Slate Science Launches SlateMath: A Game Changing Math Learning Apps Series

 

Slate Science, an educational technology company offering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education products for tablets, today launched SlateMath, a series of educational apps the company will bring to market during 2013. SlateMath can be downloaded for free in multiple languages and is immediately available in Apple's App Store .

In conjunction with the launch, Slate Science announced the closing of a $1.1 Million angel round of funding led by private investors. The funds will be used for continued product innovation, marketing and operational costs.

Slate Science was founded by an A-team of educators and engineers with more than 100 years of combined experience in science education, instructional software development, and mobile platforms. The company developed a proprietary technology and a field-proven methodology for teaching STEM fields. Rather than oferring frontal videos and drill and skill practice, the company is focusing on crafting constructive learning environments that guide children through a rewarding process of self-discovery and intuitive exploration. The company's proprietary authoring technology enables it to develop and deploy its learning apps in a remarkably efficient and timely manner.

The company's first launched product –  SlateMath K-1 – takes children on a journey of playful explorations that guide them through the process of intuitively acquiring seven kindergarten and first grade math fundamentals: Counting, Writing Digits,Addition, Comparison and Order, Parity, Patterns, and Problem Solving. These topics are learned through a progression of 30 engaging activities, each designed to endow a well-defined mathematical concept, skill, or insight. The SlateMath methodology offers fun and interactive ways to learn math and develop analytic skills, and is driven by the Common Core Mathematics Standards adopted by 45 U.S. states.

TheSlateMath series was conceived to address a global frustration with math learning. The company's breakthrough learning methodologies tap into children's natural and intuitive learning processes, and help them acquire knowledge and competence constructively, using self-guided as well as teacher-guided exploration. "SlateMath has two purposes," said Prof. Shimon Schocken , one of the company's co-founders, "to teach math proper through self-paced and engaging discovery, and to expose children to the ways mathematicians think and reason about the world. We see a tremendous opportunity to use tablet technology and constructive pedagogy to endear math to children, and to help them develop into confident and competent thinkers."

The SlateMath series was designed from the ground up for an environment consisting of tablets, cloud computing, and standardized curricula. The series is based on a huge portfolio of modular, richly-indexed, and recombinant educational apps that Slate Science is now developing. Subsets of the SlateMath portfolio can be assembled to support existing textbooks and learning programs as well as the new wave of emerging digital textbooks. The software also adapts the contents dynamically, to address the learner's revealed strengths and weaknesses in real time.

"SlateMath is a game changer because it offers a new and innovative approach to teach math. The product is based on an experiential context, hands-on learning, and self-discovery, making the best utilization of the tablet's touch interface I've seen thus far in educational apps. This approach allows children to acquire and understand math 'in their bones'. The Slate Science technology and learning methodologies are applicable not only to math, but to many other STEM subjects as well," said Robert Scoble .

About Slate Science

Slate Science builds portfolios of educational apps designed to support standard STEM curricula while allowing students to develop, deeply understand, and experience hands-on conceptual learning. The company's first series of products isSlateMath, intended for the consumer market and aimed to support math instruction according to the Common Core Standards. A school version of SlateMath, intended for classroom use and equipped with a suite of teaching aids, will be released soon. Headquartered in New York, Slate Science has R&D facilities in Israel. The company's mission is to help students, teachers, and schools reach their highest potential using advanced technology and constructive, hands-on pedagogy. For more information please visit www.slatescience.com or follow us on Twitter at @SlateScience.

 

Social Media Training for Kids: A 60-Minute Class Workshop

Worried about kids and social networks? While services like Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest are among the most public of online spaces, it may help to recall that a little education can go a long way towards teaching children how to behave and act more appropriately on these sites.

Granted, thanks to COPPA laws, guidelines are pretty clear that kids under the age of 13 aren't welcome on the majority of social media services. But that doesn't mean you have to wait until young adults reach their teenage years to provide appropriate supervision and guidelines, let alone that you should just hand over the keys (or, in this case, keyboard) and let them run wild upon doing so. Following is just one of many possible social media workshops for kids that teachers, parents and other caring adults can use to educate sprouts about these sites, and surrounding issues.

Start with Basic Training: A good place to start, perhaps even before you connect with tots or tweens in person, is to use a site like Grom Social, which is designed for kids, and has safeguards in place such as filtering and strict rules against forbidden activities. It's a good way to get a feel for the types of actions and activities one can engage in via social media, and in some ways functions like a social network with training wheels. But whether you're using a service such as Grom Socialor talking specifically about Facebook or Twitter, you need to educate children up-front about communications basics, including what these types of platforms are good for and why people use them. Begin by spending about 15 minutes showing them kids the ins and outs of your social media account, or working together on a COPPA-compliant site.

Move on to More Formal Discussions: It's also worth noting that kids and adults use social networks differently. Open the discussion by asking tots, tweens and teens why it is that they want to be on social networks, and share with them some of your own motivations for utilizing these services. It's also imperative to have a discussion about the different types of content that can be shared through such platforms, e.g. text, videos, audio and photographic images.

Questions to Ask:

What types of communication do you think social networks are best for?

What kind of information do you hope to get via and share over social networks?

What kind of information is appropriate to share, and what isn't?

At the crux of all social networking is sharing. Talk about what makes social networks effective tools for interaction, how people commonly utilize them and best practices when doing so -- including what to know about how and why these companies offer their services for free. In short, spend another 15 minutes having a conversation about all aspects of social networks, before moving on to the following step.

Review the Pitfalls: You don't want to focus your entire conversation on the dangers of social networks, but at the same time, it's also important to highlight what can go wrong on these platforms as a way to encourage proper behavior. Discussion topics may include, but are not limited to:

Cyberbullying - Discuss what it is, and what to do when you encounter inappropriate behavior online.

Privacy - Kids' personal information is the most important asset that they have. Educate them as to why they must work hard to protect it.

Scams - Learn how to spot fraudulent content on social network services, whether it's Twitter DMs or fishy status updates on Facebook, and potential consequences of falling prey to these schemes.

Information Permanence - As a way to impart the permanence of information, go ahead and Google yourself (chances are your students or kids have already done so) and talk about the results that show up. It's the perfect illustration of how much of what appears online tends to stay there forever, impact public perception and is not something you can always control any longer.

We also suggest checking out videos from the annual Trend Micro What's Your Story contest. These are put together by kids, and highlight issues of online safety and privacy, including the very ones you'll be having in this conversation. Visit the official contest page and look at the winners together, then discuss what you saw.

Setup an Account Together: When you're ready to get kids setup on social networks, take steps to configure an account together. Work together on establishing proper privacy settings, and discuss each one and what they mean. In other words, walk children through the process, providing insight and guidance all the way. This should be the last part of your meeting, and a crucial step to take, once you think they are ready (and you're ready) to setup an account.

Teachers, educators and parents may also wish to remember the following tips:

 

Go Straight to the Source. All major social networks including Facebook, Twitter and Google+ offer resource guides for families and parents, which include explanations of the services, descriptions of how to use key features, and specific discussion topics for adults and kids. Examples include:

 

Facebook Family Safety Center - Facebook safety page featuring broad overviews as well as detailed categories for teachers, teens, parents and law enforcement.

Google Family Safety Channel - Videos from Google on helping to keep kids safe online.

Twitter Safety Tips for Parents - Twitter Basics page designed for parents to help answer questions about aspects of teen safety for users of the service.

 

Be There for Them: At the end of the conversation, kids need to know that they can come to you with ANY questions or concerns. While your job as a teacher or parent is to be an educator and guardian first, it is important that they see you as a partner in online explorations. Failure to do so runs that risk that they'll work to educate themselves without your knowledge and they won't come to you if something is wrong.

 

Respect Kids' Boundaries: Once children up and running, you need to let them spread their wings. When they start, you may want to like or comment on posts where appropriate, but quickly taper off this behavior and let them establish online relationships on their own terms, without constant reminders that caregivers are able to see everything that they're doing online.

 

Enter the world of mathematics

Dots ‘N' Digits offers an opportunity for children to explore and discover maths in a playway method.

One cannot escape the feeling that these mathematical formulas have an independent existence and an intelligence of their own, that they are wiser than we are, wiser even than their discoverers. - Heinrich Hertz.

Somehow, somewhere down the line, we have got this larger-than-life image of mathematics — the numbers, lines, shapes and angles. If one sets aside the prejudices and take a closer look, Dean Schlicter's words — Go down deep enough into anything and you will find mathematics — seem to hold the truth.

“Every problem has a solution,” says Vijayalakshmi Raman, a renowned mathematics teacher with 35 years of experience. She adds that maths is to be enjoyed and not to be feared. Ms. Vijayalakshmi, a lover of maths and math teaching, has started a maths activity centre — Dots ‘N' Digits at T. Nagar. The Centre offers an opportunity for children from four to 14 years to explore and discover maths in a playway method.

The Centre provides hands-on experiences to children through games and activities that seek to stoke up their interest.

Ms. Vijayalakshmi has designed a number of fascinating games, math kits, and puzzles that intend to explore the basics of mathematics.

With an extensive knowledge in the subject, she has conceived a methodology and developed books that approach mathematics logically. The materials are also aligned to school curriculum (all boards) and help to reinforce school-based learning. Activities at the centre will also address concepts that may be missing in the primary textbooks but are fundamental to understanding more abstract concepts at the higher level.

The math lab at Dots ‘N' Digits facilitates a positive approach to teaching and learning, where one is allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. The colours, figures and practical concepts captivate the learner. The students will be taught about Indian mathematicians, on how the basic concepts can be extended and simple logics and nuances in solving mathematical problems.

Even in the course of a conversation, Vijayalakshmi, throws puzzles that keeps one motivated.

As a school teacher in well-known city schools, she had composed poems, songs and choreographed dance drama to explain various concepts. She was lauded by former President of India Abdul Kalam at one of the presentations of dance drama by her students.

Dots ‘N' Digits will enrich, engage, explore and extend mathematics, says Ms. Vijayalakshmi adding that children are shrewd in solving problems and one must not underestimate their potential. When they learn the basics now, mathematics will be fun, she adds.

Ms. Vijayalakshmi has won many awards such as the Best Teacher Award by Sri Ramunajan Academy of Math for Talents. She has innovated many game models and was team leader for the Project on ‘Time' and won International Standard Award in Maths.

The Centre has plans to conduct math fair, seminar, workshops and parent connect programmes in the future. It also plans to launch a website exclusively for posting and solving puzzles. Dots ‘N' Digits will accept students based on a diagnostic test. The centre is located at 9/17, Mylai Ranganathan Street, T. Nagar. For details, contact 98842 16213.

 

Training for mathematics Olympiad classes

Training for mathematics Olympiad classes and Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojna Scholarship (KVPY) classes, organised by the Nehru Children’s Cultural Association, Adyar, will commence on September 1 and continue till December 30. The classes will be held on all Saturdays (from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and on Sundays (from 9 a.m. to 12 noon) at P.S. Higher Secondary School, 215, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore.

For registration, contact M.R. Sugumaran, president, Nehru Children’s Cultural Association, Ph: 81444 16484 / 2445 3014.