Teachers can benefit from the new technology that is available by incorporating them into their lessons. Some subjects may have more resources available to them than others. Mathematics is one that at a glance does not appear to be able to benefit from all of the programs, websites, and tools that are available. Upon further examination, you can find that are a variety of technologies for teaching mathematics. Drill-and-practice software, virtual manipulative, real-life data sets, interactive geometry programs, graphing calculators, robots, and computer-based laboratories are just a few.
The next hurdle teachers can face is deciding which one is most appropriate for the lesson. Often teachers have a lesson and try to find technology that fits into it. The best approach is to start with the tool and see what lessons fit best with it. According to creators of Activity Types Wiki, a wiki that has taxonomy of mathematical activities, the best way to help teachers integrate technologies effectively is to match technology integration strategies to how teachers plan, rather than asking teachers to plan instruction that exploits the opportunities offered by a particular educational technologies. With their conceptual tool, they offer to assist with technology integration by selecting and combining the learning activities that will best help students achieve the selected learning goals. Each activity was derived from the National Council of teachers of Mathematics' process standards.
1. What would be an example of a lesson using tools from the list provided by Activity Types?
One lesson provided would incorporate a graphing calculator with a mechanical robot. Companies have created inexpensive robots that connect to graphing calculators. Students would be able to create a graph on their graphing calculators to represent a mathematical expression. Once the graph is inputted into the calculator a robot is attached. The robot's movements is then commanded by using calculator. Students can set up a course in the classroom that the robot has to complete. This activity can also be filmed and unloaded onto a website for students to share with others or to view and collect data from the experiment.
2. How do you know what tool is best to use for a specific activity?
Activity Types breaks down activities per the approach that a teacher wants to focus in on for the lesson. In each of the activities is a list of more specific goals the teacher may have and tools that can be used to achieve them. It is beneficial to test out each of the tools mentioned and figure out which works best with your specific assignment and activity. A list of the activity types are as follows. One is a "Consider" activity and represents types that lower levels of student engagement are needed and typically require relatively direct presentation of foundational knowledge. A second activity is a "Practice" activity which gives a list of tools that help the students practice and internalize important skills and techniques. The third is "Interpret" activities which help students investigate concepts and relationships, and assist them in interpreting what they observe. "Produce" activities is the forth, and they help students become the producers of mathematical work, rather than just passive consumers of prepared materials. The fifth is "Applye" activities and they help aid students is applying their mathematics in the real world and link mathematical concepts to real world phenomena. The sixth is "Evaluate" activities and they help assist students in the evaluation process by helping them undertake concepts comparisons, test solutions or conjectures, and/or integrate feedback from other individuals into their own work. The last activity is "Create" activities which help students engaged in very creative and imaginative thinking processes.
Grandgenett, Harris, and Hofer (2009) Grounded Tech Integration:Math, Learning and Leading with Technology, 37 (3) Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=November_No_3_5&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4436&ContentID=24617&DirectListComboInd=D
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