Khan Academy in the New World of Common Core Standards

By Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer, Curriki

An intern at Khan Academy recently asked for suggestions on a Reddit education site. There was some interesting discussion in response around the efficacy of Khan Academy videos and how these video resources relate to Common Core standards.

One commenter notes that it is harder to grade and check answers with this approach. Another points out that math and science topics are more objective, so potentially more amenable to the use of short video lessons than say, history. “Dr. Momentum” responds that even math and science still involve opinions.

Students need to be able to understand a logical argument, construct a logical argument and refute an incorrect argument. Students need to develop their own reasoning ability. And coherence and depth in teaching a subject, not just subject knowledge, are required from their teachers.

One commenter points out that the Common Core standards for math include Mathematical Practices as well as Mathematical Content. Indeed, Khan Academy is good for the procedural side of things, and in conveying content. Practice transmission, on the other hand, just doesn’t happen on its own, and it’s not enough to explain procedures. It’s about developing expertise in students – “reasoning ability, conceptual understanding and procedural fluency,” among other attributes.

Here are the 8 practices for Math, which you can find at http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice -
MP1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
MP2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
MP4: Model with mathematics.
MP5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
MP6: Attend to precision.
MP7: Look for and make use of structure.
MP8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Attention to how a student is thinking and attempting to reason is not something a video can do. Don’t get us wrong, we love the Khan videos, and there are many of them accessible from Curriki.

It’s about the connectedness. One can pick up a procedure or three, but until one has the ability to generalize then the subject matter is not really being understood sufficiently. While some students have an innate ability to do this, most will benefit from coaching and development and assistance in seeing the larger context.

The Curriki Algebra 1 course found here is designed to align with Common Core State Standards.

Great resources for March!

By Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer, Curriki

We have some excellent resources for March to support your teaching activities. These are in the categories of English Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and Science, and for each subject area the resources cover the elementary, middle school and high school levels.

For English Language Arts, this month’s theme is Poetry. March 21 is World Poetry Day, and March 2 is Read Across America Day. Furthermore, in honor of Women’s History month, we are including resources on female poets.

You can find the ELA resources here: http://www.curriki.org/welcome/subjects/english-language-arts-7/

For Social Studies the theme is Women’s History. March commemorates both Women’s History (all month) and International Women’s Day (March 8). To help your students learn about these important topics, we’ve curated the top resources for Social Studies.

You can find the Social Studies resources here: http://www.curriki.org/welcome/subjects/social-studies-6/

March 14 (3/14 or 3.14) is Pi Day. Without this special quantity, that has an infinite number of digits, how would we calculate the circumference of a circle? These resources all relate to the importance of pi in mathematics.

You can find the Math resources here: http://www.curriki.org/welcome/subjects/mathematics-6/

March 23 commemorates World Meteorological Day. In honor of this day, Curriki is featuring resources for studying weather.

You can find the Science resources here: http://www.curriki.org/welcome/subjects/science-7/

Check out these great resources – you are sure to find something useful for your teaching!

Our Favorite Open Educational Resources of 2012

By Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer, Curriki

 

 

Here are a few of our favorite resources from 2012. If you look these over, I’m sure you’ll find at least a couple of them to be interesting and useful! Click on each title to go to that resource at Curriki.

STEMware Zombie Plague 

Why We Like It: STEM and zombies were popular in 2012– this is a great combination of them both! Contributed By: Barbara UCD

Fiction 

Why We Like It: Karen has always contributed a ton of resources. Most recently several free Kindle versions of books. With the increase in e-readers, this is a good collection of free options. Contributed By: Karen Fasimpaur

Investigating Bikes 

Why We Like It: A cross curricula approach using bikes as a starting point for arts math, science. Way cool! Contributed By: Andy Hannaford

Average speed inquiry lab 

Why We Like It:Students will feel like they are playing while learning about concepts such as average speed, data collection, graphing, extrapolation and interpolation of data. Contributed By: Carol Hagen

Reading Lolita in Tehran  

Why We Like It: A full unit on an eye-opening novel that incorporates music, poetry, group activities, current issues AND is aligned to Common Core State Standards. Contributed By: Sue Costagliola 

Rice Elementary Science Curriculum  

Why We Like It:The RESCu.Rice.edu site contains numerous inquiry based lesson plans for K-5 teachers and super engaging activities for kids. Contributed By: Carolyn Nichol

WikiPremed 

Why We Like It: WikiPremed is a comprehensive, creative commons licensed MCAT course, notable in demonstrating a unified curriculum for teaching undergraduate science is a true treasure trove of learning materials and over 100 hours of course video. Contributed By: John Wetzel

Scatter It!  

Why We Like It: Scatterplotting has never been easier to learn! Contributed By: Mary Richardson

Music Lesson Plans  

Why We Like It: Music is an important subject, even if not part of the core curriculum. This collection is a good starting point for teaching music. Contributed By: Nate Merrill

TED (free app)  

Why We Like It: TED talks are known for being some of the most engaging, timely, and progressive presentations. This is amazing access to all of them–free! And there’s no fear of the content getting stale. There are new videos posted every week. Contributed By: Sandy Gade 

Othello 2012 and BEYOND!– 2012-2013  

Why We Like It: Modernize the teaching Othello through the use of news articles, non-fiction pieces, technology, and recent news events, aligned to the CCSSO. Contributed By: Sue Costagliola East Meadow School District

 

Smartphones in the Classroom

By Kim Jones, CEO, Curriki

Is there a role, or more properly stated, what is the role for smartphones and tablets such as the iPad in the classroom? A recent report on National Public Radio in the U.S. looked into the increasing usage of mobile devices in support of learning in classroom settings.

You can access the related blog, and the audio and transcript of the report, at n.pr/Py5ryu. The report notes that:

Allowing mobile technology in class has an ‘inevitable march of progress’ feel to it, like when calculators were first allowed. And in classrooms around the country, this change is already occurring.

As the photo suggests, change is is already occurring around the world, in this case Korea. The government in Thailand has purchased almost a million tablets for elementary school students.

Here’s a list of 10 North American K-12 schools allowing smartphones in the classroom. For example, one district in North Carolina allows students to use mobile devices in their algebra and other math courses, for calculation, for accessing math instruction videos on the web (think Khan academy and other instructional videos found on Curriki) and for other course-related purposes. Students there are reporting greater confidence in their math skills and more than half are considering careers in math-related fields. In another district in North Carolina, high school students with smartphone access scored 25% better in their end-of-year algebra exam than students not using smartphones in class.

And here’s a blog at Teachhub that discusses various ways in which smartphones and other mobile devices can be used effectively. These techniques include recording lectures, digitally delivering materials and useful apps such as Dropbox for sharing files.

Curriki supports the appropriate use of these devices in order to enhance learning, including by students in the classroom, and of course our substantial library of open educational resources is available for access by smartphones and tablet computers. This includes Curriki’s recently introduced open source Algebra 1 course.

We would be interested to hear your feedback and experiences regarding the successes and challenges you are seeing with student use of smartphones and tablets in your classrooms.

Curriki launches free interactive, project-based algebra course: Curriki Algebra 1

By Kim Jones, CEO Curriki

Curriki has launched a free Algebra 1 course that addresses each of the Common Core State Standards. This algebra course was sponsored and funded by AT&T and developed by Curriki. The online project-based modular course pulls in students through real-world examples, engaging projects, interactive Web 2.0 tools, videos and targeted feedback. With its modular design it can be used as a supplementary resource, as the foundation for students’ Algebra 1 curriculum, in after-school programs or in a homeschooling environment.

Project-based learning (PBL) is a proven motivator and gives students a deeper understanding of the concepts and standards at the heart of a project. It provides students real-world opportunities to think analytically, formulate ideas, and solve increasingly complex problems using algebraic expressions. The Curriki Algebra 1 course incorporates themes and concepts such as sports statistics, video games, business finance, and the Olympics, and weaves assessments throughout.

This course has been designed to align with the “Traditional Pathway” as defined in the Common Core State Standards Appendix A. The modules contain daily lessons based on the four algebra domains and the standards and standard clusters found within. The daily lessons are based on 50-minute sessions and build up to a culminating project-based activity. They provide ample instruction, ample student group and individual practice activities, suggestions for technology integration, interactive learning objects (animations, simulations, tutorials, and games), exercises, e-texts, videos, presentations, rubrics, and practice problems and solutions.

The Curriki Algebra 1 course includes 5 units incorporating 30 lessons. Each unit has its own project. The 5 units are:

1. Relationships between quantities and reasoning with equations
2. Linear and exponential relationships
3. Descriptive statistics
4. Expressions and equations
5. Quadratic functions and modeling

“Success in Algebra 1 opens opportunities in the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines, and will be increasingly important in nearly every job in the future,” according to John Irwin, AT&T senior vice president, Public Sector and Healthcare. “STEM disciplines are at the heart of AT&T’s business, and we are proud to support Curriki in maximizing online resources to engage and prepare this new generation of tech-savvy students.”

To help every student succeed in algebra — and reach graduation — Curriki Algebra 1 combines all the elements needed for successful algebra instruction, including assessment, collaborative activities, practice, and engaging projects. With the right access to different kinds of educational resources that also fit different learning styles – such as video games or other visual media – we can allow children to learn at their own pace, using various methods that meet their individual needs.

Please take a look at the course at Curriki Algebra 1 and consider how you can use it in the classroom or outside of the classroom.

Women in STEM Careers and Enhancing Innovation

By Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer, Curriki

Last year, the US Department of Commerce (Economics and Statistics Administration) issued a study on women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations in the United States. They noted that women are “vastly underrepresented in STEM jobs and among STEM degree holders.”

The report is available at: www.esa.doc.gov/Reports/women-stem-gender-gap-innovation

The study indicates that, as of 2009, just 24% of STEM jobs are held by women. Yet in the workplace as a whole 48% of jobs are held by women. Furthermore there was no increase in female representation in STEM jobs between 2000 and 2009. In 2009 there were 1.8 million female STEM workers in the US, of which 1.2 million were college-educated.

The authors considered STEM jobs in 4 major categories, as listed in the table below, and measured the proportion of women among those working in each category.

STEM job category	Women percentage
Computer Science and Math	27%
Physical and Life sciences	40%
STEM Managers	25%
Engineering	14%
Total all STEM categories	24%

Women are most prevalent in the physical and life sciences category and least prevalent in engineering. Women also are more likely than men to work in healthcare or education after receiving a STEM degree.

STEM jobs are good jobs. There is higher demand in general for most STEM occupations and shortages in some areas. Women with a STEM degree and a STEM job earn on average 29% more than other women in the labor force.

These jobs are also important to the future development and competitiveness of a US economy, which is based significantly on continuing innovation in technology and on scientific developments. Encouraging more women to enter into STEM occupations is an opportunity to boost the nation’s capability for innovation and competitiveness.

As Jennifer Hunt, a Professor of Labor Economics at Rutgers University states: “So it seems as though we’re misusing talent and we’re overlooking talent that could be used to improve technology and economic growth.”

There are a number of resources and pointers at Curriki.org on STEM careers, including careers in physics, industrial design, and oceanography, to name a few. Just go to the Curriki site and search on “STEM”. One of the girls in your class may be destined to become an engineer working on the iPhone 12 that will come to market in the year 2022!