[CAnet - news] Grids in k-12 classrooms

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[Here are 2 great examples of how grids can be used in the classroom. With
the coming revolution in web services and mashups I think there will be a
number of opportunities for students to participate in real scientific
experiments  such as Neptune etc.  Some excerpts from Science Grid -- BSA]

Science Grid This Week is available at:
http://www.interactions.org/sgtw/

Grids in the classroom

Do people learn more about science when they experiment with real data? The
leaders of the Interactions in Understanding the Universe initiative think
so, and they are using the grid to get data from current experiments into
classrooms and museums.

The I2U2 goal is to support and strengthen the education and outreach
activities of grid-based scientific experiments. The project, recently
funded by the National Science Foundation, will provide two options to
scientists building an educational program: e-Labs, for use by students in a
formal educational setting; and i-Labs for informal education, such as
museum exhibits. The I2U2 team of teachers, scientists and grid developers
is creating an e-Lab toolkit for use by scientific collaborations, and is
piloting the i-Labs with the Chicago's Adler Planetarium.

A pilot e-Lab is already up and running. The QuarkNet/Grid Cosmic Ray e-Lab
provides a framework for student-driven investigations with experimental
particle physics data. Since the spring of 2005, students from 240 high
schools have run 11,000 analyses on data collected from 200 cosmic ray
detectors across the country. Students use grid tools and a Web interface to
access the data, perform experiments, publish their data through online
posters, and even discuss their results.

"The goal with the i-Labs is to help people understand what science is and
how scientists work," said Bardeen. "We think of this as an experiment,
since we've never tried something like this before. We are eager to see how
people react to the museum experience."

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SINGAPORE : Singapore is unleashing the power of Grid Computing into its
schools and industries.

It is believed to be among the world's first to offer such high-speed
super-computing capabilities beyond research institutes.

Now they're getting a headstart with the launch of SG@Schools - or the PC
Grid Computing for Schools programme.

They will get hands-on experience in Grid Computing which will enable them
to optimise computing resources in their schools at a 2-day camp.

The plan is to tap into the unused computing resources of some of the
120,000 standalone PCs in schools by linking them up through the Internet.

With more schools becoming part of the Singapore Grid, it will not only pool
the computing power across Singapore, it will also help Singapore tap into
the collective creativity of its students.

Once PCs are grid-enabled, students would be able to do sophisticated
projects such as DNA sequencing for life sciences, animation, or even
complex financial engineering calculations.

Richard Lim, Chairman, National Grid Steering Committee, said: "We're
bringing, through enabling-grid of the PCs in schools, the opportunity for
school projects to move to a higher plain, a higher level of sophistication
and I believe then the students will be a lot more empowered to do very very
significant and very enriching and rewarding projects."


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These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect
those  of the CANARIE board or management.

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