News, tips and tricks

One of the services we provide is training and certifications for our international partners in the mozaLearn system to independently hold training sessions for clients in their local market. This is an important part of our business and our partners' business, because we believe that training teachers to use technology is an integral part to the success of digital education and we encourage our partners to hold training sessions for the teachers in their market. One great example of this is a recent training session held by our partners in Egypt, GIMPEX at their office in Cairo.
The training participants came from Exzellenz Zentrum, an institute for language education which hosts a joint post-graduate program between Ain Shams University in Egypt and Leipzig University in Germany. Students who participate in this program of study have already completed a college degree and would like to continue their studies in the German language, with the goal of earning a master's degree in teaching German or Arabic as a foreign language.

GIMPEX held a 2-day training on the effective use of mozaBook in teacher training for the lecturers who conduct the joint degree program. The trainees will eventually use mozaBook as a part of their pedagogy in training Exzellenz Zentrum students who are working towards their teaching degrees. During the training session certified mozaLearn ICT expert trainers from GIMPEX gave the trainees overview of many of the features in mozaBook, focusing on the basic features of the software and many of the tools available in the system.

The group will meet again for a third day of training during which the course participants will make their own presentations using mozaBook. The trainees will also continue to learn about and practice using more features in mozaBook. We bet the training participants will create some great presentations! 

GIMPEX is planning additional training programs for later this year. If you'd like to follow the latest developments and news about mozaBook in Egypt, please visit the Mozaik Egypt page on Facebook. If your company is ready to offer a comprehensive digital presentation and content solution for K-12 education and provide training in your region, please contact us for more information.

The third dimension is the best dimension! 3D  holograms, images, and now printing- 3D is a way to view things that has continued to fascinate us for decades and still today shows so much potential in a variety of industries. This post is going to explore the benefits of using interactive 3D models in the classroom.

First of all, I’d like you to think of 3D models simply as a teaching resource that can be used in a variety of subjects. Typically, what first comes to mind is the use of 3D resources in the sciences - anatomy, biology, geography - but it’s possible to use them for history classes, mathematics, literature, or even in discussions with students about current news events.

The evolution of the Mozaik 3D
3D is a very important part of the mozaLearn digital education system. Originally the type of 3D models (created by the development company Rendernet were created for visual design, construction, real estate and advertising, but the developers at Rendernet saw a lot of potential for their models in the field of education. We started out about 7 years ago with a modest number of models, 10 to be exact. The developer and animator team grew, and so did their capacity to produce more models. Eventually Mozaik and Rendernet joined forces and today our catalog of 3Ds has grown to 1,097 with no sign of stopping!
 

Our models have come a long way in every aspect, from design to content to capabilities. They have also come to life in new forms! Some of our individual 3D models are now available on the iOS App Store and Google Play for Android to download and use directly on your smartphone or tablet.

About their use in pedagogy
Let’s take a biology class for example. A teacher can introduce a new animal with photos or a video, start some discussions about its habitats and habits and then use a 3D model to go further, exploring the animal’s anatomy in detail. The end result is a deeper understanding of the animal with the added benefit of keeping students’ attention by using several different learning sources.

A similar strategy can work for all subjects, chemistry is my next example. If a chemistry teacher would like to introduce a new molecule, he or she can send 3D models of the molecules to all students’ tablets, so they can explore the structure in an interactive manner. Afterwards, the teacher can show a video experiment or conduct an experiment in his/her lab, so that students can take the next steps to understand the molecule’s chemical interactions.

How about history? Teach your students about ancient cultures by asking students to explore the Wonders of the Ancient World 3D model and watch the video. After asking some questions about the ancient structures, give the fun task of asking students to open the Walk function in the City of Babylon 3D and explore the walkway.

Another BETT Show is nearing! We’ve been traveling to London annually for this huge education technology event since 2013 and our team is already making preparations for the January 2016 show. BETT always gives us the opportunity to meet with publishers, distributors, school administrators. Once the show kicks off, we hold frequent meetings and presentations of the mozaBook software, mozaWeb online at-home learning portal, and other technology, like our augmented reality application and 3D model apps for smartphones and tablets.

Many teachers and students from all over Europe attend the BETT show, so it's a great way for us to share our offering with educators,  watch students use and play with our interactive learning content, and hear what everyone has to say about current developments in digital education.

So what’s new this year? First of all, our list of international publishing and distribution partners has grown. Along with that growth, we are continuing to translate more and more of our content into over 20 languages. We’ve ve also developed the classroom management and sharing capabilities in mozaBook. See our recent post, What's new at Mozaik for the 2015/16 school year, to learn more about these new features. Finally, as always our library of content on mozaWeb continues to grow, including new 3D models on mozaWeb.

In addition, mozaBook has made it as a finalist in this year’s BETT Awards for the International Digital Resource category. You can check out the listing of finalists at the BETT Awards website, bettawards.com. We’re in good company this year and the final results will be announced during January’s show.

Will you be in London from January 20-23rd?  If so, our team hopes to meet you at BETT. This year we will be exhibiting our line of digital education solutions at stand B130. See you there!

Dear Readers,

We have an early holiday surprise in store for you this year. A Christmasaurus! Find this new species of dino in the "Apatosaurus" 3D on mozaBook or mozaWeb.

The Apatosaurus is believed to have lived over 150 million years ago, in the late Jurassic period. The massive herbivore fed on plants to get its energy. Today, in the Christmasaurus view of the 3D model, we can see what it would be like if the Apatosaurus and his friends lived in a snowy winter wonderland.

Go ahead, find him and share him with your friends. Oh, and one last note from all of us: have a very happy holiday season this year!

Warm wishes,
The Mozaik Team

Often teachers may find themselves in one of two particular camps. One one side, there are the digital and tech enthusiasts - sometimes fully paperless educators. And on the other side there are teachers who are all about hands-on learning.

There are undeniable benefits on both sides, but I have a question for teachers out there: why not put one foot in each camp?

We haven’t seen anyone outright deny that technology is an important aspect of education for students, in its many different forms. Why? Graduates are increasingly expected to be familiar with various types of tech in their new workplaces. And as more and more countries are adding coding to their curriculum, the building blocks behind the tech is also playing an increased role in school and with employers.
Hands-on activities build motor skills from a young age and work a different part of the brain. Not to mention it’s so much fun to build and create things for yourself, creating a great sense of accomplishment while helping students observe and understand new things.

So what are some common benefits?

When used well in classrooms, both technology and hands-on can encourage independence and exploration. They can both encourage critical thinking skills, too.

The new school year is already well under way and we hope all the teachers and students out there are learning a lot and having a good time! We'd like to give you an update on several new things here at Mozaik Education in recent months.

First of all, our new blog has a fresh design to match our updated website, mozaweb.com. We also have a few new contributors who will be bringing you exciting new content throughout the year. We will focus on tips and tricks for using technology in the classroom, including lesson planning hints and resources, as well as edtech news, and information about products and features that our team is working on.

Our blog isn’t the only thing that’s gotten a makeover - mozaBook 4.5 released a new update back in September. There are a lot of new features that come with the update, including new tools and content available in more languages, but we would like to highlight a few key improvements that we’ve made in order to really streamline teachers’ digital work and interaction with students: classroom management, homework and sharing.