1/ 19/ 12

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Started by discussing “The Internet” article that we read for homework.

There are different sites that can do math for us (first page of article).
We went to WolframAlpha and typed in “integral of x^2 from 1 to 4”. It showed the correct integral, a graph of the integral, and the Riemann sums.
We also looked at Rachelle’s website because she had an interactive fish tank on her home page. The web has become very interactive.
Yahoo questions/ answers
Cramster.com
- these are all new ways to have someone do your work
- There has always been a way to have someone else do your work, but the web makes it more accessible
- It also blurs the line between what is acceptable and what is not
- It might be good to have a discussion with your students about how much they can or can’t use the web
You learn how much you take the opportunity to learn
- when you have someone else do the work you are saying that you are choosing not to take the opportunity
- If you value understanding material, the calculator can’t do that for you, but if you value being able to solve an equation the calculator can do that, so the helpfulness of the calculator is dependant on what the teacher is looking for
People getting solutions and resources from the Internet is valuable
- the Idea is not to get people to not use the Internet, but to help people to understand how it can best be used
- We live in a world of technology, so it’s unrealistic to stay away from the Internet. We need to know how to use technology (the Internet) because we will need to use it in the future.
  - The Internet can sometimes be a bad thing (cheating) but just because it can be doesn’t mean we can’t ever use it, we just have to use the Internet to help us.
- The Internet can help you learn/ understand material. The Internet can be a tool to help us learn
Being a tutor can be a valuable experience
- parents hire you to help their student learn, students want you to get them through the class and through the work
- this goes back to the fact that people have different expectations
There probably isn’t a way to make the Internet only a useful tool, not a “get through the work” tool, but things would probably improve if teachers changed the focus from getting the work done, to the quality of the work
- asking students to give an explanation is a good way to help students understand, or help teachers see what students don’t understand
Solutions for students who circumvent reason for doing assignments:
- Have student explain their answer/ thinking
- Change names in problems so when students try to google search it’ll be harder to find the answer to the problem
- Use problems with symbols because they are harder to type into google
- Search the problem your self (as the teacher) to see if it can be found on the Internet, and if it can you can tweak it a little bit (change names, wording or numbers- although be sure to use good/ appropriate new numbers- generalized numbers can be good too (a,b))
- Class policy: technology is good, but I need to know the material and reasons behind the problems
- Generalization can make a difference (generalizing numbers...)- It’s harder to get the computer or calculator to do it, and the students can learn a lot
We have to be aware of what the Internet is capable of, and our students should be aware of it as well
- set up ground rules for the students, and for yourself.
  - students need to know that understanding is valued, an ability to explain your reasoning
  - Teachers need to teach students well so they can explain their thinking
This article makes it sound like teachers are not aware of the things the Internet can do, and they need to be aware of it. Is it a reality that teachers don’t know what’s going on?
- More recent teachers know what’s going on because they grew up with it
- Some teachers are more aware of it than others
- Part calculator part non calculator tests
- Some teachers probably haven’t thought about it
We’re living in a world with a lot of data!
How do we as teachers stay up to date with the technology and what students can do?
- We can’t get complacent thinking we know it all
- Be proactive about learning about technology
- Learn from students because they are up on it
What are reasonable ground rules for us as students in the class to help learn about technology
- Don’t cut and paste!
- Know what you’re talking about when you do the write up
- You can go online for help, but not the answer
  - It takes a lot of self discipline because you know that you can probably find the answer out there
- Is what I’m doing helping me to understand the material? Or is it just helping me check something off of a list? “The Learning Line”
- This is a good conversation to have with our future classes
Don’t use technology as a crutch. If you are you’re trying to avoid understanding

Web Resources Assignment:

Resource for yourselves
Example: you are teaching a lesson about conic sections. What would you look for online?
- Problems/ tasks
- Videos that help explain conic sections
  - Lesson fodder
  - Student resources
- Virtual manipulatives
- Other teacher’s lesson plans
- Worksheets
- Subject details so you can brush up on conic sections
- TI Nspire documents on their website
For the assignment you decide they types of documents you choose, but some have to be TI Nspire documents
At least 12 resources each
How do you evaluate the quality of resources that are out on the web?
- ease of use
- credibility
  - author/ who made it
    - if you can’t tell who made it that might be bad
  - reputable company
- purpose
  - yours and theirs
- URL
  - .edu/ .org vs. .com
- number of ads
- rating systems
  - google plus
  - facebook likes
  - awards
- accuracy of math
- have to pay?
- who can edit it
Criteria is going to different depending on what you are looking for
For this assignment find an easy way to evaluate a website. Give a couple sentences of how you evaluated the site
Make it something you would use as a math teacher