Waterloo launches new online tool for kids to learn math and computer science at home

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

The University of Waterloo has launched a new online tool to help children who are now learning from home continue with their math and computer science education.

The tool, developed by Waterloo’s Centre for Education and Mathematics and Computing (CEMC), is called CEMC at Home and includes games, problems to solve, videos and other materials to help kids with their studies.

Ontario’s Ministry of Education has included CEMC at Home in their virtual resources for parents and caregivers.

CEMC at Home was launched to support teachers, students and parents during these challenging times,” said Ian VanderBurgh, director of CEMC. “We are hoping that CEMC at Home and other existing resources on the CEMC website can do their part to ease this transition for everyone.”

Most weekdays, the CEMC will post content developed by Waterloo faculty members and current and retired secondary school teachers for each of the four grade levels: Grade 4/5/6, Grade 7/8, Grade 9/10, and Grade 11/12.

Children and their caregivers can either return to the website each day to find new resources or subscribe to receive email updates when new resources are posted.

CEMC at Home is in addition to several other resources the centre has offered for some time, such as Problem of the Week and courseware. As of March 1, there were more than 38,000 subscriptions to Problem of the Week at five levels (Grades 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12) available in combinations of four languages; all in English, four in French, one in Spanish and two in Bahasa Indonesian. These problems reach well over one million people each week because most subscribers are teachers.

The CEMC courseware covers the entire provincial curriculum in Ontario (as well as curricula in other provinces) from Grade seven to 12. The CEMC Courseware materials feature lessons, interactive activities, enrichment challenges, and unlimited opportunity for practice with feedback.

“Courseware might be one of the most important resources for teachers, parents, and students over the weeks to come,” said VanderBurgh. “Many subject areas were quickly searching for reliable online resources when the shutdown was announced, but math departments knew that they already had much of what they need through what CEMC has available.”

MEDIA CONTACT | Rebecca Elming
519-888-4567 x 30031 | @uwaterloonews | uwaterloo.ca/news

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