Using technology in teaching high school maths

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Permalink Reply by Matt Townsley on March 19, 2009 at 5:41am

What content/grade level/standards/objectives will you be teaching? Also, do you anticipate a more "student-centered" teaching approach or will you be primarily teaching from the front of the room? I believe that these questions are essential as you make your decision on the appropriate technology tool(s) to use.

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Permalink Reply by Prem Shankar on March 19, 2009 at 5:47am

Thanks for your post.

Grades: 6 - 10
Content: Maths, which would cover algebra, geometry, trigonometry.
Teaching approach: Student centered.

I hope this has the necessary information.

Regards.

Prem

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Permalink Reply by Matt Townsley on March 19, 2009 at 5:59am

I might give Moodle a try as a means of bringing together many websites, Web 2.0 applications, etc. It provides a password-protected environment for students to discuss, collaborate and be assessed. If you've ever used WebCT or Blackboard, Moode is similar, but freely available. There are ways to integrate blogs and wikis via RSS feeds in to Moodle as well.

Geogebra is a free interactive Geometry software that may be useful as you design your instruction.

I hope this information helps you get started. Perhaps others can chime in as well with their thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy Moore on March 19, 2009 at 6:09am

I second the Moodle suggestion as a base for the lessons to run out of.

Two of the classes I teach are chemistry and physics and, though a hardware suggestion, I must emphasis the need for a pen style input for the students to use. Math, chemistry and physics are subjects where you have notation that the keyboard has a hard time emulating and the mouse adds a layer of frustration to trying to write that will 'wig'out' most students under a time pressure. There are math editors out there that can be used, but as of yet they are clunky in my opinion and don't give you all the tools needed for such things as geometry and sketching out a problem to find a solution path. The ability to write freely while still in a digital domain lets the technology get out of the way to let the students concentrate on the task at hand.

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Permalink Reply by Geoff St. Pierre on March 19, 2009 at 4:57pm

I have used moodle and Manhattan Virtual Classroom. Both are password protected environments, both are open source. But Moodle requires a database usually MySQL, and particullarly if your hardware is older or not top of the line Manhattan performs better.

I like moodle, but I choose Manhattan to meet my classroom needs. I also use Wiki's and Blogs.

Geoff,
JS Wiki Math

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Permalink Reply by Annette Siemssen on March 19, 2009 at 10:23pm

We use CPM math which has the students write learning logs on each new concept. Recently, we started posting the student responses to a class wiki. The students used to hate doing their learning logs, but now enjoy discussing their team's responses before posting. Unfortunately, the students are block at school from accessing "social" websites and must do their entries at home. We are trying to get the school board to see the light.

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Permalink Reply by Prem Shankar on March 20, 2009 at 2:28am

Great inputs from everyone!

- Liked Geogebra application (thanks, Matt)
- I have some exposure to Moodle - the basic setup etc, so, I can try that as well.
- Found another - online group, focused on this topic, and has some good inputs as well.
- Discovered another useful site.

With all of the above, I think I have sufficient information to get started. Thank you all for your inputs.

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Permalink Reply by greg on March 21, 2009 at 6:49am

Hi Prem,
Here are some webpages that I have made to help my students. Please feel free to use everything:

My Homepage: http://schools.u-46.org/index.pl?op=show&iid=2990

Algebra 1 (our district calls it 1-2): http://schools.u-46.org/index.pl%3Fiid%3D27508

Geometry: http://schools.u-46.org/index.pl?id=5008

Algebra 2 (our district calls it 3-4): http://schools.u-46.org/index.pl?iid=27591

Precal: http://schools.u-46.org/index.pl?iid=11250

Calc: http://www.u46.k12.il.us/shs/einsteindarwinshs/19200.htm

Stats: http://www.u46.k12.il.us/shs/einsteindarwinshs/19200.htm

Homework Help: http://schools.u-46.org/index.pl?id=6487

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Petra on March 21, 2009 at 8:15am

You might find some lessons of interest in my website: RealWorldMath.org. It has lessons and activities that use Google Earth. The content level is primarily for the middle grades but there are some interesting peripheral topics there, such as fractals and modern geometry. SketchUp has a lot of potential also, and I have few activities with that.

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Permalink Reply by Prem Shankar on March 22, 2009 at 4:28am

Thank you, Thomas and Greg. I still have to download the Google Earth scripts from your site and see how they work.

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