February 7, 2014 – 'Hot, Cool, Yours' - Olympic Sized Tech Tidbits

Happy Olympic Friday everyone!!

With Opening Ceremonies occurring this morning at 11:00am EST, I had to take this opportunity to highlight some technological apps and online resources which teachers can use to bring the games into their classrooms.

CBC Olympics Sochi 2014 iPad and iPhone app (Free) 

This app offers a wide variety of information and it is available in both English and French.   You can streams all events live and in their entirety either in real time or available as an ‘on demand’ video at a later date.   Other options include viewing specific sport and team results, medal counts and Canadian performances.  A comprehensive schedule organized by day or sport and biographies of athletes from Canada and around the world.

Science Says Videos by ASAP Science (http://www.cbc.ca/sochi2014/sciencesays/m_site)

This website offers a variety of videos of approximately two minute in length which highlights some of the more interesting and scientific aspects of the Olympics.  Topics include “Can Music Improve Athletic Performance?’”, “Talent vs Training” and “Your Odds of Becoming an Olympian”. An interesting look at the Olympic experience. 

Teachers First Website (http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/sochiolympics.cfm)

This website offers many lessons and links to resources for teachers each with a recommended grade span.  Topics range from the history of the games; to the science behind the sports, word puzzles with an Olympic theme and even a musical illustration of just how close the finishers actually were to each other. Words cannot do this justice – you need to check it out for yourself. 

Edutopia STEM Resource Website (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/winter-olympics-2014-learning-resources-matt-davis)

This website offers links to Olympic resources in subjects such as math, physics and geography.  Although some of the links are from an American perspective, Edutopia is known for having high quality educational materials.

Don’t forget you can follow the Olympians (many have their own Twitter handle) and Team Canada at @CDNOlympicTeam and @CBCOlympics.  Also the Paralympic games run from March 7^th until March 16^th and you can follow them at @CDNParalympics and @Paralympic.  For anyone interested in following a local hero, Brad Bowden (@bow27) will be playing on the Canadian Sledge Hockey team with the gold and bronze medal games occurring on March15th.

Go Team Canada!

Stace