Mayan Math

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Blog Review

The blog I chose to review is called Digital Education, which is co-authored by Ian Quillen and Katie Ash.  The blog topics range from digital dissection in a high school science class to the New York Senate passing a cyber-bullying bill.  The posts seemed to have a wide variety of topics, thus appealing to everyone.  Archives dating back to 2008 also show that this blog has staying power and in my mind solidifies the value of this blog. 

One thing that initially drew me to Digital Education was the multiple posts per week.  I feel that if I am reading a blog for ideas in technology or just looking for information to stay current, a few posts a month would not be enough.  Instead I was able to find several new posts with great information that I was interested in.  The authors also do a nice job at giving their readers just enough information to be understand at a basic level, but then supplement that with links leading to more details.

I was disappointed not to find a bio on the authors.  The only information that was provided next to their picture was that both are staff writers for Education Week Digital Directions.  While this does not make or break a blog, when initially checking out a blog one of the first things a reader will do is look for background information on the author.  Since anyone can put out a blog these days, it helps knowing the credentials of the author.  I should also add that there was a link to e-mail the authors, but that was it.

I really connected with the post regarding the science teachers in Florida moving away from classroom dissections in favor of a virtual dissection.  This made me think of my department and how we are piloting a program a virtual text book on the ipad.  Last semester a group of lower level math students were the first students to not be issued a text book.  They did not complete traditional paper and pencil homework assignments, nor did they have traditional assessments.  Just like the schools in Florida claiming the big switch was driven by financial savings, we are looking to do the same.  Our decision to move towards the virtual text was financially a solid investment, but also used as a tool to spark motivation in a group that normally is lacking.  If this wasn’t something my department already began to implement, I would definitely bring this information to the table in our next department meeting.

The blog Digital Education has more than enough information to keep even the tech savvy teacher interested.  The design is appealing and quite user friendly.  If you have a moment please check out the blog here.

Jing

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Tuesday Reflection

Wow,  I learned a lot today!  Between Evernote, Wiki, Edmodo, Linoit, Wordle, Prezi, and Storybird I'm not sure where to begin.  One of my favorite finds today was Wordle.  I'm not sure how this will necessarily improve my instruction, but it sure will look cool.  At the very least I will have the best looking binders in the math department.  


I think the most useful website will be www.socrative.com This will allow me to create quick quizzes, warm ups or exit slips that students can access from their smart phones.  The best part of this tool is that at the end of the quiz, the results are displayed in an excel spread sheet.  The results are detailed enough to show the response from each student on each question.  It will also give each student a score in case I wanted to use it for a grade.  How cool is that? 

Storybird

The Peaceful Jungle by svanderheyden01 on Storybird

Geometry

Social Media

Technology Standards

While reading through past and current technology standards I couldn't help but notice a similar thread woven throughout.  Foremost, increasing productivity of students, teachers and administrators was continually brought up in the standards.  Also, responsible use of technology regarding social and ethical practices was stressed.

One main difference to note was that the current standards used the words creativity and inspire, where as the older standards were focused on using the technology and understanding the basic operations.   I think this is foreshadowing where we are going with technology.  It is no longer acceptable just to be able to use software.  The expectations will soon be to take the software and build new ideas that will be useful in the future.  We cannot get complacent as technology is always evolving.

Monday Reflection

Today I learned about RSS feeds, which are AWESOME!  It reminds me a bit of twitter where all the information comes to me (and the fact that hours of my life can disappear in the blink of an eye!)  I also learned how to create a blog and incorporate all sorts of neat things such as the video in my last post.  I think having a blog for the classroom is an excellent way to communicate with parents and keep them updated on what their child is doing in class.  Hopefully I can find 10 minutes a week to blog during the school year.  I still want to learn new technology ideas that encourages student participation within the classroom.

Teach Me How To Factor

First "official" post

The blog I chose to review is about Digital Education.  Click here to read the blog.

First blog post!!!