TED - Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion

http://youtu.be/SFnMTHhKdkw

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

Before and After the Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

http://tmappsevents.esri.com/website/swipe_moore/

This is a slider map - so you can see the effects of the tornado by viewing a before/after image just by dragging the slider in the center.

GAME:IT 10,000 – A STEM Initiative is being offered to any U.S. high school - the first 10,000 free

Today STEM Fuse, LLC, announces GAME:IT 10,000 - A STEM Initiative. The U.S. is facing a severe shortage of skilled workers in areas related to science, technology, engineering and math (commonly referred to as STEM). In an effort to solve this shortage and keep the U.S. globally competitive, an increasing emphasis has been placed on improving and promoting K-16 STEM education. Study and research have suggested that game design and development is a powerful tool in STEM education. STEM Fuse is serious about helping solve the U.S. STEM problem. We understand the difficulty many schools have in finding technology courses that attract students, are easy to teach, and hit state standards. Our GAME:IT course is the perfect solution to these problems and we want to offer it to the first 10,000 U.S. high schools who wish to participate in this initiative - at absolutely no cost and without any usage restrictions. 

Through GAME:IT 10,000 - A STEM Initiative, high schools all across the U.S. will now be able to offer GAME:IT, a full semester-long game development course that teaches all facets of STEM. GAME:IT includes everything needed for a school to implement. It was designed assuming no previous programming experience by the teacher or the student and is currently being taught in 47 states. GAME:IT is aligned with all applicable state and national technology and STEM education standards. 

The first 10,000 high schools that wish to participate will be able to save tens of thousands of dollars in text book and curriculum costs while offering a proven, ready-to-teach, standards aligned STEM course that will engage students with project-based learning. Students will learn valuable technical skills and concepts that are in high demand and translate into virtually any industry. Technical support, teacher training and professional development are a part of this initiative and will be provided to all participating schools at no cost. 

GAME:IT 10,000 – A STEM Initiative is being offered to any U.S. high school. For more information about this initiative, visit http://stemfuse.com/shop/gameit-10000-initiative.

Free iOS Apps - VSB Series for Education (Virtual Smart Books)

VSB Electronics
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-electronics/id584294740?mt=8

This course aims to teach students basic concepts in electronics. By the end of this course, students are expected to understand terms such as electricity, voltages, currents, and integrated circuits.

An engaging electronic lab is incorporated to provide the users the autonomy to create their own circuits and apply their learning from the lesson proper.

VSB History
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-history/id584274226?mt=8

The History VSB Course starts with the Congress of Vienna in 1814. It works its way through the Revolution of 1848, the Crimean War in 1853, the Austro Prussian War in 1866 and ends with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. This marks the end of the "Concert of Europe" and the end of the agreements reached at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

VSB Music Theory
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-music-theory/id584297889?mt=8

The Music Theory VSB Course is designed to give students a basic knowledge and understanding of music fundamentals that are essential in analyzing and writing musical compositions. By the end of this course, students will be able to identify musical notations, chords, time signatures, and intervals as well as play notes on an interactive piano simulation game.

VSB Music History
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-music-history/id596667682?mt=8

The Music History VSB Course will deepen your knowledge and understanding of music within a historical context. It will discuss the foundations of Western Music and is designed to help develop techniques through a study of the different exemplary composers and their compositions, eras, and genres of the western stylistic periods.

VSB Art History
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-art-history/id596672892?mt=8

In this module we concentrate on the philosophies, inspirations, and styles of Western art. Examples of Realism, Cubism, Impressionism, Expressionism, and Fauvism will be shown and discussed.

VSB R.O.T.C
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-r.o.t.c./id596665092?mt=8

This is a class dedicated to the Reserve Officers Training Corps. It will broaden your comprehension and appreciation of the U.S. Military. Basic military principles are explained, using engaging videos, interactive game simulations, and lectures.

VSB Physical Education
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id626165450?mt=8&src=af

The Physical Education VSB Course will explain the importance of staying in shape and having a fit and healthy body. It will discuss fun athletic sports, such as, basketball, tennis, and track and field, to name a few. It will also give some historical background on where these sports originated.

VSB Iliad
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-iliad/id610877661?mt=8

The Iliad VSB Course discusses one of the most famous poems in Western Civilization. The work is attributed to Homer, an ancient Greek epic poet. The Iliad was actually sung and passed down through generations and is one of the most important historical literary pieces of work. To understand literature, one must first understand the Iliad.

VSB Math
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-math/id609727205?mt=8

The Mathematics VSB Course will discuss topics in Algebra. The first lesson will lay the groundwork for all succeeding lessons, by familiarizing the user with definitions and notations that will be used throughout the course.

VSB Computer Science
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-computer-science/id609581183?mt=8

This Virtual Smart Book (VSB) for Computer Science aims to introduce and teach many key concepts in Computer Science including the computer systems life cycle, software development, language translators, computer architecture, networking, data representation, errors, and utility software. It also aims to teach Java programming, covering such topics as identifiers, operators, control structures, classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism, and arrays.

VSB Odyssey
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vsb-odyssey/id627168379?mt=8

The Odyssey VSB Course discusses the Odyssey, the sequel to the Iliad, which was composed at about the same time, 1000 B.C.E. The Odyssey is the story of two journeys. One story is that of Odysseus, the wily Greek who hatched the plan of the Trojan horse — a story of sword and sorcery. The other is a coming of age story. That of Odysseus' son Telemachus, and his journey from boyhood to manhood. 

Free iOS App - Marvin - a fast, intelligent eBook reader for your iPad

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id577374971?mt=8&src=af

Description

Marvin is a fast, intelligent eBook reader for your iPad. What sets Marvin apart are its unique features and an incredible Artificial Intelligence engine that reads your books with you and helps you discover amazing things about them, their characters, places and anything else.

PRAISE FOR MARVIN
- “When Marvin came across my desk I felt like I finally got my wish... it is trying to take things a step further.” - The Industry
- “[other apps] can open ePub files too, but not with the same sophistication as Marvin.” - Cult of Mac
- “There's a new reading app in town, and he's taking no prisoners... he's just obliterated the competition.” - Shelfless.org
- “...I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your efforts! Finally, finally a replacement for Stanza!” - Mobileread User
- “...this young app is already vastly superior to every eBook reading app for iOS that I have tried...” - Geek in the Forest
- “Marvin has become my default eReader after only a few days of use. It's completely customizable...” - App store reviewer

WHEN MARVIN HAS READ YOUR BOOK YOU CAN
• Look up characters, places and names in your book to see their biographies, articles about them or their photos.
• See the first time names appear in your book to remind you who they are.
• Find articles about the book and its author. Was the book ever made into a movie, a play, or a radio drama?
• Pin any review, article, video or website to your book.
• Build summaries. Marvin actually creates a new eBook that you can read, annotate and share separately.
• Save all your research and share it easily with your friends.

In Marvin you'll find everything you'd expect from a modern eBook reader as well as dozens of reader-friendly features you won't find anywhere else.

MORE FEATURES
• Warmth and tint in addition to brightness controls to reduce harsh lights especially when reading at night.
• Smart and custom collections.
• Extensive Calibre support.
• 2-column layouts.
• Share status, progress, pictures, text selections and highlights on Facebook and Twitter.
• Builds a vocabulary as you look up words in the dictionary.
• Customizable gestures, swiping to control brightness and warmth, page turn directions, snapping to bookmarks and chapters, etc...
• Dropbox integration, OPDS catalogs and a built-in web browser.
• Full-book search.
• Text selections across pages.
• A reading timer.
• Export data to HTML, CSV and XML.
• Faithful layouts, extensive formatting and customization.
• A selection of beautiful reading fonts.
• User-defined themes.
• A bottom-heavy, specialty font to assist users with dyslexia.
• An alternative to a missing table of contents.
• Resizing tiny links such as footnotes to make them easier to tap on.
• English, Spanish, German and French dictionaries (on iOS 6).
• Metadata editing, including changing book covers.
• Calibre metadata support.
• And much more...

If you're into DRM-free books, we've worked hard to make Marvin the best way to read them.

Make sure to check out marvinapp.com where you'll find lots of details, screenshots and a video.

Notes:
• Marvin opens DRM-free ePub 2.0 books.
• With Marvin you can open and read books written in most Latin alphabet languages (English, Italian, German, Spanish, etc...).
• Analysis (A.I.) works for books written in English... we're working on new languages.
• Marvin requires iOS 5 or better and works great on all iPads.

Slidely - Create beautiful instant videos from the photos and music you love

http://slide.ly/

Slidely is a free, easy-to-use creative suite of cloud-based web and mobile apps, empowering artistic
expression with images, video and music. Start with your favorite personal images and video, mix in media from friends’ social accounts and the broader web, and add music from YouTube and SoundCloud to unlock the emotional essence of any story – then, share it with friends or the whole world. Projects move seamlessly from one Slidely app to the next and are forever editable, allowing your artistic voice to come through loud and clear. For more information, visit www.slide.ly.

Social media savvy readers will want to know about a new, free tool from Slidely (http://slide.ly) that turbocharges their online slideshows – allowing them not just to use their own images from Facebook, Instagram, FLICKR, Picasa or their PC, but also surprise friends & family with images from Facebook friends’ albums, public Instagrams (via hashtag search), and shots from Google Images.

Unlike other services, Slidely lets you import images from your friends FB accounts or the broader web directly to your slideshows in one simple step, keeping you in the creative flow.  There’s no need to download them to your PC first, then do a 2nd step of importing them.  Music can be added in one-step via YouTube, SoundCloud or by PC upload.  Here are some examples how Slidely can help capture the moment this season:

· Elementary school teachers could make moving end-of-the-term recap video slideshows to show on the last day of class, capping the year with emotional affection – like this: http://slides.ly/14N6kMg; Middle school teachers could make a “restless student lesson plan” for the last week of classes – putting a twist on the What I Did Last Summer report by having kids make & present What I’m Gonna Do This Summer slideshows.

· Groups of best friends could immortalize their Besties in slideshows before going their separate ways for the summer – like this: http://slides.ly/10Mb2Kg.  Or, if you’re graduating after having gone to school together with someone since kindergarten, a touching keepsake video idea for a friend would be to use all their yearbook photos from Kà12 in a slideshow.

· BONUS: we made a fun “Top Celebrity Yearbook Photos” Slidely (http://slides.ly/10LLlte) – in case you’re looking for some sidebar multimedia content for graduation themed stories.

Introducing Slidely from Slidely Videos on Vimeo.

The Siemens Competition - STEM - This year's program will offer scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000

http://siemens.collegeboard.org/?affiliateId=rdr&bannerId=siemens

The Siemens Foundation, in partnership with the College Board, established the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology and the Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement. The Siemens Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing scholarships and increasing access to higher education for talented mathematics, science, engineering and technology students in the United States.

The Siemens Competition seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects. It fosters intensive research that improves students' understanding of the value of scientific study and informs their consideration of future careers in these disciplines.

You can compete as an individual or as a member of a team. Individual projects promote independent research. Team projects foster collaborative research efforts, as well as individual contributions to the cooperative endeavor.

Scholarships for winning projects range from $1,000 to $100,000.

The application period for the awards is open now. Applications are due Sept. 30.

LG to demo 5-inch unbreakable and flexible plastic OLED panel at SID

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/19/lg-5-inch-flexible-oled/

Knowing Where to Find High Quality #OER (Open Education Resources) so You Don’t Need to Reinvent The Wheel

Source:

http://classroom-aid.com/2013/05/07/knowing-where-to-find-high-quality-oer-so-you-dont-need-to-reinvent-the-wheel/

To jump directly to what you are searching for, use these links: (from open4us.org)

General Search

Photo/Image Search

Video Search

Audio/Music Search

General Education Search

Recorded Lectures & Video Tutorials Search

Open Textbook Search

Simulation and Animation Search

Modular Course Components Search

Complete Courses Search

Gooru (for K-12, Common Core State Standards Aligned)

OER Commons (Common Core State Standards Aligned)

OER Repositories World Map - (Open Education Resources)

http://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=562530&x=-21.256812&y=61.362236&z=14#

Net Texts: The App for Replacing or Supplementing Textbooks

http://www.net-texts.com/index.shtml

Net Texts helps schools replace or supplement textbooks with customized multimedia courses delivered to students' iPads, Android tablets, and laptops!

Here’s How It Works:

• Teachers use our Content Management Website to select existing courses or to create new courses by mixing and matching items from our library with their own educational material.
• Students use our iPad or Android, or web app to download and view these courses, filled with videos, slideshows, e-books, PDFs, text, audiobooks, and Web links. Whether reading the latest e-book that has been assigned or watching a video for the next homework assignment, students will feel more engaged and in charge of their learning.

See It in Action:

• Net Texts Overview
• iPad App Demonstration
• Android App Demonstration

Net Texts Consulting Services:

• Our consulting services help your school get the most out of Net Texts! We will train your teachers on how to use our content management site and mobile apps, how to find Open Educational Resources, and how to create high quality content.
• Net Texts researchers will build customized OER courses based on teachers' recommendations, syllabi, and state standards. We make it easy for a school or district to replace textbooks with a multimedia curriculum based on OER. Schools will save money on textbooks for years to come, as they can update their Net Texts courses with new material at any time.
• We offer a fixed rate of $50 per student per year for the first year and $30 per student per year in subsequent years. We also offer per-course pricing for schools looking to build just a portion of their curriculum.

A system which organizes and delivers the wealth of Open Educational Resources available on the Internet

Net Texts was founded in 2010 with a mission to improve education for both teachers and students. Mike Messner, along with business partner Paul Shiverick, believed the current education system called for some much needed innovation and looked to replace expensive, printed textbooks with engaging, easy to use tablets. The idea was to develop an iPad app and a content-rich Website that organizes and delivers the wealth of Open Educational Resources available on the Internet.

For the 2011-12 school year, the company tested out this concept with 6 schools in Atlanta. The 8th grade classes put aside their textbooks and relied on Net texts courses, delivered 1:1 on iPads for each teacher and student.

As the year progressed, Net Texts took many visits to Atlanta and spent a lot of time with the teachers and students. They offered invaluable feedback that was used to improve the system for a broad release in 2012. We are happy to say that the Atlanta pilot program was a huge success and there will be nearly 40 schools throughout the country using the Net texts system during the 2012-13 school year!

Click here to learn more about the Net Texts system.

You can Download our iPad app from the Apple App Store and use our sample courses and our Atlanta pilot courses. To join our community or get more info, please e-mail us at: info@net-texts.com

 

What's New at NASA's Space Place Website

More and more of our readers are using mobile devices. For that reason, we have recently optimized the design of The Space Place to work well on mobile phone screens. You will see only what fits comfortably (at a readable size) on even the smallest screen, with the rest of the page accessible at your touch. Here's what else we've been doing . . .

What's New?
Why would a pigeon racer phone the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo., for a report before entering a prized pigeon into a big race?

It's surprising how many ways the sun affects Earth and its living things. Solar storms can cause "bad space weather" on Earth. Bad space weather can damage communication and navigation satellites, power grids and hurt astronauts on the space station. But that's not all. Read this new article on The Space Place to find out why homing pigeons and their human handlers might care about space weather. Go to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/pigeons.

Un Rescate en Español
We have all heard stories in which it took many days and a lot of trouble and expense to rescue or find people who were lost in the wilderness or at sea. Sometimes, the rescue comes too late. Here's a story with a much happier ending, thanks to advance planning and the help of a well-designed and -managed system involving weather satellites and a ground-support system. This new feature on Space Place is in both English and Spanish, with Spanish being the story’s original form. Go to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sarsat/sp.

Spotlight on a Dream Career
A Mars mission is good example to show how different scientists and engineers can be. The engineers build and operate the spacecraft, and the scientists determine what information it will gather once it is on the ground or in orbit. Engineers and scientists have different priorities. So there is a special kind of engineer who designs and sets up tools that allow these two types of people to work smoothly together. That's the job of our latest Mission Chronicles blogger. Sarah Milkovich gives a unique view of how a diverse mission operations and science team can work together even though they are located around the country. Check it out at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mission-chronicles/#milkovich.

For the Classroom
No matter what kind of science lesson or activity you are doing with your class, the most important lesson is how to think like a scientist. Science isn't just a bunch of facts. And although there is a formal process known as the scientific method, it is not always necessary to follow it in order to “do science.” So what is science? That is the weighty topic dealt with lightly at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/science. Along with this discussion is an introduction to doing a science fair project, which can be found at spaceplace.nasa.gov/science-fair. Although it may be a bit late in the year to think about science fairs, such projects can also be encouraged just to satisfy students' curiosity -- or, if that isn’t enough -- for extra credit!

For Out of School Time
A menu full of games will entertain kids all summer, while sneaking in a few informal science and technology lessons -- but don't let them know about this latter advantage! See them all in one place at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/menu/play.

Also, don't forget about our iPhone and iPad mobile apps over the summer. Space Place Prime updates daily with new images, videos and articles from The Space Place. Games "Satellite Insight" and "Comet Quest" are also fun challenges. Find out more at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ios.

Special Days

June 8: World Oceans Day
Pick from a diverse set of ocean-related pages and activities at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/search/ocean.

June 16:Father's Day
Any dad would love a cloud mobile or a galactic mobile. Check out the mobiles at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/cloud-mobile or http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/galactic-mobile.

June 21: Summer Solstice, First Day of Summer
There's a simple explanation of why we have seasons at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/seasons.

We Love Feedback
Thanks to the many of you who have written to info@spaceplace.nasa.gov to tell us how you use our website in your teaching and informal work with kids. We are happy to be able to bring you this valuable resource to enhance and supplement your curriculum.

Have a restorative, relaxing summer. Meanwhile, we will continue working to bring you more new materials for next school year.

iPhone and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

Teacher Learning Journeys Project

NASA's Aerospace Education Services Project has teamed up with the National Science Teachers Association to launch the new Teacher Learning Journeys project. This new approach to individualized professional development is designed to help teachers meet personal learning goals and increase student learning and motivation.

Educators can select, prioritize and complete professional development paths that allow them to find and make use of specific resources, teaching strategies and content they need for their students. Participants may apply for digital badges, a form of recognition that explains the activity, required effort and skills acquired.

For more information and to register for the free project, visit http://aesp.psu.edu/programs/teacher-learning-journey/.

Questions about the Teacher Learning Journeys project should be directed to Chris Gamrat at gamrat@psu.edu.

DIY Podcast -- Tutorial Videos

Are you tired of struggling to find new ways to integrate technology into your curriculum? NASA's Do-It-Yourself Podcast website is the place to begin: It offers free public-domain resources to help you and your students build your own podcasts. With DIY Podcast, you and your students can start creating podcast files immediately.

Building podcasts supports national education standards in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. The process also supports different learning styles. The auditory and visual learners can listen to and watch their podcasts to review the content and learn even more. The kinesthetic learner can perform demonstrations to add to the video. And because they are in the starring roles, students will watch/listen to the podcast repeatedly. The repetition reinforces the content.

NASA offers six video tutorials to show educators and students how easy it is to make podcasts and vodcasts. In just minutes, we show you how to create audio and video podcast files with the free video clips, audio tracks and images on the DIY Podcast site. The six-video series comprises:

-- What Is a Podcast?
-- DIY Podcast Tour
-- Viewing and Downloading Video Clips
-- Listening to and Downloading Audio Clips
-- Building an Audio Podcast
-- Building a Video Podcast

The series provides time-saving tips for helping students create podcasts and explains the benefits of using podcasts as an educational tool. You can find additional techniques and tips on the DIY Podcast Blog. Visit today to learn how you and your students can make podcasts -- all it takes is a few minutes!

NASA's DIY Podcast Tutorial Videos
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/diypodcast/tutorials-index-diy.html

NASA’s DIY Podcast Blog http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=diyPodcastBlog

Airborne Research Experience for Educators Academy

In support of our nation's commitment to training and retaining 100,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, teachers over the next decade through the 100Kin10 initiative, NASA's Earth Science Project Office and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center Office of Education are recruiting 12 STEM teachers to participate in the Airborne Research Experience for Educators Academy, a 10-day research experience July 15-25, 2013, at the Aerospace Education Research Operations, or AERO, Institute in Palmdale, Calif. Applicants can be formal (traditional classrooms, public or private) or informal (museum, science center, etc.) educators of grades 4-12.

Through interactions with NASA's unique content, facilities and personnel, the academy will focus on three education goals through a variety of interfaces (virtual, in-person, self-directed learning):
1. Engage in NASA's unique, airborne research-based missions.
2. Increase core scientific and research knowledge base.
3. Generate NASA mission-based STEM resources and teaching materials.

Participants will be anchored in a community of scientific practice through an end-to-end airborne experience that will focus on two NASA Earth science missions: (1) Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, or HS3, an investigation of how tropical storms form and develop into hurricanes, and (2) Airborne Tropical TRopopause Experiment, or ATTREX, a study of atmospheric compound concentrations and their impact on the Earth's climate and energy budget.

Experiences will include technical content instruction from mission scientists and engineers, utilization of technology via an online tool to monitor missions in real-time, pedagogical content instruction in 21st century skills, inquiry-based teaching and learning, engineering design and project-based learning. Experiences will be translated into teaching practice through the development of a thematic STEM module and action plan.

This opportunity will remain open until all seats are filled. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and may apply as individuals or as an interdisciplinary team of two - three persons.

For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/arees or http://aeroi.org/node/13.

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to Shaun Smith at shaun.smith@nasa.gov.