Jacob Klein of Motion Math to Speak at Entertainment Technology Center
Motion Math co-founder Jacob Klein is coming to Pittsburgh to speak at Carnegie Mellon’s Career Fair. On Tuesday, February 7th at 2:30pm, Jacob will share his story with education technology students and practitioners at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center.
This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in learning how new ideas develop into promising new ventures. Please RSVP to Mary Catherine Dieterle at ude.umc.werdnanull@f8bm.
About Motion Math
Motion Math creates fun learning games that let kids play with numbers. Their first product, conceived at the Stanford School of Education, leveraged the iDevice accelerometer to make fraction estimation fun and physical and won a Serious Play Gold Medal. A rigorous efficacy study (the first for an iPad educational app) found the game improved test scores 15% and attitudes towards fractions by 10% – watch this video to learn more.
Their second and third games have received rave reviews, promotion by Apple, and #5 rankings in the Education category. Motion Math is backed by a world-class group of angel investors, including Mitch Kapor, Dave McClure, and Mike Wood (the founder of LeapFrog), and the team has been featured in TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Wired, WSJ, Forbes, and the NYT.
Most importantly: kids, parents, and teachers love Motion Math products.
It’s Digital Learning Day!
Today, February 1, 2012, is Digital Learning Day, a nationwide effort led by the Alliance for Excellent Education to “celebrate innovative teaching and learning through digital media and technology.”
On Digital Learning Day, a majority of states, hundreds of school districts, thousands of teachers, and nearly 2 million students will encourage the innovative use of technology by trying something new, showcasing success, kicking off project-based learning, or focusing on how digital tools can help improve student outcomes.”
You can catch ongoing stream from the Digital Learning Webcast until 6pm at the Digital Learning Day website. Digital Learning Day participants include Barbara Treacy, director, EdTech Leaders Online and former Governor of West Virginia Bob Wise of the Alliance for Excellent Education.
See how Pittsburgh is getting in on the action this afternoon at the Hazelwood branch of the Carnegie Library where they are hosting an iPad 2 Gadget Lab for ages 10 and up. From photography, to movie and music creation, we’ve got a bunch of fun and easy-to-use apps you’re going to love! Visit the Hazelwood branch this afternoon from 4:30pm to 5:30pm.
Teaching the fourth ‘R’: a fireside chat with Cathy Davidson
Author and Duke University academic Cathy Davidson wants to add one more ‘R’ to the traditional education formula of reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. That fourth ‘R’ is algoRithms, the step-by-step reasoning method used in mathematics and computer science that Davidson sees as an essential model for thinking and doing in our digital world.
Davidson identifies algorithmic thinking as one of the new literacies that will enable today’s students to become more active and engaged contributors in the world of “Webcraft.” Read more in Davidson’s Why We Need a 4th R: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, algoRithms essay published at DML Central.
You can take part in a virtual “fireside chat” with Cathy Davidson tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb 1st at 12pm EST.
Sign up to take part in this Lanyrd confernece
Art & Science Collide in New Exhibition at CMU’s Miller Gallery
Intimate Science, a new exhibition of contemporary art, opens this weekend at The Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University.
[The exhibit] features artists who are engaged in non-disciplinary inquiry; they aren’t allied to the customs of any single field, and therefore have license to reach beyond conventions. This kind of practice hinges on up-close observation, experiential learning, and inventing new ways for the public to participate in the process.
Among exhibitors is the Center for PostNatural History, led by Pittsburgh’s Rich Pell, which investigates, catalogs, and exhibits plant and animal specimens that have been altered through human intervention.
Along with the gallery show, curator Andrea Grover and co-contributors have published New Art/Science Affinities, a book examining sixty contemporary artists who work at the intersection of art, science, and technology.
The book includes meditations, interviews, diagrams, letters and manifestos on maker culture, hacking, artist research, distributed creativity, and technological and speculative design. Chapters include Program Art or Be Programmed, Subvert!, Citizen Science, Artists in White Coats and Latex Gloves, The Maker Moment and The Overview Effect.
Intimate Science is great opportunity to experience the unexpected when art and science speak together. Don’t miss it!
Event Details
Location:
Regina Gouger Miller Gallery
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Map It
Duration: Intimate Science runs January 21 thru March 4, 2012.
Robin Shoop and Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy Recognized Again in DML Competition
In early January, the 4th HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition announced the 16 winners of Stage One of the Teacher Mastery and Feedback Badge Competition.
Among the chosen few were Robin Shoop and the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy. Fresh off their Stage One win in the Badges for Life Long Learning Competition, Shoop and the Robotics Academy team have also earned recognition for their Computer Science Student Network Teacher Badge System to enhance the abilities of educators to teach Computer Science, Engineering, and other CS-STEM subjects.
Designed to build knowledge, proficiency, and professional development, the Teacher Badge System is a multi-stage learning program that awards Badges to teachers in increments including:
- Small Badges that provide recognition and motivation to teachers learning new CS-STEM subjects
- Knowledge Badges to certify teacher’s mastery of new content
- Teaching Badges to certify their pedagogical proficiency in a new subject
- Industry Badges to recognize teachers who have attained a professional level of proficiency
Teacher Badge Progression
The Teacher Badge System also includes Recognition Badges awarded those instructors who make a lasting impact on their students. Recognition Badges are awarded to teachers based on the merits of their students’ performance statistics, and by individual students who wish to recognize their teacher’s impact on their learning.
Learn more about the Computer Science Student Network Badge System that has now earned two Stage One wins in the DML Competition. Congratulations to Robin and everyone at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy for their win and good luck!
Stay tuned to hear more on the DML Competition as we near the third annual Digital Media & Learning Conference in San Francisco on March 1-3, 2012.