Highlights for High School
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Unlocking Knowledge, Empowering Minds
The Big Idea
What is OCW SE?
OCW SE would be:
• A web-based publication of exemplary math, science and
engineering resources for grades 7-12 containing grade-appropriate
curricula, hands-on learning experiences, and innovative supporting
materials
• Developed by high school teachers with input from MIT faculty
• Aligned with state and national secondary education standards
• Free and open to the world.
OCW SE would not be:
• A replacement for teachers or teacher/student interaction
• Diploma granting
• A virtual middle or high school
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Unlocking Knowledge, Empowering Minds
The First Step
Highlights for High School
• Highlights for High School is
MIT’s first step in realizing the
OCW Secondary Education
vision. Its goals are:
• To simplify access to OCW
materials relevant for high
school students and
teachers
• To publish high school
courses developed at MIT
for students and teachers
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
Guiding Assumptions
• Supplement, not replace current course materials
• May influence lecture vs. facilitation in the classroom
• Teacher professional development
• Inexperienced and experienced teachers will use differently
• Teachers don’t have time to browse extensively, need to find
relevant material immediately
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
Design Principles
• First, focus on upper grades of high school (11th and 12th grade),
closest to undergraduate level
• Use extant materials on OCW, but only those appropriate for a high
school audience
• Use high school students and MIT freshman to decide what is
appropriate and useful
• Publish MIT outreach program materials and student developed
courses – advanced science and math topics, taught in a fun, more
informal manner
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
Site Contents
• Thousands of lecture notes, problem sets, exams and other
resources from introductory MIT courses
• Multimedia content including captioned video clips, audio clips, and
java applets
• AP® Sections
 Over 500 Calculus resources
 Over 600 Biology resources
 Over 1,650 Physics resources
 Over 500 Chemistry resources (coming soon)
• Sampling of original and inspiring MIT student-developed courses
• MIT K-12 outreach – Chandra Astrophysics Institute
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
User Feedback
“I am an MIT alumna (class of 2001) and this is my first year teaching
AP Biology. Thank you for so many wonderful resources for AP Bio! I
am so proud of being MIT Alumni and for being able to count on MIT to
help me in my work!” MIT alumna
“I just wanted to say thank you for the fantastic work you do. I can't
help but think this is one of the greatest contributions to democratic
education I know of.” Educator
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
Web Analytics
• Over 815,000 visits since launch on November 29, 2007
• ~37,250 visits per month
• ~65% of users are from the United States, ~35% international
• Users from 190 different countries have visited the site
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
User Survey – Users by Role
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HS Educator
33.9%
HS Student
15.5%
Self Learner
15.2%
HS Parent
13.0%
Other (University students,
professors, etc)
22.4%
Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
User Survey – Primary Scenarios of Use
High School Educators
•37.8% To adopt materials for classroom use
•28.3% To learn new methods of teaching
High School Students
•38.8% To study for a test or assessment
•38.8% To learn about a subject matter to enhance personal
knowledge
High School Parents
•44.2% To find materials to help their children with
assignments
•23.3% To develop lesson plans for home-schooled students
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Highlights for High School
Highlights for High School
Future Publication
• Publish materials from MIT 7-12 outreach programs: (School of
Engineering Outreach programs, Lemelson MIT program)
• Pilot of physics iLabs available to HS classrooms
• Publish additional Educational Studies Program courses
• Begin planning for the larger OCW SE vision
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Highlights for High School
Thank You!
Visit MIT OpenCourseWare Highlights for High School online at
http://ocw.mit.edu/highschool
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Highlights for High School