Showing posts with label Greenbook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greenbook. Show all posts

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Android App for Zimsec Video Lessons

The long wait is over and the new android app for Zimsec Syllabi Video Tuition is set to be released this week. There are many websites and apps for Education in the region and many edupreneurs continue to add to the growing ecosystem. The most notable websites includes ruzivodigitallearning.com, revision.co.zw and other apps like e-dzidzo, wagona maths and greenbook app.


FEATURES OF THE NEW APP

Content

The App will have more than 1 000 step by step video lessons for ordinary level basic subjects including Maths, Integrated Science, Commerce, Principles of Accounts and Geography. The app will be launched with complete lessons for the first six months, that is, 24 topics covering mostly paper 1 ZIMSEC mathematics syllabus. 

The content is being prepared by experienced teachers and virtual tutors who have a strong background in educational technology and pedagogues for online learning. Videos will demonstrate principles on a digital whiteboard using handwriting and they will be exercises at the end of each video lesson. They will be about 150 exercises for students in the first six months.

What makes this App cool is that, students are also able to submit their exercises for marking and feedback will be available in less than 12 hours. The app is just bringing a traditional classroom to your smartphone. 

Also available are free ebooks for challenging topics like Transformations, Mensuration, Circle Geometry and Statistics in the app. 
Video lessons for mathematics and ebooks have been tested on a pilot project for the past three years and yielded great results with 90% pass rate (14 candidates) in 2014 Nov exams, 77% pass rate (18 candidates) in 2015 Nov Exams, 97% (28 candidates) pass rate in June 2016 Exams and 79% pass rate (40 candidates) in November 2016 Exams.

Mathematics Videos will use a whiteboard and other content subjects will have animated content, video demonstrations and high quality pictures and charts that thoroughly explain principles. The app will emphasize on video content that has proved to be effective in the last three years. 

They will be free videos for samples in almost all subjects. Subjects that will be added before June includes; English Language, Shona, Ndebele, Economics, Business Studies, Physics, Biology, Combined Science, Chemistry and Additional Mathematics. 

Features 

Tabs

The App has three main tabs, i.e., for Zimsec, Cambridge igcse, and South African NSC. Candidates will have a choice from a wide range of subjects, examination boards and tutors who will be offering video tuition. Analytics for pass rates, number of students, and  student progress will be available soon

Coins

Students will unlock topics and monthly packages using coins that will be bought online using a wide range of payment options including Ecocash, Telecash, Visa, MasterCard  and VPayments (Zimswitch). You are able to control your budget and decide how to use your coins within the app. There is a lot of flexibility in buying lessons from different topic,monthly packages and subjects.
Library

There will be a section whereby students access free and paid ebooks on different subjects from available resources. Only content from approved teachers and authors will be available in the app. The ebooks might be textbooks, lessons notes, exam tips, revisions notes and experiments

Tutor Chat Support 

Students will be able to chat with the tutor if they need assistance in different areas of the lesson or topic. This will be like a traditional classroom where students can get individual help from teachers.

Download Option

The app will have a download option instead of streaming to avoid further data consumption when a student need to access previously bought video lessons. Videos will be downloaded and arranged in the app for easier access.

Video Demos

There are video demos on how to use the services provided by the app. The video demo includes how to unlock lessons, write exercises, submit exercises and access corrections within the app. This will make it easy for the students to learn like in a traditional classroom.


Name of the App 

FigTree App

For Further details and assistance WhatsApp +263 733 796 118


Sunday, 8 January 2017

Basics Are Most Important

Many potential candidates fail simply because they ignore important things. They claim to have studied New General Mathematics Book 3 and 4, and follow the crowd's claim that it is the whole syllabus of Zimsec Mathematics. Zimsec don't test questions from a textbook but a syllabus. There is no one textbook that covers everything in a syllabus and it's advisable to refer to many sources.

There are four books if you prefer using New General Mathematics series. Start from Book 1 and learn all basic principles as enunciated by the syllabus. Majority of candidates think that it's easier to master O Level principles without covering the Junior Level Mathematics. O level principles build upon the foundations laid by Junior Course. 


Basic Mathematics principles are widely tested in paper 1. Many people can testify that they wrote the exam without knowledge of estimations like significant figures and rounding off figures. Some O levels chose to ignore things like type of numbers, they don't even know even numbers, prime numbers and integers. These principles are tested in sets and limit of accuracy. 

The tricky part of using Book 3 is that it has assumptions. It expects users of that book to have covered all principles in Book 1 and 2 , and continuously refers you back to their previous books in the series. 

However, nowadays New General Mathematics, Although it's still considered the best book for O Level, there are other simplified books with more relevant information to the current syllabus. Look out for books like Maths Today and Revision O Level Mathematics. 

My Advise

1. Start by learning basic principles of numbers, types and operations on numbers (BODMAS)
2. Master directed numbers 
3. Learn how to estimate numbers to decimal places, significant numbers and place values
4. Learn basic algebra and formation of algebra from a given statement
5. Learn Mensuration in Junior course, it's also tested in paper 1
6. Learn how to use scientific calculator in fractions, decimals and graphs 
7. Master units of measurements, capacity principles and time


FOR MORE TIPS JOIN OUR WHATSAPP BROADCAST LIST BY SENDING 
*your name
* WhatsApp message 'O maths tips, broadcast '

NB: This is a Zimsec only broadcast list

Monday, 16 May 2016

Online Tutorials Update: New Subject Added

Our online tutorials for Zimsec syllabi continues to grow with many students and candidates joining class of our experienced and qualified virtual tutors. From February, only Maths and Accounting classes were available for Ordinary Level students

Beginning yesterday, Commerce class is live and open for registration. The major tools used in these tutorials are Illustrative, step by step video lessons, exercises and tests. The methods are proving to be effective since students are exposed to real world examples through videos of trade and commerce. This is an advantage to students who are not familiar with business and commerce activities usually centralized in urban areas.

Like a traditional class, the virtual class will receive at least 4 lessons per week, two exercises and end-of-the-topic test. The tutor will be often available on whatsapp for enquiries and for students assistance if they have any questions. Past paper questions will also be used in exercises and tests.

Zimsec and Cambridge tutorials will continue to add more subjects until June and these includes Intergrated Science, Business Studies, geography and History. This is one of our major step to become a complete online school for home schooling and online learning for students in Zimbabwe and the region.

For more details, you can contact:
WhatsApp +263 733 796 118