Tech & Learning - August 2008 - (Page 22)

Download this FREE series today! news trends Fundamentals of K-12 Technology Programs Brought to you by Tech & Learning and sponsored by HP, this new series covers the educational technology topics that matter most to the profession’s leaders, practitioners, and innovators. Topics include: OPEN SOURCE TOOLS FOR MATH & SCIENCE All that Glitters Isn’t Sold By Carol S. Holzberg, PhD Can you remember the last time you purchased a commercial software application that functioned bug-free? Unintended programming malfunctions are a fact of computing life regardless of whether the product is commercial, shareware, freeware, or open source. Because popular open-source products have gotten more sophisticated with offerings that are richer, less costly, and no more buggy than their commercial counterparts, is there a reason your school or district shouldn’t go the opensource route? For the next few issues, Tech& Learning will focus on specific curricula and highlight open-source content for these curricula. This issue, we explore open-source courseware for math and science. Another resource-rich source for math and science curriculum can be found at Curriki (www.curriki.org/), an interactive open-source online service containing peer-reviewed K-12 curricula. Curriki (short for curriculum + wiki) comprises a community of educators who voluntarily create and post “quality” Leadership MIT & CURRIKI Sponsored by: MIT’s OpenCourseWare initiative provides college-level math and science lecture notes, exams, and videos to users free for noncommercial educational purposes. OCW also offers a selection of courses for high school students, including course content for AP Biology, AP Calculus, and AP Physics. Teachers can use the site to find instructional supports such as science demonstrations, alternative explanations for difficult concepts, and additional homework problems. All MIT OCW materials, may be used “as is,” or modified as needed, without restriction as long as there is no charge for the new work. education materials for sharing with teachers and students around the world. Membership is free. Simply complete an online form. You can use the site’s search tool to locate resources for teaching or instruction, contribute curriculum materials for use by community members, and connect with other educators. You can also modify existing content to suit instructional needs. Next month, we’ll cover open source curriculum that teaches computer skills. Carol S. Holzberg, PhD, works as district technology coordinator for Greenfield Public Schools and the Greenfield Center School (Greenfield, MA). Sign up today at http://www. techlearning.com/ K12/Fundamentals 22 | TECH & LEARNING http://www.curriki.org/ http://www.techlearning.com/K12/Fundamentals http://www.techlearning.com/K12/Fundamentals http://www.techlearning.com/K12/Fundamentals

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech & Learning - August 2008

Tech & Learning - August 2008 Contents Editor's Desk News & Trends Q&A: Scratch That Best of NECC 2008 How to Build Better ePortfolios Focus on Digital Cameras Leader of the Year

Tech & Learning - August 2008

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