Technology + Online + Industry + Partnerships
FETC to Offer Gaming for Grown-ups
Tabula Digita will test educators' math skills when it holds its
game-based algebra tournament at the 2009 conference.
THANKS TO TABULA DIGITA, educators at this month's Florida Educational
Technology Conference (FETC) will have a chance to put their algebra and
gaming skills to the test. For the second year in
a row, the educational gaming vendor will host
its DimensionM Multiplayer Tournament for
educators at the annual K-12 education technology
conference in Orlando.
DimensionM games combine a popular
mission-based, 3D game format with content
aligned to standards set by the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics as well as several state standards. K-12 teachers,
administrators, and IT staff will play Meltdown,
one of the games available on Tabula Digita's
DimensionM Evolver Pre-Algebra Multiplayer
software. The educators will have to use their
math skills to navigate through timed missions,
quickly demonstrating a mastery of linear
equations as they attempt to score the most
points and move on to the next round.
ON A MISSION Tabula
Digita's DimensionM math
games are played in 3D.
To participate in the tournament, FETC
attendees can sign up at the Tabula Digita-
FETC Tournament Center, located across
from Room North 220 in the lobby of the
Orange County Convention Center. They can
also preregister on the DimensionM website, where they can
download samples of the game.
Qualifying rounds will take
place every half hour on Friday,
Jan. 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. at the tournament center.
Ten finalists will advance to the
championship round, to be held
on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 11:30
a.m. to noon. Each of the finalists
will receive valuable prizes, with
the winner taking home a site
license for the DimensionM
Evolver Multiplayer gaming
software.
Tabula Digita's goal for the
tournament is to give educators
the opportunity to experience
the excitement that students
feel when they learn new concepts
and skills using gaming
technology, and to demonstrate
that learning and applying abstract math
concepts can actually be fun.
"Last year we had nearly 350 educators from
23 different states and Canada sign up for our
inaugural tournament, and we expect an even
larger turnout this year," said Ntiedo Etuk,
CEO of Tabula Digita, in a recent statement.
"It's important for educators to get firsthand
experience with a teaching tool that students
embrace and is proven to accelerate the
understanding and comprehension of abstract
concepts like algebra."
Green Spot
CALLING ALL ECO-HEROES
UNTIL MARCH 15, US middle
school students can do their
part to help save the planet by
entering the Siemens We Can
Change the World Challenge.
Teams of two or three students
must work together using webbased
tools to create and
implement a plan to help solve an
environmental issue of their choosing.
Teams must also collect data
to measure their results, and make
recommendations for replication.
A panel of environmental
experts and science teachers
will judge teams based on their
creativity, their ability to devise a
positive, measurable solution to
an environmental issue using
scientific methodology, and their
explanation of how the solution
can be replicated. The top team in
every state in the country will be
recognized, and three will be
selected as national finalists.
Prizes will be awarded to each
member of the winning teams and
their teachers, and include digital
cameras and Discovery Adventure Trips.
One of the finalists will win the
grand-prize package, which for the
students includes an appearance
on Planet Green, Discovery's ecolifestyle
network, and for their
teacher a one-year membership
to the National Science Teachers
Association.
Discovery Education and the
NTSA will provide standards-based
lesson plans and multimedia
teacher resources to accompany
each stage of the challenge.
:: Awards and Contests
ABC-CLIO LAUNCHES HISTORY
RESEARCH COMPETION. ABC-CLIO
has announced a new annual research
competition for middle and high school
students called History Uncovered.
For the inaugural competition, student
teams must work with their teachers or
school media specialists to research and
select 10 people, events, or places that
have shaped the course of history, using
one or more of ABC-CLIO's eight
online history databases. Each "Top 10"
list must fall into one of the standardsaligned
curriculum categories chosen by
ABC-CLIO. Teams must submit their
findings in electronic presentations such
as online essays, videos, animations, or
podcasts. Entries must be submitted by
March 30, and a panel of judges will
select five high school and three middle
school grand-prize winners-- one from
each category. Prizes include cash,
digital whiteboards, and subscriptions to
ABC-CLIO databases.
INSPIRATION INTRODUCES AWARDS
PROGRAM. Inspiration Software recently
announced the launch of the Inspired
Visual Learning Awards, a new awards
program that will recognize 15 educators
and their students for their creative use
of visual learning in the classroom. To
be considered, educators must submit
examples of classroom projects that were
created by students using Inspiration,
Kidspiration, or InspireData software.
The winners will receive a variety of
prizes, including money, Intel-powered
Classmate PCs, and
Inspiration Software learning tools. To
apply, visit here before Feb. 27.
:: Industry News
IBM DEVELOPS NEW WEB 2.0 TOOL.
IBM recently introduced
a new Web 2.0 peer-to-peer learning tool
that aims to make knowledge sharing
more user-friendly and collaborative.
The tool, called Pass It Along, integrates
knowledge management, social networking,
and Web 2.0 concepts to build
communities of contributors, experts,
and learners around niche topics. Using
Pass It Along, users can access, share,
and rate information; categorize information
from other websites; and create
learning networks. A free demo version
of the tool is available here.
URBAN TECH EXPANDS WELLNESS
PROGRAM. The National Urban Technology
Center (Urban Tech) has announced that it
will expand its holistic wellness
program, Get Healthy Harlem, to include about
40 schools and 6,000 students in central
Harlem and Bushwick, NY. During the
program's first year, Urban Tech worked
with 11 schools and 3,300 students in
central Harlem. The expanded program,
which begins this month, is called Get
Healthy New York because it will
eventually reach other boroughs of New
York City. The program will continue to
cover topics such as conflict resolution,
STD/AIDS awareness, diet, and
substance abuse prevention, and use
interactive technologies to help increase
student engagement.
MARSHAL AND 8e6 MERGE. Marshal,
a provider of e-mail and web content
security software, and 8e6 Technologies,
a provider of web filtering technologies,
have merged to form the new
Marshal8e6.
The new company will provide
technologies in the form of software,
appliances, and software as a service to
combat both web-based and e-mail
security threats, creating a comprehensive
security solution for schools and
organizations of all sizes.
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2009 issue of THE Journal.