Watch a video demo of the MathTerms app

 

 The MathTerms iPad app requires iOS 3.2 or higher. The Android version requires Android 1.6 or higher.

 

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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 5-22-2014: The Math Open Reference Project

 

The Math Open Reference Project is free, interactive math textbook on the web covering high-school geometry.

 

 

The Math Open Reference Project has the goal of providing high-quality digital content free of charge to the end user, while providing numerous benefits over paper textbooks:

• Accessible anywhere, any time.
• Interactive, interesting experience.
• Hyperlinks promote exploration and easy lookup.
• Use the search to look up a word or term.
• Interactive quizzes with instant feedback.
• Lower cost.
• Less weight.

Using interactive tools and compelling animations, The Math Open Reference Project provides an engaging way to learn and explore the subject. A vast library of virtual manipulatives can be used to demonstrate concepts using a computer, projector, and whiteboard. Students can use the same manipulatives themselves outside the classroom.

 

 

The Math Open Reference Project meets the NCTM standards for content and is aligned with the Common Core standards, but also has the potential to adapt to and comply with the standards for every state.

 

The Math Open Reference Project will work with most popular browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The interactive illustrations use Java and/or Flash, so these plug-ins must be installed on the user's computer.

 

The copyright and license agreement permit any printing for non-commercial use, useful for class handouts.

 

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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 4-30-2014: Math & Movement

 

A kinesthetic, multi-sensory approach to teaching math, Math & Movement incorporates physical exercise, stretching, cross-body movements, yoga, and visually-pleasing floor mats designed to encourage students to practice math.

 

Students physically hop, walk, crawl, dance, or touch the mats and banners as they learn, thereby using visual, auditory, motor, and kinesthetic learning processes.

 

 

Math & Movement takes advantage of children's natural inclination for movement and creative imagination to master basic math. The floor mats and banners cover the concepts of addition, subtraction, telling time, skip-counting, multiplication, division, fractions, factoring, positive/negative numbers, Cartesian coordinates, money, unit circle, place value, decimals, percents, rounding, and probability.

 

The movements are divided into six categories:

• Active Math: Whisper/Loud Movements - Designed to give your students physical exercise while simultaneously enhancing math and reading ability.
• Active Math: Skip Counting Movements - Designed to provide additional physical exercise while learning the multiples.
• Sit-Down Math Activities - Designed for quiet time and involve stretching.
• Tapping at the Table Activities - Designed to be used in between other activities, while students sit at their desks.
• Hallway Math Activities - Designed to be used walking in the hallway to and from lunch, PE, art, music, computer or library.
• Math 'n Yoga Activities - Incorporate math practice into popular yoga moves.

The Math & Movement program is based on research that suggests that moving during learning facilitates muscle memory, an important factor with younger children whose abstract thinking skills are not fully developed. It also draws on research suggesting that cross-body movements integrate the left and right hemisphere of the brain, waking up a sleepy brain and helping to establish newly learned material in memory.

 

 

 Watch a Math & Movement demo video

 

While developing their math skills, Math & Movement lets students simultaneously experience an overall sense of well-being. Using these activities during the day, before testing, or during transitions, allows teachers and students to feel energized, focused, calm, and prepared to learn.

 

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Featured 3-10-2014: Nepris

Nepris makes it possible for teachers and students to easily connect with the right industry experts, learn from them, and bring the real world to the classroom.

 

The vision of Nepris is to provide more opportunities for the average student to be inspired to choose STEM subjects and careers. With the support of industry leaders and professionals and by using technology solutions, they hope to bridge the gap between industry and schools.

 

Choose a curriculum topic or student project then let Nepris find the right industry expert to show how that topic is applied in practice, to provide guidance to students with their projects, and to assess final student products. Students can submit questions and take part in discussions. Each session is recorded and can be reused.

 

 

 Watch Nepris - Real World Delivered to Classrooms!

 

Through exposure to tech professionals and their related job skills, students can connect what they learn in the classroom to real people and real careers on a regular basis.

 

Sign up at Nepris for free as an educator or an industry expert.

 

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Featured 3-3-2014: Lightning Grader

Lightning Grader is a web application that allows educators to quickly and easily create and grade assessments and generate robust reports about student, class, and school performance.

 

Lightning Grader furnishes three different styles of assessments, including flexible assessment, giving educators the ability to personalize questions. Essay questions offer four different-size text boxes for students to enter their responses, all student work can be viewed online.

 

Assessments can be printed on paper then automatically graded by simply scanning them through a regular copy machine and uploading the files to the system. After that, Lightning Grader does all the work.

 

 

With the Rich Text Editor feature, educators can quickly and easily choose from an extensive list of functions and math equations making it easy to create math and science questions.

 

Questions can be aligned to state and Common Core Standards with just a click of the mouse.

 

 Watch Lightning Grader | iPad Grading

 

Launched in 2012, Elijah Stambaugh, a former junior high school math teacher, invented Lightning Grader as an efficient way to improve his students’ performance without the tedium of grading stacks of papers.

 

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Featured: 2-10-2014 Concord Consortium

Concord Consortium is striving to help students learn science through a collaborative, inquiry-based program that incorporates the best features of digital technology.

 

Concord Consortium is a nonprofit educational research and development organization based in Concord, Massachusetts, whose mission is to "ignite large-scale improvements in teaching and learning through technology."

 

Hundreds of the Consortium’s resources are free, research-based, and available to use right away. A simple interface enables STEM teachers to easily find activities that correlate with the Next Generation Science Standards.

 

STEM Resource Finder helps locate standards-based activities encompassing a large variety of science topics and time-tested math interactives. Models and simulations can make complicated topics easier to understand. Most of the activities let you see assessment feedback after students do the activities.

 

Use your probes and sensors with one of many probe-based activities and start collecting data seamlessly. Students need not learn how to use complicated graphing or data analysis software, even use probes from different vendors within the same activity.    

 

 Watch Concord Consortium - Inquiry Space

Teachers have the opportunity to pilot test the Concord Consortium software. Sign up to be a pilot teacher or subscribe to updates about their cutting-edge classroom technology. 

 

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Featured: 2-6-2014 Glean

Glean has organized and structured the thousands of educational videos teachers post online every day. Browse through thousands of teachers’ videos, organized by topic, Common Core standard, and teaching style.

Glean uses technology designed to pick the ideal teacher for the student based on his/her learning style and ability.

 

 

The Glean team of teachers has watched the lessons, studying and collecting a number of details on every lesson like setting, pace, teaching style, grade level, and more.

Students can discover lessons by searching or browsing within a subject. Once a topic is chosen, the teachers within that topic are analyzed to find those who best match a student’s learning style.

 

Learners can ask questions of peers, teachers, and experts to get answers when they’re stuck.

 

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Featured: 2-5-2014 DragonBox

DragonBox was created to counter student negativity toward algebra by making it simple to understand and learn algebra´s "big ideas," with or without help, at one’s own pace. 

 

The conception of DragonBox was based on...

… the belief and the vision that human beings are hardwired to learn extremely complicated concepts. By placing the student at the center of the learning process one can engage the brain of the students in an optimal manner, achieving results in agreement with the marvelous capacity of the human brain.

DragonBox starts by teaching algebra before arithmetic. Initially, pictures rather than numbers or variables are used to demonstrate the algebra ''game'' before developing its traditional formalism. The game is focused on mathematical rules throughout.

 

 

Playing DragonBox can help kids develop creative thinking. Players discover algebraic rules and have to use the rules to solve puzzles. This can lead to a lot of trial and error, encouraging higher level thinking.

 

Some of the key principles used in designing DragonBox:

• Students learn more when they are engaged.
• An important contributor to learning is immediate feedback.
• Students should be presented with challenges that match their level of mastery.
• Students should be assessed in a formative, non-intrusive way.
• Discovery or experiential learning is more effective than instructional-based teaching.
• Students learn differently and at different paces.
• The language we use to teach mathematics is a barrier to understanding.

 View The DragonBox Concept

 

DragonBox Algebra 5+  is meant to give younger kids a head start in mathematics and algebra. DragonBox Algebra 12+ covers more advanced topics in mathematics and algebra. Both are available for Android and iOS.

 

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Featured: 2-3-2014 Grapher

Grapher is a free tool bundled with Mac OS X (10.4+) that enables graphing and analyzing implicit and explicit equations in two or three dimensions. The results can be visualized as an animation or image. 

 

Grapher is a graphing calculator, capable of creating both 2-D graphs including classic (linear-linear), polar coordinates, linear-logarithmic, log-log, and polar log as well as 3-D graphs including standard system, cylindrical system, and spherical system.

 

 

You can find Grapher in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder. The easiest way to launch Grapher, though, is using Spotlight.

 

 

To use Grapher, first choose the type of graph you want to create. You can select from a variety of 2-D and 3-D templates. Choose New Equation to create your own equation, or choose New Equation From Template to add parametric equations, differential equations, vector field equations, or series from templates. Select an equation in the equations list to edit or delete the equation.

 

 

Grapher supports multiple equations in one graph, exporting equations to LaTeX format, and includes several pre-made equation examples. It is capable of easily exporting vector art for use in printed documents. QuickTime animation of graphs is also supported in both 2-D and 3-D. 

 View Using Macintosh OS X Grapher Program to plot 3D points 

Grapher’s equation menu includes functions for evaluating equations, performing integration, and finding intersections. You can click any point of an equation to view its evaluation or find an approximate intersection.

 

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