The University of Waterloo’s Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) launched a new resource this week called “CEMC at Home”.
The goal of the online tool is to provide a wide variety of fun and educational ways to do math and computer science with kids while they’re at home practicing physical distancing. The resource include games, new problems to solve, applications, videos, pointers to existing materials and more.
“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 levels are available 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’s Courseware covers the entire provincial curriculum in Ontario (as well as curricula in other provinces) from Grade 7 to 12. These 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.”
A link to CEMC’s home page has also been added to Ontario.ca/Learn at Home which showcases learning resources that students and parents can access directly.
