News card 10

High-tech shack brings solar power to slums

People are calling it the iShack, it is an alternative approach to housing for slum areas. The iShack 

has been tested in the windswept slum of Enkanin, South Africa.

The iShack gathers electricity by using solar panels. It is capable of producing enought electricity to 

power three lights, a mobile phone charger and an outdoor motion detector spotlight. It is made of 

recycled cardboard boxes and old tetra pak containers for insulation and is painted with flame retardant

paint to reduce the risk of temperature change.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/08/tech/innovation/ishack-slums-south-africa/index.html

Name: Mark Joseph Cabacang

ID: 551-9517

News Card 9

CES 2013: Samsung simplifies its smart TV experience

Samsung is the world's best-selling maker of smart TVs has announced in CES that 

they will try to make their smart TVs more user friendly because of complains from consumers.

Samsung has paid special attention on its internet interface to make life easier for its consumers.

Smart TVs are still quite expensive but in a few years it will be very affordable and might be used 

for education in schools.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20942237

Name: Mark Joseph Cabacang

ID: 551-9517

News Card 8

Top 10 Open Source Tools for learning and teaching Math

This article talks about open source softwares that can be used by students and teachers to study or teach math. What makes the following softwares great is that they are open source or free. Teaching math can be frustrating sometimes but with the help of software tools teaching math can be a lot easier.


SAGE – SAGE can be used for studying a wide variety of mathematics, including algebra, calculus, number theory, graph theory and more. It is used as an open source alternative to many commercial mathematics programs, including Magma, Maple, Mathematica and MATLAB.

Maxima – This popular computer algebra system puts an emphasis on symbolic computation. It can be used for advanced algebraic calculations and will plot functions and data in both two and three dimensions.

Octave – Octave is a high-level program that performs numerical computations. It is often used in conjunction with MATLAB. Octave is written in C++ and features its own interpreter that translates the Octave language.

Scilab – This advanced numerical computation package hails from France. Similar to MATLAB, this free program is a high-level programming language that can make large computations with just a few lines of code.

GAP – GAP is short for Groups, Algorithms, Programming. An algebraic computation system, its main focus is on computational group theory. GAP includes its own programming language, as well as large data libraries of algebraic objects.

OpenMath – This open source markup language is quickly becoming a standard for representing mathematical objects with their semantics. By using OpenMath, mathematical information can be easily stored, published and passed between computer programs.

OMDoc – Short for Open Mathematical Documents, OMDoc is a semantic markup language used for mathematic documents. OMDoc encompasses the entire range of written mathematic documents, unlike the aforementioned OpenMath.

Axiom – This general-purpose computer algebra system has been in development since 1971. Formerly known as Scratchpad, it was originally developed by IBM and has slowly evolved into a popular open source tool.

Macaulay 2 – This computer algebra system has a specific focus on polynomial computations. It was designed to support research in geometry and commutative algebra.

YACAS – YACAS, also known as Yet Another Computer Algebra System, is a general-purpose program for symbolic manipulation of mathematical computations. The purpose of this program is to make computer calculations easy for all.

Name: Mark Joseph Cabacang
ID: 551-9517

My WebQuest topic would be how to create a simple website using HTML.

News Card 7

Game Maker

http://gamemakerblog.com/2009/05/30/game-maker-in-schools/

Game maker is a computer software that is used to develop games. Game maker makes it easy for anyone to create games because of it's simple user interface and easy to understand tools, students don't even have to learn how to program to create a simple game. This software is a great introduction to the gaming industry which is a booming industry.

Game maker is currently being taught in many schools and children as young as 11-12 are learning how to use this software. I myself have used this software and is currently teaching my students how to create games with it, i find that my students love learning how to make games because most of them play computer games it is easy to capture there attention.

Mark Joseph Cabacang
ID: 551-9517

News Card 6

News Card 6

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20646933

The technology giant IBM said that it has developed a chip that can transfer data via light pulses instead of using electrical signals. This means data transfer can be transferred a lot faster compared to using electrical signals. This chip and technology does not only help with faster data transfer but it is also able to transfer bigger data compared to the other method.

So what does this mean for the public? It simply means faster internet speeds and higher data transfer rates.

Mark Joseph Bautista Cabacang

ID:551-9517

News Card 5

News Card 5

The company LearnSprout has announced two new apps that can be useful in schools. They have developed a software that teachers and administrators can use to identify at risk students. The software can get statistics from student attendance, grades and various demographic data and the data can be used by administrators and teachers to determine at risk students.

So that they are able to see the problem before it can happen. A very useful software in my opinion and a great tool for teachers to help students at risk.

Mark Joseph cabacang

ID:551-9517

http://markcabacang.blogspot.com/  

News Card 4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20272810

US titan Supercomputer world’s fastest computer.

The computer named Titan, which is located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the fastest computer in the world. The computer is used by companies to develop more energy-efficient engines for cars, model climate change and it is also used for researching alternative fuels.

The machine can also be rented by third-parties, and is operated as part of the US Department of Energy’s network of research labs.

Mark Joseph Bautista Cabacang

ID: 551-9517