News
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Aug 21, 2012News
Catch up on Shodor's summer activities via the August 2012 issue of Interactions. Included:
- Letter from Executive Director, Bob Panoff
- HeartWorks: The Shodor Experience
- Shodor Participates in STEMposium
- Teaching and Traveling: My Summer Experience
- Where Are They Now?
- Summertime at Shodor
- A Shodor Apprentice Experience
- Shodor Offers International Opportunities to Noyce Scholars and Fellows
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Aug 14, 2012News
Through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and partnered with the National Computational Science Institute (NCSI) Shodor is offering a series of international faculty engagement and professional development opportunities to participants in the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and NSF Teaching Fellowship.
In February 2012 Shodor took a group of pre-service teachers to Dublin, Ireland where they took part in a two-day workshop, located at Dublin City University, focused on inquiry based learning in the sciences. On June 30th 2012 Shodor again embarked on international travel with a group of pre-service educators, this time to Crete, Greece. Once in Crete trip participants attended The Best Practices in Inquiry-Based Science Education Pathway Summer School organized by the University of Crete Physics department. Workshop participant Amy Jacobson comments about her experience in Greece saying, “I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to 3connect with and learn from educators across the world. Just having experiences talking with foreign teachers has broadened my perspective about the significance of incorporating interesting, well-developed, and engaging lesson plans”.
Both of these workshops were designed to introduce participants to inquiry-based learning and educate them on how to implement such practices in the classroom, while also introducing American educators to international educational practices. Zach McCoy, workshop participant, spoke to this point, “I learned a lot in the workshops, I loved the food, touring the cities, and swimming in the Mediterranean, but I learned the most from the people”. By offering international opportunities to pre-service and in-service educators, Shodor, The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, and the NSF Teaching Fellowship hope to foster both national and international collaboration between STEM educators and institutions.
Funding for this project is projected to continue throughout the next two years, during which Shodor hopes to continue to offer a variety of international experiences for Noyce scholars and fellows.
About Noyce
The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is designed to encourage professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers (as well as people interested in these fields) to become K-12 math and science educators. Similarly the NSF Teaching Fellowship provides support and funding to professionals that are pursing their teaching certification while also requiring them to fulfill a four-year teaching commitment after completion of their educational programs.
About Shodor
Shodor, a national resource for computational science education, is located in Durham, N.C., and serves students and educators nationwide. In addition to developing and deploying interactive models, simulations, and educational tools, Shodor serves students and educators directly through workshops and other hands-on experiences.
Shodor offers innovative workshops helping faculty and teachers incorporate computational science into their own curricula or programs. For students from middle school through undergraduate levels of education, Shodor offers workshops, apprenticeships, internships and off-site programs that explore new approaches to math and science education through computational science.
Time and time again, Shodor has been recognized as a national leader and a premier resource in the effective use of computers to improve both math and science education.
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Jul 27, 2012News
President Obama recently named 96 researchers as the honored recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. Created by President Clinton in 1996, the awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research in science and technology and their commitment to community service through scientific leadership, public educagtion or community outreach.
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Jul 24, 2012News
Through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and partnered with the National Computational Science Institute (NCSI) Shodor is offering a series of international faculty engagement and professional development opportunities to participants in the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and NSF Teaching Fellowship.
In February 2012 Shodor took a group of pre-service teachers to Dublin, Ireland where they took part in a two-day workshop, located at Dublin City University, focused on inquiry based learning in the sciences. On June 30th 2012 Shodor again embarked on international travel with a group of pre-service educators, this time to Crete, Greece. Once in Crete trip participants attended The Best Practices in Inquiry-Based Science Education Pathway Summer School organized by the University of Crete Physics department. Workshop participant Amy Jacobson comments about her experience in Greece saying, “I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to 3connect with and learn from educators across the world. Just having experiences talking with foreign teachers has broadened my perspective about the significance of incorporating interesting, well-developed, and engaging lesson plans”.
Both of these workshops were designed to introduce participants to inquiry-based learning and educate them on how to implement such practices in the classroom, while also introducing American educators to international educational practices. Zach McCoy, workshop participant, spoke to this point, “I learned a lot in the workshops, I loved the food, touring the cities, and swimming in the Mediterranean, but I learned the most from the people”. By offering international opportunities to pre-service and in-service educators, Shodor, The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, and the NSF Teaching Fellowship hope to foster both national and international collaboration between STEM educators and institutions.
Funding for this project is projected to continue throughout the next two years, during which Shodor hopes to continue to offer a variety of international experiences for Noyce scholars and fellows.
About Noyce
The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is designed to encourage professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers (as well as people interested in these fields) to become K-12 math and science educators. Similarly the NSF Teaching Fellowship provides support and funding to professionals that are pursing their teaching certification while also requiring them to fulfill a four-year teaching commitment after completion of their educational programs.
About Shodor
Shodor, a national resource for computational science education, is located in Durham, N.C., and serves students and educators nationwide. In addition to developing and deploying interactive models, simulations, and educational tools, Shodor serves students and educators directly through workshops and other hands-on experiences.
Shodor offers innovative workshops helping faculty and teachers incorporate computational science into their own curricula or programs. For students from middle school through undergraduate levels of education, Shodor offers workshops, apprenticeships, internships and off-site programs that explore new approaches to math and science education through computational science.
Time and time again, Shodor has been recognized as a national leader and a premier resource in the effective use of computers to improve both math and science education.
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Jul 16, 2012News
Congrats to our friends at Howtosmile.org are in order for being named a Best-of-AASL 2012 website!
The American Association of School Librarians annually selects Best Websites for Teaching and Learning - honoring "...websites, tools, and resources of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as embodied in the American Association of School Librarians' Standards for the 21st-Century Learner."
See list of 2012 winners as well as past winners from 2009 - 2011 (NSDL received a Best Websites award from AASL in 2010).
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Jul 12, 2012News
Eight half-day workshops will be offered at the 3rd Annual VIVO Conference in Miami, Florida, August 22-24, 2012. Each workshop is designed as a stand-alone session that can be mixed and matched depending on your interest in VIVP or your role in a VIVO implementation.
Upcoming deadlines:
- Friday, July 13, Late Breaking Submission Deadline
- Friday, July 20, Intercontinental Hotel Room Block reservation deadline
- Tuesday, July 31: Apps Contest Deadline; Regular Registration deadline
The VIVO conference is an excellent opportunity to meet with VIVO team members from participating institutions, and offers an open and collaborative environment to share ideas and discuss topics related to adoption and implementation of VIVO, VIVO-based tools and the opportunities created by advancing data sharing and team science.
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Jun 06, 2012News
Check out Internet Scout's Best of 2011-2012 summary of online resources: "...In this year's 'Best of' issue, we share some of our favorite sites from the past academic year. The process of choosing which sites to include was not easy, as the interests of our staff vary as much as those of our readers. Whether it is the design of the site, the fascinating content, or its classroom usability, Scout staff all have different rationale for preferring one online resource over another. Nevertheless, we were able to produce a top ten list that we could all agree on. "
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Jun 04, 2012News
The howtosmile.org Summer newsletter offers a variety of science and math activities for educators and students:
- Olympics Summer STEM - sports and summer activities with an Olympic theme, including videos of Olympic athletes from NBC Learn: Science of the Winter Olympic Games
- Dig into Dynos - activities from the Childrens Museum of Indianapolis that engage kids in science learning
- Science in the Stacks: Children's Library DIscovery Center (Queens, NY)
- Ancient Egypt - mummies, pyramids, and more
- Project Blue Planet contest - challenges kids nationwide to get involved in conservation
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May 23, 2012News
Our friends at Project Tomorrow have released the Speak Up 2011 Educators Report: Personalizing the Classroom Experience—Teachers, Librarians, and Administrators Connect the Dots with Digital Learning. The report focuses on the ways that educators are personalizing learning centers for students around their own experiences with online learning, socially-based media and digital content. Key questions include:
- What are educators’ experiences with online learning?
- How does it inform their perspectives on student learning?
- What policies and practices are administrators considering around the “Bring Your Own Technology” movement?
- How do we transform the classroom from a “one size fits all” model to a truly individualized learning experience for students?
Get the infographic that summarizes Speak Up 2011 data findings:
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Apr 13, 2012News
From the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE):
National Environmental Education Week is April 15-21, with a goal of enhancing the educational impact of Earth Day, creating a full week of learning and activities in K-12 classrooms, nature centers, zoos, museums, and aquaria. The 2012 theme is Greening STEM: The Environment as Inspiration for 21st Century Learning. EE Week is partnering with National Geographic Education and Project Noah to bring educators the information and tools they need to take technology outside, engaging students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning in their own schoolyard or local public land.More Earth Day 2012 info