50 Open Source Applications for Sci-Tech Education

“You don’t have to search very hard to find educators and policy
makers worried about the current condition of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States.
There’s a STEM Education Coalition, a National Science Board STEM
Education Commission, a Journal of STEM Education and even a STEMEd
Caucus in Congress dedicated to passing legislation that increases
funding for STEM education.

“Organizations like these frequently cite statistics which show
that American students lag behind their international counterparts.
For example, in the 2007 Trends in International Science and Math
Study (TIMS), U.S. fourth graders placed eleventh in math and
eighth in science, while U.S. eighth graders ranked ninth in math
and eleventh in science. Falling behind in these areas could
eventually lead to a decline in American innovation, with drastic
effects on the economy. As a result, groups have recently taken a
number of steps on local, regional, and national levels to improve
interest and achievement in science and mathematics.

“The open source community is also doing its part to improve
STEM education. They’ve created dozens of quality open source apps
that aid both teachers and researchers, raising the bar for STEM
education. In addition, a number of universities and other
organizations have “open sourced” the content of their curriculum,
making course materials available online.”

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