ExploreLearning News

Google Math Joke

In a report covering Google's upcoming IPO, Wired News notes:

Geek humor: If you take a close look at the form Google filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the exact value of its planned offering is $2,718,281,828 dollars, which some would immediately recognize as the mathematical constant e.

E, for those not blessed with a PhD and a job at Google, is Euler's number, which is used as the base for natural logarithms.

I love it.

System Maintenance/Upgrades

Important Notice:
We will be performing routine system maintenance/upgrades on our servers beginning Saturday, May 1, 2004 at 6:00 a.m. (EDT). Consequently, the ExploreLearning site will be unavailable for a period of time on Saturday.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes you.

INCREDIBLE SITE

Catching up on emails after returning from the 82nd annual NCTM meeting in Philadelphia, I came across this nice note from Stephanie Hobrock who teaches junior and high school science in Virginia, IL (near Illinois' capital city Springfield IL and the Missouri border). Her choice of subject line "Incredible site" immediately caught my eye. Here's what she had to say: "I just came across your site for math and science and what a great experience. I believe it is one of the best I have seen for a long time.... Absolutely wonderful science materials are available from you and what a great preparation for state testing.... I am going to try a trial membership and see what other goodies are present. Stephanie Hobrock" Thanks very much for your kind words, Stephanie! Preparation for state testing is but one of MANY MANY valuable ways that Gizmos can impact teaching and learning. I hope many more people will follow your lead and, at the very least, get a free trial and give us a try.

Bird Beaks and Toy Cars

Two new science Gizmos became live last week. One lets you study the thickness of bird beaks, and the other has a toy car coasting up and down hills before colliding with an egg. Exploration Guides and Assessment Questions for these Gizmos are currently under development.

NCTM 82nd Annual Meeting

Michael Latsko, President of ExploreLearning, and Dave Shuster, ExploreLearning's Founder, piled into the Mini Cooper and headed off to the NCTM 82nd Annual Meeting yesterday. If you happen to be attending, seek them out and say hello.

Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying the imagery of our pres and founder zooming up 95 to Philly in a Mini. That just seems, I dunno, Gizmoesque somehow.

Calculators and Achievement Gaps?

At ExploreLearning we are evangelists for introducing technology to the K12 classroom; however, we are mindful that there are always positive and negative aspects associated with technology and education.

Regarding the negative, a recent report from the Brookings Institution looks at the practice of allowing students to use calculators before they've mastered basic "pencil and paper" computational skills. The analysis concludes that,

If students are only able to compute accurately with calculators—or if their computational skills are so weak that only the simplest of calculations can be made—then students are doomed to solving only trivial mathematical problems (Loveless).

If true, that can't be a good thing, especially in light of another news item suggesting the importance of student mastery of math and science as being a key factor in our country's economic growth.

LaparoStarfighter -- the next videogame craze?

An interesting article entitled Research shows video game playing may help surgeons is making its way around CNN, Yahoo, and other news sites, with the following lead:

All those years on the couch playing Nintendo and PlayStation appear to be paying off for surgeons.

Researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.

The story goes on to talk about a surgeon-researcher who is developing a videogame for laparoscopic surgeons to use as a 'warmup' before they go into surgery.

It's easy to see why this kind of study would generate media interest. The processes underlying knowledge/skill transfer between computer-based environments and real-world tasks is a fascinating area of study, and one that is growing in importance every year. [In fact, almost 10 years ago, I became so interested in this area that I made it my career :) ]. Plus, with all the media attention paid to research on the negative effects of videogames, I'm glad to see more balanced coverage that includes research into the positive aspects of this new medium.

Unfortunately, the articles in CNN and elsewhere do not include links to the actual study's results, and in my opinion do not do a good job of accurately representing the findings -- it's easy to walk away from the article thinking, "If a surgeon starts playing video games for at least three hours a week, he or she will become a better laparoscopic surgeon", which is not a valid conclusion from the study.

I found a presentation of the study's results on one of the researcher's WWW sites -- if this kind of research interests you, you might want to take a look at it.

Science Gizmo Development

Science Gizmo development continues in earnest behind the scenes here at ExploreLearning. The PDF below lists the seventy five Gizmos that we plan to have complete by the start of the school year this fall.

Upcoming Science Gizmos (PDF) (last updated on June 30, 2004)

Budget Reminder

Over the last few days we've had several pricing inquiries from school or district technology coordinators working to finalize their 2004-05 budgets. If your school or district is winding down the budget planning for next year, then right now is a great time to ensure your subscription fee is included. Check out our subscription pricing for individual teachers, or contact us to learn about school- or district-level volume discounts!

"Top 5 Gizmos: March 2004"

According to our web server statistics, these are the 5 most used Gizmos for the month of March.

1. Density Lab
2. Intro to E & M
3. Circuits
4. Sight vs. Sound Reflexes
5. Doppler Effect (1 source)

Have you used one of these Gizmos in your classes? If so, let us know. We'd love to hear how you're integrating the Gizmo into your teaching.

"Gizmos: What Every Math Teacher Has Been Looking For"

Pat Baltzley, the Math Supervisor for Baltimore County Public Schools and the President of The Maryland Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, speaks highly of Gizmos and working with ExploreLearning:

Gizmos are what every mathematics classroom teacher has been looking for. They help bridge concepts from concrete to abstract and offer new opportunities for students to visualize and experiment with mathematics. Our teachers have found that by teaching with a Gizmo or by having the students explore a particular Gizmo themselves, they can open the door to mathematical understanding of more concepts than ever before.

We have enjoyed our relationship with ExploreLearning. The staff development opportunities with our teachers have been excellent with knowledgeable, personable trainers, excited about what they are demonstrating and the potential it has for the math or science classroom.

Thanks, Pat!

The Wide World of Gizmos

Our ExploreLearning.com site statistics for the month of March show that at least Gizmos were used in 128 different countries the world over. That's pretty cool I think.

Most Active Countries
Rank#	Countries	Downloads (% of total)
1	United States of America	(75.24%)
2	United Kingdom	(4.32%)
3	Canada	(3.76%)
4	Australia	(2.50%)
5	Singapore	(3.25%)
6	the European Union	(0.77%)
7	Germany	(0.40%)
8	Spain	(0.73%)
9	Korea (Republic Of)	(0.81%)
10	Italy	(0.52%)
11	Brazil	(0.33%)
12	Hong Kong	(0.27%)
13	India	(0.32%)
14	Netherlands	(0.25%)
15	Taiwan (Province Of China)	(0.15%)
16	Mexico	(0.34%)
17	Saudi Arabia	(0.30%)
18	Sweden	(0.18%)
19	Belgium	(0.46%)
20	New Zealand	(0.69%)
21	China	(0.22%)
22	Israel	(0.16%)
23	Kuwait	(0.11%)
24	Portugal	(0.20%)
25	United Arab Emirates	(0.14%)
26	Philippines	(0.09%)
27	France	(0.10%)
28	Japan	(0.06%)
29	Greece	(0.13%)
30	Thailand	(0.19%)
31	Turkey	(0.14%)
32	South Africa	(0.11%)
33	Norway	(0.08%)
34	Jordan	(0.09%)
35	Poland	(0.10%)
36	Malaysia	(0.09%)
37	Denmark	(0.08%)
38	Oman	(0.03%)
39	Austria	(0.34%)
40	Switzerland	(0.12%)
41	Ireland	(0.07%)
42	Egypt	(0.07%)
43	Argentina	(0.05%)
44	Bahrain	(0.06%)
45	Finland	(0.07%)
46	Russian Federation	(0.02%)
47	Pakistan	(0.04%)
48	Hungary	(0.03%)
49	Peru	(0.07%)
50	Iran (islamic Republic Of)	(0.16%)
51	Tanzania, United Republic Of	(0.41%)
52	Croatia (local Name: Hrvatska)	(0.05%)
53	Indonesia	(0.03%)
54	Unknown	0 (0.00%)
55	Colombia	(0.03%)
56	Romania	(0.02%)
57	Brunei Darussalam	(0.05%)
58	Qatar	(0.02%)
59	Mauritius	(0.03%)
60	Viet Nam	(0.03%)
61	Malta	(0.02%)
62	Algeria	(0.01%)
63	Chile	(0.05%)
64	Sri Lanka	(0.02%)
65	Slovenia	(0.01%)
66	Morocco	(0.01%)
67	Sudan	(0.03%)
68	Cyprus	(0.01%)
69	Czech Republic	(0.02%)
70	Venezuela	(0.01%)
71	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	(0.01%)
72	Tunisia	(0.01%)
73	Macau	(0.02%)
74	Lebanon	(0.01%)
75	Bulgaria	(0.02%)
76	Trinidad And Tobago	(0.01%)
77	Nepal	(0.01%)
78	Yugoslavia	(0.01%)
79	Puerto Rico	(0.01%)
80	Lithuania	(0.01%)
81	Slovakia (slovak Republic)	(0.01%)
82	El Salvador	(0.01%)
83	Bosnia And Herzegowina	(0.01%)
84	Estonia	(0.01%)
85	Costa Rica	(0.01%)
86	Latvia	(0.01%)
87	Guatemala	(0.02%)
88	Iceland	(0.01%)
89	Barbados	( < 0.01%)
90	Luxembourg	( < 0.01%)
91	Uruguay	( < 0.01%)
92	Belarus	( < 0.01%)
93	Dominican Republic	( < 0.01%)
94	Guam	( < 0.01%)
95	Macedonia	( < 0.01%)
96	Papua New Guinea	( < 0.01%)
97	Nigeria	( < 0.01%)
98	Ukraine	( < 0.01%)
99	Kenya	( < 0.01%)
100	Nicaragua	( < 0.01%)
101	Moldova (Republic Of)	( < 0.01%)
102	Bangladesh	( < 0.01%)
103	Maldives	( < 0.01%)
104	Kazakhstan	( < 0.01%)
105	Bhutan	( < 0.01%)
106	Bahamas	( < 0.01%)
107	Netherlands Antilles	( < 0.01%)
108	Bolivia	( < 0.01%)
109	Yemen	( < 0.01%)
110	Ecuador	( < 0.01%)
111	Monaco	( < 0.01%)
112	Ghana	( < 0.01%)
113	Myanmar	( < 0.01%)
114	Angola	( < 0.01%)
115	Zimbabwe	( < 0.01%)
116	Andorra	( < 0.01%)
117	Armenia	( < 0.01%)
118	Azerbaijan	( < 0.01%)
119	French Polynesia	( < 0.01%)
120	Greenland	( < 0.01%)
121	Faroe Islands	( < 0.01%)
122	Sao Tome And Principe	( < 0.01%)
123	Panama	( < 0.01%)
124	Jamaica	( < 0.01%)
125	Cambodia	( < 0.01%)
126	Cape Verde	( < 0.01%)
127	Senegal	( < 0.01%)
128	Solomon Islands	( < 0.01%)

Note: Overall ranking is determined by a combination of visitors, page views, and Gizmo downloads which is why the % downloads column appears contradictory in places, e.g., a country with 0.03% download is ranked higher than a country with a 0.05% download.

Report Finds: MATH COURSES MATTER

From an though provoking report in the Spring '04 issue of American Educator entitled "It's Time To Tell the Kids: If You Don't Do Well in High School, You Won't Do Well in College (or on the Job)":

The further you go in math in high school, the better your chances of earning a college degree.… Taking higher-level math is a predictor of college success too: 80 percent of calculus students earn a degree compared to 8 percent of students whose highest math class is Algebra 1.

Something to keep in mind when trying to convince students why taking challenging math courses is important during high school.

International Users: Font Issue Resolved

At the end of March we found out about a problem for international users. The text inside the Gizmo was not readable (see prior post). We analyzed the problem and it seemed to be caused by the anti-aliased fonts used in the Gizmos.

We have now added a method which allows you to turn off the 'font smoothing' so the Gizmos should now be fully readable for international users that experience this problem. To use this new feature follow the following steps:

• Go to the ExploreLearning Shockwave Test Page
• Click on 'Gizmo Preferences' in the lower left corner of the test Gizmo.
• Set the Font Smoothing to OFF.
• Return to ExploreLearning and start using Gizmos!

Differentiating instruction: Right meets Left!

Ellen McGoran, a teacher at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy in Ohio, sent her thoughts about ExploreLearning.com to us last week:

This is the third year that I have used this website with my students. I have used it for algebra 1, geometry, and a senior level topics course. It is an incredibly powerful tool (and more than worth the price for a subscription).

It is especially valuable for the "right-brained" learner in a very left brained subject such as algebra. We love it!

Thank you Ellen!

At ExploreLearning, we try to design Gizmos that can challenge and stimulate advanced students, while at the same time provide a great entry point for learners who may initially be daunted by concepts in mathematics and science. We are in total agreement with Ellen that interactive visual models are a great way for more 'right-brained' students to get at many topics -- and once students become comfortable with a given topic's fundamentals, they can progress to exploring more of its advanced aspects -- all in the same Gizmo.

Tides Typo Terminated

The Tides Gizmo had a typographical error. This was fixed this morning. It previously said that the distance from the Earth to the moon was approximately 3 Earth diameters. It now lists 30. Losing a zero really does make a big difference, even if it represents nothing!

"If a nonnegative quantity was so small that it is smaller than any given one, then it certainly could not be anything but zero. To those who ask what the infinitely small quantity in mathematics is, we answer that it is actually zero."
-- Euler, Leonhard (1707 - 1783)

Thanks to the Curry School at UVA for reporting this bug.

Fan Cart Physics

While I was down in Atlanta for the NSTA meeting, the people behind the scenes at ExploreLearning got the Fan Cart Physics Lab posted on the site as the Featured Gizmo. It is a great Gizmo that can be used for a wide variety of virtual experiments. I got the idea from a session at a regional AAPT meeting I attended last fall.

Stay tuned for several more science updates this week, along with new Gizmos!

PopUp Blockers and Assessment Questions

We've had reports and can confirm that some popup window blockers (for example the Yahoo Toolbar Companion) are conflicting with the student assessment results such that when the the popup blocker is enabled, the student assessment results are not being recorded.

We are working on this issue but at this time have no solution.

We are advising then that all users, when taking assessments, should temporarily disable their popup blockers. Many blockers can be temporarily disabled just by toggling a given key or key combination on the keyboard.

Note: This issue does not seem to affect Mac users with Safari's built-in popup blocker enabled.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact us: support@explorelearning.com