CoolHub.IMSA

CoolHub is Upgrading this Sunday (9/18)

Carl Heine — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:38:16 +0000

We are again making an upgrade to CoolHub, this time to the Enterprise Edition of LifeRay, the platform that Coolhub is built on. The upgrade will be done Sunday (9/18) night starting at 11:00 PM (CDT). We expect that the system will be down for a few hours at that time. This upgrade will provide new features and functionality and will be the base from which we will move forward.

We Collaborate! CoolHub’s Entry: United Nations of Youth

Carl Heine — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:27:46 +0000

United Nations of Youth (UNY) is a collaborative project committed to the ultimate goal of world peace. Every few months, UNY convenes via a Web conference to discuss international problems. UNY consists of various student delegations from member nations across the globe, as our core belief is that a youth driven movement can fix the problems of today not only logistically, but also by fostering a culture of cooperation and collaboration. These delegations are comprised of two students from schools around the world, with each school representing its own nation.

An inaugural Web conference (via Elluminate) was held on April 18th (12PM GMT), and featured introductions of delegates from each school talking about their respective education problems. Future Web conferences will focus on global education problems. The rationale is two-fold: The first is that UNY delegations consist of students, and thus we must first act on the problems in our own backyards. The second is that inadequate education tends to be the underlying catalyst or cause of problems around the world, so resolving the problem of education may lead to solving other problems as well.

Participants in the first Web Conference:

Illinois Math and Science Academy (US)
Ressun High School (Finland)
High School Affiliated with Renmin University of China (China)
Korea Science Academy (South Korea)
National Junior College (Singapore)

A 50-seat Blackboard Collaborate room will enable this project to expand to over 40 new schools in the coming year.

More information about We Collaborate!

CoolHub Updates

Carl Heine — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:20:15 +0000

To make it easier to find Help and the CoolHub Toolkit, we’ve moved them to the top Control Bar. This way, Help and Tools now appear on every page in CoolHub. You no longer have to search for just-in-time help!

CoolHub at ISTE in Philadelphia

Carl Heine — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:32:21 +0000

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table during the Monday morning poster session at ISTE in Philadelphia. It’s always great to talk to old friends and meet new ones.

We handed out over 50 sets of earbuds to new account creators, from district coordinators to classroom teachers. We look forward to many new projects. Many more people picked up our new flyer to examine later.

Jim and I are ready to facilitate your project work. CoolHub is not just a space and a tool set for working collaboratively–it’s a support group as well.

CoolHub is back online

Carl Heine — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:01:37 +0000

After a smooth, but longer-than-desired switch to our new server, CoolHub.IMSA is back online. We’ll be making some changes over the next few weeks to the look and feel of the site. We’re excited.

CoolHub Maintanence

Carl Heine — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:14:58 +0000

Please Note: CoolHub.IMSA is under-going site maintenance and is currently off line. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We are moving to a new server and will return soon.

CoolHub Upgraded

jimgerry — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:21:38 +0000

CoolHub has now been upgraded to LifeRay 6 and our initial bugs worked out. If you haven’t seen the new site, go check it out (http://coolhub.imsa.edu). There is a new project creation process that makes it much easier to add a new project and keep the status updated. Also, the bread crumbs feature makes it easy to navigate through the site. Most importantly, the LifeRay platform adds new features like social networking that we will begin to use and expand. Keep sharing your comments and suggestions as we improve the beta release.

CoolHub upgrade

jimgerry — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:54:46 +0000

Well, finally we think we are ready to upgrade to LifeRay Version 6. This upgrade is scheduled for Thursday, December 9, beginning at noon. The site will be down until the upgrade is completed. This will provide a better user interface, improved and more automated project creation process, and new social networking features. It will be the platform we will enhance going forward as we move to our full 1.0 release. As always, while in beta, we welcome user suggestions for usability and features.

Global Science Seminars at the Field Museum

Carl Heine — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:20:41 +0000

The Field Museum, with the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, is offering an opportunity for teachers and students (and classes) to interact with featured scientists through its Global Science Seminars. Each seminar is webcast using Elluminate and recorded for later playback (more information below).

The next webcast is Oct. 20, noon to 1 pm CDT and features Dr. Corrie Moreau’s presentation: “Ants, DNA and Bacteria, Oh My!”

Dr. Moreau will dive into the world of ants to explore their evolution and symbiotic relationships. The seminar will be broadcasted from the Zoology Classroom, giving participants special behind-the-scenes access to the Museum.

The Field Museum’s Global Science Seminars are dedicated to bringing students and scientists together digitally to discuss topics in biodiversity, and uses CoolHub to connect with students. CoolHub was created by the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA), and is a free web-based community of students and experts that collaborate on innovative projects in math and science. CoolHub services include web conference seminars, on-going wiki
discussions, blogs, and message boards.

The Field Museum’s Global Science Seminars page on CoolHub contains papers, articles, and links that you may download to help prepare your students before the seminar. During the seminar, Dr. Moreau will present her research for 20 minutes and the remaining 40 minutes will be open for questions! The week following the seminar Dr. Moreau will answer all questions posted from participating classes.

The Field Museum and IMSA are looking for the “best” time to schedule these presentations. If you have suggestions about timing and future topics, let us know!

IMSA Visiting Scholar Online Broadcast

Carl Heine — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:42:11 +0000

Wednesday, Sept 16, 2:15 – 3:25 p.m. (CDT).

Please join us online for Pulitzer prize winning author Richard Rhodes. His presentation will include the following:

Discuss the process of researching and writing about the making of the atomic bomb and demonstrate the need for students to be effective at those writing skills. (i.e voice, narrative and non-fiction writing)?
Discuss why the US chose to use the bomb, and how did its use represent the character of the US and the war?

Two pre-session documents are posted in the Documents section (of CoolHub) by his name. You are encouraged to read these before the session begins.

Link to the session (Elluminate, opens in new window)