Current Site and App of the Week - eSchool News September 4, 2013

Current Site of the Week

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Dennis Pierce, Editor writes, "Our Site of the Week is LearnBIG, which aims to simplify the search for high-quality online content. LearnBIG curates and reviews digital learning materials from around the web, and its format gives users an easy way to search for resources by subject, grade level, platform, and popularity."



Online and digital learning are transforming education, but finding the right tools can be a challenge. A new website called LearnBIG aims to change that.
Launched Sept. 4, LearnBIG provides access to more than 14,000 online educational resources for students of all ages— including pre-kindergarten, K-12, and continuing learners—in one easily searchable location, its creators say.

Photo: LearnBIG

LearnBIG curates digital resources from around the web, such as websites, apps, games, courses, and videos. The website is community-reviewed by parents, teachers, and learners, and its format provides an easy way for users to search, filter, and compare results by subject, grade level, platform, and popularity.
LearnBIG features a large online community of parents, students, and teachers who share their experiences about each resource. Each LearnBIG user can review and create collections based on their specific learning needs. This allows the most popular resources on the site to rise to the surface, so users can find them easily, according to the site’s creators.

A core feature of the site is LearnBIG’s Career Paths, which are intended to guide high school and college students—or anyone who’s changing careers—toward achieving their goals. The Career Paths provide a set of skills and a roadmap for users to become proficient in whatever area of expertise they choose.

LearnBIG can help teachers direct their students to enrichment materials for after-school learning, its creators say. Resources can be sorted by Common Core State Standards to ensure they match what students are learning in class.

“LearnBIG’s breadth, depth, organization, and user experience [give users] the power of choice to find exactly what they need,” said Victor Alhadeff, CEO of LearnBIG and former CEO of Egghead Software.


About LearnBIG

LearnBIG is based in Seattle, WA, but we are hoping to change the way people learn all over the world.  We’re dedicated to transforming education by providing a site that combines the power of technology, community, and ease of use for all types of learners.  We firmly believe that regardless of income, age or geographic location, everyone should have access to the tools that will help them reach their goals and succeed in whatever area they choose.

Our company is made up of educators, parents, grandparents, and students – all with a thirst for knowledge and a penchant for changing lives.  We’re passionate about finding innovative ways to bring personalized learning solutions to everyone. In more ways than one, we love our job.

App of the week 

Name: Grammar Pop

What is it?
Grammar Pop, from the award-winning Grammar Girl http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl , lets users match words in sentences with 1 of 11 speech parts. The game starts off with the basics (nouns, verbs, and articles) and advances through 14,000 words and 28 levels of difficulty. Higher levels include more advanced concepts, such as gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Users can start at Level 1 or move between levels at will, collecting coin prizes and earning achievements along the way. 

Features:

• The game includes “help” text that reviews the parts of speech. Additional supporting educational content is also available at GrammarPop.com for teachers who wish to include Grammar Pop in their language-curriculum.
• Dozens of Grammar Girl fans, many of them English language educators, beta tested Grammar Pop, giving it high marks for its fast, fun pace, and its ability to help players truly master parts of speech.
• Quick and Dirty Tips consulted a linguist to ensure the highest level of accuracy, and Fogarty also compared the game sentences to the Common Core standards to ensure that the sentences represent a wide range of the concepts educators are striving to teach.

Read more...

Related link 
Visit iTunes to buy and download apps

Source: eSchool News, LearnBIG and LearnBIG's Channel (YouTube)