2nd Post for 550

My experience with online communities has been limited by choice. I do not have a facebook or any other type of social networking account. For the most part, I have a negative opinion of them as being a waste of a perfectly good resource, computers, much like television has the majority of its programming breaking down social mores in the pursuit of more money. Perhaps, I have not yet seen or found the right community to become a part of. I have a hard time joining and using one when I read a story every now and then about someone’s privacy being compromised or identity being stolen or the number of criminals who are using them.

The biggest benefit of collaborative groups is being exposed to different thoughts and ideas of how to solve a problem. When one works on a problem alone, s/he is obviously limited to her/his own individual experience.

I believe the greatest challenge would be to get me to subscribe to facebook, my space or something else. I am amazed that I continue to look and use my twitter account, but I have found some really great teaching resources (that keep me going back).

My thoughts regarding the social development and socialization issues are: Students need to be warned of all of the dangers that are out there in cyber space and shown ways to use the computer that will help others and themselves to a better future for all.

I hate to sound so cynical and pessimistic. I am teaching in a district where cell phones and ipods are to be confiscated and turned into the office for parents to pick up if used during school hours, yet, for some students it is worth the risk. I would like to find a way where cell phone usage can be a positive rather than a negative. The ipods should stay turned off.

1st Blog of 550

Identify at least two synchronous and two asynchronous online learning tools that would be appropriate for your targeted online learners.

Synchronous learning tools –

Wallwisher.com – A graphic organizer/webpage where users can post messages, thoughts, ideas, (similarity/difference lists, KWL charts, etc.)

Asynchronous learning tools –

Khanacademy.org – Over 2100 videos (tutorials with examples). It is a great site for students to use to “brush up on their math skills as well as get a preview of the next level.

WolframAlpha.com – Self proclaimed “computational knowledge engine”. This site is considered a primary resource for research as well as a site for students to check computations of various mathematical problems.

Screenr.com – Screencasting software resident online and accessible from twitter, facebook and other locations. There is no need to download any software. Students can make a screencast up to 5 minutes long that explains there solution in solving a problem and choose to submit privately to others or publish to the web.

Synchronous and Asynchronous learning tools:

Graphing Calculator 3D (www.runiter.com). Downloadable Calculator that will graph equations and inequalities in 2 and 3 dimensions (free version available).

Google Sketchup – Free downloadable CAD software. This can be used, not only to design architectural structures, but to demonstrate and calculate formulas and applications involving 2 dimensional polygons and 3 dimensional polyhedra.

Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 – Free Downloadable Calculator that will solve everything that traditional calculators will, as well as, algebra, trigonometry and triangle solver (not the ambiguous case), statistics and calculus. MM4.0 will also show solutions of Algebra problems (step by step) with explanation and has a handwriting recognition feature.

List four different types of activities that you might use with your targeted online learners and identify an appropriate online tool to use in implementing that activity.

A probability and statistics lesson could include using Quizicon.com. Quizicon.com is a site that has timed quizzes from subjects such as the 100 most popular words in a given language, Greek letters, the 50 States, etc. The object is to name as many as possible within a 5 minute time span. I could have students work alone or in groups and take specific quizzes, gather the data of how many answers they were able to get and see what kind of distribution arises (Normal, Poisson, etc.). We, as a class, could then calculate all of the statistical parameters associated with the data and make predictions about the results of people who have yet to take the specified quiz with a given confidence interval.

In calculating the volumes and/or surface areas of various polyhedral, the students can use Google Sketchup to construct a visual representation and explain how they arrived at their answer while orbiting the figure and giving appropriate dimensions.

As stated earlier, I could assign the students to use Screenr.com or some other screen casting software to make a screen cast that will explain any type of mathematical problem using Google Sketchup (for Geometry) or a word processing software or presentation tool (MS Word, Google Docs, Powerpoint, Animoto, 280 slides, others) to report to the class or just me.

Yacapaca.com can be used to give a quiz or test to students during class or at their leisure as a means to assess their current level of understanding.

Is my initial contact warm and inviting? Are there things I did particularly well or could do better in the future?

I believe I made my initial contact e-mail warm and inviting, while trying to maintain an authoritative demeanor. Having yet to conduct an online course, I feel it is important to be open, yet firm. I made an admission of being a terribly slow reader, not so much to show vulnerability or weakness, but to invite openness and honesty. I believe every teacher wants their students to eventually consider him/her their friend, but not at a cost of loss of respect or authority. This is why I felt it important to spell out that my students should address me with Mr. This policy, and others, can obviously change with time. I used a somewhat subliminal message (the word “welcome” in a number of different languages) as a backdrop in my welcome pdf file to send that message as well as a cute picture of my puppy to offering a feeling of warmth and ease. I did not include a starting time in my initial contact - just recognized that looking at the others.

Is my initial contact clear and concise and yet user friendly? What are some strategies that help to format your contacts to make them as clear and concise as possible?

Once again I believe I made my initial contact e-mail as clear, concise and user friendly as possible. I wanted to put more, but believe too long is a bad thing, concise being the key word. The strategy that I employed was putting myself in a student’s situation and answering the following questions: What do I need to know now? How do I communicate with my teacher if something goes wrong?