HTML5 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

Simbucket.com is pleased to announce that the HTML5 version of the Chemthink “Atomic Structure” tutorial and problem set is now online.  Because the new version is designed from the ground up for HTML5, it means that students with iPads, iPod Touches, or phones can now run the tutorial in a browser without needing an actual computer.  In 1:1 classrooms, this means students won’t need to go to the computers to log in.  It should take approximately five minutes less to get students up and running with the tutorial.

Click the magnifying glass to go to the Chemthink “Atomic Structure” tutorial

NOTES FOR TEACHERS:

In creating the HTML5 version, I tried to stay as faithful as possible to the original Flash version, only adding or making changes where it made sense.  For teachers, this means any worksheets or activities you created based on the original should still work with the HTML5 version.

When a student clicks to launch the app, they are presented with a choice between the tutorial and the problem set.  In practice, I have found that it is easiest to tell my students to open up and run the tutorial in one browser tab while running the problem set in another.  If a student misses a question, I tell them to find the answer in the tutorial before clicking the “continue” button.

Because there is no student login required, students are able to get started very quickly.  This also means that students will need to show you when they are finished with the problem set.  I have included a large gold star on the completion screen so that you can very quickly glance at a student’s screen to see that they are finished.  For students completing the problem sets at home, I have asked that they take a “selfie” with their completion screen.

Because of the amount of class time I have saved by not requiring a log in, I am strongly considering permanently eliminating the need to log in.  The drawback to not requiring students to log in is that teachers will have no ability to track student progress, other than physically observing their students’ screens.  If you can’t live without the student tracking feature, please speak up!

STATUS OF FUTURE HTML5 CHEMTHINK CONVERSIONS

From start to finish, the “Atomic Structure” HTML5 port took 12 days to complete.  I am hoping that I can maintain this pace for the remaining 9 tutorial/problem sets, plus the “Chemical Reactions” lab simulation.  At this rate I should finish everything in about 20 weeks, roughly around the beginning of September.

I’ve begun the process of rewriting Chemthink from scratch. At this point I’m looking at reusing all of the existing animations and texts, but we have an opportunity to make the suite of tutorials, question sets, and virtual labs even better. I can’t promise anything because I have only a finite amount of time to finish the project, but I would like to open things up for input from Chemthink users.

So far, the to-do list includes:

• Recreate all tutorials, problem sets, and labs in HTML5 so they run on mobile
• Rebuild the user database so that teachers can create and manage classes and students can log in and track their progress

If you could change anything about Chemthink, what would you change?

If you could add any capabilities, what would you add?

A few weeks ago I posted 8 of the original Chemthink Flash tutorials. I am excited to announce that the Chemthink problem sets are now available for these tutorials!  The question sets require students to answer a certain number correct before they miss a small number of questions.  As a result they are fairly difficult.  If students struggle on a problem set, they are encouraged to take a look at the tutorial again.

There is no server backend, so if you want to keep track of which problem sets or tutorials you or your students have completed you will need to take a screenshot of the completion screen.

Tutorials and their corresponding problem sets are now available for the following:

The Particulate Nature of Matter
Atomic Structure
Ionic Formulas
Ion Formation
Gas Laws
Covalent Bonding
Ionic Bonding
Molecular Shapes

In addition, over the next few days I post two more problem sets without tutorials: “Chemical Reactions” and “Isotopes”. At the moment the tutorials for each of these are nonfunctional, but I will do my best to get both the tutorials and their question sets working as soon as I can.

Enjoy!