Growing with Technology Awards

Shodor

Non-Profit
Grand Prize Winner

URL: www.shodor.org
Location: Durham, NC
Executive Sponsor: Mary Paisley
Cisco Products: One Cisco 2600 series router, several Linksys hubs and switches

Using the Internet to Make Math and Science Click

Lately, math and science education has been in the news, in light of congressionally mandated reviews of federal efforts to improve learning in these subject areas. However, one innovative non profit organization has been actively advancing math and science education since 1994. Shodor, a national resource in computational science education, has been working with students and educators, both in their home state of NC, across the nation, and internationally, using modeling and simulation technologies to communicate how engaging math and science concepts can be.

"Educators across the country are incorporating computational science in their curriculum and that is where we come in," says Dr. Robert Panoff, President and Executive Director of Shodor. "Together, we're using technology to help both educators and students approach math and science lessons more effectively. Also, through our local workshops, apprenticeships and internships for students, we're helping young people to become excited about careers in science and technology," he added

The organization takes its name from the shodering process of creating gold leaf by hammering. "As the name implies, we extend valuable educational resources and opportunities as far as possible," says Panoff. "We place a special emphasis on enabling authentic science and mathematics exploration at all educational levels."

How an Online Model and Simulation Works

Shodor's modeling and simulation tools are wildly popular with math and science students, educators, parents, and educational organizations, to the point where its Website receives nearly 3.5 million page views per month. On the site, Shodor's tools let educators and students manipulate data representations, then watch the end results take shape. "One tool that I especially like lets students and educators explore the concept of probability by allowing you build a better fire - virtually. You can change the wind direction, change the density of the trees, and then you light the fire with a click of your mouse in a certain area of the forest. Then, you see the results unfold. It's fun for kids to see what happens once the parameters are changed." Paisley says. "When you walk through one of our tools online, a little light bulb goes off in your head, and you say 'I get it.'" Guides for the instructor and learner help to explain these tools and how they can be incorporated into an existing curriculum.

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Reaching a Larger Audience, Anywhere in the World

Early on, Shodor realized that the Internet and network technologies were the best ways to make its materials accessible by students and educators. Today, it distributes all materials, lessons, examples of models, and software through the Internet. "Educators and students anywhere can search for, browse, and identify high-quality education materials in math and science," says Panoff. "Not only do they get the lesson plan, they get the actual interactive project itself. Without providing these tools on the Internet, we would not have been able to reach as many people as we have reached."

Shodor also offers extensive online instruction, mentoring, and collaboration, using e-mail, VoIP, video conferencing, and shared browsing. For example, "when our founder, Bob Panoff, was in Germany last summer, he welcomed all the students at a special meeting using iChat," Paisley says.

Shodor's Internet presence has enabled it to become a truly international organization, and it's visited by students and educators from countries around the world. "One organization, Eduteka in Colombia, is taking our tools and making them completely available in a linked fashion, in a well-written and well-designed Spanish language format," says Panoff. "Hardly a week goes by that we are not contacted by schools in Mexico, France, the Netherlands, or Germany on how to link to us. By partnering with these organizations and welcoming their opportunities, we have increased our geographical range of service."

How to Build a Better Workshop

In addition to creating and managing the model and simulation tools, Shodor holds workshops across the country, teaching educators how to use them. The organization works with university faculty, along with middle and high school math and science teachers. "Thanks to the Internet, faculty and students can supply all survey information for their applications, confirm attendance, and retrieve workshop information," says Panoff. "Additionally, a workshop project funded in Illinois, managed in Iowa, and delivered in Nevada, New York, Maryland, Texas, California, Florida, and Ohio can be managed seamlessly from a server in North Carolina."

Best of all, Shodor's extensive use of the Internet and network technologies has freed its staff, interns, and apprentices to focus on what they do best. "We are now able to do more of what we really love and feel is the passion of our work, which is mentoring," says Paisley. "Bob is a strong proponent of the phrase, 'we'd rather be mentoring.' Everything we do, even going down to maintaining our network, databases, and websites, involves mentoring on some level with our staff and students."