This past October 7-11, STEMscopes’ Dr. Carlos Monroy, Data Scientist with Rice University Center for Digital Learning and Scholarship, was one of twenty-nine selected to participate in the The National Science Foundation’s Ideas Lab workshop titled: Data-Intensive Research to Improve Teaching and Learning. This five-day long workshop aims to foster novel, transformative, multidisciplinary approaches to tackle how best to teach STEM in terms of producing student results.  The NSF took a unique approach by recruiting not only educators but also practitioners from a wide range of disciplines and institutions.

In collaboration with scholars from Brown University, New Mexico State University and ETS, Dr. Monroy’s group proposed a proof of concept named Learninformatics to improve the way in which teachers teach STEM disciplines. Learninformatics takes a similar approach as the one Bioinformatics does in Biology and Biochemistry. With the use of information visualization, computing algorithms, psychometrics and pedagogy principles we aim at mapping learning pathways, that is, the method in which students go from “not knowing” to mastering knowledge on concepts and skills – for informing teachers in the development of effective scaffolding activities and curricular interventions to produce specific results (e.g. scoring advanced on an AP exam or passing the 8th grade STAAR™).  Data mining at this level may eventually reveal that teaching a specific STEM subject with a game, hands-on investigation, or virtual simulation inherently produces better results that other teaching methods.

Dr. Monroy’s team’s proposal aims to pilot Learninformatics via use of STEMscopes across three states:  New Mexico, Texas, and Rhode Island.  This will be timed with the release of STEMscopes:NGSS, which promises to be a hot field of study as the new standards begin to root themselves in schools across the nation.

“What we are proposing is a radical, holistic use of big data for improving learning,” describes Dr. Monroy. “We want to accomplish what bioinformatics has done in advancing the understanding of the human genome and its impact on medicine.”  One of the strengths STEMscopes brings to this project is the degree of involvement teachers have on the curriculum design. If we want to transform education, we have to be creative and involve all stakeholders, from the students that receive it to the parents, teachers, and administrators that deliver it.

The Learniformatics proposal will go through the normal NSF review process with finalists being announced in the spring of 2014.

The Lone Star State has a history of doing things differently.  Our state’s maverick spirit is indeed a source of pride for many Texans.  An education-related example of this is the adoption of the TEKS in place of the Common Core standards.  Though there is no motion at this time to bring the Common Core standards to Texas, the movement itself is fascinating.  Explore with us as we drill down into what exactly the Common Core is, how the standards came about, and how they could one day impact Texas.

More than a century ago, the seeds of the Common Core were sowed by a group of ten men in the hallways of Columbia University.  The group had convened in 1893 to discuss what constituted a good high school education.  Needless to say, the debate went on much longer than anticipated. Generations have argued about whether standards are too easy, too broad, excessively broad, or far too narrow for American students.  Consensus long remained impossible.  Lack of consensus contributed to the statistic that one in five high school graduates is underprepared for four-year college resulting in the need for a semester or more in remedial studies.  This delays their futures and inflates their debt, and has a simple reason:  a high school diploma in one state is not equivalent to that in another and colleges know it.

The year 2009 as dramatic in regards to changing education standards.  Kentucky state legislature penned a bill to replace the state’s standards with more rigorous ones aligned to international norms.  Simultaneously, the National Governor’s Association and Chief State School Officers were creating their own wireframe for a set of national standards.  As the word got out of the new standards, state legislators, employers, professors, teachers, and researchers were assembled to concrete them.  Rather than basing the standards on what felt right as the 1893 assembly had done, the new standards taking shape were based on what employers and universities sought in terms of successful employees and students.  Thus the Common Core began to take shape and at its center was a notion to learn with depth rather than breadth.

Design is one thing, but implementation is a wholly different one.  The transition for teachers from well-understood state standards to complex, highly rigorous Common Core standards was and continues to be challenging.  Despite the turbulent change, many teachers have reported that they are able to better help struggling students because the pace of teaching has become less frenetic; more time can be spent to deeply understand each concept rather than just develop a “working knowledge” of it.  Unsurprisingly, as an early pioneer of Common Core, Kentucky has already seen some powerful results:  high school graduation rate has increased to 86% statewide, testing data shows that students are performing increasingly better, and, most remarkably, the number of students deemed college and career ready has increased by 20% to 54% after Common Core.

Despite the apparent success of Common Core, many remain frustrated.  There is a latent sensation that these new standards were imposed rather than agreed upon.  This past April, the Next Generation Science Standards, a parallel of Common Core for science, were released.  The backlash on Common Core has likely slowed the progress of NGSS adoption, as only six states have endorsed them thus far.  The coming years will demonstrate if we are ready to accept common standards in science, math, and literature as a nation for the long run, or if individual state standards will ultimately prevail.  Regardless of the choice, the impact of it will have profound effects on students’ lives, success in college, and career choices.

STEMscopes staff is no stranger to handwork.  Teaching is tough, making quality curriculum is tough, and building our CAST booth was no exception!  

We were delighted to meet all the teachers that stopped by the booth; you truly inspire use to keep improving by incorporating your feedback into the curriculum.  If you didn't have an opportunity to join us at CAST this year you missed out on touring STEMscopes 2.0 available for Proclamation 2014.  If you haven't had a chance to checkout our new books, e-books, kits, app designer, SIS integration, engineering connections, multimedia videos, and so much more, we invite you to explore 2.0 at www.stemscopes.com/preview.  We look forward to seeing you next year in Dallas when 2.0 will be in full swing!

Early one morning in April 2022, a group of brave, self-selected individuals will launch into space to begin a 210-day journey to the red planet.  Their mission is simple:  establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.  Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders, co-founders of Mars One (the organization behind this future Martian colony), are eager to demonstrate that humanity already possess the technology to make a sustainable, thriving habitat on Mars.  Their entrepreneurial work follows in suit with Elon Musk’s SpaceX program, which routinely resupplies the International Space Station.  We are entering an era of privatized space travel where governments are no longer the gatekeepers of the cosmos.  Still, Mars One also carries a more somber yet social mission; concerns of our planet’s health and overpopulation are powerful driving forces for Lansdorp and Wielders.  The Danish duo also sees the mission as an opportunity to unite humanity in much the way the Apollo Moon landings did decades ago.

Above:  artist rendition of what the habitat modules of the Mars One project may look like.  The habitats would be shielded from cosmic rays and solar radiation under several feet of Martian soil.

Mars One’s leadership relates the mission to Mars like that of climbing Mount Everest.  The greatest risk is to human life – Mars is unforgiving and largely unknown.  Great care has been taken to design life support units that will act as homes and laboratories for the initial crew.  The plans call for solar panels to generate electricity, a heating system to melt subsurface ice into potable water and also produce oxygen through electrolysis, and a nitrogen and argon gas extractor that takes these inert (yet necessary for breathing) gases out of the Martian atmosphere.  Replacement parts and equipment will also arrive from Earth periodically, but in a crisis, the colonists will have to rely on their own ingenuity.  Fortunately, by growing their own food using hydroponic racks, the Martian colonists will be able to produce enough food to supply their needs while creating an opportunity to recycle organic waste.  Nonetheless, this is no “glamping” sojourn.  Cosmic rays, solar radiation, Martian weather, equipment failure, and the stresses of living in confined spaces are very real dangers. 

As funders pour in – bear in mind that the bulk of the cost (over 2/3) of the Mars One project is simply in blasting out of Earth’s gravity and landing on Mars – the the project is picking up steam.  Over 100,000 people across the globe have already submitted their names to be part of an intensive training program to select the astronauts for the maiden voyage; some seek adventure while others want to be one of the first people to set foot on the red planet.  What’s the catch?  The trip is a one-way journey.  At this time, it is financially unfeasible and a technological nightmare to pack the Mars One Transit Vehicle with enough fuel and supplies to make a return journey.  Future technology might provide a way to more easily retrieve inhabitants, but, for the time being, these pioneers will live out their lives under a red-orange sky.  Nonethless, the settlement on Mars won’t be lonely for long; a second crew will depart in 2024 to expand the colony.  Did we mention they are still taking applications?

K12 leaders highlight products that enhance learning in another record-breaking year for nominations

Houston – December 1, 2013 — STEMscopes has been recognized for making a positive difference in education by K12 leaders who named it to District Administration magazine’s “Readers’ Choice Top 100 Product for 2013.”

The winners, selected by District Administration’s editors from a record 1,800-plus nominations, were products that received the highest number of nominations and best descriptions from K12 leaders. The Readers’ Choice Top 100 has been announced online and in the December issue of District Administration.

In recognizing the most innovative products, the annual District Administration Readers’ Choice Top 100 Products award  informs superintendents and other senior school district leaders about products their colleagues around the country are using to help their districts excel.

“The fact that we had a record number of readers participating in this recognition program is a testament to the interest that K12 leaders have in products for improving educational outcomes and operational efficiencies,” says JD Solomon, District Administration’s editorial director.  “All of the honorees in our Top 100 program should be very proud of their achievement.”

About District Administration

District Administration provides K12 leaders with critical news and information for school district management, through its monthly magazine, website, e-newsletters and the District Administration Leadership Institute Superintendent Summits. For more information, visit www.DistrictAdministration.com.

Contact:
JD Solomon
Editorial Director
District Administration magazine
jdsolomon@promediagrp.com

The Texas State Board of Education has released the Proclamation 2014 science curriculum review findings; their discoveries were unsettling.  Across all science curricula submitted for the 8 year adoption, the content reviewers identified 10,657 factual content errors (see below).  STEMscopes, however, had the fewest among publishers submitting K-12 science curriculum.

Our teachers refuse to comprise on quality, rigor, and student engagement while maintaining an unbelievablely low price point.  STEMscopes is the first Texas science curriculum to truly be “for teachers, by teachers.” To us this is more than a slogan.  Every member of our curriculum development team has come from Texas classrooms with collective experience across all grade levels and student populations.  All of our lessons have been designed and tested by Texas teachers before being released for use in your classroom.  Our partnership with Rice University gives us access to the greatest scientific minds and most up to date science information.  All of these elements, working together, allow us to provide a curriculum that is scientifically accurate, student centered, teacher friendly, and based on the best teaching practices available.  Our master teachers and master scientists work together to provide a curriculum that surpasses the competition.  The numbers don’t lie.

Most of us associate bees with painful memories of getting stung.  On the periphery, we know that they play a role in pollinating some of the crops we eat, but we seldom think much more of them.  As long as honey is stocked on supermarket shelves, all is well.  The reality is that bees are dying off in droves, and without action, many of the foods that color our dinner plates will follow in suit.  In fact, bees are so crucial to crop pollination that nearly 1 in 3 bites of food you eat today is due to a bee’s handiwork.

In 2006, beekeepers began noticing a disturbing trend.  Honeybees were vanishing seemingly overnight.  The hives they tended would be stocked with honey, yet devoid of life.  Not long after, researchers coined the acronym CCD – colony collapse disorder.  To this day, CCD is somewhat of a mystery.  Scientist across the globe have named a variety of culprits responsible for these mass bee deaths, but the research data are still inconclusive as to which is playing the lead role.  To put things in perspective, one-third of U.S. honeybees died during the 2012-2013 winter.  The die-off is so great that beekeepers are often being driven out of business.  Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Bee Research Laboratory is trying to unearth the cause.  Jeff Pettis, leader of the institute, is fearful that we may be too late to impact a real change if no action is taken soon.

Honeybees are responsible for the pollination of many crops.  The visual above shows just how dependent (% of pollination done by bees) some crops are on bees.  Almonds, for example, are exclusively pollinated by these flying insects.

When honeybees were first imported to the United States in the 17th century, they thrived.  The vast, open fields represented a huge food web that lacked a substantial pollinator like the honeybee.  In modernity, the rise of powerful pesticides has reversed the prodigious growth bees underwent centuries ago.  Neonicotinoids, a group of pesticides that are generally safer for human use than other, older pesticides, may be one of the biggest dangers to honeybees.  These chemicals are used ubiquitously around the world to protect crops from unwanted consumption.  Though the European Union has succeeded in temporarily banning them to study the effect to bee populations, this is unlikely due to a lack of research in the United States.  Another culprit, the Varroa destructor, a savage mite that sucks the hemolymph (bee’s equivalent of blood), is working its ways through bee colonies.  These mites are easily communicable and go a long way to weaken populations so that cold temperatures, bacterial infection, malnutrition due to lack of variety of nearby flowering plants, and pesticides can strike the final blow a honeybee. 

The situation has become so dire in parts of China that were extensive pesticide use has virtually eradicated all bees, farmers have been forced to hand pollinate crops with brushes in tedious, backbreaking labor.  As a result, several universities such as Washington State University and Harvard’s School of Engineering have taken it upon themselves to discover novel solutions such as crossbreeding bee species to make a more resilient honeybee and designing “robobees” to act as surrogate pollinators.

Regardless of the solution, one thing is for certain:  if bee populations continue to decline, many fruits and vegetables we enjoy and depend on both economically and to feed the world could cease to exist.  However, even if a solution is reached, only one-fourth of the number of beekeepers that existed 15 years ago still works with bees today due to the loss their bee colonies.  Without well-trained beekeepers (a multi-decade long endeavor to achieve), even healthy new breeds would have difficulty surviving.

As we move into a new year, we are looking at STEMscopes in a new light.  Not only are we transitioning from a small department within Rice University to a full partner as Accelerate Learning, we are also preparing to unveil STEMscopes 2.0 in its entirety.  No need to worry though – let us address a few of the “rumors” we have heard regarding this transition:  1) we are not being bought out by “some company” (in fact, we are the creators of Accelerate Learning), 2) our dedication to teachers and students remains immutable, and 3) our ties with Rice University have been fortified while allowing us to grow substantially. 

Given this change, we felt it was time for a new logo to represent STEMscopes as it evolves into STEMscopes 2.0.  Though our old logo embodied our mission of making science fun and accessible, its roots were deeply grounded in elementary science.  Our new logo brings with it a sense of innovation, focused energy, a commitment on the individual parts of STEM, and a renewed pledge to serving all students.  As we prepare to begin 2014, we hope you’ll join us in embracing an entirely new, STEMscopes 2.0.  As always, we’d love your feedback!

It's no surprise that traditional textbooks will soon go the way of the DoDo.  Students demand more engaging, interactive, and personalized ways to learn.  Join us then as we count down the top 10 reasons why textbooks aren't that effective when it comes to learning science.

Many people have claimed to have a sixth sense, but new research from Frontiers in Zoology indicates that dogs may have an additional sense beyond the standard smell, sight, taste, touch, and hearing.  Magnetoreception refers to the ability to sense variations in the Earth’s natural magnetic field.  Several mammals, including cattle, roe deer, red deer, and hunting red foxes, have frequently been shown to be mangnetosensitive.  The height of their magnetosensitivity is best observed during defecation.  Yes, dogs react to the Earth’s magnetic field, most, while pooping.  The question, now, is, how reliable are dogs as a compass?

Though the study involving hundreds of observations across dozens of dogs of varying breed and size, scientists are not sure as to why canines align themselves in a north-south (the head pointing either north or south) direction.  However, there is one theory as to why our furry friends might do this.  Scientists suggest that dogs align themselves while defecating to help “calibrate” their mental maps. As dogs relieve themselves, scientists believe they are using the visual landscape to overlay their perception of north, south, east, and west. Similar to when hikers periodically pause to check maps, smart phone compasses, and confer with one another about the right path, dogs stop, poop, and align themselves to the Earth’s magnetic field. This ability may have been handed down from dogs’ ancestors, wolves, who have massive territories (150-200 square kilometers).  Wolves possess excellent navigational skills due to visual references, scent markers, and (probably) an internal compass similar to dogs’.

More testing is certainly needed.  This behavior was not observed 100% of the time but was seen consistently enough during urination and defecation for scientist to begin to see a pattern.  In fact, as the Earth’s magnetic field shifted over the course of a day, dogs were sensitive enough to detect the slight variances of north and south directions while relieving themselves.  Nevertheless, the Earth’s magnetic field often fluctuates more wildly due to magnetic storms caused by solar radiation.  In these turbulent moments, dogs were unable to properly align themselves resulting in unobservable magnetorceptive behavior.  At night, however, Earth’s magnetic field is relatively calm, allowing for more accurate data collection.  Think about this the next time your dog needs to take a quick restroom break, pull out your phone’s compass and check to see:  Is your pooch helping you determine which way is north?

Concerns about the health of the world’s oceans have been growing for some time.  Recently, Starfish Wasting Disease has reemerged off the Pacific American coast, claiming millions of echinoderms.  Meanwhile, fishermen across the world have been reporting lower yields and higher mercury levels in their catches.  Perhaps most disturbing once flourishing marine ecosystems are being turned into barren wastelands in spots across the globe.  Given that oceans are so vast, we often think of our impact on them is minimal.  Most think cleaning the oceans up is not a pressing need and, even if we did clean them up, it would be an undertaking too large for any one country.  Boyan Slat, a 19-year-old student currently attending Delft University of Technology, has presented a possible solution that may address part of the problem and even turn around a profit.

Above:  an artist's rendition of what Slat's floating, self-powered plastic collection nodes could look like.  The booms extend to either side and would connect with other processing nodes.

Slat’s plan focuses on the billions of tons of plastic waste roaming the ocean currents.  One of the largest concentrations of this trash is the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”  This, however, is somewhat of a misnomer as the plastic garbage patches that exist in all Earth’s oceans are not really clumps but rather huge regions often millions of square kilometers that are saturated with small particulates.  As an avid scuba diver, Slat has always loved the sea and has firsthand experience in just how prolific plastic contamination in the ocean is. Some of these plastics wash up on shores and ruin tourism as they traverse the ocean’s gyres and currents.  The bigger concern is most of it stays at sea, and even the smallest particles are responsible for the deaths of birds, fish, and other aquatic animals.  As waves the churn, they continuously crush the plastic into smaller bits. It would take thousands of years for nature to "deal" with the problem adequately – time the world's ecosystems and fishing industries cannot afford to waste.  These small particles leach PCB and DDT, two toxic chemicals into the surrounding waters, which directly impact human health via the marine life we eat. 

Slat’s idea relies on a system of floating stations with interconnected booms (floating beams) that skim the surface of the oceans.  The booms are small enough to allow larger ocean dwellers to travel under them while capturing plastic bits floating about the ocean.  Slat envisions that the boom arrays would slowly draw plastics into a solar or tidal-powered processing node that would mechanically separate the plastic from the sea water.  The plastic would then be stored at the node until a support ship could come collect it and sell it for use in recycled plastic products (a profit of about 500 million dollars per year).  The Holland-native has already proven this technique is successful on a small scale.  If his plan succeeds, he believes the world’s oceans can be “cleaned up” in about five years. This would not only revitalize the ocean’s health but also support all industries based around the ocean.  Say goodbye to the millions of dollars in ship repairs each year thanks to removal of floating plastic, cleaner seafood, and a healthier world for all of us to enjoy.

Above:  Duke's electrical engineering department may have designed a material that can create electricity from WiFi signals around you.

Metamaterials are a group of substances that have unique properties en masse.  They are not found in nature. Rather, they are fabricated in labs and often look like honeycombs. A team of Duke scientists has created a metamaterial that may be able to make energy from ambient radio, microwave, and WiFi signals.  Imagine being able to charge your phone simply by being near a WiFi signal. You would be able to stop in at a coffee shop, check an email, and charge your phone without the need for a plug-in.   It may seem like novel technology, but it’s actual based on the same science used in power mats.

Power mats rely on a process called inductive charging, or wireless charging.  By “tuning” two nearby conductive coils to one another such as one inside a power mat and one inside your cell phone, electricity can be transferred without the need of a wire.  As the coil being fed electricity generates an oscillating magnetic field, the neighboring coil starts oscillating.  This electromagnetic oscillation results in the movement of electrons to charge your device.  Nevertheless, power mats can be problematic because the energy transfer efficiency between the coils is low because a lot of energy is lost as heat, not to mention your phone is a prisoner on the power mat while it recharges.

Duke’s metamaterials take inductive charging to a new level.  These metamaterials have numerous two-centimeter wide loops of wire clustered throughout.  Because these coils are small enough to embed in electronics, are highly conductive, and work in teams, they can create current from passing electromagnetic energy, such as Wi-Fi signals, rather than requiring a coil nearby.  Admittedly, Duke scientists recognize that they have improved current inductive charging technology, but metamaterials still cannot produce electricity from across the room. They still need to be within a few inches to generate current, but this is a substantial improvement from us untethering from power cables and even power mats that require your device to virtually be touching the mat to charge.

Popular recognition program celebrates education technology tools, trendsetters and leaders.

MARCH 10, 2014 — The finalists for the fourth annual EdTech Digest Awards Recognition Program honoring tools, trendsetters and leaders in the education and technology sector have been announced. The distinguished awards program recognizes outstanding solutions—and the best and brightest minds—in education and technology.  STEMscopes™ has been named a finalist for the 2014 Cool Tool award!

A distinguished panel of industry influencers and veterans conducted this year’s evaluation proceedings. "There is a lot of talent and quality out there, and we're excited to recognize these cool tools, leaders and trendsetters in the education technology space," said Victor Rivero, who oversees the program as Editor in Chief of EdTech Digest. "There are now thousands of startups, apps, and companies working in edtech, more than ever before. Shining a spotlight on the best and brightest, we intend to generate even more activity in this sector to continue pushing forward a slow revolution for the benefit of future generations." 

The program is comprised of the Cool Tool, Trendsetter and Leadership Awards. All entries fall into a subcategory under one of these three main categories. Cool Tool awards recognize new, emerging and established technology solutions for education; the Trendsetter awards include notable people or products shaping the space, and the EdTech Leadership awards recognize outstanding forward-thinking contributions to learning and technology. A full list of this year’s award finalists can be found at http://www.edtechdigest.com. Winners will be announced on March 20.

For more information about EdTech Digest, please visit http://www.edtechdigest.com.

About the EdTech Digest Awards Program

Recognizing cool tools, trendsetters and leaders in the education and technology sector, the mission of the annual awards program is to get workable technology solutions for education widely known about and well thought of with the purpose of reshaping the education culture and creating a new and better future for students. Over the years, the best products and brightest minds have been featured helping millions of students, teachers, parents, administrators and others in and around education.

About EdTech Digest

EdTech Digest is a leading source of cool tools, in-depth interviews and notable trends in the education and technology space. Featuring movers and shakers in and around education dedicated to making a difference for our future generations, read it online at http://www.edtechdigest.com.

InteractStudios had an idea—a crazy idea. They wanted to teach students how to create mobile applications without teaching code. STEMscopes and InteractStudios have joined together to facilitate this idea. New in STEMscopes 2.0 will be InteractBuilder STEMscopes Edition. You and your students will be able to create your very own apps without needing to know code. The program is compatible with Microsoft Windows, Apple Os X, iOS, and Android. By using simple drag-and-drop actions, any user can craft a freestanding app in minutes.  

Don't have the time to create your own app?  STEMscopes 2.0 house a suite of apps that students can engage with from the get go or use as templates to build their own.

STEMscopes and InteractStudios have been working with students at Cunningham Elementary in Houston ISD. Throughout February 2014, Inna Komarovsky, Studio Director at InteractStudios, has been leading the fifth-grade class in exercises and activities to introduce the concepts of app-building. A number of advanced students who began learning the program last October and demonstrated their apps at the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) last November, are learning new concepts and creating more complex educational apps based on the topics of their choice. At CAST, the students were able to show off their apps to science teachers from across the state. What surprised teachers the most was that these students had been working on the apps for one hour a day, four days a week, for three weeks.

STEMscopes believes that students work best when engaged. The new and advanced students all seemed quite excited about the creativity the program would allow, and they took many opportunities to include their own personalities in the app by changing the title of the app to something exciting, writing different responses for every right or wrong answer, recording their own narration, and/or adding their own videos to their apps.

STEMscopes envisions a scenario in which your fifth-grade students will build an app that will teach first-grade students. The fifth-grade students will learn computer science skills while the first-grade students will learn through interacting with the app. The program is also scalable and can be used for multiple class periods or as a full, semester-long project.

Back on November 1 of last year, Accelerate Learning - STEMscopes' new corporate identity created by Rice University - stepped onto the playing field.  Accelerate Learning represents a new opportunity for STEMscopes to grow, evolve, and better serve our students, teachers, and parents.  Our identity, mission, vision, and, yes, even team, are as unchanged in Accelerate Learning as they were in STEMscopes.  In fact, our growth has enabled us to prepare to launch our new, embedded professional development program for STEMscopes 2.0 called STEMcoach, as well as a pre-K program, STEMscopes Early Explorer, to help our youngest learners start STEM when it counts the most.

In the coming weeks, we invite you to explore our new website that will integrate all of our STEM solutions in one place.  From interactive webinars to the robust, results-oriented STEMscopes curriculum you love, you'll find it all at acceleratelearning.com.  Stay tuned for our official announcement and join us in the this expansion of STEMscopes!  We're here for you.

STEMscopedia is a new suite of eBooks available that introduces people to the content offered by STEMscopes™. The first release of the eBooks showcases both Softway Solutions and STEMscopes™ as leading in technology driven educational tools.

Affordable for schools, engaging for students, and easy to use, STEMscopes™ is a comprehensive, online PreK-12 hands-on science curriculum that puts teacher support at its center.

The STEMscopedia tablet app is currently live in the App Store and Google Play markets as a free download so audiences can get a preview of the educational tools available en masse. The free app has 4 eBooks: Space, The Periodic Table, Interdependency and Speed, Velocity and Acceleration. The books chosen for the free version of the app showcase 4 different learning levels designed to target both different age groups and different levels of reading comprehension.

Differentiation in age appropriateness and reading level are achieved through artwork styles, reading complexity and interactive tasks. Softway Solutions’ multimedia and mobile development teams have been producing several eBooks each month to create a comprehensive eLearning suite available to STEMscopes™ subscribers.

Thinking back on the project, Softway Solutions’ Multimedia Director, Nathan Smith, says, “It was a blast to work on these eBooks with STEMscopes™; between the variety of topics, the volume of work and the range in art styles for the different age groups this project always kept us on our toes.”

STEMscopes™ offers 30+ resources per objective—hands-on investigations, cross-curricular connections, multimedia videos, and opportunities to reach both struggling and advanced learners are all there. Softway Solutions is an essential provider of these resources developing animated videos, mobile friendly learning assessments and simulated gamified lessons along with the eBooks.

Accelerate Learning will be releasing STEMscopes™ version 2.0 complete with more educational eBooks and a growing number of digital learning tools. Accelerate Learning, Inc., in conjunction with Rice University, has created STEMscopes™, the most widely used PreK-12 science curriculum in Texas that is now available nationally to support both NGSS and state standards. It is the favorite science program among teachers and currently serves more than 1.4 million students.

Reproduced from:  http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11808526.htm

Houston, TX:  On April 29, 2014, Accelerate Learning, Inc. was notified that STEMscopes™, its online curriculum program focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, was distinguished as a finalist in AEP’s Revere Awards for whole curriculum solutions. STEMscopes is highly effective, provides strong support for teachers, is easy to use, and is adaptable to teaching styles and learners’ needs.  Previous recipients of the award include BrainPOP, Dreambox Learning, Edmodo, and Scholastic.

Accelerate Learning’s Chief Academic Officer and Founder of STEMscopes, Dr. Reid Whitaker, Ph.D., said, “The amount of growth we’ve experienced over the last few months has been unprecedented – it’s immensely gratifying to know that our development has only been possible through the help of the teachers we serve.”  Dr. Whitaker added that the cornerstone of STEMscopes’ success is a commitment to adapt to teachers’ needs rather than prescribing what they need; this collaborative process has made STEMscopes “the default” tool in its home state, Texas.  Dr. Vernon Johnson, Ed.D., CEO of Accelerate Learning, is assured that this collaborative philosophy will help lay the foundation of success for Accelerate Learning’s  newest STEM solution, STEMscopes NGSS, a K-12 comprehensive curriculum that addresses the NGSS standards.

STEMscopes earned this latest distinction by continuing its tradition of providing regular program upgrades while expanding its offering to teachers.  Though the curriculum already had powerful hands-on investigations, varied assessments, and cross-curricular connections wrapped around the 5E instructional model, some of its newest additions got the attention of AEP:

• An embedded app designer wherein students, without coding knowledge, can create shareable games, music videos, assessments, and interactive e-books using a slew of templates or starting from scratch.

• A Content Connection and Career Connection Video Series that brings learning to life through animations, interviews, and student demonstration, to help reinforce what students discovered during hands-on investigations.

• A robust teacher dashboard that combines professional development videos, a lesson planner that automates assignments, and an analytics hub that helps teachers.

About Accelerate Learning, Inc.:  Accelerate Learning, in conjunction with Rice University, is focused on becoming the preeminent and most effective digital PreK-12 STEM resource used by teachers, students, and parents as measured by adoption and usage by schools, districts, and families.  With over 1.5 million student users and growing, Accelerate Learning has grown from a single product (STEMscopes) in 2007 to now offer a variety of curriculum and professional development solutions across the United States supporting early learning, NGSS, and state aligned curriculum.  Previously, Accelerate Learning has earned recognition in District Administration’s Top 100 Products, SIIA Innovation Incubator, and EdTech’s Cool Tool Awards.