I had a lot of fun creating my own wiki page and being able to try things out and sample things that I wasn't previously familiar with. I was surprised at how easy it was to throw pictures, websites, and other things into the different pages that need a little bit of life added to them. I used our class website as a framework to build my own website around. I added a blogger section that students can use, as well as a student resources page that gives students different websites for math games. I was excited when I realized I could add my Google Form I created for last class into my website. I used the tables feature for my grading breakdown, and it was much simpler than I was anticipating it to be. I was expecting to have to resize and drag it around a bunch of times, but it fit perfectly as soon as it was added. I'm glad I was able to change the background theme. The all white was waaaaaay too boring and dull. I was wanting to use a picture of Neyland Stadium, but I couldn't get the picture formatted the right way, so I went with the classic UT orange instead. I also added a recent site activity in the side bar. I like that feature, because as a student it shows what the teacher has added or edited, which helps you know what's going on. I really found the Sites' history revisions an awesome feature. It was neat to go back and look at the changes and how different my site looked from different periods of time. It was like watching a little child grow up right before my eyes (tear).
Here is the link to my wiki page: Mr. Haynes' Math Corner
My Blog List
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Literacy for Education/ Discplines in Education
Literacy for Education
Preparation:
I reviewed the My Spelling Test app and I think it is very beneficial and useful for lower level grades, like elementary school. I know from experience that spelling tests were rather dull and monotonous. The teacher calls out a word, maybe uses it in a sentence, and you write it down. Then the next word, so on and so forth. With the My Spelling Test app, it spices things up a little. It still has a voice calling the word pout and using it in a sentence, but being able to see the letters on a screen rather than in one's own handwriting is helpful, in my opinion. I know a lot of times I will write a word and it doesn't look like I wrote it correctly. With the Spelling app, the letters and words will be clearer and more understandable. It is also easy to follow and understand, which is another benefit to having it implemented in younger educational systems.
Presentation:
I reviewed the Drawing Pad app. While I think it would be most successful for early-middle school education, I can see the app being used in secondary education as well. When I watched the tutorial, the first thing that popped into my mind was playing Pictionary with students. Instead of just back-and-forth, asking questions and getting answers, students could draw their answers. This helps the students build creativity while still learning their material. The Drawing Pad can be used in any subject too, which is another advantage to it. Despite it being a little too "cartooney" for my liking, I do think all levels of education could use the app and find benefits from it.
Stories:
I chose to review the Strip Designer app, simply because I had never thought of applying comic strips to education. It was actually a lot simpler than I imagined. It is almost like a visual My Docs or Microsoft Word. You start with an untitled document and add pictures and words to it. I know in English classes, students are asked to create short stories and write in-class essays. I think that the Strip Designer is a great way to do these kind of assignments. Instead of making students jot their words onto paper with a pencil, they can creatively, visually, and comically create their stories and add a flare of their own personalities to it. I am the least creative person ever, but after playing with the app, I found that if I can use it, anyone can. Students will be able to follow along, and create stories and work problems in the unique way of comic strips, which is a new idea to education for me.
Disciplines in Education
If I could choose what subject I will be teaching in middle school, I would want to teach math. Consequently, I chose to look at the three math apps. The first app I reviewed is Mathboard. I like how Mathboard is presented in a quiz-like formula. I like how the app has a settings where you can choose what kind of problems to have, along with the difficulty of the numbers (negative numbers, fractions, etc.) A big thing in math is being able to workout your problems, and below each problem, Mathboard gives you a spot to jot down numbers and notes and work the problems out. I do agree with the person on the channel, though, in the sense that the limited room to write stuff down in this section could be a problem for students. It helps to see the flow of the problem, and with the small window to work problems out, this flow is interrupted and could be confusing. I like that on the side of the screen, the app keeps track of the problems you got correct and incorrect. That way, you can go back and focus on areas that you are still struggling with.
The second math app is iMathematics. Like with Mathboard, I like how you can choose what subject and what kind of numbers you want to work with. I also like that it gives you resources within the app. The example in the tutorial was looking up prime numbers in Wikipedia. This is a very beneficial tool for students using the app. Instead of having to leave the app and go online to look something up, you can find help within the app. The biggest negative to the app is that many of the subject contents within the app are locked, which you can unlock by buying pro version of app. If a school system is fortunate enough to have funds to purchase the pro versions, than I think this is the best app out of the three. However, it is probable that this is not the case, so that is a big negative for the app in my opinion.
The third app I looked at is Sketchpad Explorer. I like how the tutorial is from a math teacher. I trust his opinions because he uses it on a daily basis. I think that because the iMath app potentially costs money, Sketchpad is the best app of the three. Its subject settings are more concise and specific compared to the other two. I like how you can put lesson plans and chapter notes into the math, so teachers can teach straight from the app. Its also very beneficial that the app has charts and graphs that students can do. While the app seems a tad bit complicated compared to the other three, I feel like this app is the perfect app for upper level math courses, and overall is the better app of the three.
Preparation:
I reviewed the My Spelling Test app and I think it is very beneficial and useful for lower level grades, like elementary school. I know from experience that spelling tests were rather dull and monotonous. The teacher calls out a word, maybe uses it in a sentence, and you write it down. Then the next word, so on and so forth. With the My Spelling Test app, it spices things up a little. It still has a voice calling the word pout and using it in a sentence, but being able to see the letters on a screen rather than in one's own handwriting is helpful, in my opinion. I know a lot of times I will write a word and it doesn't look like I wrote it correctly. With the Spelling app, the letters and words will be clearer and more understandable. It is also easy to follow and understand, which is another benefit to having it implemented in younger educational systems.
Presentation:
I reviewed the Drawing Pad app. While I think it would be most successful for early-middle school education, I can see the app being used in secondary education as well. When I watched the tutorial, the first thing that popped into my mind was playing Pictionary with students. Instead of just back-and-forth, asking questions and getting answers, students could draw their answers. This helps the students build creativity while still learning their material. The Drawing Pad can be used in any subject too, which is another advantage to it. Despite it being a little too "cartooney" for my liking, I do think all levels of education could use the app and find benefits from it.
Stories:
I chose to review the Strip Designer app, simply because I had never thought of applying comic strips to education. It was actually a lot simpler than I imagined. It is almost like a visual My Docs or Microsoft Word. You start with an untitled document and add pictures and words to it. I know in English classes, students are asked to create short stories and write in-class essays. I think that the Strip Designer is a great way to do these kind of assignments. Instead of making students jot their words onto paper with a pencil, they can creatively, visually, and comically create their stories and add a flare of their own personalities to it. I am the least creative person ever, but after playing with the app, I found that if I can use it, anyone can. Students will be able to follow along, and create stories and work problems in the unique way of comic strips, which is a new idea to education for me.
Disciplines in Education
If I could choose what subject I will be teaching in middle school, I would want to teach math. Consequently, I chose to look at the three math apps. The first app I reviewed is Mathboard. I like how Mathboard is presented in a quiz-like formula. I like how the app has a settings where you can choose what kind of problems to have, along with the difficulty of the numbers (negative numbers, fractions, etc.) A big thing in math is being able to workout your problems, and below each problem, Mathboard gives you a spot to jot down numbers and notes and work the problems out. I do agree with the person on the channel, though, in the sense that the limited room to write stuff down in this section could be a problem for students. It helps to see the flow of the problem, and with the small window to work problems out, this flow is interrupted and could be confusing. I like that on the side of the screen, the app keeps track of the problems you got correct and incorrect. That way, you can go back and focus on areas that you are still struggling with.
The second math app is iMathematics. Like with Mathboard, I like how you can choose what subject and what kind of numbers you want to work with. I also like that it gives you resources within the app. The example in the tutorial was looking up prime numbers in Wikipedia. This is a very beneficial tool for students using the app. Instead of having to leave the app and go online to look something up, you can find help within the app. The biggest negative to the app is that many of the subject contents within the app are locked, which you can unlock by buying pro version of app. If a school system is fortunate enough to have funds to purchase the pro versions, than I think this is the best app out of the three. However, it is probable that this is not the case, so that is a big negative for the app in my opinion.
The third app I looked at is Sketchpad Explorer. I like how the tutorial is from a math teacher. I trust his opinions because he uses it on a daily basis. I think that because the iMath app potentially costs money, Sketchpad is the best app of the three. Its subject settings are more concise and specific compared to the other two. I like how you can put lesson plans and chapter notes into the math, so teachers can teach straight from the app. Its also very beneficial that the app has charts and graphs that students can do. While the app seems a tad bit complicated compared to the other three, I feel like this app is the perfect app for upper level math courses, and overall is the better app of the three.
Forms: Survey
Perhaps now more than any other assignment, the tutorials and sample websites came in handy. It took me a while to make it through last week's spreadsheet because it had been so long since I used one. The tutorials helped me recover the basics. This week, however, the tutorials and help links helped me survive. I did fine when it came to creating the form; that was easy. However, when it came to translating it to the spreadsheet and calculating the results, the tools REALLY came into play. I found the edtech VISION website the most helpful, because I chose to do a survey rather than a quiz. I didn't quite understand why I had to make two spreadsheets, one for responses and one for calculations, but its step-by-step instructions helped me understand why to separate and the ease of separating them.
I chose to share my form with my sister (she took it as Tapanga Lawrence and also marked that she had no sibling, which is hurtful). She was able to coach me long on the spreadsheet, so I wanted to show her how I could take it a step further and throw a self-grading form in with it. She was not familiar with Forms, so it was nice to switch roles and actually be able to teach her something. It was also neat that as she was taking the survey, I was able to watch her responses pop up on my spreadsheet and see the results automatically calculated. I can definitely see how Forms is a great tool for teachers who have the ability to quiz their students online. To view my spreadsheet, click: here
Forms allows teachers to gather data and results in different ways. By linking up with Spreadsheets, results from Forms can be presented in logical, organized data that both teacher and students can follow along. Just like with Spreadsheets, Forms qualifies with the standard that teaches students the "Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas," and teaches the students to "Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations" (p. 117). Forms allows both teachers and students the ability to see grades and assignments in a timely manner, and allows the results to be organized so that there is not any doubt or question whether certain grades or assignments were calculated.
I chose to share my form with my sister (she took it as Tapanga Lawrence and also marked that she had no sibling, which is hurtful). She was able to coach me long on the spreadsheet, so I wanted to show her how I could take it a step further and throw a self-grading form in with it. She was not familiar with Forms, so it was nice to switch roles and actually be able to teach her something. It was also neat that as she was taking the survey, I was able to watch her responses pop up on my spreadsheet and see the results automatically calculated. I can definitely see how Forms is a great tool for teachers who have the ability to quiz their students online. To view my spreadsheet, click: here
Forms allows teachers to gather data and results in different ways. By linking up with Spreadsheets, results from Forms can be presented in logical, organized data that both teacher and students can follow along. Just like with Spreadsheets, Forms qualifies with the standard that teaches students the "Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas," and teaches the students to "Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations" (p. 117). Forms allows both teachers and students the ability to see grades and assignments in a timely manner, and allows the results to be organized so that there is not any doubt or question whether certain grades or assignments were calculated.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Basics for Education
I chose the iWork's app Pages, which is the iPad version of Microsoft Word. After playing around with the Pages app, I have come to the conclusion that it is just like Microsoft Word...on steroids. It is, like Word, a place where you can create word documents. They have the same editing techniques, such as font styles and sizes. One similarity that I was surprised with was the page scale at the top of the paper. When I noticed it, the first thing that popped into my mind was the scale on Word. One of the more noticeable similarities is the option when Pages opens up as to what kind of document you what to work on. While with Word, you have to go to File and specify what kind of document, the option is still there. Now onto a couple of differences...one major difference is the way to add data to your document, such as a graph or a chart. There is a lot more variety of data additions than with Word. The neatest difference to me was the fact that with Pages, you can add a picture from your camera roll to the document. That would be very helpful with screenshots and other material that you could take from your iPad into your document.
iThought is an awesome way to organize thoughts and materials. It reminds me a lot of the "idea webs" my teachers used to make me do back in elementary and middle school. We would write our topic in the middle of the paper and draw a web of ideas, points, and information to back our arguments up. iThought is just like this, but in extreme form. I love how there really isn't a limit as to how big you make your "map." This allows students to not be limited but to explore their topic and really let their thoughts run wild. If you don't like one area of your map, it is easy to erase one point, several points, and the entire cluster of that thought. It is also helpful that you can put links and other resources you used within your map. I know that is a big advantage because you can click on a link that goes to what your wanting to talk about, instead of having to transmit material word-for-word from the source you used. The same goes with photos. I was able to paste a picture to my map, which would allow me to easily discuss its point in the cluster I put it in. iThought is a GREAT tool for education, specifically with an English class or in any class when one would have to do a project or a research paper. You could start at a fairly young age, just teaching them how to use it, and by the time they reach the upper levels of education, they would use it as a pre-writing resource for their paper or project. You could turn using iThought into an assignment itself, or show the students how it is used in the planning process of a paper/project. iThought is a very neat and useful tool that both students and teachers can learn from.
There are numerous similarities and difference when comparing Safari and Rover. They are both web browsers and appear to look as such. One difference with Rover is the use of multi-touch gestures to navigate through a page of a website. With safari, you cannot do these gestures to scroll a webpage or drag and drop an object from one location to another, but with Rover you can. In the Rover tutorial, the guy shows that with a internet app like Safari, you can surf a website and stream videos and not use a whole lot of data on your server. However, with Rover, internet access is connected to a different server (middle man) and then streams to your iPad, which causes your data to spike continuously. When you get onto a website using Rover, you are not actually going to the website; rather, you are seeing a full screen image of the website from the "middle man" server and Rover webstie, which makes the picture look pixelated. There is a slight delay in the commands you use and when they are performed. Rover uses a lot of internet bandwidth, which would cause a strong delay in other computers and iPads in the same network. However, the big thing that sales Rover is its ability to use Flash, which in Safari, you often times have to install Flash or update Flash constantly. After watching the tutorials and using the different apps, I prefer Safari. I may be a little biased because I have much more experience with Safari, but I think that it accomplishes more without using a deal of resources, like Rover. I think Rover's use of the "middle man" server hurts its productivity, even if it able to stream Flash videos. In a school system that uses the same network, just using a couple of Rover apps simultaneously would cause a crawl of data for the entire system connected to that network. I feel that Safari makes more sense in a school atmosphere, even if Flash is not readily available.
iThought is an awesome way to organize thoughts and materials. It reminds me a lot of the "idea webs" my teachers used to make me do back in elementary and middle school. We would write our topic in the middle of the paper and draw a web of ideas, points, and information to back our arguments up. iThought is just like this, but in extreme form. I love how there really isn't a limit as to how big you make your "map." This allows students to not be limited but to explore their topic and really let their thoughts run wild. If you don't like one area of your map, it is easy to erase one point, several points, and the entire cluster of that thought. It is also helpful that you can put links and other resources you used within your map. I know that is a big advantage because you can click on a link that goes to what your wanting to talk about, instead of having to transmit material word-for-word from the source you used. The same goes with photos. I was able to paste a picture to my map, which would allow me to easily discuss its point in the cluster I put it in. iThought is a GREAT tool for education, specifically with an English class or in any class when one would have to do a project or a research paper. You could start at a fairly young age, just teaching them how to use it, and by the time they reach the upper levels of education, they would use it as a pre-writing resource for their paper or project. You could turn using iThought into an assignment itself, or show the students how it is used in the planning process of a paper/project. iThought is a very neat and useful tool that both students and teachers can learn from.
There are numerous similarities and difference when comparing Safari and Rover. They are both web browsers and appear to look as such. One difference with Rover is the use of multi-touch gestures to navigate through a page of a website. With safari, you cannot do these gestures to scroll a webpage or drag and drop an object from one location to another, but with Rover you can. In the Rover tutorial, the guy shows that with a internet app like Safari, you can surf a website and stream videos and not use a whole lot of data on your server. However, with Rover, internet access is connected to a different server (middle man) and then streams to your iPad, which causes your data to spike continuously. When you get onto a website using Rover, you are not actually going to the website; rather, you are seeing a full screen image of the website from the "middle man" server and Rover webstie, which makes the picture look pixelated. There is a slight delay in the commands you use and when they are performed. Rover uses a lot of internet bandwidth, which would cause a strong delay in other computers and iPads in the same network. However, the big thing that sales Rover is its ability to use Flash, which in Safari, you often times have to install Flash or update Flash constantly. After watching the tutorials and using the different apps, I prefer Safari. I may be a little biased because I have much more experience with Safari, but I think that it accomplishes more without using a deal of resources, like Rover. I think Rover's use of the "middle man" server hurts its productivity, even if it able to stream Flash videos. In a school system that uses the same network, just using a couple of Rover apps simultaneously would cause a crawl of data for the entire system connected to that network. I feel that Safari makes more sense in a school atmosphere, even if Flash is not readily available.
My Gradesheet
Overall, I think that Google Spreadsheet is a lot like Microsoft Excel. When I first opened the app, I noticed that the general layout of the spreadsheet is nearly identical to Excel. I have always used Excel when making a spreadsheet, so it was nice to have similarities between the two. My sister, who is an accountant, came over as I was doing my spreadsheet and she sat down to watch how it worked. She uses Excel on a daily basis, so it was neat to see her reaction to Google Spreadsheet and hear her compare the two different apps. Any of the differences to Spreadsheet from Excel, in my opinion, help in Spreadsheet's favor. I really liked the easy accessibility of all the functions within Spreadsheet. To me, it seemed that all of the functions were presented in a simpler way, rather than Excel, which I feel has a little bit more of a scavenger hunt to find out to use things like a SUM or AVERAGE function. Also, like with everything we have used in the Google apps, the ability to save it to Drive and work on it wherever is a HUGE plus. My sister accidentally close my app, and she began to freak out. I simply went to Google and to my Drive and there it was. That really impressed her, too. I think the one area of Spreadsheet that I can still use a bit of work on is the formulas. I had to work through those very slowly, making sure to use the right cell and the right function with them. A bit more practice with understanding the formulas, and I should be good to go. To view My Gradesheet, click here.
Google Spreadsheets allow teachers to visually meet areas of the CCSS for many levels of education. A big part of the CCSS is that teachers need to visually and tangibly present material to their students. Spreadsheet does just that. Spreadsheet is a great example of allowing a student to "capture the 'processes and proficiencies' of mathematics," and not just what they acquire simply by knowledge (p. 93). Spreadsheet allows students to take what they know and have learned and orchestrate it into a tangible piece of evidence and shows their understanding. Spreadsheet does not do the math for the students, but it is a tool to help students explore mathematical concepts that are relevant in today's college and career arenas. It meets a Standard for 6th grade math, which requires that students "Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution, which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape" (p. 96). With the CCSS pushing students to use certain, appropriate tools to help acclimate them to the approaching outside, Spreadsheet is the perfect mathematical tool to achieve their Standards.
Google Spreadsheets allow teachers to visually meet areas of the CCSS for many levels of education. A big part of the CCSS is that teachers need to visually and tangibly present material to their students. Spreadsheet does just that. Spreadsheet is a great example of allowing a student to "capture the 'processes and proficiencies' of mathematics," and not just what they acquire simply by knowledge (p. 93). Spreadsheet allows students to take what they know and have learned and orchestrate it into a tangible piece of evidence and shows their understanding. Spreadsheet does not do the math for the students, but it is a tool to help students explore mathematical concepts that are relevant in today's college and career arenas. It meets a Standard for 6th grade math, which requires that students "Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution, which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape" (p. 96). With the CCSS pushing students to use certain, appropriate tools to help acclimate them to the approaching outside, Spreadsheet is the perfect mathematical tool to achieve their Standards.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Presentation and Drawing
Google Presentation
1. Before experimenting with Google Presentation, my only other real experience creating a presentation was with Microsoft Powerpoint. After creating my own short presentation over my favorite professional athletes, I noticed several similarities between the two programs. At first glance, the setup of Google Presentation is a lot like Powerpoint, with the slides lined up along the left side of the screen, with your option length top. They both offer many of the same options, such as slide transitions. However, the biggest difference to me (and the biggest plus) to Google Presentation is its easy access through Google. When opening Powerpoint from a different computer, one had to previously save the slideshow as a document and email it to oneself. With Google Presentation, all I had to do was sign into my Google account and access my Drive, and it was right there for me to edit. I am really starting to become a fan of Google Doc.'s system of unity throughout Google apps.
2. The biggest thing I picked up from reading chapter 5 on Presentations is how the CCSS has tried to make Google Presentation the standard for slideshows. As stated above, I found many similarities between Google Presentation and Microsoft Powerpoint. The CCSS makes standards that Google Presentation has a easier time meeting than Powerpoint. The book states that the standards, "Students must learn to work together, express and listen carefully to ideas, integrate information from oral, visual, quantitative, and media sources...to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt speech to context and task," (p. 72) are easily met by Presentation by allowing collaborative work and the easy accessibility through Google to share presentations to peers, teachers, and students. At first, I was a little worried that I would struggle at first with creating a slideshow through Presentation because I was new to it; however, the book made it easy by its step-by-step instructions of how to create and edit a new slideshow.
Link to my slideshow---> https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-4Sjzs4yX2dhgPBW1xrtk0mIOClnDgG8A12iiLBWwMo/edit#slide=id.g3166a43ba_1_11
Google Drawing
1. I was a little easy going into this part of the assignment because I am, quite frankly, a HORRIBLE artist. I cannot draw or illustrate a decent looking picture if my life depended on it! To a pleasant surprise, Google Drawing made my lack of artistic ability fade away and allowed me to create pictures that you could actually guess what I was making. It took me a little while to understand how to use the shapes into my picture; but once I tackled that obstacle, I was blown away at how simple Drawing made the creation of a picture. I think this app would be VERY beneficial with young students, such as elementary or lower middle school ages because of its simplicity, yet effective way to create organized illustrations.
2. Walking through the middle school lesson plan over the Tangram Square was quite the humbling experience for me. I followed the lesson plan step-by-step which made the process easy. However, when it got the the step of looking at the puzzle, it went waaaaaay over my head. I could see how challenging, yet intriguing an assignment like this could be to a middle school-aged atmosphere. I also liked how in the lesson plan, the instructor partnered Google Drawing with Google Presentation to let the students share their results.
3. Like with the Presentations chapter, the Drawing section made it easy for me to follow along with the foreign Google Drawing app. I like how the chapter started off by stating something Drawings has over Microsoft Office. For me, nearly all of my experience comes from Microsoft office, so as we go along learning new Google apps, I am comparing them to their Microsoft counterparts. With Drawings being an app with a visual product, it is clear by looking at a illustration whether a student understood the directions and followed them accordingly. That is why Drawings easily fits the standard that says "Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it." (p. 129) I also noticed how the book described Drawings as a perfect tool for visually taught subjects like geometry. I know in the past, being able to electronically see geometric shapes would've helped me better comprehend the material. This also passes a standard, being able to draw geometric shapes with corresponding conditions (p. 130).
1. Before experimenting with Google Presentation, my only other real experience creating a presentation was with Microsoft Powerpoint. After creating my own short presentation over my favorite professional athletes, I noticed several similarities between the two programs. At first glance, the setup of Google Presentation is a lot like Powerpoint, with the slides lined up along the left side of the screen, with your option length top. They both offer many of the same options, such as slide transitions. However, the biggest difference to me (and the biggest plus) to Google Presentation is its easy access through Google. When opening Powerpoint from a different computer, one had to previously save the slideshow as a document and email it to oneself. With Google Presentation, all I had to do was sign into my Google account and access my Drive, and it was right there for me to edit. I am really starting to become a fan of Google Doc.'s system of unity throughout Google apps.
2. The biggest thing I picked up from reading chapter 5 on Presentations is how the CCSS has tried to make Google Presentation the standard for slideshows. As stated above, I found many similarities between Google Presentation and Microsoft Powerpoint. The CCSS makes standards that Google Presentation has a easier time meeting than Powerpoint. The book states that the standards, "Students must learn to work together, express and listen carefully to ideas, integrate information from oral, visual, quantitative, and media sources...to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt speech to context and task," (p. 72) are easily met by Presentation by allowing collaborative work and the easy accessibility through Google to share presentations to peers, teachers, and students. At first, I was a little worried that I would struggle at first with creating a slideshow through Presentation because I was new to it; however, the book made it easy by its step-by-step instructions of how to create and edit a new slideshow.
Link to my slideshow---> https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-4Sjzs4yX2dhgPBW1xrtk0mIOClnDgG8A12iiLBWwMo/edit#slide=id.g3166a43ba_1_11
Google Drawing
1. I was a little easy going into this part of the assignment because I am, quite frankly, a HORRIBLE artist. I cannot draw or illustrate a decent looking picture if my life depended on it! To a pleasant surprise, Google Drawing made my lack of artistic ability fade away and allowed me to create pictures that you could actually guess what I was making. It took me a little while to understand how to use the shapes into my picture; but once I tackled that obstacle, I was blown away at how simple Drawing made the creation of a picture. I think this app would be VERY beneficial with young students, such as elementary or lower middle school ages because of its simplicity, yet effective way to create organized illustrations.
2. Walking through the middle school lesson plan over the Tangram Square was quite the humbling experience for me. I followed the lesson plan step-by-step which made the process easy. However, when it got the the step of looking at the puzzle, it went waaaaaay over my head. I could see how challenging, yet intriguing an assignment like this could be to a middle school-aged atmosphere. I also liked how in the lesson plan, the instructor partnered Google Drawing with Google Presentation to let the students share their results.
3. Like with the Presentations chapter, the Drawing section made it easy for me to follow along with the foreign Google Drawing app. I like how the chapter started off by stating something Drawings has over Microsoft Office. For me, nearly all of my experience comes from Microsoft office, so as we go along learning new Google apps, I am comparing them to their Microsoft counterparts. With Drawings being an app with a visual product, it is clear by looking at a illustration whether a student understood the directions and followed them accordingly. That is why Drawings easily fits the standard that says "Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it." (p. 129) I also noticed how the book described Drawings as a perfect tool for visually taught subjects like geometry. I know in the past, being able to electronically see geometric shapes would've helped me better comprehend the material. This also passes a standard, being able to draw geometric shapes with corresponding conditions (p. 130).
Tablets in Education
After reading several of the articles found in the Uses of iPads in Education link, I do believe that iPads highly benefit both students and teachers and should be a part of the educational system.
1. The first article I read was "iPads Only Algbera Course." This link jumped out to me because I am looking to teach middle school math. Allowing students to personally and visually use step-by-step instructions, provide instant feedback on assignments and practice problems, and links for the students to view tutorials on the information they aren't understanding, the use of iPads makes a subject that many find dull more interesting and easy you to comprehend. Instead of walking around the room, teachers can monitor their students' performances via wifi and provide student specific feedback. With apps that are geared towards math, students can learn math steps with more than just grudgingly jotting the steps down over and over again.
2. The second article I looked at was "Schools See Rising Scores With iPads." This interested me because if iPads really do help improve test scores, then I could see many school systems pushing for school and system wide iPads, depending on budgets. The article states that students seem to be more engaged in class because of the hands-on learning the iPad provides them. It also shows that students have a more open and efficient gateway to their teachers, allowing them to communicate and email their instructors faster and in a more personal way. The article shares that students seem to be more engaged in their studies with iPads because the learning is happening on their own turf: with technology. It's like giving students their own tools to learn topics and lessons that are new to them.
3. I also looked at the iPad academy, and I found it very intriguing. To me, it almost seemed like what we are doing in our class. It is a course solely dedicated to teaching how to use one's iPad and become more effective with it. I was actually quite surprised that they have actual classes that are geared towards the iPad alone. When it translate to an elementary, middle, or high school atmosphere, I think a class like this would be the most productive if it is used like how our class is. Just like Dr. Krug said our class is used as a precursor to the MAP program, an iPad academy could be a prerequisite course before a student begins his or her regular classes. I'm not sure that an iPad academy could work system wide or not, but I think it would be a very useful tool in helping students learn how to benefit from having an iPad in the classroom.
1. The first article I read was "iPads Only Algbera Course." This link jumped out to me because I am looking to teach middle school math. Allowing students to personally and visually use step-by-step instructions, provide instant feedback on assignments and practice problems, and links for the students to view tutorials on the information they aren't understanding, the use of iPads makes a subject that many find dull more interesting and easy you to comprehend. Instead of walking around the room, teachers can monitor their students' performances via wifi and provide student specific feedback. With apps that are geared towards math, students can learn math steps with more than just grudgingly jotting the steps down over and over again.
2. The second article I looked at was "Schools See Rising Scores With iPads." This interested me because if iPads really do help improve test scores, then I could see many school systems pushing for school and system wide iPads, depending on budgets. The article states that students seem to be more engaged in class because of the hands-on learning the iPad provides them. It also shows that students have a more open and efficient gateway to their teachers, allowing them to communicate and email their instructors faster and in a more personal way. The article shares that students seem to be more engaged in their studies with iPads because the learning is happening on their own turf: with technology. It's like giving students their own tools to learn topics and lessons that are new to them.
3. I also looked at the iPad academy, and I found it very intriguing. To me, it almost seemed like what we are doing in our class. It is a course solely dedicated to teaching how to use one's iPad and become more effective with it. I was actually quite surprised that they have actual classes that are geared towards the iPad alone. When it translate to an elementary, middle, or high school atmosphere, I think a class like this would be the most productive if it is used like how our class is. Just like Dr. Krug said our class is used as a precursor to the MAP program, an iPad academy could be a prerequisite course before a student begins his or her regular classes. I'm not sure that an iPad academy could work system wide or not, but I think it would be a very useful tool in helping students learn how to benefit from having an iPad in the classroom.
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