http://discoverchampions.com/blog Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:30:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Image via Wikipedia The topic of this blog really is one of teaching and learning through technology, so it might sound a little weird for me to begin by suggesting that you shut down for a bit, but the ability to have a holiday from technology is probably ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=180 Image via Wikipedia Last year on about this day I wrote a post that ultimately drove to the idea of declaring “Independent THINKING Day” (http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=125) for kids all over. It was a fun piece, and rereading it actually sort of tainted my creative juices in the last stretch ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=175 Image via Wikipedia As someone who's been teaching in the virtual space since nearly the beginning of fully online (over the internet) courses, my personal inclination towards the "anytime, anywhere" that's so often held up as a key feature of the approach runs deep with me. I love ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=171 [caption id="attachment_163" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Field Trip!Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Renanim_school_on_field_trip.jpg"][/caption]There are lots of benefits to getting our kids online--either in wholly online courses or for fun events to supplement their in-class learning experiences. Some of the benefits that are often touted for engaging our kids in these types of ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=160 I believe that with the numbers of kids today being driven to online solutions to supplement, replace or enhance their in-school and out-of school activities, it’s important that we all get to a place where we can have a common language and understand what’s really being asked of or children ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=154 Image via Wikipedia I watched last week as Gmail (the e-mail program from Google) went down and stayed down for quite along time. I watched, too, while the discussions of this outage nearly also brought down Twitter and Facebook, and I began thinking about how different our lives ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=145  Last week I attended a science fair in Chicago called Labfest. Hosted by science Chicago, Labfest is a series of science day fairs happening all summer and is designed to promote science learning for Chicago's local children and their families.   Champions Science Adventures has gotten in on the fun and ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=132 Image via Wikipedia So, with the big mid-summer holiday upon us her in the US, I suppose it really does provide an opportunity to step back and think about the meaning of a day with a name like that. Of course, we always need to stop first and think of the ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=125 Gases are made of highly excited molecules. To teach this you can show students the Ideal Gas Law and the linear relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature. pV =nRT    You can tell them that the air molecules around us are racing at over a 1000mph.  The result is always the same. Their ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=106 Image via Wikipedia As the Director of Online Solutions for Champions, a big part of my job is to stay in tune with all things technical, and the innovative trends happening on the internet and off. With that said, I've spend a good amount of time over the past few years ... http://discoverchampions.com/blog/?p=104