DimensionM

I read the article "Learning Connections Game Play is Important for Learning", and the purpose of this article was to show how students are learning math with video games.  Some classrooms are using the video game DimensionM to teach students that are testing low in their state scores, and using the fun of the game to get them engaged in the math. 

Personally, I think it is a brilliant idea, and if I have the opportunity to teach pre-algebra or algebra, I would definitely look into using a game system like this to teach my students.  What better way to learn math than to play a game? It keeps students' attention, and makes them want to learn in order to progress to the next level. 

Overall, by playing the game Dimension M, students understanding of the material increased, and they are more willing to come to class to learn. In the end these students ended up learning more and faster than the normal math classes that weren't using the games to learn. 

As far as the NETS Standards for students go, by using the video games to learn, the main standard that it addresses is standard 4 a-d.  This standard discusses problem solving, making decisions and exploring different solutions, which is all involved in playing this math related game. 

Gillispie, L. B., Parker, M., & Martin, F. (2010, August).
Learning Connections Game Play Is Important for Learning. Retrieved
October 21, 2010, from ISTE (Vol 8, Issue 1).

Telling Stories with Video

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the use and effectiveness of composing videos in a class. It gives opportunities for students to be creative and to be able to demonstrate what they really learn outside of the classic paper and pencil homework.  

Although I don’t think that I would use videos in a math class, I think it is a really good idea in other subjects. With math, there isn’t too much stories to be told, although it could be a way to visually represent a specific topic with some form of animation.  Videos would allow for the more artistic students, who might not respond well to traditional homework, to show what they are really capable of and show that they really understand what is going on.      

Overall, having students create videos as a class activity allows for increased participation, as well as collaboration and feedback from other students.  It is a fun and different way to work with a subject so students can get excited about doing something new. 

The following are the NETS Profiles for grades 9-12:

#3: Students have the opportunity to use whatever technology
would be best appropriate to use with composing a video, which could be for
editing or previewing. 

#4: By creating videos, students are discussing specific
subject matter in a critical way. 

#6: The technology used in creating videos can be analyzed and
exposed to students, so they can decide if it is a technology that they would
like to use for later projects. 

#9: Creating videos are another way to create media-rich
presentations. 

Young, C., & Kajder, S. (2009, June). Learning
Connections Telling Stories with Videos. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from
ISTE.

Total Technology Immersion

The purpose of the article is to show the effects of total technology immersion in schools, and to show how it is done.  The author showed how it takes time, leadership, infrastructure (including money), and the support of teachers to make a total immersion actually be successful. 

            Personally I think this is a great idea, however difficult since this is a very expensive idea.  I definitely connected with the part about how the math classes had a hard time giving up the pencil, paper and calculators.  I feel that math is something that should be done via pencil and paper, and doing it on the computer can be frustrating.  There are really interesting programs that I have helped teach with at the university, and these are like ALEKS which is a artificial intelligence program which learns with the student and understands what they really know or don’t know.  Although most of the scratch work needs to be done on pencil and paper, ALEKS is a good resource for helping students to better understand their math. 

            Overall, this article shows how valuable that a total technology immersion program can have a big affect on student’s learning.  After evaluations, it showed that more students are doing better with reading and writing test scores.  On the other side, more students are more involved in what they are learning and feel more connected to school, which is always a benefit. 

            Considering that this is a total technology immersion program, all of the student NETS standards apply.  Students have all sorts of opportunities in all of their classes to develop skills and understanding of technology that applies to their schoolwork and real life.  This will help with their critical thinking process as well as identify which technology is appropriate for the project they are working on.

Vaughn, Sandy. "International Society for Technology in Education - Learning & Leading Total Technology Immersion." International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE, Sept.-Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Total_Technology_Immersion.aspx>.

 

VoicetThread Extend the Classroom

The article, “VoiceThread Extends the Classroom with Interactive Multimedia Albums” discusses the idea of using the technology of VoiceThread to spark the interests of students and be able to have them actively participate in discussions that the might not normally be interested in doing.  It allows students to collaborate beyond the classroom in a way that is completely different from a classic class discussion. 

The purpose of the article is to show teachers the power of voice thread and how the success of Bill Ferriter could happen in any class.  They showed how easy the technology is and that it is a fun and easy way to involve students. 

After experiencing  VoiceThread, I might use this technology with solutions for math problems.  Students could be assigned specific problems and show their techniques in solving them by uploading a picture of their solution and using the drawing tool and a voice comment to explain step-by-step their understanding of what they did.  Other students could comment and also explain alternative solutions to the same problem.  I have found that when students are able to explain problems to others that they themselves understand the material better.  This gives students the opportunity to collaborate and see new viewpoints to the math that they are learning, thus giving an overall better experience.

The following are the NETS standards for 9-12 that apply to this article:

#5: By using VoiceThread, students could have the opportunity to work out a global issue and discuss it with comments, as did Bill Ferriter’s class did with issues in Darfur. 

#9: On VoiceThread, students could use the technology to create presentations with voices, pictures and demonstrations. 

Laila, W. (2008, April 16). VoiceThread Extends the Classroom with Interactive Multimedia Albums. Retrieved October 9, 2010, from Edutopia.