Meaningful Learning

A grading rubric is a tool used to let the student know what is expected from them on a certain assignment or in class in general.  For me as a student, I think that they are very useful.  During my assignment, I can just check as I go to see if I am on the right track.  For a teacher, it is easier because you know what to look for while grading.  For me as a math teacher, it will be used very seldom.  I could use it on projects and work in those kinds of things.  Although I wouldn't use it very much, an english or speech teacher would use it very often for papers and journal entries.

I used clickers in my first semester in college.  I used a clicker in my physics class.  It was my teachers first time to use a clicker.  Our instructor included questions included in his PowerPoint that we would answer using our clickers.  We never used it for a quiz; he just used it as a test to see if we were getting it.  We did exam reviews the night before the exam and he would print out the questions that were missed the most.  I believe it really helped us a lot because it gave us immediate feedback of things that we needed to study more.  The clicker system is not free but I believe it would be very useful in a high school or college setting.  I will definitely find ways to use a clicker and other types of new technology in my classroom.  Technology is only going to help future teachers like myself in instructing my classroom.

Inspiration and Kidspiration are two programs that help students with their thinking skills.  It helps them to learn more effectively.  Kidspiration is intended for the lower grade levels from kindergarten to intermediate school.  Inspiration is directed more to the middle and high school students.  It is directed toward the language arts and english area.  Therefore, I wouldn't use it much in my class but I would definitely recommend it to my fellow colleagues.

Resources:

Inspiration Software, Inc. (2010). Inspiration Software. Retrieved November 24, 2010 fromhttp://www.inspiration.com/Inspiration

Jonassen, D. ., Howard, J., Marra, R., Crismond, D.  (2008). Meaningful learning with technology (pp. 226). Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson.

Qwizdom Inc. (2010). Quizdom. Retrieved November 24, 2010 fromhttp://www.qwizdom.com/?gclid=CNLygeH3mpcCFQZqswodWV6D-g

Digital Storytelling, Mathematics, Learning Through Television

Digital storytelling is exactly what it sounds like; a story told by using technology that we have today.  "Digital storytelling provides students with the opportunity to establish a connection between the creator and the viewer" (Jonassen 212).  The activity in the book provides students with an opportunity to work together with all the different roles that people who work in movies have to do.  I believe it would be hard to use in a math classroom but it could be done.  Students could make a simple movie on how to solve linear equations or how to use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of a side.  Although tough, it would be a great use of technology and would be very proactive in learning.  Either way, the students use their creative skills and grow from the activity.


Helping students to visualize concepts in mathematics and apply it to real life have been used for as long as math has been used.  "One of the best-known visualization tools is Geometric Supposer, a tool for making and testing conjectures in geometry through the process of constructing and manipulating geometric objects and exploring the relationships within and between these objects" (Jonassen 203).  It allows students to construct their own shape by defining points, line segments, angles, etc.  It makes shape making a lot easier and quicker.  It is also a good visualization because shapes drawn by human can get a tad messy.  "TinkerPlots for elementary and middle grade students, Fathom Dynamic Statistics Software allows high school students access to powerful tools for making sense of large data sets" (Jonassen 202).  This is useful because it makes huge data available to graph.  It is a very powerful and useful tool.  These types of software help the people who are not very good in math or constructing tables and graphs.  The book also mentions graphing calculators which make math a lot easier! I know that since I am a math major, I use it nearly every class period and it has helped me tremendously.  It is like a small graphing software in your hands.  It is a very useful tool and I would recommend anyone to get one.


I believe that it is possible to learn just from watching a television instruction.  I know through experience that I learned how to tie my tie through a YouTube video.  Although it is possible, you may not perfect it on the first try.  With effort and practice, it is possible to do anything.  My first two calculus classes were shown through a television screen with a teacher talking to us.  It made the class more difficult, but with practice and lots of hard work, I was able to succeed in the class.  I believe that watching through a television should be used as an aide and not the main source of learning.  Cooking, for example, is a lot easier to learn while doing it.  You learn through practice.  Watching Bobby Flay make an a ricotta ravioli is not going to provide you with the tools to make it, you have to practice.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

References

Crismond, D., Howland, J., Jonassen, D., Marra, R. M.  (2008).  Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson.