RSS helps to keep me up to date with what’s happening in educational technology. Sometimes it seems overwhelming, but that’s only when I neglect to check my feeds for weeks at a time. Getting into a routine again will help I’m sure. So what have I found?
After reading Clay Shirky’s book, Here Comes Everybody, I was especially interested in Will Richardson’s interview with Clay. Chris Lehman, after reading Clay’s book, wrote an article on “Why is educational change so hard?”. This was interesting in light of the changes we are trying to make in bringing Web 2.0 tools into our classrooms.
On Educational Origami, I found an excellent article about 21st century assessment, another area where change is difficult.
These feeds track education topics, but I’ve also found several math feeds to follow especially some podcasts with math puzzles and interesting information — Math Factor and MathGrad.
July 18th, 2008
Where to begin? I love using technology, but sometimes I feel a little behind the curve. There is so much to learn and so little time. Web 2.0, read and write, can be so powerful. How can we effectively use these tools to teach? How can I find ways to use them effectively in math specifically? Sometimes I wish I were teaching another subject so I could use these tools more often or easier. This is the problem — how can teaching the skills of math effectively use the 2.0 technology tools beyond practice and tutor? How can I use project-based learning or authentic assessment in my math classroom and still “cover all the material”? How do I go deep and still prepare students for the next level in math? This is what I am wading through. This is what I need help with. How can collaborating with students across the world help my students in Norcross, GA? How do I find these projects that excite my students and give them the desire to learn? I think some the answers may lie in the Web 2.0 tools and the world we are becoming. But I’m still learning and looking.
May 31st, 2008
What a great way to model lifelong learning for our students! Learning new and exciting ways to update our curriculum that appeals to our students and uses technology tools. I love change! Every year I look for ways to change my teaching for the next year. Even though I have taught math at the same school for the last 21 years I try to make it new and different in some way every year. This is good and bad. Change for change sake is not always good. So most challenging for me is to begin with the end in mind. Where am I going? I need to be sure that I am meeting the needs of my students and preparing them for the next level of math, not just “having fun”. Therefore, I need to keep my essential questions in front of me at all times.
I have over the years created my own learning toolbox. Right now it is overflowing!! Some organization is needed so I can put my hands on what I need when I need it. Using technology to my advantage is a continuing goal. Since I went back to school in educational technology, I have found technology a wonderful set of tools to help me teach. It’s easy to play with these new tools, but sometimes hard to stop. Therefore summer is a great time to continue playing and planning for next year. It is important to select the tools that best fit the objective. i hope that through this course I will connect with others in sharing ideas for teaching math and integrating technology tools.
May 31st, 2008
