Creating calculation based e-learning assignments

Usability Report - Brain Power Math

2009-06-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the Usability report on Brain Power Math Beta. It makes interesting reading for teachers who use the beta. Also, it could be helpful for instructional designers and software developers that are undertaking similar projects.

Usability Report - Brain Power Math Beta

Math - A Key Building block for Economic Recovery.

2009-06-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

The recent Carnegie report which calls for higher levels of learning in Math and Science has been supported by the American Chamber of Commerce.

A high level of mathematical performance is linked to economic growth in the modern technological age. The importance of mathematical education has never been greater. It's important for all economies to refocus on key STEM skills as a means to pave the path to global economic recovery.

The report is called the Opportunity Equation.

The future of Math looks a little brighter.

2009-04-17T10:41:00.001-07:00

The downward trend in US and European math grades has been reversed in Michigan. The Michigan Department of Education reports that "more than 75 percent of students in grades 3-8 tested as 'proficient or above' on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program math tests given in the fall of 2008, including 91 percent of third graders,"

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues into more advanced grades.

E-learning 2.0 and Brain Power Math

2009-04-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

The benefits of e-learning and web 2.0 technology are self evident. Brain Power Math can benefit greatly from integration with these technologies. In fact any future development will have e-learning 2.0 firmly at it's core. Some interesting features that could be added are the ability to embed an e-learning module in a blog post (similar to Scribd, SlideShare and YouTube). A collaborative tool along with a question rating system that could be used by both teachers and students may be useful.

In a very interesting blog post entitled Examples of eLearning 2.0 : eLearning Technology Dr. Tony Karrer outlines approaches that utilize e-learning 2.0 technology. Many of these would greatly improve the usefulness and relevance of Brain Power Math to both the modern teacher and student.

Asian teaching methods to be introduced to the United States by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2009-03-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is working with Asian educational publisher Marshall Cavendish to introduce "Math in Focus" to the US education system. The material draws from Asian teaching methods that have been proven to be successful in various international studies. The material focuses on a concrete-to-visual symbolic progression of instruction and is aimed at K-5 students.

It will be interesting how such material will be blended into the US education system. Could such material be a major breakthrough in teaching the modern western student math?

Public Schools outperform Private Schools in Math!

2009-02-28T09:04:00.001-08:00

A study by a team of University of Illinois education professors shows that public school students out perform private school students in standardized math tests. They attribute the reason for this to two key factors: 1) Certified math teachers and 2) A modern, reform-oriented math curriculum.

You can read the full article that appears in Science Daily here.

Student Tool Quick Start Tips

2009-02-12T04:11:00.000-08:00

This post has been taken from "The Student Tool Quick Start Guide".

Opening the Assignment

STEP 1: Open the assignment that you have selected by clicking the “Sit Paper” button.

STEP 2: Select the question you wish to attempt then click the “Answer Question” button.

Step 3: Read the question and then click the “Add Step” button to attempt the solution.

STEP 4: Read the directions given and enter the solution using the input bar and the keyboard.

Using the Input Control

The most important thing that you need to know about using the input control, is that you need to put the focus on the section you wish to control. You do this by highlighting the area in red by using the right arrow key (use the left arrow key to deselect). Here are some examples.

Example 1: In this example we want to enter 10x over 5.

As you can see in the screen shot below, x is highlighted in red and 10 is not.

If we press the divide button and enter the number 5 we see that only the x is divided by 5. This is not what we want.

If we press the Right Arrow Key both the 10 and the x become highlighted in red. This means that the focus of the control is on both elements.

When the divide button is clicked both elements are divided by 5 as shown below.

Example 2: We want to enter the cube root of 8.

Firstly, enter the square root symbol by clicking it on the input bar.

Once you have done this, enter the number 8 as follows.

Press the up arrow key or click to the left side of the square root sign. The following will occur.

Press Backspace

Enter the number 3 into the appropriate box.

How to check your answer

After you have entered an answer you can check if it is correct by clicking the “Check” button. Click the save button to save your answer to that step of the solution.

A Lesson on the Importance of Mathematics

2009-01-21T08:12:00.000-08:00

Though the world continues to change, there are many things that stay the same. Most people know that regardless of advances in technology, there are many fundamental components of education that cannot be pushed to the side. Reading is naturally one of these components. Without the ability to read, one cannot move forward and created a better life for themselves.

The same is true of mathematics. Our world is a complex place, and the fundamentals of mathematics are necessary building blocks for the math one must learn further down the road. Math is important for a variety of reasons, a few of which will be explored below.

The Future is Math

Mathematics is everywhere and the importance of having a solid background in math cannot be understated. The information superhighway is held together by complex math equations that keep things running smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. Without math and an in-depth understanding of mathematical principles, the internet would cease to exist.

For anyone that wants to work in a variety of fields, math is the springboard for getting started on the road to success. As our population continues to grow by leaps and bounds, engineering projects will need to take place on a grand scale. Everything from the construction of buildings to the development of new highway systems relies heavily on complex math skills.

Sticky Situations

If our current economic situation has taught us anything, it’s that the ability to make complex computations needs to be honed and developed further. Forecasting economic downturns and subsequent solutions is something that will be studied by economists and mathematicians for years to come.

Young people growing up in today’s world will want to know how to learn from and avoid situations such as the one we now find ourselves in for future generations. Studying complex mathematics is one of the only ways to ensure that we are prepared for what the future has in store.

Collaboration

With the advent of recent technologies, mathematical collaboration is possible on an unprecedented scale. This is a great time to be working in the field of mathematics and as technologies continue to be created, we will see more opportunities for collaboration in the years to come.

Collaboration and learning go hand in hand. With eLearning growing by leaps and bounds, helping young people learn and establish mathematical skills fro afar is now easier than ever before. The world may be changing, but these changes have made learning valuable skills possible through the hard work and dedication of many a mathematician.

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of online degrees. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com

Latest TIMSS results.

2009-01-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows that Asian students are still outperforming the rest of the world in math and science.

Download the full report here

Math skills and the economic downturn

2008-11-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

One profession that should be recession proof is being a math teacher. The importance of skills in math has never been more apparent. Today in the US the auto industry is in turmoil. If the worst is to happen and lets hope it doesn't, hundreds of thousands of workers will have to up skill to find employment elsewhere.

I wonder how many math teachers have thought of opportunities to help up skill workers. The demand for good math instruction should dramatically increase.

In the past most western students were complacent and in most cases did not put the effort required into math class at high school level.

The economic difficulties we all face may in someway make students take more interest in class.

Will the recession knock some sense into today's math students?

Apologies to all Windows 2000 and Mac Power PC users

2008-11-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

Brain Power Math does not work on Windows 2000. A number of teachers have contacted me about this issue. Approximate 2% of visitors to our website use the Windows 2000. I would also like to point out that the MAC OSX version only works on Intel Macs.

From a development point of view we believe that the best way to make the software usable for Windows 2000 and non-Intel Mac users is to move the software to a browser based platform. Unfortunately this will take some time.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Usability, the key to quality e-learning.

2008-11-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

With the beta release we have done ok on usability given that it is the first public release of the Brain Power Math Application. I think the student tool is more user friendly than the teacher tool. This was always likely to be the case given that the student tool is less complicated and has less options for the user.

Like all software a lot can be improved. As a result, we will be using the state of the art facilities at the National E-learning Lab in Dublin Ireland to conduct usability tests on the software in a scientific environment. This will help to improve the usability and therefore make your experiejavascript:void(0)nce more pleasant.

As you know, the usability factor is key to successful e-learning software. The goal is to make the user forget they are using software and allow for the seamless transfer of learning from screen to student.

Please comment on Brain Power Math and help improve the user experience of the software.

The Future of Math Education

2008-11-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

As western economies decline we see the development of Asia as the World's economic power center. Unlike in Asia, for many years math education has been neglected in the US and Western Europe, and as a result, today's "Western" workforce is at a distinct disadvantage.

More emplasis must be placed on math education to address the current economic situation. Innovation in math and science is key to global economic success. However, creating math and science masterminds is not the only reason to improve math education. The general workforce must have a solid understanding of mathematical concepts to truely participate in the 21st century economy. Unfornatually, this is not the case especially in the US and Western Europe in general.

Yesterday we witnessed the election of a new President of the United States of America. I suggest to President Obama that education is the best economic policy.

Although it will not solve the problem on its own, e-learning software that encourages collaboration and sharing can contribute to the solution when used by teachers to fit best into their teaching style.

E-learning and the Developing World.

2008-11-04T15:25:00.001-08:00

I believe that e-learning software can be a great equalizer in terms of global education. Great advances in bringing down the cost of computing has helped this. OLPC and the Intel Classmate PC have opened up the possibilities for 1:1 computing across the globe. Open source operating systems such as Linux help dramatically reduce the cost of these laptops further.

As you know, Brain Power Math is a free software application and we hope to eventually get around to a Linux release.

I also, think that certain web based applications may not be suitable for developing countries that do not have good Internet penetration rates. Although I see Brain Power releasing online applications in the future I think offline applications should be developed in tandem.

An example I would like to use is Google Docs where there are both online and offline versions of Docs.

Again, lets hope that e-learning software continues to help all students fulfill their potential.

The Power of Sharing: Math e-learning

2008-10-10T07:07:00.001-07:00

Opening up how teachers share e-learning content is a priority for Brain Power. As a result, it is a fundamental feature in all of our software. The idea behind it is, that teachers know best and that teachers produce the best e-learning content.

Teachers can share their e-learning modules through e-mail, website download, LMS or CD-ROM/memory stick.

Math is the number one issue in education right now. Today's average student has huge difficulty understanding math concepts and doing math calculations. By sharing and customizing self-created e-learning content math teachers can build up a vast library of e-learning resources for their students. These e-learning resources will help students improve at math.

Brain Power's math e-learning software allows teachers to create, share and edit calculation based e-learning modules in math. We have decided to make Brain Power Math free for schools, colleges and universities worldwide.

How to open an assignment in the Student Tool

2008-10-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

When you download an example assignment from brainpowermath.com you will see that it is a .ZIP file. The first thing you need to do is extract the .ZIP file (to extract: Windows right click and select "extract here", or MAC just click to open the file). The extracted folder will contain two files. 1) The assignment, which is an XML file and 2) a "read me" or instruction file, which is a .txt file. Before you attempt or edit the assignment read the "read me" or instruction file as it contains brief details on the assignment.

To attempt the assignment open it using the student tool. If you would like to edit an assignment so it meets your students' needs better, open it using the Authoring tool.

Here is a video walkthrough of how to attempt an assignment using the student tool. NOTE: The video only shows a question where one step is required to be answered. However, you can create assignments where individual question/problem require several steps to be entered by the student.

Indices Rule - Example Assignment

2008-09-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

You can download an assignment that introduces the Indices Rules in Algebra.

This assignment is a simple drill and practice resource for students. You can edit it so it meets your own students' requirements. Remember, that you need to download the student tool to attempt the assignment and the Teacher Authoring Tool to edit it.

Short You Tube videos

2008-09-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

We have put up some short YouTube videos on Brain Power Math e-learning authoring tool that briefly explain 1) Entering a question and 2) Giving directions and entering a required solution. We will be posting more over the next few weeks:

1) Entering a Question:

2)Giving directions and entering a required solution:

Worded Algebra Problem

2008-09-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

We have put up a worded Algebra Problem on our Usage Example page.

You may want to edit the directions given for each step or even use it as a template for your own assignment.

Brain Power Math is all about sharing and creating e-learning assignments so please feel free to share any content you have either created or edited with other teachers.

Brain Power e-learning assignments for students

2008-09-10T14:01:00.001-07:00

You can get a pre-designed e-learning assignment from the usage example page of our site.

We will also be posting more e-learning assignments over the next few weeks.
You will be able to use them "as is" or edit them to your own specifications.

Entering "Back to Back" Brackets

2008-09-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

1) When entering "back to back" brackets you should firstly enter the character you wish to put inside the brackets.

2) Then press the "brackets button" or use the keyboard to enter the brackets. It should then look as follows:
3) Enter the contents of the first set of brackets then move the cursor outside the brackets by using the arrow keys or by clicking the mouse outside the brackets. Then enter a character you wish to be inside the second set of brackets. 4) Click the brackets button or use the keyboard to enter the second set of brackets. Then complete the contents of the second set of brackets.

Facebook and Learnhub

2008-09-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

Brain Power Math now has a page on Facebook. Just search for Brain Power Math on Facebook to find us.

I have set up a new group in learnhub.com called Math Teaching Software Tools. All you learn hubbers out there should check it out.

http://math-teaching-software-tools.learnhub.com/

Brain Power Math Available

2008-09-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

Brain Power Math is now available

You can also download the Quick Start Guide. That should get you up and running in no time!

Brain Power Math Beta to be available tomorrow!

2008-09-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

We plan to release the first beta of the much anticipated Brain Power Math e-teaching system tomorrow. May Math be easier for students forevermore!

Share assignments with other teachers

2008-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

We have decided that teachers should be free to share the assignments that they have created with other teachers throughout the world. As a result, assignments can be shared and edited by anyone who has downloaded the authoring tool.

You can share your assignments through e-mail, upload them to a LMS or website and even burn them to CD-ROM.