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A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes-measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation-was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K-12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K-12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education). ix

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. ***The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.*** The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes-measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation-was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K-12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K-12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education). ix

(Abstract only online, full text requires subscription) "The pipeline toward careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) begins to leak in high school, when some students choose not to take advanced mathematics and science courses. We conducted a field experiment testing whether a theory-based intervention that was designed to help parents convey the importance of mathematics and science courses to their high school-aged children would lead them to take more mathematics and science courses in high school. The three-part intervention consisted of two brochures mailed to parents and a Web site, all highlighting the usefulness of STEM courses. This relatively simple intervention led students whose parents were in the experimental group to take, on average, nearly one semester more of science and mathematics in the last 2 years of high school, compared with the control group. Parents are an untapped resource for increasing STEM motivation in adolescents, and the results demonstrate that motivational theory can be applied to this important pipeline problem. "

See real-time data on a host of topics important to daily life around the world!! * world population (e.g., births this year, deaths today, net population growth for today) * government and economics (daily government spending by category; computers sold) * society and media (new book titles published, money spent on video games, Google searches) * environment (forest loss, carbon dioxide emissions, current average temperature) * food (tons of food produced; people who died of hunger) * water (water consumed, people with no access to safe drinking water) * energy (solar energy striking Earth; oil pumped; oil, gas, and coal left) * health (deaths caused by alcohol, suicides, road traffic accident fatalities) Worldometers' algorithm takes the latest statistical data available from the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and other institutions, and then processes them together with its estimated progression to compute figures current up to the millisecond. Available in dozens of languages, this site is part of the Real Time Statistics Project. Read more about that here: http://www.realtimestatistics.org/

"An average person can read out approximately 120 digits/min. Keeping this pace it would take more than 158,000 years to recite the 10 trillion digits of π discovered this year and roughly 3 weeks to read out the 4 million digits visualized here."

Math worksheet generator

From the abstract: "The problem addressed by this study is the need to identify practical predictors of success for community college developmental mathematics students in online, hybrid and seated course delivery formats. This study examined two possible predictors of success, mathematics self-efficacy and technology self-efficacy, in the three delivery formats and how they related to performance on a final assessment. The study used a quantitative research design employing binomial logistic regression to determine if the independent variables (math self-efficacy and technology self-efficacy) were significant in predicting the outcome category (score on the final assessment dichotomized about the mean). Next linear regression analysis was used to build a predictor equation for a particular score on the outcome variable. A previously developed survey and an adapted version of another survey were combined to measure the independent variables; demographic factors were also measured for descriptive purposes. Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that math self-efficacy was a valid predictor of success for the developmental math students in this study but technology self-efficacy was not. Regression analysis produced a valid equation to predict standard score from average math selfefficacy score. When separated into groups according to course format, math self-efficacy was only a valid predictor for students in hybrid courses. The implications of these results are discussed and recommendations are made for further research."

Encouraging students to use critical thinking is more than an extension activity in science and math lessons, it is the basis of true learning. Teaching students how to think critically helps them move beyond basic comprehension and rote memorization. They shift to a new level of increased awareness when calculating, analyzing, problem solving, and evaluating.