ExploreLearning News

Testimonial: "Freshmen Begging to Factor"

Valerie Muller, a mathematics teacher in Greenville County, SC, has had a very positive experience with using Gizmos in her classroom, in particular the Algebra Tiles Gizmo. In a recent email , she writes,

[ExploreLearning] continues to be one of the best "interactive products" available. I use it with my LCD projector as a demo in my algebra I class — students love the algebra tiles and really identify with the visual image. Since I have a SmartBoard, manipulating the algebra tiles to factor trinomials is a "can I be next" experience. Isn't that funny: freshmen begging to factor?

Considering how factoring is an anathema to most math students (I know it was for me), I don't think you can have a better testimonial to for what Gizmos bring to the math classroom than what Valerie reports Greenville. Freshmen begging to factor. Superb.

Thanks for sending that in, Valerie. And thanks for using Gizmos!

Finalist: AEP Distinguished Achievement Award

We are pleased to announce that ExploreLearning has been selected as one of four finalists for the Association of of Educational Publisher's Distinguished Achievement Award in the "Educational Science" category.

From the AEP letter announcing our selection as a finalist:

"Because no more than four finalists in each category were selected, being one is a true honor. You and your staff have helped define the standards of excellence in educational publishing."

For 37 years, the Distinguished Achievement Awards have honored the diversity and quality of supplemental publishing products made for the home and school. In 2004, the AEP expanded the categories to reflect the growth of electronic publishing and the expanding educational publishing industry. Additional information can be found at the AEP Awards website.

It is an honor to be among the finalist. Winners will be announced at the annual awards gala this June in Washington, D.C.

Science Curriculum Writers Needed!

We are hard at work on our next batch of new science Gizmos (including some great 3D stuff... stay tuned!), and we are now in search of some talented writers/teachers/Gizmo users to help us write curriculum material (Exploration Guides and assessment questions) to go with the Gizmos.

Ideally, we'd like to hire someone (or multiple people) ASAP, and the work would likely extend through the summer and into the early fall.

The ideal candidate has some science teaching experience at the middle or high school level, knows (and is excited about!) science Gizmos and how to teach with them, can write clearly and concisely, and has some free time coming up. In fact, this could be a perfect";summer job" for a science teacher and Gizmo fan!

For more information (including how to apply), see our Employment page.

Languages and Gizmos

I recently got a chance to translate some Gizmos into Turkish. I don't know much Turkish, but I have learned a few words in the process, such as Fotosentez (photosynthesis). I was able to do the translation for carbon dioxide relatively easily, it is CO₂!

NSTA in Dallas: Science Everywhere

I recently attended the NSTA Annual Convention in Dallas, TX. I got to meet with a lots of teachers while waiting in line to chat with Bill Nye (aka The Science Guy), attending a wealth of interesting sessions, and shuttling around town in those big buses!

It was a great experience, and as often happens during those conventions, I can't stop thinking about science. While eating dinner one evening down in Dallas I snapped this photo, where I 'see' photosynthesis, electrical current passing through a resistive media to create light and heat, reflection from a very large mirror, scattering of light to create a big blue sky, and rapid cooling due to the decreasing sunlight.

Science is all around us, so be sure to look for things around you every day!

Great Math Resource: CT4ME

Here at the spacious ExploreLearning corporate campus (and by that I mean our modest second floor digs in downtown Charlottesville), we've become big fans of the Computing Technology for Math Excellence website.

Have you seen it before? If not, do check it out. It's It's one of the best sites out there for learning about issues surrounding computers and math education, very up to date and chock full of information.

ExploreLearning: "Inventive and Content-Rich"

Gayle Glusman, Director of the Challenger Learning Center at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum wrote us recently with this wonderful praise:

Just want to say again this year how wonderful I think your site is. We conduct a lot of professional development for educators and I always show them your site and encourage them to subscribe. This site continues to be inventive and content-rich. Kudos! Please continue your excellent programming.

Thanks, Gayle.

As I've written before, we never get tired of hearing the good things people have to say about the site and the Gizmos.

Meanwhile, be sure to check out the online activities for teachers to download and print from the LASM.

Henrico Schools Go Gizmo!

Henrico County Schools in Richmond, Virginia have really started going Gizmo!

Three unique after school inservices were held for the Henrico teachers to help them align Gizmos to the Virginia SOL’s and match them out to their daily practices. These sessions were a huge success for the teachers as they got a chance to learn how to use the screen capture and exporting data charts utilities to take information from the Gizmo and paste it into their word processing software.

The teachers got a chance to collaborate both within their buildings and across the district. Teachers were allowed to share ideas about how they had been using Gizmos and what kind of success they have had in their classrooms. From there they looked at building off that success and integrating Gizmos more and more into their instruction. By the end of the third session the teachers had more than enough information to take Gizmos back into the classroom to enhance their teaching.

Way to go Henrico, and GO GIZMOS!

ExploreLearning Teams with Northwest Missouri State U. and Project Prism

ExploreLearning is pleased to announce a partnership with Northwest Missouri State University and Project PRISM (Promoting Reasoning and Inquiry in Science and Math). Project PRISM provides training for Missouri teachers of science in grades four through eight to introduce best practices in science education.

"We are thrilled to be a part of the Project PRISM and to be working with Northwest Missouri State on this important initiative," said Dave Shuster, Founder and President of ExploreLearning. "Through this collaboration, we will be able to support many teachers with new tools that will help them bring more inquiry and research-proven instructional practice into the classroom."

With the integration of ExploreLearning's extensive library of math and science Gizmos, teachers will learn how to incorporate innovative instructional techniques through the use of technology.

"One of the primary goals of the PRISM Project is to increase the use of technology as a learning tool in the classroom," said Marilyn Rhea, PRISM Project Director; "We know that this partnership with ExplorLearning will be valuable to our teachers as they develop classroom strategies that enable them to facilitate active learning for all of their students. We particularly see possibilities for students to confront their misconceptions and reform their understandings as they interact with the GIZMO programs."

Teachers involved with the project will commit to three years in the program. The program of study includes videoconferences, instruction over the internet and a four-week residency on the Northwest campus each summer.

M.I.T. Working on $100 Student Laptop

From Wired News:

The MIT Media Lab is working with partners including AMD, Google, and News Corp. to have such a computer ready for shipment by the end of 2006. The $100 laptop will not only be something to own and feel empowered by, it will also be portable and a tool for collaboration.

Wow! Can you imagine what impact this will have on teachers and students?

The little rovers that could

Originally scheduled for just three months of operations, the two Mars rovers have been operating for 14 months, and have recently been scheduled for another 18 months of adventure.

Gizmos Featured in Macromedia "Edge" Newsletter

The software giant Macromedia has featured ExploreLearning in the April 2005 issue of their Edge newsletter. (As you probably know, Shockwave, the technology that powers the Gizmo interactivity, is a Macromedia plugin, and the Gizmos themselves are created using Macromedia's Director software.)