No Student Left Behind with MoticNet

Being a teacher just became a little easier with MoticNet innovative software!  Motic Net represents the next step in classroom management. Motic’s own application software is included with every Motic Digital device and ensures that all core parts of image analysis for school students are catered for.  Precise and repeatable measuring tools and included in every software version enabling students to easily and quickly learn from the image they see by themselves or in teams.  Having a live image transmitted at high-speed directly from the microscope onto the computer eliminates student arguments regarding who will look through the eyepiece.  Discussions, team work and group thinking have never been easier.

Teaching tools have been integrated into the system as well.  With text-based programs like instant messages instructing a particular student that he or she is looking at an air bubble to multiple-user virtual chat rooms, the teacher can communicate with every student from their work station. For students who need audio communication, Motic Net also includes an integrated digital audio communication system; all  you have to do is equip each computer with a headset and microphone.

Motic Net expands its usefulness outside of teaching with microscopes and becomes even more versatile in the classroom.  Having connected and networked each computer station and linked them back to a central control station operated by the teacher, the system allows each student station to be completely controlled. Therefore, even third party programs like math or language software, can be launched and used with Motic Net as a networking program.  Allowing full remote keyboard and mouse control, and Windows-based program can be started, controlled and manipulated remotely by the teacher for classroom benefit.

MoticNet teacher screen.

Will Students Learn more in Social Gaming (in the future)?

Admittedly this news is confined to History, Politics, Social Sciences classes, but we can't help ourselves but wonder what would happen if STEM classes are incorporated into gaming as well.

When learning equals fun, and fun equals learning, we think e-learning is definitely moving in the right direction.

There is much creativity happening

Teachers? Opinions?

(via techcrunch)

Teacher (and Teachers-to-be) Scholarship Alert

For Teachers-to-be:


AFCEA Teacher Scholarship


Amount: 50 Scholarships of $5000 each


Who is this for? Undergraduates, graduates and anyone pursuing the credentials to join the STEM teaching community in the U.S middle or secondary schools.


For Teachers:


STEM Teacher Scholarship


Amount: $5000


Who is this for? future teacher attending a Virginia college or university in honor of The Honorable John W. Warner, former United States Senator. 


Additional Teacher Scholarship - $2500


Robert Noyce Scholarship Program

Amount: Not Specified


Who is this for? STEM majors and professionals looking for a career change into K-12 Math and Science Educators

Apply by: March 26, 2012

Microscopic Organisms Living in Water

For your entire life you've probably been told not to drink pond water, water that's been sitting for days or "dirty" water when you travel to other countries.  What is it about this water that makes it so bad?  Sure, it doesn't always look that refreshing when it's green or brown, but is there something else in it that makes it that dangerous?  Check out the microscopic images these videos captured in pond-like waters!

This water was gathered, put in a beaker and then let on a balcony for three days! Look at what started to call that beaker home.

Here are 10 microscopic organisms that tend to grow, live and thrive in water similar to that water found in ponds.  After seeing this, you'll think twice before you drink or swim in pond water again.

Cultivate a Professional Tutor State of Mind

Teachers, have you run into problematic children who just refuse to learn in your class? Sometimes even after expending ginormous effort into preparing lesson plans and elaborately engaging activities, some children will still stubbornly resist to learn (or perform). Fortunately, this scenario tends to diminish as kids grow older. Some kids simply grow out of it. Others settled for the fact that they must learn to earn a future. And still others stumble to get by. Is this really it? Must these students submit to the dismal "reality" and be "forced" to learn?


Fortunately, education is the combined efforts of both teachers and parents. And the exciting news is, last we checked, anyone can adopt the mindset of a professional tutor! Whether you are a beginner educator,  a veteran teacher, or a concerned parent, you are able to tackle universal problems that children struggle in their process of learning. 

Marian Ruben, who recently published How to Tutor Your Own Child, offers some tried-and-tested, distilled advice for the parents who are dealing with kids who find learning boring. In one of her chapter's, the ingenuity of Marina's approach lies in her emphasis of basics, which concerns 

1. the parents to show that they care about learning to their child, and 
2. the parents to acquire the mindset of a professional tutor

(If you don't love learning, for the sake of your child, pretend you do.)

In case you find the talk above too fluffy for your pragmatic-liking, there are some practical pointers she provides to tackle everyday problems you encounter. For instance, how you may take opportunities to show your enthusiasm in learning in various contexts:

Here are other ways to show that you love learning:

• Value learners. Whether it means making positive comments about the "nerd" character in a television show or praising the efforts of a neighbor who has decided to study gardening, send your child the message that you admire people who make the choice to investigate and acquire knowledge.
• Ask follow-up questions. Let's say uncle Frank visits and talks about his interest in phrenology. Don't just go "uh huh." Find out what phrenology is, why he started studying it, and whether anyone still really thinks that you can measure architectural talent by skull shape.

Even if you don't really believe any of the above, the book is full of little gems worthy of a hearty chuckle: (And let's be honest, in the profession of teaching, who doesn't need a good chuckle?) 

STUDENT: Why do I have to study Portuguese? That's not fair.
BAD PARENT-TUTOR: Life's not fair.
GOOD PARENT-TUTOR: What if Brazil invades America? You'll be able to translate!

Lastly, we leave you with a quote to ruminate to start off the week:

taking action and taking the right action can be two very different things. - Cal Newport (Study Hacks)

(excerpt via How To Tutor Your Own Child, Study Hack Blog)

Onion Skin Cells & Osmosis!

Mold Mania

Texas' warm, humid and often not too pleasant climate is a huge reason mold outbreaks occur so often.  So why not a closer look at mold yourself? If you want to make it really interesting - and a little competitive - have a contest to see who can grow the MOST mold!


Start out by grabbing a sandwich bag, a piece of bread, a paper towel and a little bit of soil.  You're soil can be obtained from outside or a potted plant.  After you have everything you need, dampen the paper towel and put it in the bag along with the piece of bread and a pinch of soil.  Keep some air in the bag and then seal it, labeling the outside with the date.  Store your bag in a a warm, dark place for three or four days and then pull it out to see what you've created.  If nothing has happened, put the bag back in a warm, dark place for three more days. Before you know it, you'll have a mold garden on your hands! 


To check the mold out, look it at with a magnifying glass.  Whatever you do, do NOT open the bags.  When you are finished with your experiment, throw the UNOPENED bags away.  Breathing in too much mold can make you sick.


For more information on mold and what's happening when mold forms, visit Bill Nye's website.

An Education Revolution...

Is an online education revolution coming? Or is it happening already? We have compiled a list of existing online tools designed to make the life of the teaching community a lot easier.

Teacher Tube

Instead of clicking around hopelessly on YouTube where you are guaranteed distraction, teachers can now upload their teaching videos in one place to share with like-minded educators and students.

Be data driven, Not data drowning.

Kickboard keeps classrooms afloat. Integrated student academic and behavior records highlight trends. Automated classroom management systems save teachers time. Customizable settings mean Kickboard fits your school's existing systems from the start.

Kickboard for Teachers

The command: Be Data Driven. Manage your class efficiently by having an automated management system in place where you can sync class data (grades) into meaningful trends (the correlation between student grades and behavioural problems). Bless your data analysis junkie heart.

Edmodo

The Facebook of eClassroom. A "secure social learning network" that solves the problem of schools banning Facebook. It encourages interaction and collaboration among students and teachers because it puts you in the mindset of socializing, with teachers, and students.

Edutopia - "K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work" Cleanly packaged website with a  clear goal. How-to videos are posted based on real life case examples, such as, online learning in Idaho. Any forward-thinking educator can now share their teaching experience with online and digital tools.

With start ups launching at a heady pace, and iPads being hand out to students to promote a digital learning environment, there is bound to be a learning curve for educators as they embrace this new technology and fancy management systems.  Are teachers ready for this revolution? Can we find the right way to use these new tools for the same purpose - to teach effectively? How are teaching methods different because of the different tools used? We welcome the input of all teachers who are curious enough to test this technique and those who are ahead of the curve and using these digital tools.

(via Fastcoexist.com)

When Viruses Attack

It's that time of year again.  The time of year that tissues fly off the shelves, chicken noodle soup is in high demand and more people are using their sick days.  Various viruses are circulating through classrooms, offices and university campuses and they can't be stopped.


In this segment of The Secret of Life, you'll watch a virus attack a healthy cell through a microscope.  Viruses are known to continue to replicate until they completely break apart the host cell and are able to start spreading throughout the body, destroying other healthy cells along the way.  The clip also shows how white blood cells in the immune system overpower a virus and create antibodies that fight and kill the same type of virus shall it ever return.


Watch the clip from The Secret of Life here.

The Science of Animal Cloning

Are you interested in how an animal is cloned?  What about identical twins, are they clones of one another? The Dolan DNA Learning center has developed an interactive activity to show you what clones are, the techniques that make cloning and animal possible and some of the animals scientists have successfully cloned over the years.  You'll not only discover how scientists first cloned sheep and mice, but you'll find that identical twins do fit the definition of clones.  You'll even explore why animal clones may one day be the answer for human health issues! To load or view the activity, visit the Teachers' Domain.