HOW ARE TOP SCHOOLS DEALING WITH TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVITY?

As I strive to support technology and creativity in mathematics.  I wonder what schools are ahead of the crowd with Web 2.0 technology?  What major changes did they make?  How have their students and teachers adapted? What advantages do their students have?  How can all schools benefit?  How can the gap in access to technology in different communities be closed? If we ever plan to make our own schools better, we need to know what the top schools are doing in their classrooms.

Here are the top ranked high schools 

in the nation:

http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/slideshows/best-high-schools-2012

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According to Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools, the biggest difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 seems to be that information can now be created and modified instead of just being distributed and consumed.  Students, teachers, and all other users are the makers of the material on the web, with Web 2.0. According to the textbook, this is important because it gathers collective intelligence.  This collective intelligence can benefit students all over the country.  This means that students need access to the devices that support this technology, which could be a disadvantage for schools in poorer communities.

Looking back at the past, students in the top schools always had access to the latest technology and the most trained teachers.  This was almost always based on socioeconomic conditions.  A higher socioeconomic status of a community usually meant a better school.  This was unfortunate for poorer communities because as students graduated or dropped out, the chances of landing a good job were slim. Therefore, the cycle continued.

Technology has given poor communities a chance to break the cycle.  It allows all students an opportunity to access the same information.  To prove this, look at students  in other countries that lagged behind the U.S. years ago.  They now have access to the same educational information through technology.  Because their communities were driven to take advantage of this information, their students are now ahead of U.S. students.  It only makes sense that we use technology to our advantage for the sake of our students. Investing in technology would be the best way to have top trained teachers, high achieving students, and better job potential for students in all communities.

What Do Students Think About Technology in School?

How do students feel about having all of this technology at their disposal, but having restricted access to it in their classrooms?  I can only imagine being in their shoes how difficult it must be at times.  I can remember when calculators were considered "new technology" and I was not allowed to use a calculator in some of my classes.  I also remember being very confused as to why I could use a calculator some of the time, but some times calculators were restricted.  Usually, there was no explanation.  Now, I see why students need to develop some math skills without calculators.  Relying too much on technology could slow down our intellectual growth if we are not careful.  However, once students acquire certain skills, technology should be incorporated into our lessons as much as reasonably possible. 

Almost all businesses require the use of new technology and expect that their employees will have working knowledge of basic technology available today.  Why are students restricted to accessing technology such as iPods, iPhones, or laptops?  Will they be prepared for the future if we continue to limit their use of technology to the once a week computer lab or daily computer use for only one subject for a few minutes?  We must ask ourselves these questions because the future of our students depend on it. 

What will math class look like in our future?  I would hope that technology will be used to its fullest potential.  Students could have access to every calculator app available on their tablets.  Assignments could be downloaded to iPods saving a ton of trees to be used as worksheets.  Textbooks could be read online or offline saving the cost of textbooks and allowing students to have more reliable up-to-date information at all times.  Students could create their own personal database of information from every math class they have had since elementary school. 

No wonder most students are disappointed at the way they are being held back from the opportunity to use the technology available to them.  I am sure I would want to take advantage of this information age as much as possible if this were my generation in school. 

Thought Provoking Questions in the 21st Century...

Thought provoking questions are not as common in a math class as it may be in a language or history class. Math classes usually involve solving problems and then solving more problems. Rarely, do students get a chance to talk about math or even read about math.

If we think about it, this 21st generation is one where knowledge is a just click away. Why then, are students limited in math class to mostly learn sets of rules, methods, or procedures to solve math problems and little more?  For instance, my son became so fast at multiplication in the 3rd grade that he decided all math learning should be that fast and then he could play for the rest of the day. Now, he is in the sixth grade and we are still trying to reverse this concept he has. I would think that there are many other students out there with the same feeling about math. In other words, hurry up and get it over with. How many students want to sit around and think about math for a while? We have been taught that the faster you can do math, the better. Even our timed standardized tests reinforce this idea. Don't get me wrong. Students should know certain math facts, such as multiplication, like the backs of their hands. However, there needs to be a balance there.

So what about word problems? Is this enough to slow us down to think about math a little deeper? Well, possibly...but most students do NOT enjoy word problems and often try to avoid them or they try to learn the procedures to solve them quickly. Either way, typical word problems hardly ever provoke students to think about math in a creative way.

How can math teachers or parents help students make the transition to slow down and think about all of these steps, procedures, and rules they have memorized in their mathematical careers? There is no easy answer for this, but we could start by asking thought provoking questions to math students from elementary school age and throughout their education. Thought provoking questions are questions that challenge students, NOT intimidate them. In other words, teachers could ask students questions that activate prior knowledge. Suppose an algebra class had just finished a unit on adding polynomials. Now, students have recent prior knowledge. The next unit is on multiplying polynomials. Teachers could begin this unit with thought provoking questions based on the knowledge from adding polynomials, but applying that knowledge to a new concept.

So what makes a question thought provoking? Well, as I stated earlier, it is NOT the standard word problem. The Art of Asking Thought Provoking Questions in the Mathematics Classroom by Keith Wayland gives numerous examples of how teacher can begin to restructure their questions in a math class to encourage students to think a little deeper about math problems. Teachers should even anticipate the mistakes students may make and integrate that into the question. I found this article made me think deeper about the types of questions we ask students and why it is important to support a different way of teaching math. We need to challenge students to slow down and think for some math problems and this means we, teachers, need to slow down and give them time to think.

My Diigo Tags

Social Bookmarking for Technology in Math

Social Bookmarking could play a big role in integrating technology into a math class.  After creating a lesson plan using Diigo Bookmarking, I found that bookmarking is a great way for students to find links to assigned websites.  No longer do teachers have to type a long list of websites for students to follow for an assignment using technology.  Now teachers can use a social bookmarking site such as Diigo or Delicious to keep up with bookmarked websites.  The great part is that no matter how many bookmarks are on the teacher's site, students can search on a tag to find the bookmarks they need.  Tags are similar to keywords that the teacher assigns to each bookmark so that links are easier to find. 

Check out My Diigo Social Bookmarking link!!! 

I learned a few things when I created my bookmarking link.  One thing I learned was how incredibly easy it was to create.  I decided to use Diigo because I have tried Delicious once before and I wanted to use something different and plus -this is the real reason- there was an app for my iPad on Diigo.  So I had to try this free app.  I will admit I am becoming an app addict, but only the free ones.  Still, I believe I made a wise choice because I have really enjoyed this app and I could see myself using it quite frequently.  It is so easy just to go to the Diigo app and add a bookmark.  Once you add the URL, you can add tags, and a description.  Another thing I learned was that tags need to be thought about carefully.  The tags have to be either one word or words separated by an underscore or dash.  Also, you must consider how someone, especially students, will search for your bookmarks.  For example, I tagged several bookmarks for polynomial.  However, if a student searches for polynomials -plural- the bookmarks will not be found.  So, I tagged both words, polynomial and polynomials.

I definitely can see myself using Diigo.  For some reason I did not connect with other bookmarking sites as well as I did Diigo -could it be the iPad app?  Free apps have a way of making my good list.  Professionally, I believe that social bookmarking could be a good thing for teachers.  I used Diigo in my Web 2.0 review of polynomials lesson plan.  This made lesson planning a breeze because students are instructed to go to My Diigo and search for polynomials.  There they will find all of the links for their review of polynomial operations.

I hope other math teachers may find some of my bookmarks useful.  The links I used were appropriate for mostly middle school to high school students.  These links could be used for more than just reviewing polynomials.  These are great math websites that are very "student friendly".  One of my favorite bookmarks is for a Khan Academy video.  Khan Academy has thousands of math and science videos.  These videos are usually just a few minutes long.  Students could view these videos to review just about any type of math problem.  This is a resource that teachers and students should take advantage of.

Changing the Way We Think in the 21st Century

21st Century teaching should change the way we instruct our class.  While some practices are best to follow tradition, others need a complete rehaul.  Teaching students the way we were taught may not be of benefit to the students of the future.  In this digital age, our students are totally aware that our old teaching style is outdated and insufficient to help them progress towards a 21st century future.  One sensible change could be online textbooks. It makes practical sense to have online textbooks. This would eliminate the expense of damaged textbooks and it would be easier to keep updated texts. Schools could even participate in writing their own texts as long as it met the standard curriculum.  

To implement online textbooks, schools could allow a few online textbooks or workbooks that could be used for a classroom. This would give an opportunity to see the cost saving benefits of online textbooks. Students could have the opportunity to use the books as needed and express their opinions about the books.

I read an article by David Bressoud about the research of online math textbooks. The researcher found that online calculus texts saved $25.00 per student, which was a great cost savings for the school. The only con was that students found it was easier to study for math tests using printed texts instead of online.  Still, I think students could overcome this issue with something similar to online study guides or practice tests that are easier to read. 

Being creative in mathematics should be natural for this 21st century generation.  If we give students the tools and then allow them to use the tools in our schools, we will probably see our students' performance improve dramatically.  Thick textbooks and long lectures that overwhelm students with information will probably be forgotten by the end of the school year.  A better alternative may be up to date online textbooks with a focus on key concepts that allow students to grow and develop without being limited.  The result could be students will remember what they have learned and students will be given the opportunity to develop creativity using technology in math. 

Creativity while using technology in math is one way to boost student performance in math and ensure job marketability for a technological future. 

Technology at its best!!!

Most EL students are knowledgeable about the internet just like American students. Technology available today will be of great use for EL students. I really think podcasts and videos could be of great assistance.

Autism affect one out every 110 children today in the US. Teachers will face the challenges this presents for almost every classroom. Technology could be a critical tool for students that need assistance. There are several digital tools available with software specifically designed to help with this need. The touch screen features of iPads and iPods make access to this knowledge even easier for students.

This is a video about how the iPad has changed the life a of a family with an autistic child.   In the interview on the video, the mother of daughter with autism expresses her delight with the Apple iPad.  Her daughter hardly speaks, but when using the iPad, she says the word ball.  This is a huge challenge that she accomplished just by touching the screen and seeing and hearing the word "ball".  There is also an anonymous viewer who gives the family their own iPad.   I think teachers would see this video as inspiration to see how technology could begin to affect the lives of families dealing with autism.  The parent is affected as well as the student.