Application 4 Web-based Course Management System Presentation

http://prezi.com/oynaar7mprsh/application-4/

Week 8 Reflection

The gameplan that I have been working on has been very effective. It made me realize that I can teach meaning and real-world applications without sacrificing content knowledge. Also, I learned that reflection is a great way for students to recall what they learned, so they may store the information more securely.

The new learning I developed while trying to accomplish my goals was that real-world applications open up many doors to activities and discussion amongst students. It also gives their learning purpose and it makes them realize that math is not just another course they have to take in order to graduate. Also, the applications get the students involved more and allows them the opportunity to think critically and problem solve. This new learning has made me decide to revamp my lessons and incorporate real-world applications at least once a week with my students. This will keep them on their toes and engaged in their learning.

As for technology, I plan on incorporating digital storytelling in my classroom as an attempt for students to review a unit. I also plan to utilize this teaching strategy for after the State tests because they leftover time seems to be quite monotonous. The students will feel like they are doing something exciting and different. Plus, I think allow them to incorporate their creativity will be fun for them and myself.

Week 7 Game Plan

In order to use the Game Plan process with my students, I would create a survey including the NETS-S standards and indicators. I will have the students rate which ones they would like to learn from 1 to 10 (I would also state that I expect more than just ones across the board). Then I would collect the surveys, and I would talley them up and find the top 5. I would then show those to the class and tell them that these are our tech goals. We would all develop ideas to reach those goals, and we would develop methods to monitor and evaluate our progess. I want to include the students in the development of the game plan, so they wwill feel more involved in their learning. After we lay the game plan out, I will pass out a copy of the game plan to the students that they will have to sign. That way we are all involved, and we are all responsible.

Week 6 Blog Post (Game Plan Continued)

So far I have learned how fun and interesting incorporating real-world applications into my teaching. It is a blast when the students ask if this stuff really happens, or when they say, "I thought that math was just to frustrate us, but I can see that it has it uses." I also like how the applications give students a chance to recall math that was taught earlier in the year. As far as technology goes, I have learned that there is a lot of sources that I can look to acquire a lot of materials, so I won't have to worry myself there. The technology also allows me to model the situations that they are working with. The kids love animation no matter how simple it is, so technology is a gold mine in that area.

I am still working on trying to get more reflection involved in my classroom. I think I should start reflecting on my own actions, and then I think I will be able to incorporate it better since I would have my own experiences. I think this will also help me analyze the students reflections better, and it will allow me to provide better feedback.

After looking at the NETS_T Standards again, I think that another goal I would like to work on would be providing a better mixture of formative and summative assessments. Right now, I focus on summative and throw in a formative or two once in a while. I think I should try to incorporate at least one of each for each unit. The problem I am running into for that is getting bombarded with grading and reading along with the planning that I already do. I know that we all have that issue, so I guess I will have to suck it up and do the best that I can. In order to satisfy this goal, I plan on doing a lot of observations and hands-on learning. I learn better by doing than just reading. I will also ask others that I work with about how they incorporate a good mixture, and I will see if I can mimic or extend there practices.

Week 5 Blog Post (Game Plan Continued)

After evaluating my game plan, I believe that my actions have improved my status for my goals reasonably well. I have found some interesting real-world applications, and after going through our courses resources, I have learned some things about implementing them in the classroom. I have learned about making my lessons diverse so all students are able to learn at their fullest capability, and I have also learned about the ins and outs of problem-based learning activities. I like problem-based learning activities because they will help when I am trying to incorporate more real-world applications. Also, according to Dr. Ertmer, reflection is important for making sure the students are learning concepts and it is good for assessment, so that will help with my other goal as well. I still need learn how to facilitate problem-based learning activities, so I don't give the students too much. I am too hands-on oriented when I teach, so I need to learn to back-off and let the students show me what they can do. In order to overcome this problem, I plan to look at my districts professional development programs and see if any deal with problem-based and project-based learning activities. I believe if there are any, they will include examples and maybe observation sessions.

Week 4 Blog Post (Game Plan Continued)

So far I have continued to find resources for real-world applications. I have developed a mini-project for my students where they will have to choose from a list of real-world problems (the list will be made by me), or they can present a real-world problem to me. With those problems, the students, in groups, will research the problem and attempt to use the mathematics they have learned in class to find a solution to the problem. At the end, the students will present their findings and their methods to the class. The mode of presentation will be up to them; this is because according to the course text it is important to provide multiple sources of media for those that learn differently. Well I am applying that idea with their presentations. I will let them pick a source of media that they believe will help others learn better.

I have been finding a few resources, but most are for minimal information. I have been having troubles finding math forums that seem useful. To test my game plan, I have been applying it to students that I tutor over the summer. The students seemed to like having the real-world problem at the beginning of the week. Of course, I only see them twice a week, so during the second meeting we go over their progress on the problem. I have learned that if you can find an application that the students think is interesting, then the students have fun finding the answer to the problem. I have started asking my tutees to think about topics that would be of interest to learn about the mathematics involved. Because of my tutoring experience, I don't believe that I will need to change my game plan for the start of the school year. I plan to survey to my tutees about their experience with the real-world problems and its affect on their learning.

The only question that has arisen is whether my focus on real-world applications interrupt my ability to teach the basic skills, or will it distract the students' learning of the basic concepts?

To answer this question, I will have to use multiple assessment formats that we learned about this week. I plan to use a mixture of three of the four formats: forced-option for basic knowledge of concepts, open-ended for higher understanding and application of real-world problems, and performance-based to see if their misunderstanding is with the concepts or the real-world application. I would use project-based to assess their understanding of larger amounts of material.

Week 3 Blog Post (Game Plan Continued)

For my action plan in regards to increasing my knowledge of real-world problems, the resources that I will need are colleagues, math forums, math journals, and reading up on popular things that incorporate mathematics i.e. sports statistics, amusement park rides, and gaming strategy. The information that I will need to gather is how mathematics are incorporated in the real-world activities. I will also need to help finding ways to simplify the mathematics, so the students will be able to attempt the problem and not get lost in the complexity. The step that I have taken so far is looking for resources. I have already received a helpful website from Sonia Bannon (Thanks) that will provide some nice real-world applications for my class.

For my second indicator to increase student reflection, I will need aid in developing a decent questionnaire for my students. I will also like to research other teachers' approaches when it comes to reviewing the students' reflections because I have never done it before. The most important thing that I will need to do is figure out how to create the time (yes create time) to implement these into my classroom. The step that I have taken so far is looking at examples of questionnaires that others have developed for similar reasons and determining how I could ask similar questions for my specific topic.

NETS-T Standards and Indicators GAME PLAN

The two indicators, from the National Technology Standards, that I need to improve upon are from the first standard "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity." They are "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources" and "promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning,and creative processes."

In order to improve on the first one, I will first need the knowledge of some real-world issues. According to the video “Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1,” knowledge is one of the four important requirements needed to enrich student learning with technology. I have knowledge of the technology I want to use, but I still need to work on the knowledge of real-world applications. In order to improve on this, I will pay close attention math forums and news in the mathematical world. This will provide issues that I can simplify for my students to work on. I will then ask my students to research these issues and use the skills that we learned in class to develop a solution. To monitor my progress, I will dedicate a time period at the beginning of the week to introducing the problem, and I will dedicate time at the end of the week to see my students progress on the problem. To evaluate my learning, I will look at the students work and determine if I providing enough exposure for the issue or if I need to provide more earlier on in the year until they become more independent in their work. To extend my learning, I will branch out from just mathematical forums and news and look for real world applications in other areas of study.

For the second indicator, I will ask students to make a power point presentation, near the end of the unit, that will summarize what they learn, and to express what they would still like to learn about or believe they need extra aid in. Because of the many topics we must cover in the year, I tend to neglect the importance of reflection. In order to monitor my progress, I will provide students with a questionnaire that will ask questions regarding their feelings toward the presentations. It will also ask whether the students feel they have enough opportunities to reflect and express their creativity in the classroom. To evaluate my learning, I will look at the questionnaires and see if my contributions are helping students or hurting their motivation. I will see what I need to improve to make the reflecting process a more enjoyable experience. For extending, I plan to research other ideas about reflecting on learned material in the classroom and how to facilitate those ideas, so the students may have variations and choices in their reflecting process.

Course Reflection: Changes to my Personal Theory of Learning

I think that a big change to my personal learning theory is on motivation. I still believe that students need to have a sense of self responsibility, but I also think that the students also needed to be motivated out of curiosity. Using the material and constructionist strategies, I want the students to have the curiosity to move further on their own. I want the students to ask questions that will most likely not be on the quiz or test. If the students are motivated to do this, then they will attempt to grasp the basic concepts better, so they may have the chance to explore the material for their own questions.
To change my use of technology, I will focus more on learning technology tools instead of instructional technology tools. I will try to use resources like voice thread, so the students may develop materials to explain the concepts through various types of multimedia, and I plan on using concept maps, so the students can not only develop connections with the material, but they may also see their connections and revise them for better understanding.
One long term goal changes that I have is to incorporate learning technology tools at least once a unit. This would more likely be an ongoing project that will start at the beginning of a unit and be finished at the end prior to the test. I think that I will have students add to the project every week, so it would not be too time consuming, and the students will have a chance to put their own style and thoughts into the project. Another long term goal change would be to have students use technology to create learning tools. I think that while the students are developing tools they will be relearning the material, thinking critically of the concepts, and probably be more creative than I am. To do this, I may start a project at the beginning of a quarter that would be due near the end of that quarter. The tools that the students need to develop should attempt to enhance learning of past material, and the class will use these tools to review that material. I think this would be helpful for students who are studying for an exam, or at least provide ideas for other students to study for later material.

Voicethread Address

http://voicethread.com/share/889955/

Collaborative Learning and Social Learning Theories

The strategies that I read about this week are directly related to social learning theories. Each strategy involved students working together to accomplish a goal. Using multimedia to develop a project can be done alone, but with a group of students, there tends to be more creativity, more support, and more fun. Also, since the work is being shared, the group has a chance to incorporate more than one source to display their ideas. I thought that most of the web resources that were discussed were mediocre for social learning because they seemed unnecessary, but I do think that the communication abilities that the web offers allows students to stay interacted with each other regardless of their location. Now students can work on a project and simultaneously communicate while each person is at their own home. I was surprised that the text did not mention skype because I think that resource will allow students the visual communication that they are used to. In addition, most of the communication sources that use the net allow people to share files. This is nice because the students can send each other their work, get their opinions, and get it back to edit. This allows for constant collaboration and constant support for the learning.

Generating and Testing Hypotheses correlates with Constructivism/Constructionism

I think that the techniques discussed in this weeks resources correlated very well with constructive/ion methods. The data collection was great because the students were able to hypothesize the ph levels of the water sources, and after finding actual values, the students were able to inquire about why some sources of water were more acidic than others. This allows the students to construct from their own experience an understanding of how and why each water source gets acidic. The example using the spreadsheet allowed students to explore the data, and try to adjust variables in the compound interest formula. Doing this allowed the students to learn on their own how each variable effects the outcome. This also allows them to develop an understanding about which variable has a greater effect on the outcome of the formula. Likewise, they have the ability to use other understanding (and conversely develop understanding in other areas) to better understand why those variables have a greater or lesser effect. I think that the use of games and other web based applications correlate well with constructive/ion methods because depending on the applet, the student may be able to explore the topic by adjusting a variable, making a decision, or just plain old trying things out. From these, they are testing out an idea and adjusting their understanding from the outcomes. I remember a computer game that was out when I was in high school. It was called tanks (I think). It was a game where two tanks placed on an arbitrary terrain would take turns shooting at each other. In order to zero in on their opponent, the players would have to adjust their trajectory and the power in the shot. To a kid, it was just a fun game, but from an educators point of view, I see now that I was learning about angles, quadratics, and physics (in a very basic manner of course). I believe that my experience with that game is directly correlated with generating and testing hypotheses and constructivist/constructionist methods. If any of you are wondering, there is an app on the itouch (a friend of mine had it), and yes it is still pretty fun. : )

Week 3 Resources and Their Connections to Cognitive Learning Theories

After reading about cues, questions, and advance organizers, I thought that they directly correlated with a constructivist approach to learning. The cues allow the students to start thinking about the topic before really getting into the material. This allows them the chance to think about what they already know and try to connect it with what is to come. The questions basically do the same thing that cues do, but they are a little more direct than cues. The advance organizers allow students to take the material that they are learning, or about to learn, and connect it to material that they have already learned in an organized fashion. Another neat thing about the organizers is the connections that are made while the students are developing them or going over them. The work involved in creating these organizers make the material more memorable for the students.

What I have learned about virtual field trips was quite interesting. The ability to show students things all over the world while they are still in the classroom is great. I think that the field trips will stimulate more parts of the brain for the children, and it will allow them an experience that some of them may never have the chance to experience. For other students, they may see something interesting in the topic making the information taught more meaningful to them. I think that virtual field trips have a lot of promise in increasing students' learning by increasing the connections made from the experience.

Today's Practices and Behaviorism

After reading chapters 8 and 10 in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, I noticed that a couple of the strategies mentioned have a great impact on behaviorist methods of teaching (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). I think that using web resources for finding online games for students is very helpful in terms of providing ample practice for the students, and behaviorist methods lean heavily on repetition to reinforce students (Pitler et al., 2004, pg 195). I also think using spreadsheets as a method of showing numerous examples of graphs to students follows behaviorist strategies because it allows the student to see what happens when changes are made to an equation (Pitler et al., 2004, pg 191). The changes are like the effect in a cause and effect situation or a result of a certain behavior. The students are able to get a lot of exposure to many problems in a short amount of time. This allows the students to connect to the material quicker and more efficiently. As for reinforcing effort, the section on making an effort rubric and logging their results relates well with behaviorist practices. This is true because the students are able to quickly see the results of their effort. Behaviorism is based on a rewards and punishment system. After logging their effort rubric results from their units, the students are able to determine if their efforts or lack there of result in rewards or punishment. Then the student can make the connection to effort and good grades. I think that these three practices directly correlate with behaviorist principles of learning theory because they focus on repetition and results to help shape students behavioral practices of learning.


References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.