Tech Tidbits: Wolfram Alpha

Research is an important facet of academic learning on all levels of education, including elementary school, all the way through high school, and it is important for learners to be able to locate and evaluate research results that are trustworthy, responsibly sourced, and accurate.  You can't always guarantee that with a Google search!  One online search engine that provides accurate and responsibly sourced results for information searches is Wolfram Alpha, which refers to itself as a "computational knowledge engine".

  

Wolfram Alpha provides search results on almost any topic you can imagine, without results that offer opinions or bias.  The results are presented as data, which can proven as factual, as opposed to other search engines that provide top results based on popularity or relevance.  It allows you to perform searches on topics based on a large variety of categories, including mathematics; words & linguistics; people & history; chemistry; physics; music; astronomy; art & design; places & geography; and many more. 

You can also search for information on two different people or areas in order to provide results that compare the two search topics with each other.  For example, you can search for "George Washington" and "Abraham Lincoln" at the same time, and the results will create a data table comparing the birthdates, places born, dates of death, and places of death of the two people.  A similar search can be done for different towns or cities, which can be used to explore objectives in Social Studies.  

Feel free to explore the different categories provided to see what other types of searches you can conduct!  There are entirely too many to list here, so explore what Wolfram Alpha has to offer!  

Tech Tidbit: NewseumEd.org

A major issue in American politics today is the ability for one to exercise their1st Amendment rights, providing the freedom of self-expression.  History and/or Social Studies teachers who discuss the Constitution with their students can use the digital resources provided by NewseumEd to explore how the 1st Amendment has been an important part of American history.  

NewseumEd is an extension of the original Newseum site, and does require you to register for a free account to make use of its resources.  You can filter your results in the EdTools section by type of tool, topic, theme, century, and more.  You can also for resources by a certain topic related to the 1st Amendment, such as "Civil Rights", "National Security", or "Supreme Court", for example.  The EdCollections section allows you to explore topics related to the 1st Amendment more in-depth with a variety of interactive learning tools, multimedia primary resources, and digital artifacts.  In the EdIdeas section, there are a number of tips, suggestions from other NewseumEd users, and current event resources that are regularly updated.  Finally, in the EdCommunity section, you can read testimonials of how other teachers have successfully utilized NewseumEd in their classroom.  You can submit your own testimonial as well!

 

Tech Tidbit: SmartyPins

It's time for another Tech Tidbits video, after my track-out session!  This time I am demonstrating the use of SmartyPins, a fun and free website that combines Google Maps with trivia questions on a variety of topics, including Arts & Culture; Science & Geography; Sports & Games; Entertainment; and History & Current Events. 

Smarty Pins

Once the game starts, the user is provided with a maximum of 1000 miles and is provided with a series of trivia questions based on the selected category. Based on the clues provided, the user is directed to place the pin on the location on the map as close as possible to where they think the location is.  Once the answer is submitted, the actual location is revealed with the distance in miles from the submitted location. 

If there is a differential between the provided answer and the actual location, that number of miles is subtracted from the running total.  The game ends when you run out of miles!  If you answer 5 questions correctly without running out of miles, you can choose to start a new game, or continue the game.

 

Smarty Pins could be used as a formative evaluation tool to test students' knowledge of geography combined with science and/or history, or just a fun way to sharpen students' critical thinking skills.  This site could be used to test students' geography knowledge in a fun, low-pressure context that students (and teachers) should enjoy!