Fayetteville 'Real World Math' Student Video Contest Winners Announced

Fayetteville 'Real World Math' Student Video Contest Winners Announced

'Football and Geometry' and 'Math in the Real World' Win $10,000 Technology Makeovers for their Math Classrooms

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The judges' votes are in, and the winning videos from the first-ever Real World Math video contest, presented by Texas Instruments (TI) and TeacherTube, are "Football and Geometry" from Ms. Dona Brady's class in the high school category and "Math in the Real World" from Ms. Marcia Bogart's class in the junior high school category. Math classrooms whose students created these videos receive the grand prize, a $10,000 TI technology makeover.

To view all Real World Math semi-finalist videos, visit http://www.teachertube.com/tisemifinalists.php.

Five judges from the Fayetteville and education communities reviewed 16 semi-finalist videos, and scored each on math quality, creativity and the concept's real world relevancy. The semi-finalists were chosen by more than 5,000 votes cast on TeacherTube by the general public during the week of May 5. Only the top videos with the most votes were selected as semi-finalists and sent to the judges to pick the two overall winners.

"The Real World Math video contest takes math to a whole new level; I wish my teachers had thought of this when I was in school," said Mickey Goodwin, KNWA-TV newscaster and judge for the Real World Math contest. "The students' creativity really jumped off the screen. For instance, I never thought Linkin Park and math had so much in common!"

In addition to Goodwin, Real World Math judges included Dennis Pierce, managing editor, eSchool News; Bob Gettino, Zone 1 director, Arkansas Education Association; Kristen Scanlon, director of federal programs, Fayetteville Public Schools; and Alan Wilbourn, public information director, Fayetteville Public Schools.

"The Real World Math video contest provided students at Fayetteville high school and the district's two junior highs the unique opportunity to take what they learned in math class and demonstrate on video how it applies to everyday activities," said Scanlon. "I hope teachers here and in other schools will use the videos from this contest to show kids how the math concepts they're learning apply in the real world."

Launched on March 25, 2008, the Real World Math video program and contest challenged teachers in Fayetteville Public Schools' high school and junior high math programs to inspire their students to create videos that illustrate real world math uses. The program was designed to help students understand how math is relevant to their daily lives and how math concepts taught in the classroom relate to them now and in the future.

"The videos that Fayetteville educators and students submitted for inclusion in the Real World Math contest were exactly what we had hoped for with this program," said Melendy Lovett, senior vice president of TI and president of TI's Education Technology business. "They were fun, engaging and applied math concepts to real world activities to show how essential math is to students' lives beyond the classroom. We want teachers across the country, and even around the world, to use these videos in their classrooms."

Unlike many online video contests that simply provide entertainment value, TI's Real World Math is specifically focused on showing that teacher encouragement and student creativity combined can create educational content that can be shared with math classrooms globally.

About Texas Instruments

Education Technology, a business of Texas Instruments, provides a wide range of advanced tools connecting the classroom experience with real-world applications and enabling students and teachers to explore math and science interactively. Designed with leading educators and researchers, Texas Instruments educational technology and services are tested against recognized third-party research on effective instruction and improved student learning. Such research shows that use of graphing calculators and wireless classroom networks in the classroom helps teachers implement instructional strategies that lead to student collaboration, higher student interest, engagement and achievement in math. For more than 15 years, TI has worked closely with educators and administrators to develop student-focused curricular and supplemental classroom materials, and it supports the world's largest professional development organization for the appropriate use of educational technology. More information is available at education.ti.com

Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, go to http://www.ti.com/.

Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/.

About TeacherTube

TeacherTube is an online community for sharing instructional videos. TeacherTube seeks to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill. Most importantly, TeacherTube community members are a major part of the evolution of the site. Members are encouraged to not only upload educationally relevant videos, but also to make constructive comments and use the rating system to show appreciation for videos of value to one as an educator or learner. To learn more about TeacherTube's online community, please visit http://www.teachertube.com/.

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Source: Texas Instruments

CONTACT: Mari Hancock of GolinHarris, +1-713-513-9574,
mhancock@golinharris.com, for Texas Instruments

Web site: http://www.ti.com/
http://www.teachertube.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment