Classroom Compass |
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Learner Profile Sunburst educational software company offers assessment software that can be loaded on the Apple Newton or used with a bar code scanner to provide a mobile data collection tool. The software allows the user to create descriptions of desired student learning on the computer, then transfer the data to the hand-held device. After the data are collected (at the end of the day, at the end of the week), transfer the observations back to the computer for analysis, grouping, and report generation. A 1.4 MB disk for Macintosh or Windows is priced at $99. Call Sunburst at 1-800-321-7511.
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A Personal Digital Assistant The Newton MessagePad, made by Apple Computer, is an electronic device that converts written notes into typed documents, which can then (with an additional connection kit) be transferred to a Macintosh computer or a PC that uses Windows software. Load these hand-held devices with appropriate software and student assessment profiles can be designed to fit your specifications. This gadget serves as an electronic clipboard that lets the user gather, organize, and interpret data more efficiently than with paper-and-pencil records. For further information about the educator's advantage price, call Apple at 1-800-959-2775. The Newtons cost around $500 with the educator's advantage.
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Eco-Inquiry A hefty volume of 392 pages, Eco-Inquiry provides three ecology modules for upper elementary or middle grades. The four-to-seven week modules examine food webs, decomposition, and nutrient cycling and include suggestions for hands- on investigations, discussions, games, writing assignments, and presentations. Assessment is encouraged throughout the modules with ideas for journal topics, collection of portfolio materials, suggestions for written and performance activities, and student self-evaluations. Eco-Inquiry by Kathleen Hogan. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company. 1994. $36.95
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Mars Modules The TERC corporation (formerly Technical Education Research Center), located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, continues to develop exciting products and programs for mathematics and science educators. In anticipation of upcoming orbiter and lander missions, TERC, in collaboration with NASA, is developing hands-on, discovery- oriented investigations focusing on the planet Mars. Developers are looking for middle-school teachers to field test pilot materials during the 1996-1997 school year. Units currently available are Planetary Exploration, Volcanoes, and Valley Formation. The activities enable students to confront preconceptions, refine questions for investigation, construct meaning from images and data, develop hypotheses, collect evidence in support of hypotheses, and synthesize understanding. The modules vary in length from two to three weeks and include materials for teachers and students as well as assessment tools. The pilot activities have no technology requirements. For more information, call (617)-547-0430 or e-mail Chris Randall (chris_randall@terc.edu).
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