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As part of NSTA's mobile learning strand, there is a session called Free STEM Resources for Mobile and Desktop Devices from the Concord Consortium Collection. The Concord Consortium (www.concord.org) is a nonprofit R&D organization in Concord, Massachusetts, dedicated to transforming education through technology. Has anyone used any of the simulations? It appears many have to be downloaded. Does the fact that you need to download them impact your ability to use them in the classroom? In my building we are restricted from downloading any kind of program.

This looks like a great website. However, the "having to download an activity to use it," is most definitely a problem in my classroom. The teachers do not have download privileges, so anything requiring a download would need approval and implementation through the tech department first. Activities that can be completed directly through an Internet connection are my best option. Thank you for the link to the website though! It looks like it is rich in ideas!

I'm actually taking part in the Innovative Technology for Science Inquiry-Scale Up (ITSI-SU) part of this foundation. I just finished a week long class, and will continue with class through the school year. This part of their project has models and probe activities. The advantage of this program with the probes is that you don't need to purchase all sorts of different probes if you have access to an Education Agency or something. The activities are meant to work with PASCO, Vernier, etc., and there are also Phet simulations. The ones that are set up are meant so any educator could potentially use, but teachers can edit activities to best suit their needs. I, for example, will probably be linking to Google Docs for my activities (that others wouldn't be able to access). Any educator can use the activities, but only those in the study have access to pre and post tests. Speaking from my personal experience, there is some design klunkiness, as one has to deal with the Java platform. However, we were told that Google is working with the project so that everything will eventually work through web browsers. Right now, it's difficult to use this site with tablets, although I know of some teachers who have done some work arounds. Hopefully, my response isn't too confusing, but if it is, or if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to reply. I'm definitely still learning about the project, but like I said, I've had to modify some activities for my class. Besides ITSI-SU there are other projects under the consortium, but I don't have much experience with those. Right now, I think only teachers in VA, IA, KS, and maybe another state are in the study.