On 05/25/2010,
in engineering, K-12 related, mathematics, project-based learning, science,
by Daniel Christian
TEDxTalks — April 12, 2010 — Dan Meyer teaches high school math outside of Santa Cruz, CA, and explores the intersection of math instruction, multimedia, and inquiry-based learning. He received his Masters of Arts from the University of California at Davis in 2005 and Cable in the Classroom’s Leader in Learning award in 2008. He currently works for Google as a curriculum fellow and lives with his wife in Santa Cruz, CA.
For an excellent example of how to bring the world of multimedia into a math problem, click on the graphic below:
My thanks to Mr. Caleb Kuntz, Calvin College Teaching & Learning Digital Studio, for the heads-up on Dan Meyer’s Ted Talk
On 05/10/2010,
in mathematics, science,
by Daniel Christian
On 04/27/2010,
in mathematics,
by Daniel Christian
More on WolframAlpha — from TipLine — Gate’s Computer Tips
Watch this video of Stephen Wolfram talking at the TED conference. Share it with your math students or those AP or Gifted students. Then, ask them what THEY think about. Ask them, “If you could take any path in life right now, where would you want to go and what would you want to do?” No, it’s not a question that will appear on any test, so it won’t a test score, but it just might get them thinking about their own interests and passions.
On 04/05/2010,
in mathematics, mobile learning,
by Daniel Christian
The $50 Wolfram Alpha iPhone app is $2 because now they want people to actually buy it — from gizmodo.com
Wolfram Alpha has decided it’d be good if people actually use the supercalculator on their phone, so its famously $50 iPhone (and soon to be iPad) app will be $2. And, they’re legitimately making the mobile site better.
On 04/01/2010,
in geography / geology, history, K-12 related, mathematics, online media, science, teaching & learning, Uncategorized, writing,
by Daniel Christian
On 03/04/2010,
in Augmented Reality (AR), disruption, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, Europe, global / globalization, higher education, K-12 related, mathematics, social learning / networks, training / L&D, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
On 01/30/2010,
in education technology, mathematics,
by Daniel Christian
The Learning MarketSpace, January 2010 — from the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT)
A quarterly electronic newsletter of the National Center for Academic Transformation highlighting ongoing examples of redesigned learning environments using technology and examining issues related to their development and implementation.
Changing the Equation: Scaling a Proven Innovation
With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) recently announced a major program, Changing the Equation. The program will engage the nation’s community colleges in a successful redesign of their remedial/developmental math sequences (i.e., all mathematics courses offered at the institution prior to the first college-level math course.) The goal of this new redesign program is to improve student learning outcomes in remedial/developmental math while reducing costs for both students and institutions using NCAT’s proven redesign methodology. Institutions will be selected to participate in the program through a competitive application process described in the program’s Application Guidelines and will receive a $40,000 grant to support the implementation of their redesigns. Those institutions will be expected to pilot their redesign plans in spring 2011 and fully implement their plans in fall 2011.
Extreme Makeover College Edition: The Transformative Power of Course Redesign
In 2002, a whopping 45 percent of students taking introductory “College Algebra” at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) failed the course. Of concern just on principle, that statistic was even more troubling given that the course was required for students majoring in business, nursing, education, engineering and many other disciplines.
Three years later, though, UMSL’s pass rate for “College Algebra” had improved to 75 percent. What’s more, better scores on comprehensive tests showed that student learning had improved. At the same time, university administrators were able to document a 30 percent reduction in the cost of instruction for the course.
What sparked that remarkable progress? Read further for the details.