What's The Back Up Plan?

Think about it, if the H1/N1 outbreak results in school closures students' will lose valuable education time. The job of math teachers will be even harder when the schools re-open because most of the students must catch up. I have recently read a press release from Adaptive technologies an e-learning company. They have pointed out that in case of school closures they have over 240 web based math lessons available.

These lessons may or may not fit in with every teachers lesson plan. However, it's worth thinking about if only on a management level. How will students' math education be continued if there are school closures.

Imagine if a company like Google were to offer a solution. Maybe the new Google Wave could be adapted to fit the needs of schools? Anyway the question remains. What can schools do as a back-up in case they must close in order to avoid spreading H1/N1? Surely some answers can be found in technology.

Student Tool Quick Start Tips

This post has been taken from "The Student Tool Quick Start Guide".

Opening the Assignment

STEP 1: Open the assignment that you have selected by clicking the “Sit Paper” button.



STEP 2: Select the question you wish to attempt then click the “Answer Question” button.




Step 3: Read the question and then click the “Add Step” button to attempt the solution.



STEP 4: Read the directions given and enter the solution using the input bar and the keyboard.



Using the Input Control

The most important thing that you need to know about using the input control, is that you need to put the focus on the section you wish to control. You do this by highlighting the area in red by using the right arrow key (use the left arrow key to deselect). Here are some examples.

Example 1: In this example we want to enter 10x over 5.

As you can see in the screen shot below, x is highlighted in red and 10 is not.



If we press the divide button and enter the number 5 we see that only the x is divided by 5. This is not what we want.



If we press the Right Arrow Key both the 10 and the x become highlighted in red. This means that the focus of the control is on both elements.



When the divide button is clicked both elements are divided by 5 as shown below.



Example 2: We want to enter the cube root of 8.

Firstly, enter the square root symbol by clicking it on the input bar.



Once you have done this, enter the number 8 as follows.



Press the up arrow key or click to the left side of the square root sign. The following will occur.



Press Backspace



Enter the number 3 into the appropriate box.



How to check your answer

After you have entered an answer you can check if it is correct by clicking the “Check” button. Click the save button to save your answer to that step of the solution.

Usability, the key to quality e-learning.

With the beta release we have done ok on usability given that it is the first public release of the Brain Power Math Application. I think the student tool is more user friendly than the teacher tool. This was always likely to be the case given that the student tool is less complicated and has less options for the user.

Like all software a lot can be improved. As a result, we will be using the state of the art facilities at the National E-learning Lab in Dublin Ireland to conduct usability tests on the software in a scientific environment. This will help to improve the usability and therefore make your experiejavascript:void(0)nce more pleasant.

As you know, the usability factor is key to successful e-learning software. The goal is to make the user forget they are using software and allow for the seamless transfer of learning from screen to student.

Please comment on Brain Power Math and help improve the user experience of the software.

The Power of Sharing: Math e-learning

Opening up how teachers share e-learning content is a priority for Brain Power. As a result, it is a fundamental feature in all of our software. The idea behind it is, that teachers know best and that teachers produce the best e-learning content.

Teachers can share their e-learning modules through e-mail, website download, LMS or CD-ROM/memory stick.

Math is the number one issue in education right now. Today's average student has huge difficulty understanding math concepts and doing math calculations. By sharing and customizing self-created e-learning content math teachers can build up a vast library of e-learning resources for their students. These e-learning resources will help students improve at math.

Brain Power's math e-learning software allows teachers to create, share and edit calculation based e-learning modules in math. We have decided to make Brain Power Math free for schools, colleges and universities worldwide.

How to open an assignment in the Student Tool

When you download an example assignment from brainpowermath.com you will see that it is a .ZIP file. The first thing you need to do is extract the .ZIP file (to extract: Windows right click and select "extract here", or MAC just click to open the file). The extracted folder will contain two files. 1) The assignment, which is an XML file and 2) a "read me" or instruction file, which is a .txt file. Before you attempt or edit the assignment read the "read me" or instruction file as it contains brief details on the assignment.

To attempt the assignment open it using the student tool. If you would like to edit an assignment so it meets your students' needs better, open it using the Authoring tool.

Here is a video walkthrough of how to attempt an assignment using the student tool. NOTE: The video only shows a question where one step is required to be answered. However, you can create assignments where individual question/problem require several steps to be entered by the student.

Teachers should have control

Think about it!

Who knows students better - e-learning software developers or teachers?

We all know that e-learning has the potential to do much better. After all, technology is the language of today's student. However, in most cases e-learning software just doesn't give these students the light-bulb moments needed to succeed in the 21st Century.

Given all the advances in computing, the fact that e-learning has failed to live up to it's billing has been a disappointment. It is clear that e-learning technology must check it's ego and realize that it is not the one stop shop answer to poor performing students. It must realize that it is simply a tool for teachers to use. Basically, in today's classroom e-learning technology should be regarded like the modern backboard and chalk - a tool that helps teachers teach.

So how does all that help students get better math grades?

Well an e-learning application that allows teachers to create customized e-learning assignments that are synced to classroom learning along with the students' class notes and textbooks would hel students greatly.

Most teachers know their students really well. They know the strengths and weaknesses of each student. It is for this reason that e-learning content created by a teacher is much more valuable than prescribed generic content that most e-learning packages provide.