Showing posts with label apps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apps. Show all posts

Friday, October 9, 2009

Flu Trends Around the World

Google has developed a tool that can yield surprisingly accurate results sooner than the CDC:
- click "Learn More" on the page link below to get an explanation of what's going on here.

http://www.google.org/flutrends/

(Note: The site is google.ORG, not .COM!)

Would it be a fun learning exercise to have your class make guesses as to the terms that might indicate some kind of trend?
How might some one be misled if they didn't understand the data or have enough data amassed to make certain conclusions?
What type of people in various careers would use this? Medical, Sociology, Statisticians, Mathematicians, Scientists, the list goes on...

Interesting stuff!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Useful Webtools for Teachers

Here's a list of useful webtools for teachers. All of them are free of charge. (Some require you to create an account and log in, but the basic tools on these sites are free.) I know many of you already have lesson plans in place, while others may be looking for extra material to direct towards our students. I encourage you to investigate them and use as you see fit.

Library of Congress: Check out the teacher page. This one is completely free! A related site is on flickr (teacher override required) with historical photographs with no known copyrights making it a great source for students and teachers.

For Language Arts and History: shmoop It looks real cool and not just for you, but also with your students. Description: Oh, just look at the website for a good description... no point in me restating what they are all about.

With all those netbooks out there in out LA classes how about a web-based quiz program and instant grading system? Have the results emailed to you instantly. Give ClassMarker a try. Upgrades cost $24.95/year, but the entry-level quiz taker should be fine for most of us.

Concerned with plagiarism? Are kids just copying and pasting text from Google then calling it their own? Use the DOCCOP, a powerful engine that will flag plagiarized student work. Easy to use and totally free!

Lastly, just for students take a gander at these 15 tools. I like #10 etherpad, could be real cool with our netbooks! I've not tested if all of these are filtered from school, but you're only one click away from discovering that so just give it a try and pass them along to our students.