Assignment Two
Begin a discussion on distance/on-line teaching and using the internet in traditional teaching.
A) Search the Internet for a mathematics course that is offered on-line, or by distance learning or that just has a web component. Write a short explanation of the site.
Where?
The on-line course that I found is a Business Mathematics course that is offered at Valencia College on WebCT by Professor Pryor. To access the course you can log into Atlas which is our campus portal system that is powered through campus pipeline at: http://portal.valencia.cc.fl.us/cp/tn/fs. Then you click on, “My Courses” which will allow you to click on, “Log into WebCT”. This brings you to: http://webct.valencia.cc.fl.us/webct/public/home.pl?action=print_home where you can log in. The course I found I research through a student who is currently enrolled in the course.
How?
The class is organized and run through WebCT. I learned about WebCT at the conference in Tennessee, but this course was very well developed and organized. All of the standard information like the syllabus, course info, course content, and quizzes were there, but the structure was very well done. The quizzes were very well written and easy to read. The quizzes were timed and the students only had a 3 day window to complete the quizzes. Then the students could receive their score immediately and see the statistics on that quiz. For example, the student can see what the class average on the quiz was, how many students have taken the quiz, what the high and low scores were, and the students could review which questions they go wrong and why. The content was very well organized and easy to understand. In the content there was graphics and links to other useful websites. A student could check their progress at any time. The student could communicate to other students and the instructor through the e-mail or through threaded discussions. The course was created very well. It was easy to navigate around, the direction of the class was clear, and the student said the course was great and she was learning a great deal.
Why?
This course is offered on-line so students who live anywhere around Central Florida could take the course without much difficult. Valencia College has campuses in Kissimmee, West Orlando, East Orlando, Winter Park, and mini campuses in other Central Florida areas. The students could learn the material and take the quizzes on-line. They would have to take their tests at any of the campuses (upon request) and it would be mailed to the instructor by the testing center.
When?
This Business Mathematics course is being offered Summer 2003 session 5.
B) Review a technology journal for articles that would be of interest or use to a mathematics teacher wanting to integrate the Internet into their course or create an on-line course. List the journal information, article title, page, and a paragraph describing the article and what makes it interesting/useful.
Journal information:
Published: June 2000
By: Mercedes McKay and Beth McGrath, Stevens Institute of Technology
Article Title: Creating Internet-Based Curriculum Projects
Page: http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/articleprintversion.cfm?aid=2883
Paragraph:
This article explains a workshop that is offered to help instructors learn how to implement the Internet into their classroom. One idea of how to implement the Internet into a math course is to have the students use real time data. For example, tracking actual weather conditions and changes as they occur and earthquake research from around the world as it occurs. This gets the students interested and excited about the project. This article gives great examples of student’s work after the instructor has attended the workshop. For example, there is one Internet based project where found information about acid rain and developed a web page based on his project. The web page is very impressive with sections describing the project, the project data, areas for students and teachers, a link to contact the project leader, list of schools participating in the project, and other reports created by the project. Overall, the ideas in this article were good. The reason why I chose this article is because it gave actual student examples. Rather than just give an explanation of what could be done, they showed what has been created.
C) Write a statement of your philosophy about using the web in mathematics- who, how, why, when, ect.
Who?
I feel that using the web in mathematics is great for any age of students. Students in a kindergarten class can class use in the Internet. As the students grow up the use and understand of what can be accomplished using the web grows.
How?
I feel the web should be used a supplement to a tradition mathematics course. The Internet can add and enhance a mathematics course in many ways. I do not feel it can replace an actual mathematics teacher. I do believe that course can be developed well by a mathematics teacher that can be only given through the web, but the teacher – student connection should be still be through either e-mail or face to face office hours.
Why?
Using the Internet has many uses. The Internet is a medium through which information can be transmitted just like a chalk board or written or verbal word. The Internet can provide many visual representations that a chalk board can not. Information can be researched quickly and in real time through the internet. Instead of using old data for a project, a student can find real time pertinent data. The Internet can be used to teach students who learn far away from a school or college. Anyway we can teach students, we should take advance of.
When?
I think in a tradition course the Internet should be used outside of class to research projects or to learn more about the material being discussed. The class should be used for teacher and student reactions and questions and answers. The student and teachers can still interact about what is found on the Internet or in the process of find information, but that should be in a lab setting. I teach a course where the mode of teaching is through the Internet, in that setting I can sit with the student one on one in front of the computer and have the teacher-student interaction while using the Internet.