Exploring Student collaboration
Asynchronous collaboration:
Piazza.com (It has Latex code!)
Piazza is a website where students can be grouped into a course section, and then are allowed to ask questions to the entire class. Responses then can be submitted by any other students. This allows for students to collaborate over homework problems without meeting face to face. This site is free, and has a latex code editor, which is great for upper level mathematics.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Thursday, October 8, 2015
TT1541 Module 7 links
MOOCs
Massive open online courses: good for professional development, free! (usually unless taken for credit)
Edx: website for MOOC courses
This is a wonderful way to explore topics that someone is interested in, but may not necessary want to pay for a course or get the course credit. I would use this to explore professional development opportunities in teaching. This would allow me to stay current on trends in teaching, and continue to adapt my lessons to best serve my students.
SurveyMonkey.com
Good for student feedback, anonymous, easy to navigate, can analyze results and share with a group
Massive open online courses: good for professional development, free! (usually unless taken for credit)
Edx: website for MOOC courses
This is a wonderful way to explore topics that someone is interested in, but may not necessary want to pay for a course or get the course credit. I would use this to explore professional development opportunities in teaching. This would allow me to stay current on trends in teaching, and continue to adapt my lessons to best serve my students.
SurveyMonkey.com
Good for student feedback, anonymous, easy to navigate, can analyze results and share with a group
Friday, October 2, 2015
TT1541 Module 6 links
ScreenCastify:
create screencast with video and audio, easily uploaded to youtube
My example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_45hH6NzbQ
This tool is perfect for making short screencast videos. I would use this to make videos on any topics that seem to be difficult for students to understand. They can be used to show how to navigate to a certain website, or how to complete a specific math problem.
Jing:
Similar to screencastify: also can capture still images of your desktop to upload for student viewing
Prezi:
presentation software, using for organizing thoughts (maybe too disjointed for connections in math, more useful to diagram a paper/story?)
An interesting way to connect ideas. This tool is similar to powerpoint, but I would use this tool to mix up the presentations to allow for a continued interest in the readings and material.
create screencast with video and audio, easily uploaded to youtube
My example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_45hH6NzbQ
This tool is perfect for making short screencast videos. I would use this to make videos on any topics that seem to be difficult for students to understand. They can be used to show how to navigate to a certain website, or how to complete a specific math problem.
Jing:
Similar to screencastify: also can capture still images of your desktop to upload for student viewing
Prezi:
presentation software, using for organizing thoughts (maybe too disjointed for connections in math, more useful to diagram a paper/story?)
An interesting way to connect ideas. This tool is similar to powerpoint, but I would use this tool to mix up the presentations to allow for a continued interest in the readings and material.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
TT1541 Module 5 links
podcasts on math research:
http://www.travelsinamathematicalworld.co.uk/
Podcasts are another way to investigate what is changing in math and education. Podcasts can give information about new ideas and new research. This allows students to be connected to what is happening in the real world today.
Khan Academy math videos:
KhanAcademy.com
This is a great resource to get explanations on math topics. Students who can not find a good time to ask questions to the teacher can find many topics covered on this site. The explanations are clear and accurate.
http://www.travelsinamathematicalworld.co.uk/
Podcasts are another way to investigate what is changing in math and education. Podcasts can give information about new ideas and new research. This allows students to be connected to what is happening in the real world today.
Khan Academy math videos:
KhanAcademy.com
This is a great resource to get explanations on math topics. Students who can not find a good time to ask questions to the teacher can find many topics covered on this site. The explanations are clear and accurate.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
TT1541 Module 4 links
Blackboard collaborate:
polling options, screen share, ability to turn off video, virtual whiteboard options, can record sessions
This is a great option to discuss with students live. The sessions can be recorded and put up for students who missed to view later. Also, this tool can give an option for virtual office hours with a whiteboard, which is very important in mathematics.
Google Hangouts:
linked to google accounts, nice for multiple videos of each person in the session,
Nice for large face to face group meetings, allows for live interaction as if people were in the same room.
polling options, screen share, ability to turn off video, virtual whiteboard options, can record sessions
This is a great option to discuss with students live. The sessions can be recorded and put up for students who missed to view later. Also, this tool can give an option for virtual office hours with a whiteboard, which is very important in mathematics.
Google Hangouts:
linked to google accounts, nice for multiple videos of each person in the session,
Nice for large face to face group meetings, allows for live interaction as if people were in the same room.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
TT1541 Module 3 links
Blog about real life math applications:
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/this.week.html
Blogs are a good tool to explore how content is changing. Blogs give many options for people to read any large number of topics they may be interested in. This could be used to explore what is new the mathematics research world.
Survey Monkey:
Alternative choice for asynchronous "discussion"
This is a great way to collect and analyze data. Students can answer anonymously, and it is easy to share results with the class to generate discussions.
Wikipedia
useful for upper level math topics
Wikipedia is a great resource for looking up specific questions in mathematics. The content is accurate and gives a great explanation of many higher level topics. Thus is a student did not have a textbook covering a particular topic, they could reference wikipedia to answer their questions.
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/this.week.html
Blogs are a good tool to explore how content is changing. Blogs give many options for people to read any large number of topics they may be interested in. This could be used to explore what is new the mathematics research world.
Survey Monkey:
Alternative choice for asynchronous "discussion"
This is a great way to collect and analyze data. Students can answer anonymously, and it is easy to share results with the class to generate discussions.
Wikipedia
useful for upper level math topics
Wikipedia is a great resource for looking up specific questions in mathematics. The content is accurate and gives a great explanation of many higher level topics. Thus is a student did not have a textbook covering a particular topic, they could reference wikipedia to answer their questions.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
TT1541 Module 2 links
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/finkk19
Good for math jokes, current articles about math (#math)
Twitter is a great way to stay connected with other mathematicians and educators. This tool allows a class to explore ideas with students from all over the world.
Diigo: https://www.diigo.com/user/kfink83
bookmarking site, create groups to share resources/ links
Diigo is a nice way of compiling information into one place. It can also be used to share links and bookmarks with people in a particular group. This can cut down on the time it takes to navigate the web when looking for particular sites.
Good for math jokes, current articles about math (#math)
Twitter is a great way to stay connected with other mathematicians and educators. This tool allows a class to explore ideas with students from all over the world.
Diigo: https://www.diigo.com/user/kfink83
bookmarking site, create groups to share resources/ links
Diigo is a nice way of compiling information into one place. It can also be used to share links and bookmarks with people in a particular group. This can cut down on the time it takes to navigate the web when looking for particular sites.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
EDU 6250 Article 3
Stillar, B. (2012). 21st Century learning: How
college classroom interaction will change in the decades ahead. International Journal of Technology,
Knowledge, & Society, 8(1) 143-151. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cod.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=3013d9e6-1e80-43f4-9ff4-54af2683e38d%40sessionmgr113&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=91544679.
This particular article was written
to discuss the changes that are occurring specifically in the college classrooms. Although college education is influenced by
many of the same factors as public education, the college classroom may be
affected by these influences in a drastically different way. The standards, expectations, and student
population undergo a very significant change from the high school level to the
college level. Since the implications of advances on college classrooms vary
from the public education spectrum, it is important to investigate these
changes separately.
Often curriculum
and education changes apart from technology, based on societal needs, but a
large factor recently in how lessons are taught are driven by the new
technologies available for the classroom.
This article focuses mainly on the changes that are related to the
increase and advancement of technology.
Because technology is so prevalent, many people are encouraged by their
businesses to seek additional training to support their job. This leads the college to develop classrooms
and environments that suits the needs of professional seeking certificates or
advanced training. Because employers are
looking for specific skills, it often drives college to provide a very specific
course on a flexible schedule so that people who work can complete the class,
and directly apply it to their profession.
Employers and colleges will see an increase in communication to ensure
that the college offers the services needed by specific employers. Technology is the key in allowing flexible
courses, many of which occur online, or in a blended atmosphere. Without the communication between employers
and colleges, many high paying highly skilled jobs will go unfilled for lack of
qualified applicants.
The
previous circumstance deals with individuals who know what skills they need to
be successful because they are already set in a position. However many traditional aged students do not
know what career they will end up with.
Thus the college curriculum must ensure that school is teaching the
students critical thinking skills. Then
when students leave college, no matter what job they end up with, they will
have the necessary cognitive skills to adapt and learn new material as the
train in their new career. Technology
plays a big role in preparing students for jobs they may not even know exist
yet. With technology, it is possible to
create virtual labs in many disciplines, which allow students to work out real
life problems and develop problem solving skills. The idea of creating adaptable lessons for
small groups is very encouraging for the development of critical thinking
skills for many facets of life. This
also caters to many different intelligences in the classroom. Students can take advantage of their kinesthetic,
visual, auditory, and other modes of learning and absorbing information. If needed, these labs could also be more
career specific, such as for nursing or other vocational careers. This type of learning is much more
self-driven as well, which takes the focus away from the instructor, and puts
the student in the center of their own learning. Students will need to know how to navigate
large amounts of material presented by technology, and how to distinguish valuable
information from incorrect material.
Because of the large amounts of free source information available, a
majority of research and discussion can be done without the strict oversight of
the professor. This method should seem
natural to many students as time progresses, because technology has been a part
of many younger students lives since they were very young. It would be unusual to many of these students
to learn without using technology.
In
addition, technology will help drive the idea of a worldwide community of
learners. Because of the ease to which people
can connect all over the world, classrooms will continue to encourage students
to exchange ideas with people from various countries. Many college classrooms will no longer be
isolated to the small group of students in the course, or even the relatively
small number of total students at the college, but the investigating of ideas
can be discussed by many individuals with many different backgrounds. This again leads the importance of the ability
of the student to distinguish what information is useful and what is not.
The advance
of technology leads to a shift in the structure of the college classroom. Professors become much more of a facilitator
rather than the main source of knowledge.
While the professor is still an expert in their field, the professor
must encourage students to explore ideas on their own, because eventually the
student will leave the classroom and no longer be able to rely solely on the
knowledge of the professor. Students
must themselves become experts at finding and synthesizing information through
the process of completing college courses.
The fact that the professors role is changing may be scary to many
teachers. Many professors enjoy being
the main source of knowledge, but if a professor is to truly conduct their
classroom to maximize the benefit to the student, the professor must accept
this change spurred on by technology.
Instead of fearing or avoiding this change, it is a professor’s responsibility
to investigate new technologies and new learning methods, and when applicable
incorporate beneficial technology into their classroom. The ultimate goal is to create life long
critically thinking students, and technology is going to play a big part in how
this is accomplished.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
EDU 6250 article 2
Powell, W. & Kusuma-Powell, O. (2015).
Overcoming resistance to new ideas. Phi
Delta Kappan, 96 (8) 66-69. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=5e0ea98f-c262-45f0-89fd-d88dae804bda%40sessionmgr115&hid=101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=102291250
The article I read dealt with the
resistance to change many teachers may face when implementing new strategies in
the classroom. Technology is often a new idea for the classroom, and is
constantly changing, but this article covered a wider concern than just
technology. The article begins by discussing how during a staff survey
about differentiated instruction, many teachers had negative feelings toward
the validity or viability of implementing differentiated instruction.
Many teachers either saw no reason for the change, because they felt their
students were succeeding with the current model, or thought there is simply not
enough time and resources to complete the adaptation. The article discusses
how this negative feedback is a result of underlying beliefs and attitudes that
many teachers have that cause them to cling to the status quo for their
classroom. In many cases, the teacher may not even be aware of the fact
that they have an underlying belief that causes them to be so resistant.
The author notes that these teachers who had these adaptive challenges were
generally considered good instructors, and had their student’s best interest in
mind.
The proposed idea to combat this resistance was to create opportunities for deep reflection and cooperative learning. The article mentioned how important it was to create an environment where the instructors did not feel threatened, as many teachers strive to "protect our self-esteem, our reputation with colleagues, our perception of past success, and even our feelings of professional fulfillment" (p. 67). The study was conducted by grouping the resistant teachers together, and giving them an opportunity to explore their underlying beliefs by answering open ended questions. These questions dealt with feelings of success in the classroom, strategies for helping struggling students, and what student success really means to them. These questions provided an opportunity for the teachers to reflect and discuss their ideas about how their classroom is structured. After the discussion, teachers were asked to identify one goal they had for their classroom that involved adaptive change, and then they were set up in groups to help them co-plan, co-teach, and co-reflect on the process. This process was continued over an extended period of time, as the changes in the classroom are often not made overnight, but rather through a gradual process.
The outcome of this study was that by introducing this reflective method to a small group of teachers, the method spread throughout the school. The teachers in the study used to the same reflective process within their team and department meetings. The teachers saw the benefit to working collaboratively and using the reflective process to overcome obstacles in making changes in their classrooms.
This article I believe really hits at the heart of the resistance to technology. Many teachers become comfortable with the status quo, and perhaps without even realizing it, develop underlying beliefs that cause negative reactions to implementing new strategies / technologies. The study suggests several good ideas for overcoming these issues, however in my experience for the college level, it is much easier for instructors to resist the team approach. The cooperative exploration may help many teachers at the college level, but there are those teachers who will choose to omit themselves. There is not much an associate dean can do to force participation by individual instructors. In a public school system, it would seem much easier to require this type of training. This isolation only becomes an issue if new technology requirements need to be approved by an entire department, which often is not the case. Thus I think using this cooperative strategy, which my college are encourages, is a great way to overcome obstacles in continually updating a teacher’s current style.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
EDU 6250 Article Review # 1
Joanne, C.S.M, &
Lateef, F. (2014). The flipped classroom: Viewpoints in Asian universities. Education in Medicine Journal 6,(4), 20-26. Retrieved from
This
article discusses the viewpoint of the flipped classroom in Asian cultures. The flipped classroom is an idea where
students complete a lesson at home on their own, and then perform homework
problems in the classroom. The purpose
of the flipped classroom is to try to increase engagement in education. Having the students work on problems in a
classroom, perhaps collaboratively with other students, can possibly create an
engaging learning environment which may increase overall learning. In order for the flipped classroom to be
successful, there is a certain amount of technology that a student must have access
to at home. As many people can probably
relate, reading a school textbook is not terribly invigorating, and could cause
issue for students completing assignments at home. Thus various technologies: videos, websites,
interactive media, etc., is very important in the possible success of the
flipped classroom.
When receiving feedback, a large percentage of students wrote favorable comments about their experience in the flipped classroom. They liked the extra time for discussion with their teacher. Quantitative data was also collected regarded performance in the flipped classroom when compared to a traditional classroom. There was no significant difference between the traditional class and flipped classroom. Thus it seems likely that the flipped classroom does not cause students to do worse on exams, but it may not provide much additional benefit in regards to learning content. One aspect that seemed to be consistent for learners in all case studies was the positive feedback about the learning environment. Student satisfaction was significantly high for students in the flipped classroom model. The article also discussed how instructors in Asia appeared to be willing to test out the new model. In general the instructors cared most about the success of the students, and so introducing a flipped model into Asian schools may not present a problem of dispelling the “sage on the stage” which has dominated education previously.
Overall
the article is interesting because Asian countries consistently score higher in
math than students in Western countries, and so to examine how Asian students
respond to a flipped classroom could be valuable information for our school
systems. The article focused a lot on
student enjoyment. When deciding which learning
technique to use, I am not always sure that the student satisfaction should be
of utmost importance. It is difficult to
say for Asian schools, but my experience teaching at the college level tells me
a majority of students would be happy simply to be passed along in the school
system, regardless of what they may have actually learned. If a student is happy to simply receive an A
without any actual learning, than this is not a good model to adapt. However students in Asian societies may put
more weight on their education, and thus their satisfaction may be pure in a
sense that they actually felt that they were learning more, and in a more
profound way. However student satisfaction
is certainly a benefit I see based on the results of this study. There are however some potential issues that
I could see with the flipped classroom that this article did not discuss. The flipped classroom requires a strong
self-motivated student. If a student is
not self-motivated, they will not complete the lessons on their own at home,
and then the class time will be wasted relearning material the student should
already know. What should a teacher do
with a student who is not prepared for the day’s work? Also there is a large deal
of technology involved in the flipped classroom model. As mentioned before, students must be able to
access the lessons, which are often videos or interactive programs. Not all students have access to these
necessities, and thus these students could be left behind. The
flipped classroom may create a bigger gap between students within the same
classroom than a traditional model. Having a variety of abilities in a classroom
is always a challenge that a teacher must face, but the flipped classroom may
expand this issue. Overall, it does not
seem that the flipped classroom is an educational idea restricted to one
culture. Perhaps there are benefits of
the flipped classroom for all students, but pinpointing exactly how
successfully this model can be is yet to be seen. More time is needed to examine the outcomes
of student who progress through a flipped classroom model.
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