Integrating Technology to Learn Math and Science

Another good resource, I found worth trying is  WizIQ . This is a web-based virtual classroom software that is designed for teachers to do on-line teaching, tutoring, or to even create a course.  Its online teaching tool helps teachers to design, manage and deliver their own online courses and run virtual live or recorded classrooms.  This tool works on any ope rating system, requires no installation and offers browser-like tabbed interface and MS Office like keyboard shortcuts. One just need to log in to start their online classroom and can invite any number of attendees, it could be just one student getting one-on-tutoring or many people attending it. It is also designed to help teachers to develop subject expertise as they can attend public classes given by experts on a variety of topics. Worth mentioning it is also great for students as they can attend online classes, find teachers, download educational tutorials and can even attempt and create their own onl...

Just happened to run across the news entitled Valve introduces 'Teach with Portals'   yesterday, question I pondered was, what is it? After some research I found that Portal 2 is a gaming platform developed by Valve studios to teach students basically the concepts of physics but also extends  to maths, chemistry, engineering and language arts. Based on Valve’s best-selling game, Portal 2, it is free educational collection of puzzles and teacher-created content that helps to build an innovative curriculum.  Vow part is that it also offers free lesson plans for teachers. All they have to do is to do a sign-up process for the summer beta and once approved by the education team, they are ready to go!  I could not stop myself from exploring the lesson plans in Physics based on this amazing world of gaming. Here is the sneak-peak at the descriptions of summary of few lesson plans- On Specific velocity - Students will have freedom in this lesson to build a puzzle that...

Screen Shot of Projectile Motion As I spent years in Physics laboratory, I remember it was fun working hand-ons, doing different laboratory exercises. However, sometimes the fun part used to be destroyed by the instrumental errors. I t would take days sometimes to mend the equipment, and we had to start all over again.  The other problems usually encountered with the real laboratory settings are; large amount of time needed to schedule and run experiments and there is a constant need to replace or upgrade the equipments.  Though I still believe that hand on activities are integral to the scientific process of enquiry but their effect is enhanced if we integrate simulations and animations into them. It has been acknowledged long that by integrating computer-based activities with the real laboratory settings, students are actively engaged in learning. In the paper, Can Computer Simulations Replace Real Equipment in Undergraduate Laboratories? Finkelstein et...

The BioEthics Education Project is an interactive website and virtual-learning environment for secondary school science teachers and students. It is a teaching resource developed to highlight the moral, ethical, social, economic, environmental and technological implications and applications of biology.   The BEEP has been formed with the aim to ensure that 21st century learners must also learn about ethical issues prevailing concerning our ecosystem while learning science at the school.  This website is particularly suited for high-school students and allows them to learn about the bio ethical issues through individual critical thinking and by discussions with others.  The term ‘Bioethics’ is derived from combining Biological Science+ Ethics= Bioethics.  The core idea behind ‘Bioethics’ is that it concerns  many decisions we make, based on thinking of what is right or wrong, about the biosphere, ecosystems, habitats, environment, organisms...

Logo of Geometer's Sketchpad Today information and communication technology (ICT) have  provided a wide range of tools that significantly enriches math teachers’ instructional strategies and support students’ learning in mathematics. These ICT tools can be used both for whole-class instruction or to design programs that meet diverse needs of student by the teacher. Screenshot of Fathom Screenshot of Graphic Calculator Many useful ICT tools include multimedia resources, databases, and different websites that give access to large amounts of statistical data, and computer-assisted learning modules. Besides the software tools such as Geometer’s Sketchpad , Excel , Fathom , Graphmatica , Graphing Calculators , Winplot , SMART Notebook and Graphcalc.com etc. are great to supplement various mathematical topics effectively. Along with these come many applications such as databases, spreadsheets, computer algebra systems (CAS), word-processing software, math ...