Horizon Project Reaction

I think that cloud computing already has and will continue to make a huge impact in the field of education. By allowing students and teachers to use open-source, cloud based applications, teachers, schools, and students can have access to unprecedented educational tools. For instance, whereas concept mapping software such as inspiration is wonderful to map out the contents of a narrative, cloud computing sites such as mindmeister allow free access to the same type of material. There are also sites where students and teachers can create movies, alter audio files, and do many other activities that previously would have cost money. With cloud computing, students who do not have the money to own a Mac-Book with i-movies can create the same kind of product for free on the web.

On the other hand, I am inherently wary of the use of smart objects in education. Regular objects can cheaply and easily become computers of a sort. The potential danger here is two-fold. Technology has a place in the classroom and in student’s lives, but technology does not have to be integrated into every object we possess. Technology has glitches, and the more items that use technology, the more likely we are to experience these glitches. Technology is not perfect, which is why we need non-technological backup plans when we teach. I see the relevance of books as smart objects, but I also think this sort of technology could easily be used to track useless data. Just as this technology is now used to track packages, it might just as easily track the movements of each students who has a library book checked out. Personally, I don’t want my teaching to be observed by the computer chip in my desk. This may be a drastic or even paranoid reaction, but the less technology can track my students and me, the better.

Horizon Report Reading

I feel that online communication tools will be a great addition to teaching problem solving skills in the math classroom.  Students can work together with students from around the world to discuss how to solve a problem, where to gather data, and when more justification for reasoning is necessary.  One example from the report is a Salem, OR school that does this in a math scene investigation format, which sounds like a great way to get kids interested in math.

Using mobiles in schools could be potentially problematic.  If students are allowed to have and use their cell phone during class, we have to ensure that use is monitored and regulated to prevent cheating on tests and quizzes or other unapproved collaboration on assignments like searching online for the solution to a problem on your assignment.  While this would prove the resourcefulness of the student, they may not actually know how to solve the problem.  Similarly, what will schools do for students who do not have their own mobile device -- are they going to provide them to all students so features are the same?  I see a lot of issues to manage with this technology, but if worked out, this could also help students learn in a new way.

Activity Types Reading

The Activity Types Reading provides a meaningful context for technology in education. I suggest that this be the first reading for the course. I am someone who is hesitant to use technology in the classroom because of the unpredictable nature of the media. However, the Grounded Technology Integration model provided the reassuring message that teachers can integrate technology into planning without restructuring what is already in place.

Matthew represents our English methods course well in mentioning the Constructivist model. The emphasis for English instruction is connecting lesson with life. Recursive planning is arguably the most important feature of our methods course, and I appreciate the note that recursivity is present in the five steps of planning.

The English taxonomy reading is very refreshing. Again, I encourage this to be the first reading for the course. The comprehensive table of Activity Type/Brief Description/Example technologies should be as important to planning as the SOL map for student teachers. This table should be an integral part of teacher planning to streamline instruction because technology could stray from objectives. What I appreciate is the simplicity of design of the chart to correspond with lessons to put students before the means.

A suggestion for this table is to clarify the example of “web searching.” This vague topic could take too much time and have students wandering through cyber space. Are there any recommended search engines or educational sites? Specificity in technological tools is crucial for beginning teachers so we are more inclined to use technology without fearing the unknown consequences of this new territory.

Activity type in Language Arts

The activity type approach makes sense on many levels. For instance, by choosing student goals and objectives first, one insures that activities we use have some sort of measurable outcome. We need to plan effective lessons that could be used without technology, and then think about how technology might enhance the lesson. The continuums are also helpful to determine how teacher or student centric one wishes a lesson to be. In my English methods class, we learn a student centered, constructivist approach to designing lesson. Constructivists want students to be active, engaged learners, who construct their own knowledge. We also learn that lesson design is a process of pre-planning, planning, and post-planning. In the AT approach to lesson design, we would incorporate graphic organizers into a vocabulary lesson during the planning phase, after we had designed the bulk of our lesson. The content specific taxonomies are certainly helpful in designing instruction. For instance, as a Language Arts teacher, I can see what technologies might be helpful for pre-reading, reading, and post-reading instructional strategies. I can see how technology might assist the analysis and synthesis of literature which post reading requires.

Activity Types Reading

From the articles about the AT approach to planning, I think that the method will greatly benefit planning technology integrated instruction. By first considering what your students need to learn and how you want to teach the material, you will keep this focus as you select what technology to add into the lesson.  This ensures that the uses of technology are effective for student learning.  There are a variety of ways that math teachers can use technology in a way that benefits students, and the Math Learning Activity Types are great suggestions for planning instruction to serve student needs at a variety of learning levels.

Activity Types

The "Activity Types" (AT) approach to lesson planning is surprisingly simple: determine what you need your students to learn, and then determine how technology can be of service. As straightforward and even as obvious as this may seem, there is little doubt that teachers of all levels of experience and exposure to technology might base the lesson around the technology simply for the sake of having students use a novel teaching method. To do so, however, as Drs. Hofer and Harris have explained, is to present exposure to technology as the primary "lesson," and this is very seldom the case.

There are many steps to planning one's lesson and incorporating the use of technology into the lesson as an enhancement. The AT approach guides us to first choose our learning goals, to then make pedagogical decisions about the type of learning experience we want our students to have, to thirdly combine our desired activity types, then select our assessment strategies, and only then to select the technological and other tools we will need to teach the lesson. This approach is not contradictory to that which is taught in methods courses (at least, for social studies methods courses), as the function of these courses is to learn how to design lessons that accomplish certain strategies (i.e. step one of the AT method). Thus, the AT method is really nothing novel; it is simply a reminder that incorporating technology should not necessarily be a goal, but it should rather be a strategy if deemed appropriate and useful.

I do not have any particular questions about the AT method. I believe its design is quite clear. However, I would be curious to know about any research that has shown which technologies (from those made available in different segments on the inventory) appear to be most useful in various combinations of the pedagogical decisions outlined in the AT theory.

Lesson Focus Possibilities

For my lesson, I am focusing on ninth and tenth grade Algebra 1 Part 2. 

My first idea is to use a PowerPoint presentation to represent the pictorial and area representations of manipulating polynomials with multiplication.  This relates to SOL “A.11 The student will add, subtract, and multiply polynomials and divide polynomials with monomial divisors, using concrete objects, pictorial and area representations, and algebraic manipulations.”

As a second idea, I would like to create a graphing calculator tutorial or presentation to teach students how to factor binomials and trinomials.  This comes from SOL “A.12 The student will factor completely first- and second-degree binomials and trinomials in one or two variables. The graphing calculator will be used as a tool for factoring and for confirming algebraic factorizations.”

For my third idea, I would again use the graphing calculator to teach students how to find the zeros of a function graphically.  SOL “A.15 The student will, given a rule, find the values of a function for elements in its domain and locate the zeros of the function both algebraically and with a graphing calculator. The value of f(x) will be related to the ordinate on the graph,” relates to this lesson idea.

My fourth idea is to use a software package like Excel or other statistical software to analyze groups of data by calculating vital statistics and creating graphs.  SOL “A.17 The student will compare and contrast multiple one- variable data sets, using statistical techniques that include measures of central tendency, range, and box-and-whisker graphs,” covers this topic.

Finally, from SOL “A.18 The student will analyze a relation to determine whether a direct variation exists and represent it algebraically and graphically, if possible,” I plan to teach a lesson using online videos that discuss real-world applications of direct variation.