Week 4 of 535

Once again, I began this week's adventures by reading our required text from Will Richardson.  This week's readings dealt with the online tools of Twitter, social bookmarking, podcasting, and screencasting.  I have so far found this book to be very informational, detailing both what a particular program is, and how to use its capabilities.  I see all of these applications as being purposeful in my classroom.  As Dr. Loeffler has pointed out with Twitter, it's not just something that informs you of what your friend had for lunch, but can be quite the useful tool.  By following someone who has something relevant to say in the field of Mathematics, I can get updates on methodology, or maybe hear about a beneficial resource.  As far as social bookmarking is concerned, this could be a very valuable resource to share between my fellow math teacher and myself.  This way we can share valuable resources without having to remember the links we tell one another in the hallway, or habitually email one another.  In regards to the Podcast/Screencasts, I think this could be a great way for me to tape a lesson for absent students, or even record lessons in advance.

We also began work on creating a website in the style of a WIKI.  Now, I've only created a loose shell on Google sites at the moment, but I do have some plans for it.  Eventually I would like my site to be a place where students/parents alike can come to find helpful links, examples, and other resources. 

The final concept that we examined this week was that of crowdsourcing.  We read a very interesting article about how more and more companies are not outsourcing their work, but rather "crowdsourcing." This is the concept of posing a problem or occupation to the world at large, via the Internet.  This way businesses can get a premium result at a fraction of the cost.  I think that this will have a huge impact on many different fields, including education.  Who knows, parents might eventually be able to hand pick their instructors from an all-star, nationwide lineup!  I guess we never know what the future holds until it happens.

Week 3 of 535

This week in class had us exploring many more new technological tools that can assist us in the classroom.  We examined the use and purpose of RSS Feeds, Picture Sharing, and Google Sites.  We were to subscribe to an RSS feed of our choice, and then consequently sign up for several different blog/news feeds that interest us.  This method of "bringing the news to you," could have a very beneficial impact in my classroom.  Specifically, by informing my parents of the search power of any RSS feed, they can search for pertinent math examples, games, or lessons.  As far as photo sharing is concerned, we were to create a Creative Commons License, open a photo sharing account, and then upload/tag some pictures.  In terms of utilizing picture sharing, I think that I could certainly use this concept for more of my geometrical lessons/units.  Specifically, by having my students create a photo sharing account, we could begin a unit by having them research different real-life examples of angles, shapes, etc.  Finally we were to examine some of the various capabilities of Google Sites.  After examining some of the links, there are some very helpful resources in the way of creating websites (students/teachers alike), using shared resources amongst educators, and organizations/meetings, made available through Google.  I think that the Google Sites application is a great way to get students to design a possible project, let it come to life, and have a set locale for other students to view it and then provide feedback.  There were very interesting tools to play with this week, all with the potential to improve my classroom instruction.

Week Two of 535

This week's assignments were very interesting, along with some being applicable to the classroom environment.  Starting with the readings on wikis, I thought it was very informative to see a teacher create a wiki for an upper level class in which the students are essentially feeding the system.  This would be an excellent way to help my advanced math students improve their communication about troublesome issues; offering troubleshooting techniques and/or helpful links or examples.  As far as Twitter or photo sharing are concerned, I'm not quite sure how I would incorporate their capabilities into my classroom, but they are certainly very interesting.  Lastly, finding the four blog links that related to mathematics proved to be quite helpful.  For example, one blog was that of a teacher listing his helpful hints for a successful math classroom.  Where I may not have agreed to every one of his points, some of his ideas were quite logical and practical.  Another blog that I found was very insightful, with the most recent post pondering the question of "when am I ever going to use this?"  Mr. Meyer's response to this age old question, was similar to my philosophy, which is reassuring that my ideas don't exist on an island.  I look forward to reading these blogs in the future, and hey, maybe I could add some the blog authors to my Twitter account!

First Week of 535

As this class deals with using web tools to enhance our classroom instruction, it is only fitting that our initial text deals with the specific tools that can be used to incorporate technology into our learning environments.  Our text of "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms," not only does a great job of explaining the various web-based applications that can enhance our classroom comprehension, but also points out the shift in how we should teach.  One of the biggest take aways that I can use from this book is how the classroom should be viewed as less of a "teacher-learner" atmosphere, and more of a constant, "everyone is a learner" environment.  It also helps to cultivate a classroom where is not only allowed, but encouraged.  As a math instructor, I always try to emphasize that there is not one correct way to do a problem; and it may take several attempts to find which way works out best for each individual learner.  Also, in terms of possibly incorporating a blog into a math classroom, where as I haven't thought of anything concrete, it would be nice to have a venue where the students can express their thoughts, or even pose questions to a larger community.

Last Week of 540

The final week of 540 had us wrapping the class by viewing different types of data, analyzing their value.  The Google Trends assignment was very interesting, seeing how quickly and efficiently data about the latest popular trends can be tabulated and displayed.  The individual assignment of analyzing the seven different websites was intriguing in the sense that different resources breakdown their data differently.  Finally, having to compare two of these websites forced us to really examine what makes a statistical analysis productive.  Overall, for being a statistics class, this was a very relaxing and informative summer course!

Week 4 of 540

Despite having a couple of weeks off from class, we did have enough work to keep us busy.  The group project was not as strenuous as I initially anticipated, given the fact that we could divide the responsibility amongst our group members.  Once we figured out our major inquiry (how everyday people use their computers and Internet); writing the questions, distributing the survey, and even analyzing the data wasn't overly difficult.  We also had to finish another guided practice worksheet together, which dealt more with advanced statistical topics than normal, but once again, working on it together made it easier.  Finally, we had to do a little bit of a background check on data wizard Bill Tancer.  His innovative ways of dissecting search data help businesses and people alike understand the ongoing trends of how we as a society think and act.

Week 3 of 540

Whereas there wasn't a lot on the agenda for this week, it was enough to keep me busy, along with further my knowledge of statistics and data collection.  The first assignment that I completed this week was the technology survey.  It was nice to be able to answer questions with confidence this time around, specifically seeing where I have gained knowledge.  The next assignment was that of the third week guided practice.  Even though the assignment was mostly review of mean, range, and standard deviation, we had to do a much more thorough job of analyzing the samples.  The assignment did a great job of illustrating how it can be dangerous to label two as the same or different; such a label often depends on how the data are analyzed.  Finally, I found the article that dealt with how to conduct a proper survery to quite interesting.  I honestly never that about using such a thought out approach, but it makes perfect sense.  How could one properly form helpful questions if you have no clearly defined purpose?