Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Final Reflection
Final Reflection on EDU255
I must say that I have learned a lot in this course. As the weeks have gone by, I have speculated about how technologies that I have experienced in this course would be useful in the classes that I teach. I feel that several of these tools would be useful to me in both my online and face-to-face courses. Here are my ideas:
The most useful technologies that I will employ in the future will be Blogs and Jing videos. I would use a Blog in the place of a website. It would be subject specific in that I would create one for each of the courses that I teach. I hesitate to use a Wiki in that I would want more control of what was posted. Students could still post comments on the Blog, however. I would encourage them to add tips that could help their fellow classmates understand the mathematical topics presented. Another advantage of the Blog would be that it lives outside the “Blackboard” environment so that students could access it when they are no longer enrolled in the course.
Jing videos are ideal for math problems. I create PDF documents with the mathematical problems typed out and then add a video of working the problems out on a Bamboo tablet . Students can view the problem being worked out and hear the explanation. These are perfect to help the online math student. The videos are short and get right to the student’s question without having them sit through a whole lecture. I am in the process of collecting topic related videos and will house them somewhere so that students can go in to view specific topic Jing videos.
While there are other great technologies such as photo-sharing and podcasts, I do not see myself using them very often in math class. It is the combination of being able to see and hear explanation of math problems that helps students learn.
One thing I am certain that I will not use in my courses would be social networking sites. I feel that they are exactly that—social and thus, a casual attitude would be the rule. Some subjects lend themselves more to this type of setting. However, I don’t believe math is one. It has been pointed out that such a site might be a great place to start dialog on the usefulness of math and to essentially improve the image of mathematics. I feel that while this idea is worthy, math “haters” are hard to convert no matter what logic can be shared on the situation. It is kind of like convincing a Democrat to become Republican or vice-versa. What is really achieved in the end?
In conclusion, this class has enlightened me as to what is out there. I am taking baby steps and will incorporate these new technologies gradually in my courses. I believe these technologies will help me better address the learning needs of today’s student.
My Podcast--
Here is a link to my Podcast
http://audioboo.fm/boos/319966-basic-derivative-rules.mp3?source=embed">Listen!</a></object>
10 links for Math
Math Blog Sites
This blog contains math cartoons and humor primarily. I found most of the cartoons deal with higher levels of math. There are tons of archived blog posts organized by date and topic. You really get a feel about how geeky this teacher is—love it.
This blog approaches math as a hobby. It has some historical perspectives including unsolved famous math problems. It has contains many You-Tube videos. A math major or enthusiast would find this to be a good site.
This blog is authored by a professor who comments on math problems and answers student questions. I could see this as a good source for algebra students to get help with some of the most commonly asked questions in algebra including word problems.
My favorite site for teacher education. This is for teachers of grades K-14 and teacher educators. It contains activities and video lessons of good teaching. It is not only for math--it includes all subjects!
This site has alot about mathematical pedagogy.
I use this site in my Math for Elementary Teachers classes. This contains applets for math manipulatives. Since the class offered online and students can't get the hands-on experience with manipulatives, this is the next best thing.
This is the site that all math students know about! Type in a problem. It solves it with all of the steps shown! What is the job of the math class now? A creative teacher could ask students what the program is doing...
This site is from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). It contains activities for the elementary/secondary teacher. Since many of our students at the college are developmental, many activities can be adapted for the college student.
This is a fun site from a Harvard student who is musical and mathematical. She is famous for her mathematical doodling.
This site is for math teachers in the two-year college. It is our "professional" affiliation for community college math teachers. Information about teaching at the college level and standards are found at this site.
Bill Cosby is my modern day hero!!!
Here is a video that aired on the Today show a few days ago. It shows Bill Cosby and what he is doing in the area of education. I had a heck of a time finding it again because he makes a comment on Donald Trump and the media has focused their attention on this instead of what the video was originally about.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/42470974#42470974
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/42470974#42470974
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
MY UPDATED TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
My teaching philosophy is centered around the idea that the student is ultimately the one responsible for his or her learning. The role of the teacher should be as facilitator. The teacher should provide the student with tools to guide learning. These tools are vast in nature depending on what subject is being taught. For example, in the area of mathematics education, the tools would include problem-solving models and instruction in the use of technology.
In an in-person class, my view of an ideal classroom is one in which the teacher uses a rather Socratic method of teaching. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method I visualize the teacher answering a student question with a question to invoke critical reflection on the part of the student. However, there are a couple of things that prevent this method from being a common reality in today’s classroom. First, there is not enough time to cover the required material if there is a lot of individual reflection of each problem situation. Second, today’s students want instant answers. They are used to “Googling It” and getting immediate results. They want to see how to do the problem, but don’t want to reflect on the problem-solving that goes into it. They see the answer to the problem as the desired end. I see the problem-solving that goes into getting the answer as the focus. Further, getting students to share their approaches with other students is valuable. As students witness other approaches, they are broadening their experiences with problem-solving and are essentially adding to their “toolbox” to draw upon in future problem solving situations.
In many ways I see that online education as an ideal opportunity to achieve the goal of making students responsible for their own learning. Online education is definitely student-centered. They must be active and participative in classroom assignments. They aren’t permitted to sit in the back of a classroom somewhere “learning by osmosis”. Students must take advantage of tools within the online course to direct their own learning experience. Again, the role of the teacher should be as facilitator. For me, personally, this is a giant leap out of my comfort zone. I welcome the challenge in creating the tools needed to enable students to learn in the online setting.
After the EDU255 course, I have truly been challenged in creating the tools that are needed to create a learning environment in the online setting. I can foresee myself using a blog per course taught as a starting point. I feel that a blog will be an opportunity for students to share ideas while I control the direction that the course goes in. Again, I would be a facilitator of knowledge. I would really look at online content that would be worthwhile. Math is a little more difficult to incorporate technologies such as podcasts and social networking sites. I see Jing as the most valuable since it is both audio and video based. I would also embed appropriate YouTube videos in the blog. Overall I see now that I can make a really rich online learning environment.
After the EDU255 course, I have truly been challenged in creating the tools that are needed to create a learning environment in the online setting. I can foresee myself using a blog per course taught as a starting point. I feel that a blog will be an opportunity for students to share ideas while I control the direction that the course goes in. Again, I would be a facilitator of knowledge. I would really look at online content that would be worthwhile. Math is a little more difficult to incorporate technologies such as podcasts and social networking sites. I see Jing as the most valuable since it is both audio and video based. I would also embed appropriate YouTube videos in the blog. Overall I see now that I can make a really rich online learning environment.
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