​NBA and Discovery Education Team Up to Provide Educators New Digital Resources to Improve Student Engagement in Math

Join us on tomorrow, November 30th from 3:00 to 4:00 PM ET when we celebrate the launch of the new and improved STEMconnector website and our 5 year anniversary! Our original website and organization was launched on November 30th, 2011, so tune in and help us celebrate five years of STEMconnector and learn all about the improved functionalities of the new site!

The live webcast will air at 3PM from the STEMconnector YouTube page, and the video is also embedded below: https://youtu.be/PfKkcDtGnNQ

This is a press release from Vernier Software & Technology

STEM teachers encouraged to share their creative uses of Vernier sensors to introduce engineering concepts for a chance to win $5,500 in prizes

BEAVERTON, Ore., Nov. 18, 2016 (PRNewswire) | Vernier Software & Technology is accepting applications for its 2017 Engineering Contest. The contest recognizes science and STEM teachers for their creative uses of Vernier sensors to teach students engineering concepts and practices. Two winning teachers—one middle school teacher and one high school teacher—will each receive prizes valued at $5,500.

Applications for the contest are due by February 15, 2017, and winners will be announced in March on the Vernier website and Facebook page. To enter, educators must complete an online application, as well as produce a video that showcases the engineering project in action, describes the Vernier sensors being used, and highlights the engineering concepts being addressed. The sensors may be used in conjunction with Logger Pro software, NI LabVIEW software, LEGO NXT, VEX, or any other system incorporating Vernier sensors.

Applications will be judged by a panel of Vernier experts based on innovation, engineering objectives, and the ease by which other teachers can replicate the project. Applicants will specifically need to explain how the project addresses the engineering practices called for in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Each winner will receive $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier technology, and $1,500 toward expenses to attend the 2017 National Science Teachers’ Association (NSTA) STEM conference or the 2017 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference.

“We are constantly impressed by the innovative ways teachers are using our technology to engage students in hands-on learning,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “Our annual Engineering Contest helps us recognize and share some of these best practices, while supporting teachers by providing prizes and valuable professional development opportunities.”

The winning projects from the 2016 Vernier Engineering Contest focused on developing specialized water filters and designing bridges made out of a single material without adhesives.

For complete information on the 2017 Vernier Engineering Contest and to submit an application, visit www.vernier.com/grants/engineering/.

About Vernier Software & Technology
Vernier Software & Technology has led the innovation of scientific data-collection technology for 35 years. Vernier was founded by a former physics teacher and hires educators at all levels of the organization. The company is committed to teachers and to developing creative ways to teach and learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) using hands-on science. Vernier creates easy-to-use and affordable science interfaces, sensors, and graphing/analysis software. With worldwide distribution to over 130 countries, Vernier data loggers are used by educators and students from elementary school to university. Vernier technology-based solutions enhance STEM education, increase learning, build students’ critical thinking skills, and support the science and engineering practices detailed in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The Vernier business culture is grounded in Earth-friendly policies and practices, and the company provides a family-friendly workplace. For more information, visit http://www.vernier.com.

Business Leaders Recommend Higher Education Partnerships to Help Develop Diverse Talent Pool

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE) | University of Phoenix and co-author STEMconnector^® today shared key findings from the “Big Data, Open Data: Inspiring Corporate & Civic Innovation” event held this spring in a white paper revealing a need for data-fluent talent, one of the definitive workforce issues of today¹. The paper, Big Data, Big Needs: Meeting Societal Needs for Data Science and Cybersecurity Skills introduces a framework to help businesses, organizations and foundations unlock the power of data.

“In order to harness the power of data, leaders should work together to train employees to meet the data and analysis skills demands of today’s workforce,” said Ruth Veloria, executive dean of the University of Phoenix School of Business. “The growth of data, particularly the amount of detailed information that government, business and other sources collect, means we need to be prepared to meet this challenge with higher education, business leadership and industry collaboration.”

By 2020, the availability of data is projected to grow from more than five zettabytes to more than 44 zettabytes – meaning organizations must have the will and talent to understand and utilize the data². The paper finds that persistent skills gaps hinder the ability for companies to maximize their leverage of this wealth of information, and a shortage of data-fluent talent is one of the definitive workforce issues today.

“Education is key to closing the skills gap, and talent management must be aware of the skills demands and development needed throughout the organization³,” said Dennis Bonilla, executive dean of the University of Phoenix College of Information Systems and Technology. “Education doesn’t end in the classroom, and employers will need to not only recruit new talent, but take on a larger role in the growth of their current employees – the data-driven workforce will have to continue to learn on the job⁴.”

University of Phoenix has created programs to help make students aware of the current utility of data, teach them how to analyze data, instill the value of data-based decision making and inspire both the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that are the hallmark of the data space. Meanwhile, companies will need to evolve the management of talent beyond a one-size-fits-all approach, creating opportunities for employees to “upskill” and learn the skills they need to keep pace.

To view the white paper in full, visit http://www.phoenix.edu/content/dam/uopx/doc/big-data-big-needs-whitepaper.pdf. To learn more about University of Phoenix® School of Business programs, visit www.phoenix.edu/business.

For more information about University of Phoenix programs, including on-time completion rates, the median debt incurred by students who completed the program and other important information, please visit phoenix.edu/programs/gainful-employment.

1. Cited from Big Data, Big Needs: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522085217.htm
2. Ibid.
3. Cited from Big Data, Big Needs: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2016/m-16-15.pdf
4. Ibid

About University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix is constantly innovating to help working adults move efficiently from education to careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant and engaging courses, and interactive learning can help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. As a subsidiary of Apollo Education Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: APOL), University of Phoenix serves a diverse student population, offering associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs from campuses and learning centers across the U.S. as well as online throughout the world. For more information, visit phoenix.edu.

About STEMconnector®
STEMconnector® is a consortium of companies, associations, societies, policy organizations, government entities, universities and academic institutions concerned with STEM education and the future of human capital. With several products and services, STEMconnector® is both a resource and a service, designed to link “all things STEM.” STEMconnector’s network includes organizations at the global, national, state and local levels. STEMconnector® focuses on the STEM workforce and jobs, with a particular emphasis on diversity and women. Our work spans the entire pipeline (Kindergarten to Jobs) and how STEM education experiences translate into careers.

This is a press release from Discovery Education 

NBA Game Footage and Statistics Added to Award-Winning Math Techbook To Bring Concepts to Life for Middle and High School Students

Initiative Announced with Washington Wizards & Mystics, NBA Legends During Jr. NBA Clinic at John Hayden Johnson Middle School in Washington, D.C.

NEW YORK & SILVER SPRING, Md. [Nov. 18, 2016] | The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital education content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, today launched a new multi-year partnership that will deepen middle and high school students’ engagement in mathematics nationwide. In this new collaboration, which harnesses students’ interest in professional basketball to help teach important mathematics concepts, interactive math problems derived from NBA and WNBA game footage and statistics such as points, rebounds, assists and more, have been integrated into Discovery Education’s Math Techbook™. The latest addition to Discovery Education’s award-winning line of digital textbooks, the Math Techbook transforms the way students and teachers experience math through engaging instructional strategies and real-world problems that motivate and excite students with diverse learning styles. More than 3 million students across all 50 states and several Canadian provinces have access to the series.

This announcement was made during a Jr. NBA clinic at John Hayden Johnson Middle School in Washington, D.C (District of Columbia Public Schools) with special NBA and WNBA guests including Washington Wizards forward Daniel Ochefu; Washington Mystics point guard Ivory Latta; Washington Wizards legends Phil Chenier and Etan Thomas; Hall of Famer and NBA Cares Ambassador Bob Lanier; NBA legend and NBA Cares Ambassador Felipe Lopez; NBA legend and NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations Kiki VanDeWeghe. The Jr. NBA is the league’s youth basketball participation program for boys and girls ages 6-14 which teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game. At today’s event, participating students competed to solve NBA math problems and tested their shooting, passing, and dribbling skills during an oncourt clinic.

“We are proud to partner with Discovery Education to bring the excitement of the NBA, its teams and players directly to students in classrooms around the country,” said NBA Senior Vice President, Social Responsibility, Todd Jacobson. “Basketball can be a powerful learning tool and these interactive math problems around the game will engage students in fun, creative ways.”

Developed by Discovery Education’s team of expert math educators with the input of teachers and administrators from across the country, Discovery Education’s Techbooks are digital textbooks that support a comprehensive curriculum and are updated regularly at no cost. The Math Techbook engages students with real world problems worth solving, and can be accessed on any device, anywhere, anytime in any instructional setting. In addition to dynamic, standards-aligned content, interactives, videos, and game-like activities that increase students’ motivation to learn math, Math Techbook includes useful student tools such as a graphing calculator, a geometry tool, a whiteboard tool, and a matrix solver.  A Student Dashboard embedded within the Math Techbook helps students track their individual progress and take responsibility for their learning.  Technology enhanced items and formative assessments are woven throughout the entire instructional cycle, and teachers have a data dashboard that helps them monitor student progress.

With math naturally prevalent throughout the game of basketball, interactive NBA Apply problems in Discovery Education’s Math Techbook leverage students’ interest in basketball to help teach a wide range of mathematical concepts around their favorite players and teams. The NBA Math Tool allows students to create their own formulas and visualize math concepts through histograms, scatter plots and box plots using NBA and WNBA statistical categories such as points, rebounds, steals, assists and blocks. For example, to teach students about variables, equations, and weighted averages, educators can challenge students to predict who will be chosen for the All-NBA Teams by creating formulas based on available statistics.  Other problems ask students to use proportions to predict how many assists a player is on track to have by the end of the season; create probability models to show how likely players are to make 2 point or 3 point shots; or calculate the timing of a slam-dunk takeoff.

“The launch event is going to jump-start our students’ enthusiasm for math by making it relevant to their interests,” said John Hayden Johnson Middle School Principal Courtney Taylor. “I’m thrilled to see our students deeply engaged in their learning through the context of basketball with Discovery Education and the NBA!”

Discovery Education understands that teacher engagement is critical to implementing successful learning initiatives.  Therefore, all Techbooks include research-based professional development that supports educators as they integrate new digital content and resources into classroom instruction. The Discovery Education Community, a global community of education professionals, further connects teachers and administrators around the world with social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events that inspire innovation and facilitates idea sharing.

“We know that sports are a great way to excite and motivate young learners, especially in critical areas such as math and science,” said Discovery Education President and CEO Bill Goodwyn. “We applaud the NBA and WNBA’s leadership in bringing the real world into classrooms and empowering kids to solve problems by building their core STEM competencies.”

For more information about the partnership, please visit: DiscoveryEducation.com/NBAMath.

About the Jr. NBA
The Jr. NBA is the league’s youth basketball participation program that teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.  Through a network of affiliated youth basketball organizations, live events and interactive experiences, the Jr. NBA will reach five million youth ages 6-14 in the U.S. and Canada over a two-year period as part of its expanded efforts launched in October 2015.  The Jr. NBA partnership network is comprised of youth basketball programs of all NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League teams as well as elementary and middle schools, military installations and longstanding community partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Jewish Community Centers of North America, National Association of Police Athletic Leagues, National Recreation and Park Association, National Wheelchair Basketball Association, Special Olympics, and YMCA of the USA.

About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students, Discovery Education’s services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.