Videos
Given the coronavirus-related school closures, we are focussing on adding videos for the remaining GCSE topics. We added several videos during April and will add several more during May. Unlike many “free” videos on other websites, our videos do not contain any adverts. Our videos are also recorded in 16:9, which makes far better use of screen space than 4:3 videos that still seem to get a lot of views. Some modern phones have even more elongated aspect ratios than 16:9, and 4:3 videos on these devices only use the middle third of the screen! Our videos are also all recorded in either 1080p or 4k.
Most importantly, in our videos we try to convey more than just “how to perform a procedure” in our videos. For example, some videos on other websites introduce the mean by only showing students how to calculate the mean, with no discussion of what the mean actually is, or even any mention of the concept of an average. In contrast, our video aims to give students a visual sense of the mean, and how, as an average, it cannot exceed the largest value or be lower than the lowest value in a set:
Here is an example of another of our videos. This one is on Fibonacci-type sequences:
Sixth form content
We are continuing to create applets for sixth form mathematics, and are slowly adding them to the site. Here is an applet that generates questions building up to those involving Newton’s third law and multiple objects in lifts. In these questions you either have to find a mass, the acceleration, or the tension in the cable given sufficient other information.
Downloadable PowerPoint presentations
In response to demand, we are in the process of making our slides available as downloadable, editable PowerPoint presentations, complete with click-to-reveal answers. Because our content was not originally created using PowerPoint, this will take us some time, but we will have all of these available by September.
Meanwhile, note that our slides are already available as downloadable PDFs, which can easily be imported into interactive whiteboard software such as SMART Notebook or Promethean ActivInspire. To find out more about the resources available to our Premium subscribers, click here.
Skills drills
We have also continued to skills drill worksheets in the teacher resources boxes for a number of topics. As with the other resource linked in these boxes, the resources are available to our Premium subscribers only.