Every Friday I’ll send you a wonderful website that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.
Age:
4th-college
Topic:
All
Address:
Review:
I’ve used Wolfram|Alpha (a free online computational knowledge engine that generates answers to questions in real time by doing computations on its own vast internal knowledge base) with mixed results (my fault, not theirs. I haven’t taken the time to think outside the box enough to appreciate WA’s strengths). Now, I find out from fellow-blogger Ralph that they’ve launched an arm aimed at educators, like you and me. This includes:
- gather information on a general concept
- research details of specific topics
- assist in lesson plans
- create visual aids for presentations or handouts, including images and graphs
- show steps to math problems
- assign homework based on information in Wolfram|Alpha
Additionally, the website offers:
- Mathworld for teaching math
- Wolfram Demonstrations Project
But–here’s my but–I’ve always considered Wolfram|Alpha more suited to older age groups than my k-5 kids. Anyone out there use it for younger groups? If so, how? I’d sure appreciate your thoughts.
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
