Sydney has become a beacon that brings people together and sparks conversations. Most recently the conversation centred on the topic of girls in tech and what might be done to re-dress the gender balance in STEAM subjects and related career pathways. Sponsored by INTEL this Vivid Ideas event drew a mix of entrepreneurs, educators and tech luminaries to the Museum of Contemporary Art on a Saturday afternoon to share their ideas on what might be done.
A great science game where players grow high tech plants and find resources. Teaches about sustainability and resource depletion.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science
Check out the resources section for a link where you can find resources aligned to the Australian National Science Curriculum. There is some great stuff there if you have a good dig around.
Asa Spencer of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute writes in the Education Gadfly Weekly:
"Traditionalists cringe, tech buffs rejoice: This latest NAEP writing assessment for grades eight and twelve marks the first computer-based appraisal (by the "nation's report card") of student proficiency in this subject. It evaluates students' writing skills (what NAEP calls both academic and workplace writing) based on three criteria: idea development, organization, and language facility and conventions. Results were predictably bad: Just twenty-four percent of eighth graders and 27 percent of twelfth graders scored proficient or above. Boys performed particularly poorly; half as many eighth-grade males reached proficiency as their female counterparts. The use of computers adds a level of complexity to these analyses: The software allows those being tested to use a thesaurus (which 29 percent of eighth graders exploited), text-to-speech software (71 percent of eighth graders used), spell check (three-quarters of twelfth graders), and kindred functions. It is unclear whether use of these crutches affected a student's "language facility" scores, though it sure seems likely. While this new mechanism for assessing kids' writing prowess makes it impossible to track trend data, one can make (disheartening) comparisons across subjects. About a third of eighth graders hit the NAEP proficiency benchmark in the latest science, math, and reading assessments, compared to a quarter for writing. So where to go from here? The report also notes that twelfth-grade students who write four to five pages a week score ten points higher than those who write just one page a week. Encouraging students to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) is a start."
While schools have worked hard to integrate computers into the classrMany schools do not even consider teaching the art/science of using a keyboard. This article in Education World provides important insights into teaching keyboarding.
"Our Mission
To increase the pool of historically underrepresented
and under-served students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce."
Started in 1975 as Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering by engineering deans at AL, FL, GA Tech, USC, UTn, Tuskegee - now partners in 17 states
Students today are using more tech in more places than even Popular Science imagined back in the atomic age. 98% of students own a gadget and 70% of them use a gadget in class-some for note-taking and study, some for poke wars on Facebook during lecture. And while the time spent online in a day might set off some warning bells, the good news is that a breakdown of that time shows much of it is spent learning.
This is a nice site that includes real-world problems covering a wide range in Math, Science, and more. Lesson plans included.
Please take a look at ourCommon Core and Ed Tech blog. Would like any feedback or ideas you may have about what you'd like to see.
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