Your Kids

Making Science More Engaging With Technology

Posted: 12/13/2010

A recent national survey found that science teachers and parents agree that technology, including the Internet, should be used more to make fun and fascinating science education materials available to teachers and support teacher mentoring efforts.

(NAPSI) - While most parents and teachers agree that science education is important for a child’s future, many also say it needs to be more engaging to capture the attention of kids today. A new national survey conducted by Harris Interactive shows how technology, including the Internet, is a good way to provide the resources and teacher mentoring opportunities that will help kindle a love of science in children.

The survey showed that almost all science teachers (97 percent) and parents (92 percent) agree that the Internet should be used more to make interesting science education materials available to teachers. Additionally, they agree that it can be a great way to support mentoring efforts (99 percent and 96 percent, respectively) and a good tool for parents to engage in their child’s education (98 percent and 96 percent, respectively).

“It is important that students today understand that science is more than what they read in a textbook,” said David Miller, president and CEO of the educational nonprofit Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization Institute (iBIO). “As educators, parents and mentors, it is our responsibility to take science beyond the pages of a book.”

To help science teachers make science more engaging and relevant in the classroom, Astellas Pharma US, Inc. launched Science WoRx, a program that provides mentoring opportunities with real-world scientists, as well as online resources for teachers, all accessible through the Internet.

Through video lessons and online resources such as Skype, teachers can bring a Science Pro into their classroom virtually to work with their students and conduct grade-level-appropriate experiments that demonstrate the impact of science. Parents can even watch the videos with their kids, helping them learn more and get more excited about science from their home computer.

More information about Science WoRx and the Virtual Science Pro program can be found at www.ScienceWoRx.org.

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