Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

I had a great two-day visit to Andover this past week. The mathematics department took two days out of classes to hold a technology workshop in which they looked at various programs and Apps. Topics ranged from Latex, GeoGebra, Desmos, Notability, and Canvas, the open-source learning management system used by Andover.

I also learned about Andover's collaboration with Khan Academy to create calculus problem sets for student practice. Andover is also developing an on-line calculus course which include some fantastic videos produced by Chris Odden. Both of these projects are quite impressive and well worth a look - see the links below. Andover is making great strides in moving to a technology-based curriculum. To paraphrase department chair Bill Scott, "Kids today live in the high-tech/video world; we should be part of this world."

To see what Andover has produced for Khan Academy, go to the website, click on LEARN in menu bar, click on Math, then slide over to a topic - Differential calculus, for example. Then click on a topic - Taking derivatives, maybe. Now you will see a list of topics and, within each, a list of videos that show examples. These are marked by u. 

Items marked by a ✮ consist of exercises developed by Andover teachers.

To see the amazing videos created by Chris Odden, click here.

Campus Reaction to iPad initiative

Click here to read an article from Exeter's school newspaper, The Exonian, about reaction to Principal Hassan's decision to require all students to have a tablet device beginning in the fall, as reported in an earlier blog post. If students currently own a device, they may bring it; if they do not currently own a device, they are being asked to purchase an iPad.

iPads at the Harkness Table

Vi Richter, Academic Technology Coordinator at Phillips Exeter Academy, produced five videos in advance of the faculty discussion of iPads at Exeter. They are terrific and well worth the time to watch. It's worth noting that four of the teachers shown in the videos would probably consider themselves "non-techy," but were willing to spend the time to experiment with how iPads could impact their classes.

To watch the videos, click here.