In short - no, no I did not learn a single thing in Calculus 1 the fall semester of my freshman year of college. While I have never been stellar at math, I have always been able to grasp at least the basics of the various courses I have taken and complete the homework assignments. Not calculus. I can seriously not tell you a single thing that we did the entire semester. I can define an integral as the under a curve, but, for the life of me, I cannot tell you how to find one - nor could I have told you at any point in my educational career. Do I blame myself for my terrible calc experience? Not really. I know that I tried as hard as I could by reading the book, attempting the homework, and going to office hours at least once a week. But, when your professor can only see and teach in one way, and it's not the same way as you, then you are likely doomed. Such way my calculus experience.
I stated in my learning style post that I am typically a verbal learner over a visual one, and calculus was an example of that. Drawing one graph on the board and giving one sentence about it just isn't going to do it for me. Instead, I need a full explanation with lots of examples, when it comes to math. If I could go back to calc 1, I think that the use of multimedia may have really enhanced my learning experience. I mean, seriously, the only way to go was up.
The use of graphing programs and animations would definitely have helped me to better understand the concepts that my professor was trying to get across, and would have also provided me with the explanation and examples that I needed. In the thread about open source software, Will talked about a program called KTurtle, and that seems to be a great example of the type of program that would have helped me. A computer program that would allow me to the go through the math equations step by step, and also give me instant graphical feedback would have allowed me to see and better understand the relationship between the two components of the problems. Of course, a program like the one I am talking about would have to be assessed by the professor/teacher as to its application abilities to the lesson at hand, and that may take time on the teacher's part (to find relevant programs, to weed out the best and most useful ones, and to learn how to use them - at least in the most basic sense), but isn't that part of the job? To find and provide the best ways for your students to learn? My calc professor didn't really look for a way to truly help me gain something from his course, but I would hope that if I were him I would research ways to help my students learn through many ports, both paper-based and multimedia.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Technology Integration
Without a doubt, "After the Bell, Beyond the Walls" encompasses the essential conditions for technology integration. Eric Langhorst seems well deserving of being calling a pioneer in middle school education, and education as a whole. His discussion on the influence of technology as an expansion of education and learning is exeptional in its forsight and its realism. I found most exciting the creation of the StudyCast, which allowed Langhorst's students to prepare for tests while doing everyday tasks like walking the dog and riding the bus. It allows students to embrace school in a technological form that they have already incorporated in their daily lives. As so many educational philosophists have encouraged - education is not preparation for life, education is life, and Langhorst's combining of test reviews with accepted and enjoyed technology makes education a constant part of the lives of his students, rather than just a designated section of Monday through Friday.
The second point in the article, about the online book club set up through Blogger is a terrific idea that I now plan on using in my future classrooms. While Langhorst teaches 8th grade and I want to teach mid-elementary schoool, I can also use this system of assigning students an age-appropriate novel in the "traditional manner" and incorporating technology to enhance the experience through discussion with classmates, but also with readers of the book from around the country. Having the author be involved to answer questions and discuss the novel with the students is also a wonderful point. Giving students the ability to question the writer and discuss specific point of the writing process and the novel itself gives students the ability to better assess the meaning of the text and all to feel involved in their own education. The assignment is no longer just literature or history homework, it becomes a comprehensive discussion and interactive experience. Students from every ability level and interest level are able to keep up, get involved, and drive their own experience through the use of multimedia. No one is left out or left behind, and everyone feels like that have gained education in literature, history, reading ability, technology experience and ability, personally from their experience.
Like a said, without a doubt, Eric Langhorst has found a way to encompass all the essential conditions for technology integration, and he has done so by taking education out of the school walls and into the lives of his students.
The second point in the article, about the online book club set up through Blogger is a terrific idea that I now plan on using in my future classrooms. While Langhorst teaches 8th grade and I want to teach mid-elementary schoool, I can also use this system of assigning students an age-appropriate novel in the "traditional manner" and incorporating technology to enhance the experience through discussion with classmates, but also with readers of the book from around the country. Having the author be involved to answer questions and discuss the novel with the students is also a wonderful point. Giving students the ability to question the writer and discuss specific point of the writing process and the novel itself gives students the ability to better assess the meaning of the text and all to feel involved in their own education. The assignment is no longer just literature or history homework, it becomes a comprehensive discussion and interactive experience. Students from every ability level and interest level are able to keep up, get involved, and drive their own experience through the use of multimedia. No one is left out or left behind, and everyone feels like that have gained education in literature, history, reading ability, technology experience and ability, personally from their experience.
Like a said, without a doubt, Eric Langhorst has found a way to encompass all the essential conditions for technology integration, and he has done so by taking education out of the school walls and into the lives of his students.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
What's in the News?
Article: High Pitched Teen Repellent
"High Pitched Teen Repellent." CNNVideo. CNN.com/Tech. ITN. 12 Feb. 2008. <http://www.cnn.com/video/#/tech>
Summary: This video discussed a new technology that is becoming all the rage for small shop and business owners in England. The Mosquito, a device that can be placed outside stores, projects a high pitched squeal that is meant to be annoying to young people and, therefore, prevent loitering. In the video, various people are interviewed on their opinion of the device. All of the young people interviewed found the device's sound to be extremely annoying, if not downright painful to their ears, and some noted that the placement of the mosquito in public places was an infringment upon their rights. The adults who were spoken to noted that teenagers tend to hang around constantly and cause trouble, and so they supported the placement of the mosquito outside stores. The reporter, ITN's John Sparks, noted each of the interviewed's opinions, but, at the end of his piece wondered allowed whether a device like the mosquito is fair when every young person is subjected to its noise.
Response: The creation of a device like the mosquito is one that seems to have been in the works for a while. Various types of anti-loitering measures that are commonly taken by store owners seem to do nothing to stem the flow of teens and young adults from lingering outside of their businesses. From simple signs posted by convenience stores to the playing of loud classical music outside of malls, many businesses find that the amount of noise, trash, and disturbance created by loitering young people is not worth the amount of business that these groups may provide between their boisterous hanging around. I find it slightly humorous that the same technology that produces the "silent ringtone" for students with cell phones in school (a buzzing ringtone that usually cannot be heard by adults over the age of ~25), is likely the same basic technology that has produced this mosquito sound for adults to use against teenagers. It seems that so called "Digital Immigrants" are taking some matters into their own hands. While they may be new to the field of technology, these technological-newbies are using the products of the "Digital Natives" to ward the internet generation off (physically, that is).
My View: Personally, my ears just about bled while watching this video. I could hear the sound that the mosquito produces very well, and found it annoying and almost painful. I can definitely see how this device would be effective in preventing loitering. However, I also agree with the boy who noted that the makers and buyers of the mosquito are assuming that young people are the only people who cause trouble - are there not people over the age of ~25 who cause social problems? What is being done to stop them? Implicity, the device's popularity also assumes that all young people are there to cause trouble. Those young people who linger outside a store for 5 minutes are likely not there to cause any problems at all. Furthermore, the video also notes that the devices are being installed outside parks and other public spaces - any place where young people might gather, in fact. I understand why business owners do not want people to loiter outside of their stores; however, installing the mosquito in so many public areas seems ridiculous to me. Where are young people supposed to gather at all? Are they only safe indoors? It seems that the mosquito could be useful in moderation, but already this news broadcast implies that it is being taken too far, to quite unfair proportions. In addition, Sparks notes that because the sound targets an entire age group, any passerbys of the mosquito are also subjected to its noise and forced to suffer. Is it really fair to punish a group en masse for the crimes of a few? I don't think so. I believe that a better way to stem problems of loitering should be found. Technology, I am sure, can provide a less biased, less painful solution.
Questions: Are there many places for these digital natives to gather and use their modern, technology-driven lifestyles freely? Or do they feel suffocated by the world of the digital immigrant, their natural technology not welcome? Is there a less destructive way to use technology to ward off loitering? Would providing more common, technologically advanced places for teens and young people to gather help to stem the loitering problem?
"High Pitched Teen Repellent." CNNVideo. CNN.com/Tech. ITN. 12 Feb. 2008. <http://www.cnn.com/video/#/tech>
Summary: This video discussed a new technology that is becoming all the rage for small shop and business owners in England. The Mosquito, a device that can be placed outside stores, projects a high pitched squeal that is meant to be annoying to young people and, therefore, prevent loitering. In the video, various people are interviewed on their opinion of the device. All of the young people interviewed found the device's sound to be extremely annoying, if not downright painful to their ears, and some noted that the placement of the mosquito in public places was an infringment upon their rights. The adults who were spoken to noted that teenagers tend to hang around constantly and cause trouble, and so they supported the placement of the mosquito outside stores. The reporter, ITN's John Sparks, noted each of the interviewed's opinions, but, at the end of his piece wondered allowed whether a device like the mosquito is fair when every young person is subjected to its noise.
Response: The creation of a device like the mosquito is one that seems to have been in the works for a while. Various types of anti-loitering measures that are commonly taken by store owners seem to do nothing to stem the flow of teens and young adults from lingering outside of their businesses. From simple signs posted by convenience stores to the playing of loud classical music outside of malls, many businesses find that the amount of noise, trash, and disturbance created by loitering young people is not worth the amount of business that these groups may provide between their boisterous hanging around. I find it slightly humorous that the same technology that produces the "silent ringtone" for students with cell phones in school (a buzzing ringtone that usually cannot be heard by adults over the age of ~25), is likely the same basic technology that has produced this mosquito sound for adults to use against teenagers. It seems that so called "Digital Immigrants" are taking some matters into their own hands. While they may be new to the field of technology, these technological-newbies are using the products of the "Digital Natives" to ward the internet generation off (physically, that is).
My View: Personally, my ears just about bled while watching this video. I could hear the sound that the mosquito produces very well, and found it annoying and almost painful. I can definitely see how this device would be effective in preventing loitering. However, I also agree with the boy who noted that the makers and buyers of the mosquito are assuming that young people are the only people who cause trouble - are there not people over the age of ~25 who cause social problems? What is being done to stop them? Implicity, the device's popularity also assumes that all young people are there to cause trouble. Those young people who linger outside a store for 5 minutes are likely not there to cause any problems at all. Furthermore, the video also notes that the devices are being installed outside parks and other public spaces - any place where young people might gather, in fact. I understand why business owners do not want people to loiter outside of their stores; however, installing the mosquito in so many public areas seems ridiculous to me. Where are young people supposed to gather at all? Are they only safe indoors? It seems that the mosquito could be useful in moderation, but already this news broadcast implies that it is being taken too far, to quite unfair proportions. In addition, Sparks notes that because the sound targets an entire age group, any passerbys of the mosquito are also subjected to its noise and forced to suffer. Is it really fair to punish a group en masse for the crimes of a few? I don't think so. I believe that a better way to stem problems of loitering should be found. Technology, I am sure, can provide a less biased, less painful solution.
Questions: Are there many places for these digital natives to gather and use their modern, technology-driven lifestyles freely? Or do they feel suffocated by the world of the digital immigrant, their natural technology not welcome? Is there a less destructive way to use technology to ward off loitering? Would providing more common, technologically advanced places for teens and young people to gather help to stem the loitering problem?
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Text Response for Chapters 1 and 2
The topic of cooperative learning stood out in chapter one of the Ivers and Barron text. Here, the authors discuss the difference between cooperative and traditional learning and also the benefits of cooperative learning over the traditional forms. Cooperative learning is a system that includes positive interdependence, individual accountability, group processing, peer responsibility, and heterogenous membership. In reading through the text, I saw that these aspects of cooperative learning are also those that support a happy, respectful classroom environment and encourage students to discover their own interests and find a love of learning in general. However, the tendency for "pitfalls" in a cooperative learning environment that are noted by researchers are true, and must be avoided in any way possible. No one in a class can truly succeed if either the more capable group members or the less capable group members are doing more work than anyone else in order for someone to receive a free ride. Individual accountability seems to be one of the most important aspects of cooperative learning in this respect, in that, each group member must complete their share of the work and cannot receive a complete grade or "easy A" just because the other members held up their own ends.
As for chapter two, I found the most helpful section to be the DDDE style of creating lesson plans. Every teacher seems to have, at some point, created the lesson plan that simply didn't work: whether the students were bored, the lesson didn't really "reach" the students, the lesson didn't fit the topic, or the students didn't really get an worthwhile understanding out of the lesson, they exist somewhere in everyone's file. The DDDE lesson plan allows for the teacher to basically test the lesson on themselves before subjecting their students to what could ultimately be all but a waste of time. By planning activities, determing structure, finding and creating the elements of the lessons, and reflecting on the desired possible results all before the students even see it, a lesson has a much better chance of being engaging and truly educational.
As for chapter two, I found the most helpful section to be the DDDE style of creating lesson plans. Every teacher seems to have, at some point, created the lesson plan that simply didn't work: whether the students were bored, the lesson didn't really "reach" the students, the lesson didn't fit the topic, or the students didn't really get an worthwhile understanding out of the lesson, they exist somewhere in everyone's file. The DDDE lesson plan allows for the teacher to basically test the lesson on themselves before subjecting their students to what could ultimately be all but a waste of time. By planning activities, determing structure, finding and creating the elements of the lessons, and reflecting on the desired possible results all before the students even see it, a lesson has a much better chance of being engaging and truly educational.
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