CI 335 section M (AHC)

Over the last couple of monthes, I have been examining various technologies and media, mostly over the internet and through this website. Though challenging at times, and most particularly while creating videos, this course has proved to be beneficial and engaging. While I’ll admit that I probably won’t go near some of the programs again (**cough** video makers! **cough**), most of them have now been added to my own tool kit. When I enter the professional realm of teaching, I will have a whole new world of media available to me and my students through the programs we have explored, and through the new programs that become available. To me, the most useful of these programs have been the SMART technologies, the google read/doc programs, learning how to embed videos and create links, and this website in particular. As a teacher, I will be able to help my students gain these skills as well, through presentation-making, using technology to explore math concepts, and also learning about their responsibilities and rights as digital citizens. That journey will help them relate and adapt to a world that is constantly changing and evolving, and show them the ways that they can connect the math we learn to the skills and creativity they will need to live in the global community that society has become.

How can technology be used in a classroom? To demonstrate the value and possible use of technology in a classroom, I will give an example. Suppose I wanted to teach a lesson or several lessons in algebra on quadratic functions. Below I have two videos that demonstrate examples of the usefulness of quadratic functions and their graphs, as well as instructions on how to use their graphing calculators so that they can examine the graphs and functions on their own time. I also have two SMART Notebook files that have tools which can be used during the lesson to help students explore the functions, and how the graphs change as we manipulate the coefficients (the most interesting being when certain coefficients are zero). Using these media and technology, we can help students approach the subject from multiple viewpoints, demonstrate the value of the subject, as well as keep them engaged and interested in the lesson.

To see the SMART Notebook files one and two, click on the corresponding word.

Click to see the first and the second videos which would be an asset in the classroom.

To be completely honest, it was very difficult working with the different presentation maker websites. Doing something as simple as putting up pictures that I only had ready and edited on my computer took forever. I think I like the animoto video the best, probably because of the music and flow of the video, but even that one was annoying. I only made a thirty-second video, but I can imagine the strain and focus it would take to make a larger project. I’m going to lump the other three in the bad category simply because they were as annoying to use as animoto (or worse), but they didn’t even look nice in the end when I had finished with them. Also, animoto at least provided me with some music to put into my video. The others are quiet and as still as a glacier. I wouldn’t want to force my students to have to go through all of these, but testing out different programs that are meant for the same general purpose is a good way to get a sense of what software is available to them. They can then explore more systems and websites on their own time, hopefully not wasting too much of their time trying to figure out how these websites work. I will admit that since the websites are pretty similar, once I got the hang of the first two, the other ones weren’t as difficult to figure out.

Here is story number one!

Or click here to view it.

Story number two:

Or click here to see the video.

Number three:

Or click here.

Number four:

Or click here.

I recently read a post by another blog, Thinking About Learning. The post is located here.

In my response, I included part of it as an audio response. I chose a computer voice to speak my opinion, because I prefer not to be recognized by name, picture, or voice on the internet. It is one of my own methods of internet security. (the section in stars is the section voiced)

After reading the blogger’s comments, I considered these ideas, some of which I had already heard about or spent some time learning about. I think the main problem with finding a “road map” to using technology as part of the learning process or a as the concept of the lesson, is that each subject will see a different purpose to them. ****Within a subject, each teacher must fit in these ideas and programs into the content being learned, the level of their students, and the result desired. If you ask multiple teachers even in the same subject, they are probably all going to give different reasons for teaching students about global citizenship or learning math concepts with computer programs. Educating teachers about the availability and use of these technologies, as well as the importance of digital citizenship is the first step. Once teachers have such tools in their kits, it is then up to them to know when and how to use those tools. ****

Also viewable here.

Here is a link to a blog to which I respond below: http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/09/17/good-teachers-worry-deep/

While I agree with you that a teacher who has a higher TIQ is probably more effective than one with a lower TIQ, I still have to wonder about those teachers with the highest TIQ. Mothers who worry can raise their kids better, but not always. Sometimes they get too worried or over anxious, and their involvement becomes annoying and frustrating to their kids. Is there any data to support that mothers who worry even raise their kids better? Psychology has shown that over-involvement from family members can cause disorders in children. At what point do we drawn the line? When we relate the topic back to teaching, what problems could be caused by over-worrying? I don’t doubt the significance that TIQ plays in students’ learning (although studies on it couldn’t hurt), but what is the significance, and is it something that we necessarily want?

The lecture below is given by Bill Gates, and the section on education begins around 8 mins.

While it is always worthwhile to have important people come forward and impress the necessity of improving education on the general populus, Bill Gates seems to misunderstand or overlook some of the information he presented. For instance, at one point in the video, he presents a chart that demonstrates how certain factors affect education. One of the factors is previous performance. Of course previous performance has an effect on education! That’s like saying that if you’ve taught well in the past, you probably are teaching well now. He moves from this point on to observing teachers in their classrooms so that they can see what and where they need to work on improvement. He mentions the ‘practical’ idea of putting cameras in classrooms so that they can watch their lessons. While this might work in some of the wealthier neighborhoods, most of the schools that need improvement are the poorest, and can’t afford textbooks, much less cameras. I think it is also worthwhile to note that one of the reasons why more of our teachers aren’t as effective as they could be, is because we don’t have enough of them. Teachers are in high demand, and when schools can’t get their hands on good teachers (or teachers with any experience at all), they’ll turn to people who didn’t even train to become teachers. While those people may have some experience in the fields they are teaching, they won’t understand or employ useful and helpful teaching methods. I think that before we can talk about improving education, we need to talk about improving the public’s view on education, its importance, and the value of teachers and the role they play. The way society is now, most people view teachers slightly negatively. When I tell people I’m studying to be a math teacher, most respond by asking “why?” or their give me a look as if I’m sick with some strange contagious disease. With the way the population is growing, and the need for our citizens to gain a better education, we need to stop fooling around and increase the number of teachers available to schools, and demand that they have education in education and the subject that they plan to teach.

This is in response to a video that is embedd in the post above. It is a talk by Sir Ken Robinson on how important creativity is in schools, and the importance of reshaping our schools so that instead of shunning creativity and the arts, we value each talent and skill of our students, and help them to flourish and succeed on whatever path they choose.

I really do agree Robinson on the necessity of creativity in education, not only because it supports students in all of their facets, but also because creativity has always and will always be an advantage to those who can use it, and helps society move forward. Where would we be without the creative inventors, painters, musicians? Would we ever have advanced to such a technological age that we are currently living in, or advanced our political and societal views and ideals to ones where everyone has worth? Creativity also allows for freedom of mind and body, as Robinson mentioned briefly. It can release us from the everyday world or help us flow more naturally with the world instead of against it. If we are only bent on cold hard thinking and development, how can we live in balance with nature when nature knows how to adapt and evolve, and we don’t?

While creativity is necessary, this does not diminish the other subjects of their value. As Robinson pointed out, education is either geared toward getting students jobs or turning them into university professors. Unfortunately, even if students aren’t planning to become proffessors, certain subjects, like math and English, are useful in everyday life. The world is in essence a land of math, and in order to live here, we must know the language, if only enough to speak with the natives and get by. Math also broadens the mind and can help in stretching out our creativity, whether in how we view the world geometrically, or even how we view problems. Issues can usually be dealt with in multiple ways, some easier or better than others, which is a lesson taught in mathematics. A math problem can used be solved by many methods as well, whether algebraically, geometrically, graphically, or even through reasoning. Developping reasoning and critical thinking is useful no matter what you plan to do in life. If you become a dancer, having a basic understanding of movements, speeds, rhythems, and space should be essential (true some of that is also learned from science). If you plan on sitting at home all day playing video games for the rest of your life, knowing how the games were created can be helpful, and understanding how to manipulate controls and combinations is critical, as any gamer already knows. Math and science aren’t just numbers and theorems needed to become a professor, but a way of examining the world which is constantly changing and evolving, and learning how to adapt to it through technology or critical reasoning.

Most people underestimate the value of English and history as well. There are always the basic arguments of knowing the language that is spoken in your country and learning the mistakes of history so that they aren’t repeated. Yet there is more to them than only that. English is an excellent source for creativity, or even examining and studying the products of other creative thinkers. Creative writing assignments can be used to flower the mind and heart through poetry, songs, or stories. It is also the grounds for developing reasoning skills. Where would our argumentative and logical thinking come from without learning how to write pursuasively, critically, or comparatively? Studying readings in English can also be used as a method for learning how to draw out the important facts or details from someone else’s argument, as well as understand their essential points. We can only create a world that is unified and peaceful if we can understand what another person means. Literacy and speech have also become an necessary element of life, even with (or perhaps because of) all of the technology of our modern age.

While music, dance, and art should and will no doubt be of more value in schools, the instability of creativity makes it difficult to maintain in a school. Robinson defined creativity as a “process of having original ideas that have value.” Who determines which ideas are valuable? Is he the one that determines what is valuable? Are the teachers? The parents? The students? Creativity cannot be so defined, for the very essence of creativity is that it brings about original ideas. If they are original, while some may be easily recognizable as having worth, others of equal value may be shunned simply because they are new ideas that our society may not understand or recognize. People fear the unknown, and an idea that is new and different will be oppressed with the same vigor that they profess their religious views. A student may produce something truly marvelous or ingenous, but still be put down all the same if our society does not learn to be accepting and open first. Imagine how people a couple hundred years ago would react if we showed them a television, a computer, a telephone, or an ipod. They would think they had gone insane, or that we were insane, or even that we were demons of some kind.

Creativity is not what is being questioned here, but ultimatelty,  the enforcement of teaching it. What methods can we use to allow for more creativity in schools? Certainly we can allow for more creative projects in the main subjects. We can also provide more opportunities in the arts. Robinson made the interesting point that while music and art are usually accepted as subjects in schools, dance almost never is. Another point is that teachers should understand and be more open to student ideas, no matter which classroom they are in. A teacher can almost never know when another Albert Einstein, Mozart, Beethoven, Aristotle, Van Gogh, Kepler, or Voltaire is sitting in their classroom. To allow creativity to flourish, while still maintaining the necessary subjects and pools of knowledge, teacher must be flexible, teach in a variety of ways, and most important of all, accept students’ opinions and methods, examine and support them, even if they were not the ones that the teachers themselves had expected. Expectations of students only hold them fast to the teacher’s limits. This does not mean accepting everything a student offers as correct, true, or possible, but giving their answers and opinions value, so that they don’t worry about the correctness of their answers as much as coming up with them.