Week 3: Planning YOUR tech week

Task Discussion

• 
  Green Machine   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:17 p.m.

  Topic 1: TI-NSpire, iOS, Android. I would like learn more about the classroom applications that the TI-Nspire, iOS (iPod, IPad), and Android OS possess. I am also interested in how to develop your own apps for these systems. I have personally used a TI-NSpire and I must say, they blow the TI-83 and TI-84 out of the water. I would also like to explore the differences and similarities between each product. Many of these products provide great visuals along with the incorporations of cutting edge technology. I would like to explore more in the uses of these products and how to effectively use them during insturction or for differentiation.
  
  Topic 2: Smart Boards. I have never had the opportunity to utilize a Smart Board and I have been itching to get my hands on one. I hear so many great comments about them from other teachers who are privlidged to have access to one. I would like to explore more in depth about their capabilites, products offered, and how to produce your own lessons using a Smart Board.
  
  Topic 3: Food Therapy. Majority of the schools I have visited or taught at, usually offer the same lack lustered meals for the scholars through out the day. I would like to research the effects of the food the scholars have to eat through out the day against the effects of healther or alternative foods. I would also like to incorporate how this could be used as a project for scholars to develop their own business within the school that offers an affordable, yet healthier food program. Scholars would be able to develop a business plan, budget, learn about nutrition, proper meal planning, and develop a schedule where they could provide these services. They would also learn about the effects certain food have on the body and your brain.

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 4, 2013, 6:55 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Green Machine   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:17 p.m.

  The effect of food on math success is actually very strong - stronger than most "math-only" interventions like changes in curriculum, teaching techniques, use of technology and so on! This could be an interesting project for the whole community. Personally, I always try to provide healthy food when we do math. Mathematics burns about as much body sugar as brisk exercise, etc. Heads-up that you are likely to run into several types of resistance on political and economic grounds - not in this course, but when you implement the idea. Be brave and prepared, and seek allies.

  Smart Board is an interesting tech to explore. Most apps for it I've seen were "broadcast" (one-to-many). That's the source of some interesting controversy you can dig into. For example, if you look at what math bloggers say about Smart Boards, you are likely to find lively debates.

• 
  Lisa Ritt   Feb. 10, 2013, 6:56 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Green Machine   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:17 p.m.

   

  Hi Green Machine :)
  In resonse to you also thinking about SmartBoards:

  1)-It is tough to decide on just 1 topic to explore, because we all care so much about being the best teacher we can be...thats for sure!  With keeping in mind I will be a brand new teacher & SMART BOARDS seem to be a technology that is available in most schools on some level, I think I am going to focus here. I care about the utilization of smart boards for many reasons:

  -I feel that they are a fantastic asset to any classroom & they are available as a teaching tool for the most part in most public schools

  -I also find they are under utilized in many cases...for various reasons...lack of training...lack of wanting to change from something that's comfortable.. they don't always work properly, etc etc

  -I have witnessed how the kids keep an interest when there is something more interesting visually to focus on. They can help us make a potentially more "this is boring" subject matter..to be a bit more exciting...by the simple uses of color...dramatic transistions to watch...moving in and out of online information to LIVE..in classroom white board teaching, etc

  2) There are easily about 1000 YouTube SMART BOARD tutorials, suggestions, tricks, etc. If you go on YouTube & search “smart board tutorial, ” you will see them.  I’ve watched a few & the thing you have to be cafreful about it is the fact that there seem to be a few different version/upgrades of SMART BOARDS over the last few years so you really want to pay attention to the version you would be using & the examples being shown online & whether it’s the same or different version as yours. Of course, if it is different,  you may not have the same steps on your smartboard as someone else.

  There is even a channel you can subscribe to which you can get updates when new items show up having to do with smart boards, you can get notified.

  Here is a link I thought had some cool tips/tricks:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAt7Yl--wQ8

  3) Will the SMART BOARD wave end soon & be replaced by some NEW innovative technology we haven’t heard of yet? If that happens soon, will that have those of us who start feeling very comfortable with using SMART BOARDS feeling frustrated because we don’t want to learn a new technology?

  Cheers!

  -Lisa

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 10, 2013, 7:30 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Lisa Ritt   Feb. 10, 2013, 6:56 a.m.

  Thank you for collecting resources. You seem to be contemplating a lot why people don't use SMART Boards more. I have seen several education pundits write pretty harsh opinions about the technology - citing deep pedagogical reasons why they would not use it. Worth investigating?

  In the spirit of Open Education Resources, here is a blog post on how to make a DIY interactive whiteboard that only costs two dollars! http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/

  It has good SMART Boards links, but also some comparisons of virtual vs. physical tools you may find useful for the topic. 

   

• 
  SueSullivan   Feb. 10, 2013, 9:08 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Green Machine   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:17 p.m.

  Hello Green Machine,

  Love your idea about teaching scholars how to eat healthier and how to budget for food (and also that cheaper doesn't always mean healthier).

  There are so many math applications for nutrition, though the first that comes to my mind doesn't involve technology directly - it's the process of controlling your daily intake of something, such as sodium (my Dad has to do this due to congestive heart failure).  Scholars could also use math to figure out how much of a particular food they need to eat to meet nutritive goals, and extend that to how much it would cost.

  The topic of food could also be co-taught with science - students could plant seeds and, in the process, learn about seeds, soil, etc.  Attempting to grow their own food could also be linked to history lessons, as I think we often take grocery stores for granted and can't relate to the struggles faced by earlier generations who had to provide their own food (whether it be by hunting, farming, or both). 

  Gardening scholars could also use mathematics and science to analyze their soil (pH as well as other chemical/biological needs).  Mathematics is essential for figuring out correct amounts of soil amendments (if necessary).  You can get a lot of mileage out of mulch - if your township composts leaves, what volume of leaves makes what volume of compost?  If you have a dozen each of tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers and you want to top-dress each at 3" deep and 12" diameter, what volume do you need?  What type of container will you be hauling it in - what's its volume?  How many trips to the mulch yard do you have to make, and, most importantly, will one person be able to lift the container when it's full (I found that out the embarassing way).  Maybe students could derive formulas, and then make a spreadsheet to figure it all out?

  There's also an interesting link at the bottom of this thread by Professor Droujkova about the Green Renaissance, linking farming to astronomy and mathematics in ancient times.

   

• 
  Gina Mulranen   Feb. 2, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

  Three topic options for my tech week:

  1. The first topic I really want to explore in more depth is computer programming for middle school students. I already know that some of my students LOVE Scratch and ask to use it for project presentations. I really think that my cirriculum is lacking this level of problem solving and from learning more and more about programs like Scratch, designed for a younger audience, I am becoming more and more interested about how to integrate it into my Pre-Algebra course.
  2. The second topic that interests me is an Ed tech term from is Blended Learning. Since I only have my students for 2 to 3 days of on-site instruction a week, I am constantly learning about other enriching, instructional, or supplemental activities that either enforce and challenges students on a concept that have already learned or have students discover a new topic. I really want to research more of these online applets, labs, or activities for specific concepts in my Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 cirriculum.
  3. The third topic that interests me is another Ed tech term that I found - virtual field trips. Instead of sending students on a pre-scripted virtual field trip, I would love to find a way for them to create their own! However, I do not have enough background or experience with these activities in order to be able to create an assignment for students to explore a math concept that interests them and create a virtual field trip to post for other students to take.
• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 9:59 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 2, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

  Programming in general is a very intense debate topic for math ed, with many good folk (like MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten lab) developing resources and ideas and answering some thorny questions, such as "But what about hours spent on non-math?!" 

  As you said, for students to create virtual field trips for one another, they'll need help and scaffolding. It has to be simple enough that they can get started, yet deep enough that they arrive at good math. For example, what's the general format? Scavenger hunt is easy enough, but what else?

• 
  Gina Mulranen   Feb. 3, 2013, 12:57 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 9:59 a.m.

  I agree!!! I think that is where I am going to have so much trouble trying to sell this idea to my director and to parents. I KNOW they are going to be thinking about all those hours spent on programming and not practicing subtracting fractions, for example.

  As for the virtual field trips, I like the idea of students finding a real-life concept that relates to math or even a different math topic (like tesselations) that is an extension of what they learned. Then I would have them create a virtual field trip around that topic. For example, the first link could be a site that introduces the place/concept and then a second link could be to an interactive site to practice or explore the concept or place. And then a third link could led to other student work or real-life examples of that topic. The students would essentially be exploring a topic and documenting their virtual field trip through links and explanations.

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 2:12 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 3, 2013, 12:57 p.m.

  Have you thought about using virtual worlds for real-time virtual field trips? Or else webinar or Google+ live meeting software? Maybe we can try something like it for this course, even...

• 
  MgnLeas   Feb. 4, 2013, 4:45 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 2, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

  So I also wanted to expand upon and learn more about blended learning. I agree it can be a useful tool, espcially if you are only with your students a few times a week. I went to a vocational high school and we had our academic classes every other week. So I would go a whole week between math lessons! I have been looking for online, free, rescources that I believe would be helpful in implementing blended learning. I came across this site http://poster.4teachers.org/.

  So naturally I joined and began playing. I created a simple worksheet for you guys to see. I joined as a teacher and set up a class Teaching with Technology.

  Here is the link.

  The Worksheet ID: 165344
  Direct URL: http://poster.4teachers.org/worksheet/view.php?id=165344
   

  I am not sure of questions for this topic. I guess, there would be several logistic questions. How much instruction would be face to face and how much would be online? Would all assingments be given "in class" or through the online source? Do all students have access to computers at home? Would face to face time be set aside for the students to work on the online projects?

  I have given it some thought since I am interested in this topic!

• 
  SueSullivan   Feb. 4, 2013, 10:04 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 2, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

  Gina,

  I love your idea about virtual field trips.  Many many years ago when my boys were young there was a site we used to take several that were suited for K-3 children (I've since forgotten what it was).  

  The internet allows us to see places we've only dreamed of seeing; the possibilities are endless for a virtual destination.   This allows people who otherwise couldn't afford (or who are physically/mentally unable) to travel to get a glimpse of what life is like elsewhere in the world. While it cannot replace the actual experience, it does provide insight that printed books usually cannot.  

  As far as math goes, I'm not sure how to apply it to a virtual field trip.  My first instinct is to use a spreadsheet program to estimate travel costs of different destinations; graphing could also be used to compare costs.

  I'd be interested in creating a math field trip that depicts places important to math technology followed by a demonstration of that technology and how it changed the world.

• 
  Gina Mulranen   Feb. 5, 2013, 2:47 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 2:12 p.m.

  What is a virtual world? I have not used Google+ live meeting software but I have heard of webinars, although I have not attended one. I have recorded my own lessons using Adobe Connect virtual classrooms, but I am not familiar with other software.

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 5, 2013, 3:04 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 5, 2013, 2:47 p.m.

  Broadly speaking, a virtual world is some place where people meet in real time. Usually they interact through avatars - visual representations of themselves. There are text-based virtual world, though, where everything is just described in words. Then there are "rich media" worlds, like Second Life or World of Warcraft, with sounds and 3d models and so on. Wikipedia actually has a decent article on virtual worlds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world

  Here is an example of a "field trip" my community Math Future took to the SubQuan island in Second Life: http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/SubQuan You can see the slide show of photos. The hosts could show us their 3D virtual manipulatives they store on their island, while our avatars interacted with the manipulatives.

• 
  Green Machine   Feb. 25, 2013, 10:44 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 2, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

  I believe that computer programming is an invaluable skill that scholars can learn at an early age. Majority of the technology that we used today runs based on commands, algorithms, or computer languaged written by somone or a group of people. Two pieces of technology which is great for introducing computer programming is the Boe Bot and Lego Mindstorm. They both are robots which you can program with simple code and items. The Lego Mindstorm also offers a competition for ages 9 - 16. I also believe this is a great way to enrich and apply many of the concepts covered in class and you could also introduce your scholars to binary code and logic through the process of computer program. Oh, computer programming could also be taught using scientific calculators (such a TI-83, TI-84, Ti-89, and TI-NSpire). The programs on the scientific calculators can be as simple as discovering the perimeter of any polygon or collecting data, plotting it, and automating the best fit line. The connections and endless of uses of computer programming is an excellent idea to use with our scholars.

  http://www.parallax.com/go/boebot

  http://firstlegoleague.org/

   

• 
  Maria Droujkova   March 2, 2013, 7:31 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Green Machine   Feb. 25, 2013, 10:44 a.m.

  Maybe we can spend two weeks on programming, with you focusing on robotics? A robotic team can be an excellent ramp-on for math and science.

• 
  Gina Mulranen   March 2, 2013, 6:52 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Maria Droujkova   March 2, 2013, 7:31 a.m.

  That would be a great team effort! My school is involved in FLL (First Lego League) and won first place. It is an excellent opportunity for students to interact with programming, problem solve, and build!

• 
  Green Machine   March 13, 2013, 4:27 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Gina Mulranen   Feb. 2, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

  1) Greetings Gina. I have had the pleasure of being introduced to world of computer programming since the days of the Apple IIe; where we used code such as "run", "print", and moving an object around the screen to draw shapes. My programming development was moved further along during my high school and college years, where I was introduced to C, C++, HTML, and Turtle. So, saying that, I know the importance of computer programming and I am extremely in love with the fact that would like to enhance their programming skills. Programming has the ability to expose them to logic, critical thinking, and transferring real world solutions into computer code and programs.

  2) Some of the things I believe that would be useful to teach or integrate more programming is the TI-Nspire, Lego Mindstorms, Parallax Boe-Bot, Microsoft Excel, C or C++, Logic, and First Lego League Challenge. They all incorporate different levels of programming and have various applications. I believe a great starting point would be to have your scholars use Excel to great tables or equations (using their terminology) to model algebraic equations or tables. I also believe that if you use C or C++ to model simple real world examples would be a great start to introduce scholars to basic programming skills, which would allow you to move them into more challenging tasks. Introducing them to Logic, such as AND, NOT, NOR gates, and etc... I also love Scratch and its capabilites but I believe that once your introduce the scholars to programming and you have them writing their own code, then Scratch would become a lot easier for them to do some complex programming using that application.

  http://firstlegoleague.org/

  http://www.parallax.com/go/boebot

  3) What do believe would be a great introductory lesson to expose the scholars to programming and the importance of it?

  What are some video that you may use expose the scholars to programming?

  What are some real world examples that the scholars may find that deal with programming?

  How could you incorporate programming before the level of Pre-Algebra?

   

  If I think of any other questions, I will post them as they come to me.

   

• 
  Lisa Ritt   Feb. 2, 2013, 7:26 a.m.

   

  1. Propose three topics you would like to explore in-depth. We need some choice in case several people name the same topic. It can be a piece of technology, like GeoGebra. Or an area of science related to math, like space exploration. Or a social topic, like using statistics for justice. Or a tech term you want to understand better.
  2. For each topic, write a short blurb ("elevator speech") about why you love it or find it intriguing. Anywhere from one sentence to a paragraph. This will help you recruit a helper course member.

  Next week, we will return to this task with more comments and discussions. For now, it's short and sweet - just name three things you like.

  Week 3 (Plan your tech week topics):

  1- I'd really like to become a SMART BOARD expert. I feel so frustrated in the schools where I'm doing fieldwork/tutoring & the smart boards are in most of the classrooms but the teachers havent had training to use them so they are NOT being used. I'd LOVE to feel like I can help others utilize this wonderful technology!

  2- I'd LOVE to use technology to give examples of why what you learn in your middle school math class is DIRECTLY associated with so many careers out there. Is there are website that gives examples of this? One thing I always remeber about school subjects (especially when I was bored...which was often).. is the constant thought of "why do I need to learn this?".."when will I use this?." I really believe keeping lessons attached to real life situations & how students education will help them get a good job & take care of themselves is so crucial.

  3-explore MATH using graphing technology as FUN activities to help students visualize probability & statistics. Find a great website that helps kids recognize word problem information & then plug it into graph easily & be able to solve for answers within the problem through graphing patterns

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:03 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Lisa Ritt   Feb. 2, 2013, 7:26 a.m.

  To answer your #2 question, one of my favorite websites is The Futures Channel: http://www.thefutureschannel.com/ It has videos on how math is used for different careers. The people who created the site share your concern and passion!

  Graphing tech makes patterns so accessible and tangible! I've used spreadsheets with graphing with kids as young as four, and the patterns they notice are amazing. Nothing quite like it.

• 
  Katherine Hanisco   Feb. 7, 2013, 8:44 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Lisa Ritt   Feb. 2, 2013, 7:26 a.m.

  Lisa, I love your second topic suggestion. I think it is so important to connect math to the real world because it makes it so much more relevant to students. I also think that rather than just telling students why they need to know it, it is important to show them, and technology opens a lot of doors for that. It would be interesting to virtually connect with adults in the real world who use math in their jobs. Technology makes it easier to connect with people from a variety of careers and locations. Maybe there could even be something like take-a-math-class-to-work day, where a class could virtually visit the workplace of someone willing to share how they use math on the job.

• 
  Lisa Ritt   Feb. 9, 2013, 8:31 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Katherine Hanisco   Feb. 7, 2013, 8:44 p.m.

  HI K,

  this soulds really cool! I think this would be so amazing for kids. We could probably even use skype with someone at work & maybe have some live conversations about what they're working on, etc! Thanks for your reply!!

  -Lisa

   

• 
  SueSullivan   Feb. 1, 2013, 12:28 p.m.

  Here are three topics that I'd like to explore:

  1.   Have educators identified any areas of K-12 mathematics that it's best to teach without using computer technology?  I'm not sure if this topic qualifies, as it concerns pedagogy more than technology or math itself.

  2.   Do mathematics educators in other developed countries generally embrace or reject the use of computers as instructional aids, and how do their students compare to those in the US who use/don't use computers in the classroom?

  3.  I'm intrigued by the idea of a learning environment that would blend math and science instruction to create more of an interdisciplinary approach to learning these subjects.  Math and science subjects would be co-taught, with content centering around a common theme.  This approach could be used in either an actual or online learning environment.

• 
  MgnLeas   Feb. 1, 2013, 9:13 p.m.
  In Reply To:   SueSullivan   Feb. 1, 2013, 12:28 p.m.

  Sue, math and science are always talked about as a pair I feel. Your third idea would be interesting to see it into motion. It would be a great way to get kids to see the "why do we have to learn this" side of math!

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:10 a.m.
  In Reply To:   SueSullivan   Feb. 1, 2013, 12:28 p.m.

  Sue, I want to say I love your first question. What works best by hand? Even if we don't end up dedicating a week to it (one can hope, though), it's worth contemplating as a topic. One thing that immediately comes to mind is kinesthetic, whole-body learning. For example, math playgrounds, like Project H's Learning Landscape:

  

• 
  MgnLeas   Feb. 3, 2013, 7:06 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:10 a.m.

  That site and project is amazing! The kids are learning, being active and having fun all at once. I need one in my backyard!

• 
  MgnLeas   Feb. 5, 2013, 1:36 p.m.
  In Reply To:   SueSullivan   Feb. 1, 2013, 12:28 p.m.

  Hey Sue, I love the idea of subjects being co-taught. In search for something else for this class I stumbled upon this site. http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~mqed/eBookshelf/ It is worth checking out.

• 
  SueSullivan   Feb. 5, 2013, 8:39 p.m.
  In Reply To:   MgnLeas   Feb. 5, 2013, 1:36 p.m.

  Megan, Thanks so much for forwarding this - so many ideas on how to relate topics to other disciplines! :)

• 
  Katherine Hanisco   Jan. 31, 2013, 5:40 p.m.

  1. I am extremely passionate about space exploration. One of the things that really interests me is how social media is being used to make space exploration really fun and exciting to young people. For example, there’s an official Mars Curiosity Rover twitter, and the updates are written in a way that makes them very accessible to kids – not super technical, lots of exclamation marks, etc. I’m also a fan of Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut living on the international space station, who tweets from space and regularly interacts with people (especially kids) and answers questions. Something I would love to do as an educator is to follow the journey of the New Horizons spacecraft, which is set to reach Pluto in 2015. There’s a website and a twitter that provide all sorts of updates and information, and I think there is tremendous potential there for students to use technology to learn about space, physics, and math.

  2. Last semester, I did fieldwork at a low-income high school in Philadelphia where almost 90% of the students came from economically disadvantaged homes. There were limited technology resources in the school and many students did not have access to computers at home. I know the technology we are using this semester is all free and open, but there are still issues if students don’t have computers to use at school or may not have had opportunities to become technologically fluent. I am curious about how to incorporate technology in math classes in this kind of situation.

  3. One of the terms I encountered during the first week is a webquest. These aren’t specifically for math learning, but it seems like most of the ones I came across were designed for math classes. I would like to learn more about these because I think they could be a really fun way to incorporate math and technology in the classroom. 

• 
  MgnLeas   Feb. 1, 2013, 9:10 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Katherine Hanisco   Jan. 31, 2013, 5:40 p.m.

  Katherine I love the idea of astronomy. Your idea is much more in depth than I had considered. I am interested in hearing more of your thoughts. 

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:16 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Katherine Hanisco   Jan. 31, 2013, 5:40 p.m.

  Space, yay! Have you seen the citizen science project called "Galaxy Zoo" - where people, including kids, can help sort through real space telescope data?

  NASA has excellent resources overall, including kid-friendly resources. They are very dedicated to 100% openness, so you can find pretty much everything, even raw data. 

  And yes, the question of access is thorny. Even if we are talking about access to paper and pencils. One effort that changed the landscape was the One Laptop Per Child project. The goal was to create 100-dollar laptops that could survive in the jungle, work in the bright sun, and network without routers. Not all these goals were reached, but the project pushed the prices of laptops way, way, way down, at least.

  

• 
  Gina Mulranen   Feb. 10, 2013, 7:15 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Katherine Hanisco   Jan. 31, 2013, 5:40 p.m.

  Katherine,

  I am also really interested in webquests. I teach in a gifted program where my students come on-site for classes two or three times a week. Therefore, my on-site teaching time is limited and I have to be creative for my homework assignments. In order to keep my cirriculum moving, I sometimes gives students sections to learn on their own with a video recording of myself teaching the section. However, this is VERY time consuming for me and I am on the look out for resources to have my students learn the material in a different way. I think webquests are the answer and that is why I am really interested in this topic, just like you! I think this is a great way for teachers to still give direction to the learning process, but allow the students to learn at their own pace.

  I found this really cool site that you can actually search for webquests based on grade level and subject area. http://questgarden.com/search/ I was looking through the database and found some really great ones and found some that I found hard to follow, which is the case for most databases. I think this is a great place for us to get started exploring!

  One question I was thinking of as I was thinking about webquests is how hard it would be to create one of my own. I also was thinking about using webquests year after year and running into the problem where the websites I have in my webquest are not available anymore.

• 
  MgnLeas   Jan. 29, 2013, 8:41 p.m.

  On area I would like to look at more is Blended Learning. This is one of the Ed tech terms. It is where face to face teaching is combined with computer mediated activities. The computer piece of the course can be done in the tradition classroom setting or another location of the child’s choice, such as their home. I think it is important for students to learn how to complete tasks “online” since many colleges now utilize this way of teaching.

  I would like to learn more about GeoGebra. I have played some more with the software and would like to know more. I also like that students can share their projects with other people around the world. We are a global society and it would be good for them to learn to be a part of it.

  I took an astronomy course as an undergrad and was amazed by the amount of math in the course. I would like to learn how to utilize this science in a classroom setting. It could be fun!

• 
  Maria Droujkova   Feb. 3, 2013, 10:25 a.m.
  In Reply To:   MgnLeas   Jan. 29, 2013, 8:41 p.m.

  One aspect of astronomy I love is its rich history, all of it tied with math. Babylon and Egypt used astronomy for crop and flood management. During the "Green Renaissance" the astronomer-mathematicians were to blame for the invention of much of algebra and trigonometry. And, of course, modern astronomy - oh, where to start?!! Rich topic by all means!