OTEN Yodio

New Tech Standards & Requirements

Oregon Educational Technology Standards

There are currently six educational technology standards in Oregon that are aligned with the national NETS*S standards:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

Below, I will discuss a few of these standards and how they can be implemented in a mathematics classroom.

Creativity and Innovation- Before I discuss ways in which students can use technology to show creativity in mathematics, it is important to discuss how mathematics can be a creative process.While it isn’t a standard that is normally thought of in mathematics, there are many ways of encouraging student creativity in math class. These include but are not limited to: students finding their own way to solve a problem, students coming up with their own examples of math problems, and students creating presentations of how they solved a math problem.  Therefore we are looking for ways in which technology can aid students in doing these creative activities. For example, students could use the smart board to show how they solved a problem, students could use Prezi or other presentation software to show their knowledge of a concept, or students could use a photo program with a draw or paint program to show geometric shapes are found in everyday life.

Communication and Collaboration- This standard caught my eye because it mentions communicating with experts in the field. Most students know so little about what mathematicians do or even how math is applied in other fields. Through the use of technology (Skype for example) students can connect with experts in the mathematics field or other fields that use mathematics without the headache of scheduling visits to the class. This also expands the base of experts the teacher has to use because the expert no longer needs to be a parent of a student or even a local. Another way students can use technology to communicate and collaborate is through conferences or data sharing activities that are not limited to the class size. Students could collaborate with other classes in their school, or even throughout the world using conferencing software or cloud computing documents and spreadsheets.

Technology Operations and Concepts-  While not specific to mathematics, being able to select, use, and troubleshoot tools effectively is a key component of technological literacy. Often, the ability to troubleshoot computers separates the technologically literate from those who are not. Just like learning a language, the best way to become comfortable with technology is through practice. As a teacher this means having technology available, implementing technology appropriately into the curriculum, and allowing students time to experiment with computers and technology.

Possible Challenges

The first, and perhaps most obvious challenge that I see teachers facing when implementing technology in the classroom is a lack of funds and resources to support the latest and greatest that technology has to offer. Just because there may not be sufficient funds to have computers or a smartboard in every classroom for every student, does not mean that we should give up in trying to integrate technology into the curriculum. Many schools have computer labs that teachers can hold classes in or portable smartboards that can be borrowed from the school. Also, as new technology comes out at an exponentially increasing pace, there is no shortage of secondhand computers or companies willing to donate. Most of the applications that are run in an educational setting do not require the latest technology has to offer.

A second. more difficult challenge is finding time to include computers when faced with the pressures of standardized testing and shortened class times. There is no easy answer to this roadblock. Teachers need to think creatively about how they can integrate technology into activities that enhance the curriculum, rather than viewing technology as a separate activity.  Teachers examine there lesson plans  “Can I use technology to enhance student knowledge in this lesson?” “Can my students use technology to further their understanding of the concept?”.     

educ 533- Best Practices Research

Best Practices in Education

SERC- http://www.ctserc.org/s/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=8&Itemid=28

Parent/Community Involvement  - Parent and community involvement is vital in education because the same work ethic, subject-area skills, and social skills that are learned and reinforced in the schools need to be also learned and reinforced at home in order for them to be remembered  and internalized by students .

High Standards and Expectations – All students need to be held to high standards and expectations because often as soon as they suspect that they are being held at a lesser standard they will underperform. Providing students with challenging material will often increase motivation as well.

NEA- http://www.nea.org/tools/17073.htm

Block Scheduling- Nearly all the research that I have read about brain theory has stressed the importance of pre-exposure, previewing, engagement, framing, acquisition, elaboration, review, and revision information as part of the learning process. With class periods that sometimes do not even reach forty minutes I have trouble seeing how teachers can implement this research into the classroom.  Block scheduling provides the additional time that students need in order to learn and remember subject matter.

Best Practices in Instruction

http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/12/implementing-best-practices-for-math-instruction.html

Provide differentiated classroom instruction using a variety of  instructional methods and interventions- Too many times teachers fall in a rut of teaching material the same way, regardless of the content they are covering or the different learning styles in their classroom. This an ineffective method because it ignores  the fact that each class will have a different student population with different classroom dynamics and learning styles. Not differentiating instruction is also dangerous because the lessons could become routine and boring to the students.

Assess to inform instruction and summarize learning- I think this may be the most important practice of them all. The teacher must be constantly assessing and evaluating their own instructional methods to see if they are the best fit for the students in their class. Angela Bunyi goes on to talk about how she uses her peers to better assess and inform instruction. I think it is important for teachers to collaborate consistently and to realize that their own practices should be tweeked and changed based on the input of others. Unfortunately, at my student-teaching site there doesn’t seem to be a collaborative effort at all and the math teachers seem to be unaware of what the others are doing.

Marzano’s essential 9 

http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html

Setting objectives and providing feedback- Although objectives were not a part of my student experience, I can see the value of giving students an idea of where the lesson is going and what they are trying to achieve. When students understand the overall concept that they are trying to learn from a particular lesson, they can pick out the individual parts of the instruction that make the most sense to them in understanding the overall concept. 

Sources:

Bunyi, Angela (2010) Implementing Best Practices for Math Instruction retrieved September 18,2011 from http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/12/implementing-best-practices-for-math-instruction.html

NEA Research Spotlight on Best Practices in Education retrieved September 18,2011 from http://www.nea.org/tools/17073.htm

SERC Best Practices in Education retrieved September 18,2011 from http://www.ctserc.org/s/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=8&Itemid=28

Varlas, Laura (2002) Nine Essential Instructional Strategies retrieved September 18,2011 from http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html

Multimedia Project

To record this video of a Prezi, we used the online screen captioning tool Screenr. Screenr allowed us to capture video of what was happening on the screen while recording our voice over the top of the presentation. After registering a username, setting up the recording session was quick and easy and we were recording within seconds. Once we finished recording, the publishing process took about seven or 8 minutes for a video that was just over 4 minutes. After the publishing process, Screenr gave the video a web address so it could easily be posted in facebook, twitter, or a blog. Another advantage of Screenr is that it is completely online and doesn’t require any software download. This is important because many school computers do not allow users to install programs on their computers. My only complaint about Screenr is the quality of the final product. The video is extremely choppy compared to how it looked in Prezi. This may have been due to the speed of the computer or internet connection we were using since we were using both Prezi and Screenr simultaneously.  

As I mentioned in a previous post, Screenr can be used to add voice to online PowerPoint presentations, making them much more useful for students to retrieve at a later time. Another application of Screenr in the classroom is to challenge students to create videos that demonstrate their knowledge in the content area. For example, an assignment in math could task the students with creating their own Screenr to demonstrate practical uses of the Pythagorean Theorem. This is useful because most students will be extra motivated when they have to produce a product.  

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

For the most part my experience with Goolge Sheets was smooth. I did the averages quickly and used the bottom right hand corner of the cell to efficiently copy the formula into the remainder of the cells. For the requirement about using only the students who were under average my original idea was to create a filter to filter out any students who’s average was under the 192 class average. This worked really well at first but unfortunately when I made a chart out of the selected cells, the chart included the data that had been sorted out by the filter. I then tried to sort the data from lowest to highest and delete the averages that fell below 192 and fortunately this method was successful. The chart was also fairly easy after I realized that I needed to switch the axis in order to make it more meaningful. The only hold-up that I had with the chart was when I attempted to change my vertical axis range, to make the graph more readable, the chart remained the same regardless of the numbers that I inserted.

Above is a chart that I made of how below average students progressed through the final five tests. Data for this chart can be found here. As an instructor, I would be pleased with the overall trend of the below average students. With the exception of Katherine’s dramatic loss in points from test 7 to test 8, and Queen’s slight loss from test 9 to test 10, all students progressed fairly linearly throughout the tests. If I had Queen, and especially Katherine in my class, I would ask them what they thought was difficult about their respective tests, or what outside factors (lack of sleep, didn’t study as hard, hungry, other things in their lives, etc.) may have influenced their scores.

My Favorite Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 is moving away from the idea that browsing the web should be a process where users view material published on the internet by web page developers, and is moving towards an idea where users create content that is accessible on multiple platforms and devices. Web 2.0 applications include social networking sites such as Facebook (where the content is user-created profiles and groups),   Dropbox (where the content is users’ files and folders), Wikipedia (an online encyclopedia where users provide the content for articles), and Screenr (a web-based application where users create online videos and tutorials). In these cases, the websites merely serve as a tool for connecting with the world, sharing your information, and interacting with the web in ways that make sense to you, the user. This new way of designing websites and tools is in sharp contrast to the “web 1.0” format of web designers dictating the content of any given page.

As I mentioned above, one of these Web 2.0 applications is Dropbox. Dropbox allows users to share files and folders to any computer or smartphone they have access to. Dropbox also has a separate folder that allows users to share files with anyone who has a specific link. One difference between Dropbox and the other web 2.0 applications is that it is not an application that is used through your web browser; you must download Dropbox onto your computer in order to use it. One of the biggest advantages of Dropbox for teachers is that it acts like a USB drive that you do not have to physically carry around with you, so you have one less thing to remember going from home to school and back. Another advantage is that unlike USB drives, it doesn’t matter if your home computer is Mac and your school computer is Windows based, Dropbox works across platforms. The “Share” folder in Dropbox, which gives a link to files in the folder, could be useful for teachers to post worksheets that they handed out in class for students who misplaced them or were absent that day. 

Screenr is another popular web 2.0 application. Screenr allows the user to record and share a video of what is happening on their screen (screencasts). The user can also use a microphone to overlay their own voice or other sound on top of the video. One use of Screenr for educators would be to include their own audio on presentations that they have available online. For example, not only would students be able to view PowerPoint presentations, but they could also hear their teacher talk about the presentation as they view it.