Still Sounds Like Homework to Me

There's been a lot of concern -- and rightly so -- about the state of kids and science, particularly in the U.S. And that concern is based on the assumption -- one that is surely true -- that kids in the U.S. are falling behind in science, math, and other technical disciplines. In fact, according to one recent survey, the U.S. ranked 24th among 29 countries in terms how elementary-level students perform in math and science.

That's not good enough. Luckily, some organizations -- and you might be surprised who they are -- are doing something about it.

One organization is CMP Technology's Electronics Group. CMP Technology is, of course, the company that also publishes Dr. Dobb's Journal. For its part, the Electronics Group publishes EE Times, among others. What the Electronics Group has gone and done is launch a new community called the Innovation Generation -- a community for kids to explore their curiosity for math, science, and technology and experience the effect of innovation and create new ideas. To what end? Well, according to CMP's Paul Miller, there are two goals:

• To help reverse the trend of U.S. children falling behind in science and math.
• To create the next generation of engineers, scientists, and mathematicians.
• And to have fun doing so.

Okay, that's three goals. Hmmm, maybe this is the kind of math impairment that the Innovation Generation is designed to tackle. Take a look at it and let the folks know what you think. Better yet, let your kids take a look at the site.

But CMP Technology isn't the only organization looking for ways in which technology can spur education. Microsoft and Tutor.com, for instance, have announced a strategic alliance that will provide on-demand tutoring to students who own Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008, the recently launched software designed to help students complete assignments in subjects such as math, science, and foreign languages.

To jumpstart the project, kids who Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008 will receive 75 minutes of free live online, one-to-one tutoring from Tutor.com. Students who use Tutor.com services can get on-demand help from a network of more than 1300 professional tutors located across the U.S. and Canada, as well as bilingual tutors from Latin America. According to Microsoft, access to a live professional tutor “right now” is a powerful tool when combined with the rich multimedia content of Encarta Premium and the homework tools, templates and tutorials found in Microsoft Student 2008.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 12:55 PM  Permalink