Week Six

The focus of this week’s lesson was online communication tools. In particular, we focused on the use of a WebQuest as an online inquiry-oriented model. Many educators today use WebQuests to break a learning activity into different sections and challenge their students to research and dig for solutions to complex questions.

As part of this week’s assignments, I created my own WebQuest for students in my classroom. I spent a lot of time and energy on this assignment because I definitely see the benefits of using this sort of tool in my lesson plans. Creating a WebQuest is not the easiest thing to do, and it was very time-consuming. The benefits of the activity, however, outweigh the struggles of making the WebQuest. Since a WebQuest contains several different pages of information, it takes a lot of preparation and forethought to organize the activity as a whole.

I began creating the WebQuest with the idea in mind of using it in the current unit I am teaching in my Algebra 2 class. Therefore, I made sure to make it relevant and rigorous for my students. The first thing I had to do was figure out what kind of conclusion I wanted my students to come to by completing the WebQuest. Since I just began a unit on Systems of Linear Equations, I wanted to create a challenging WebQuest for my students to do as a summary of the unit. As a Kentuckian, most of my students are University of Kentucky Wildcats fans, so the theme of my WebQuest was UK Basketball. WebQuests are structured to include different sections: Introduction, Task, Processes, Evaluation, Conclusion, and Teacher Page. While creating my own WebQuest, the most challenging part was deciding what the task should be in order for me to get my students to the intended conclusion. Instead of giving my students all of the information they needed to solve the problem at hand, I directed them to the resources so that they could research the information themselves. This way, the students can develop research and computer skills while also solving a complex algebra problem. On each page of the WebQuest, I included pictures to make the activity more aesthetically pleasing and interesting to the students. I enjoyed this assignment and plan to create more WebQuests to use in my teaching career. As a math teacher, it is sometimes difficult to incorporate technology into the classroom, other than calculators, but now that I understand the purpose of a WebQuest I will use them more in my teaching.

Here is a link to the WebQuest I created:

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=126421

Week Five

The focus of this week’s lesson was online communication tools. The Internet provides a vast array of opportunities for communicating and collaborating with others. Students and teachers can discuss educational topics outside of the classroom, which is a great benefit especially for those needing extra assistance. Through the reading this week, I learned about several different online communication tools that can be utilized by educators to enhance the learning experience, including email, chat, blogs, wikis, VoIPs, microblogs, and virtual worlds. All of these online communication tools have widened the range of educational technology that is available to both students and teachers.

As a high school teacher, I have witnessed firsthand the unique benefits of technology both inside and outside of the classroom. I use online communication tools with my students often, especially through my teacher website and Edmodo. Edmodo is set up like Facebook in that it appears graphically like Facebook, which is appealing to students. I have been able to post assignments, syllabi, handouts, and other documents as well as graphics and videos on both my teacher website and Edmodo. In addition, I keep a collection of online resources in an online “Library” that allows me to easily access my favorite websites anywhere there is Internet access. In the classroom, specifically, I have used Edmodo to post assignments, and students can upload their work directly to the assignment box online. I also use Edmodo to post discussion boards that I want my students to respond to. This is great for students who fear speaking publicly in class, so they can use the discussion board online to ask questions or post comments.

Another online communication tool that I could use in the classroom is a wiki. Many teachers use wikis to post information and allow their students to view and change information. This is great for a class project over certain topics. Each student or group of students could have something different to add to the wiki. For example, if we were covering a unit on Solving Systems of Linear Equations in Algebra 2, each group of students could contribute work on a different method of solving the systems, including graphing, substitution, elimination, and matrices. This would also be beneficial for presentations and future classes.

There are numerous ways to use online communication tools in the classroom. Each student and each educator has different preferences, but when we are all using technology to enhance the learning process, we can accomplish great things!

Week Four

This week’s module focused on the use of presentation programs for teaching and learning, including PowerPoint, Prezi, and Lotus Freelance Graphics. These programs provide digital support for oral presentations. As a teacher, these presentation programs are an essential supplement to the traditional methods of teaching. By using programs that contain videos, graphics, audio, and text, teachers can present information in a much more engaging way to their students. Because of the many different learning styles that students possess, incorporating a multi-media presentation can benefit students in a variety of ways. In the readings this week, I learned how presentation programs allow educators to effectively communicate information to the different learners in their classroom. Not only do presentations help reach students in ways that appeal to their learning styles, but they also help make learning more memorable. One tidbit that stood out to me in the reading this week was the statement, “One can become engrossed with the graphics, animation, and music, but the content must always come first.” This is crucial in the classroom where students already have many distractions. Another interesting thing I learned was to avoid the color combination of red and green when creating a presentation, since approximately 8% of males and 4% of females are color blind, and this is the most difficult color combination for these students to decipher.

In regards to using PowerPoint presentations in the classroom, I have personal experience in this area. I use PowerPoint presentations at least once a week in my high school Algebra classroom. I have found that students are more receptive to the information if it is presented through the use of technology. This past week I created a presentation about graphing linear inequalities. The presentation was for my high school Algebra 2 courses, and included not only text, but also graphics, animations, multiple colors, and a video clip. I began the presentation with a definition of the topic and a short video clip of how the math topic is used in real life. This caught the students’ attention and allowed me to continue with the presentation of notes for them to take. In the presentation, I am most proud of the fact that I was able to successfully use animations for transitioning from slide to slide. The graphics were also helpful for the students to see how to graph the inequalities. If I were to re-create this presentation, I would include another video at the end as a conclusion that proposed a challenge to my students. Not only were my students engaged in the learning experience, but they were also impressed with the fact that I printed the notes for them to follow along with me!

Week Three

Module three covered the use of Word Processing and Desktop Publishing in the classroom. Teachers and students alike use these programs to enhance the learning experience. Word processors are used for creating documents with text, and teachers can use word processors to create material for classroom instruction. Desktop publishing programs can be used to create flyers, greeting cards, brochures, and many other items for publication. Desktop publishing programs can also enhance student learning and engagement.

This past week I handed out many different documents in my classroom, not only for instructional use, but also for information and news. I gave my students a calendar for the unit we are beginning so they can keep up with due dates and assignments that they must be working on. This also lets them know when they have exams and quizzes so they can prepare themselves in advance. Moreover, I often create an outline for my students to take notes. At first, I made the outlines by hand and made a copy for each student. I eventually realized they were bored with this note-taking method, so I spruced it up for them by creating it on the computer, complete with pictures, different fonts and sizes, and borders for better organization of material. This was much more visually appealing to my students as they seemed re-interested in taking notes.

I have also used desktop publishing for personal projects. For example, I took two different mission trips, one to Malaysia and one to Turkey. For each trip, I created a prayer card to send out with a letter to each person who supported me financially on the trips. I used desktop publishing to create the prayer card, which was the size of a postcard. The background was a picture of Turkey’s flag, and the foreground had a picture of me with text around it. The prayer card that I created is featured below:

Word processing and desktop publishing programs can be effectively used in a variety of ways in the classroom. Not only do they make teaching less complicated, but they also make learning more entertaining for the students. Students are drawn to creative-looking documents that are appealing to the senses. There are a diversity of learning styles that teachers must take into consideration when preparing a lesson, and desktop publishing makes the task of appealing to all senses a much less daunting task. By incorporating graphics, sounds, different fonts and sizes students are more likely to be interested in the subject matter that is being taught.