If starting my masters in Educational Technology and teaching during a pandemic (both hybrid and 100% virtually) has taught me anything it is that technology in the classroom needs to be considered thoughtfully and must be adding to the lesson, not distracting from it. I think in many ways last year teachers, myself included, perhaps put too much technology in front of our students last year trying to engage and connect with them. However, usually teachers are some of the best learners and I know at least I learned that if I am going to use technology to help my students through a topic it needs to have a purpose and help, more than distract.
There are many video platforms to make a video more engaging for students to watch and learn from, Prezi, edPuzzle, VideoAnt to name a few. There are countless excellent resources and lessons created by PBS, PhET, desmos, and YouCubed that you can use and adapt for your students' needs. However, one of the most interesting resources I was introduced to this week in my CEP 805 course was The Free Learning List. This is a very simple compilation of sites, podcasts, courses, subreddits, etc. that are free to use and could enhance or engage your learners outside of just how to do the task. There are so many different avenues to explore in this list which allows you to pull in specific topics that you or your students are passionate about, but this can also be a bit overwhelming. In addition to that, while they do have a score based on their effectiveness, engagement, and popularity and a short description of the content provided it is not 100% guaranteed that everything is completely “school appropriate”. Constraints aside, I see so much potential for students to have ownership over their learning by using this site to explore topics they are truly interested in. I always love to share “fun math facts” with my students outside of just learning another algorithm that we must apply in x-situation and this site allows me to find more of those fun facts to bring in and share with my students. One specific example of this was a podcast that I was listening to about music - Key Notes - started discussing The Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Sequence, and math in music (the entire episode is embedded below). The overall summary of the podcast was that key moments in some songs happen at the “golden moment” of the song, or approximately 61.8% of the way through the song and I thought, what a fun way to hook my students into a pretty mundane topic of ratios. I had a whole idea for a mini project based on the idea, but sadly because of snow days, testing, and other demands outside of my control sadly the project was abandoned because I just couldn’t see how to fit it in. It is unfortunate that my “golden moment” project didn’t happen, and it also makes me wonder how many other fun and interesting projects or activities we could be doing with our students to add value and enrich their mathematical learning experience beyond just learning the algorithm. Integrating technology can enhance this if considered carefully as to how it elevates the lesson.
Resources:
Cuchna, C. (Host). (2021, July). The Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Sequence, and...Music? (No. 5) [Audio podcast episode]. In Key Notes, Spofity. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6PkXcoiEnD7XegE5Ei8K5s?si=NWplOJ66RcSPjwhsYxgY3Q
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AuthorMarissa McGregor, high school math teacher extraordinaire. I love my husband, daughter, and family dearly. Archives
August 2022
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