Category: News
MOOCs are all the rage. However, don’t worry if you don’t recognize the acronym. It popped up only last fall, when Stanford offered—free of charge—a graduate-level course in artificial intelligence. Over 160,000 students from 190 countries signed up, defining what is quickly becoming a new genre in online education: the Massive Open Online Course or MOOC.
What might the climate of the future be like? Students explore this question in the High-Adventure Science curriculum unit “Modeling Earth’s Climate.” And in the October issue of The Science Teacher, Amy Pallant, Hee-Sun Lee, and Sarah Pryputniewicz describe the systems approach to the curriculum.
Cynthia McIntyre, Trudi Lord and Paul Horwitz describe the Evolution Readiness curriculum in the October issue of Science & Children, which focuses on hard-to-teach concepts. The computer-based and hands-on activities help fourth grade students learn the big ideas of evolution.
Energy2D, an open-source, interactive energy simulation tool, is now available for free download. Install the first stable version of Energy2D as a desktop app and create high-quality simulations that run in Web browsers for heat transfer, fluid dynamics, geoscience and more.
Andy Zucker argues that we must transform schools to make them more engaging and effective. In “Using Digital Tools to Help Transform Schools” in the spring 2012 issue of AdvancED Source, Zucker notes that digital tools serve as an important means, not an end to transformation.
We’re delighted to announce that we were awarded a Smaller Business Association of New England (SBANE) Innovation award. The Concord Consortium was selected from 268 innovative companies and joins the “Circle of Excellence” with past winners, including Staples, PictureTel, Ben & Jerry’s, Brooks Automation, Direct Tire, Genzyme, Nantucket Nectars, Imagitas!, Aurora Imaging Technology, and iRobot.
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a federally funded organization that scans educational research for high-quality studies, recently reviewed our 2008 study of the Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middle School Science (TEEMSS) software and materials. The WWC reported, “TEEMSS was found to have potentially positive effects on general science achievement for elementary school students in grades 3–4.”
Two international students will spend the summer coding for our open source projects. Through Google Summer of Code (GSoC), they’ll earn stipends from Google, plus get a coveted GSoC t-shirt and certificate. Concord Consortium developers will provide mentorship.
Make heat flow and temperature change visible to your students with Charles Xie’s new article in the April issue of The Physics Teacher. Heat transfer is widely taught, but there are many misconceptions around heat and temperature. Explore new interactive computer simulations that may help dispel misconceptions.
Are you an engineering or electronics teacher? If so, we want you—and your students! Students can practice their skills measuring and troubleshooting virtual circuits. Teachers get detailed reports on student performance. Want to light a fire under your students’ electronics learning? Try SPARKS!