Inspired Math Professor

Using the Tablet PC in Class: Day 1

2010-09-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day I used the Tablet PC in Class.

I've been going paperless (except for quizzes) in class this semester, so I decided to have my Instructor notes (that are normally in my hand) on my tablet. So I made up a file of notes. But switching back and forth was awkward, so for my second class, I decided to have a file ready for me to write in with some prompts or hints in it.

I'm using MS OneNote in class. I have been using that to create class notes and videos for my online classes and have enjoyed the ease of use. It worked great for my notes in class, too.

In statistics, after the students completed the quiz, I was able to cut and paste the quiz out of MS Word (where I had create it) into OneNote, then complete it with the class.

I also put images and charts from the textbook into my notes, so I could have them projected during class and mark them up.

After class I saved the file as a pdf and uploaded it to Course Compass site. Easy-Peasy!

Surveys in Statistics Class

2010-09-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

In the first day of statistics class, I showed students a survey and we used it to think about the many types of data. Then I put names to the types they described.

So I've decided to give them a survey via our MyStatLab site. I recently heard that Google Docs has a survey tool, so I decided to check it out. If you don't know, Google Docs is a great free online site (don't need to download) that includes word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software. It is compatible with the Microsoft products Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and many other brands.

The Survey tool in Google was easy to use, so I'm going to try it out. I created a brief survey that I will give in all of my statistics sections (2 online and 2 face-to-face). It should be interesting to see how it is for them to use it. I'm considering asking them to create a 3 question survey and post a link on the course site or in Facebook.

How do you do surveys in your classes?

Here's a link to the eHow site that explains how to use the Google Docs tool: http://www.ehow.com/how_4615530_survey-using-google-documents-free.html

New Tech: Online Office Hours with Vyew, WizIQ and DimDim

2010-08-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

This semester I am going to allow students to visit my office without stepping on campus. My college has recommended that we use DimDim for this purpose. At MCC Math and Tech we looked at using Vyew and WizIQ. So this semester I will be trying them all and reporting on their use.

There are some features that each highlights that are starting to sway my opinion, but these may be available on the other platforms as well. To try to be fair, I will highlight some features of each as an initial post and explore them more in depth in the future.

DimDim:
No software to install - meet instantly.
Desktop sharing. Great for showing students where to find things on the course webpage.
Use microphone, webcams and chat.
Can record meetings and get a link and embed code to share with students - but this appears to only be available with a pro account.
Whiteboard with many pages - can collaborate with students or lock them out.

Vyew:
No software to install - meet instantly.
Each web meeting becomes archived for future referencing.
Pages can be inserted, removed, re-arranged, and easily flipped-through.
Open VyewBooks during live sessions on-demand, switching between different versions or various content - this could allow you to review old material or have a different Vyewbook for different courses.
Draw, import, move, paste, scale, etc.
Allow users to review, comment or build content even when you're not present - Asynchronous office hours? A new way to meet?
Publish your meetings via direct URL or embedded in a webpage/email.
There are many useful plugins, like polling, etc. That might be useful.
It appears that the only difference in the free version is the number of Vyewbooks (20) and pages per book (50). Both of those limits are reasonable for my office hours.

WizIQ:
Up to 500 meeting attendees.
Includes a whiteboard.
Students must login to the site, but they can be easily invited to participate.
2-way audio, video and Instant Messenger chat
PPT, Excel, Word, PDF, mp3, flash and video sharing
Embed Class on your Blog or Website
Can make only 3 recordings with the free version.

I'll be trying the different platform this year and sharing information about ease of use (for me and students), tools available (particularly for mathematics), and other features that arise.

Clickers in the Math Classroom

2010-08-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

At Day 2 of MCC Math & Tech, the Adventurers learned about Clickers from Derek Bruff, Assistant Director at the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching and Senior Lecturer in the Vanderbilt Department of Mathematics. Derek is author of the blog Teaching With Classroom Response Systems and the book Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments

Derek was not in Michigan, but presented remotely to the group. I first heard of clickers about 8 years ago and heard about problems with signals and receivers that made me shy away from trying them at that time, but according to Derek, clickers now use radio frequency and those problems have disappeared.

There are a number of clicker vendors and he suggested that when exploring we consider: i>clicker, turning technologies, eInstruction, Interwrite PRS, and Quizdom.

In terms of cost to college and students, there are two distribution models. In the first the college buys the system and a classroom set of clickers is distributed to students at the beginning of each class and collected at the end. This is often done at a college that is new to clickers. It saves cost to the student who is likely only using a clicker in one class. Th second model is usually used when clickers will be used across the campus. Students purchase one clicker that they use in multiple classes and the college purchases the receivers and installs them in a number of classrooms for multiple users.

There is also a way to use clickers without clickers and receiver with polleverywhere.com where students use their cellphones and the instructor uses a website to collect responses. This might be a good product to try for a single professor working at a college where all the students have cellphones available in class. There are also models used where each student has an accessible computer - perhaps in a computer lab, and some that use iphone apps.

Derek then spent time showing us how to use clickers in math classrooms and how to get clickers to help students: move beyond common misconceptions, find error in problems, and think more deeply about mathematical concepts. You can also use clickers to motivate interest in a topic.

Derek is a great presenter and I am going to spend more time on his website and seeing what clickers are available on my campus.

Do you use clickers in your teaching? Tell us about it in comments.

Using Social Bookmarking

2010-08-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

Today I was guest presenter (filling in for a last-minute emergency) at MCC Math & Tech Bootcamp in Muskegon, MI. I showed the first-year campers how to save their bookmarks online in Google Bookmarks. I created this Jing video on Sunday morning.

I prefer to use Diigo

I like the ability to highlight and add comments to a webpage. You can have friends on Diigo and allow them to see your highlights and notes and comment on them.

Diigo has a groups feature and I belong to two excellent Math-teaching realted groups and one Web 2.0 group: "Math Links", "Virtual Mathematics Manipulatives" and "Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0"

Each week teachers share links that they've discovered, plus I can add my own. You can serch to find something in particular or easily comment on them.

Do you use Diigo or another social bookmarking site? Let me know.

Here's the basics of Diigo:

Diigo V5: Collect and Highlight, Then Remember! from diigobuzz on Vimeo.

MCC Math and Tech BootCamp Preview

2010-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am off to the Muskegon (Michigan) Math and Tech Bootcamp early tomorrow morning. Last year I attended the Level 1 workshop and learned so much and met some great colleagues including the Worshop organizer and leader, Maria H. Andersen, who is a community college math professor and an education futurist. You can see more about her work at www.teachingcollegemath.com

I hesitated returning again so soon, but now I know it was the right decision. I'll be posting here during the week, letting you know about my sessions and all that I'm learning and some new colleagues.

If you are a beginner or experienced college math instructor using technology, I encourage you to attend next year. And whether you teach math or teach another discipline with technology, there is much to learn at TeachingCollegeMath.

Using Jing with the Discussion Board in your Course Management System

2010-08-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

This was my first YouTube video, Using Jing in the Discussion Board, created last year. It shows students how to embed a screenshot into our class discussion board. Using screenshots allows students to share their work in the discussion, which is essential for math, but could be great in many disciplines. Students also learn how to share videos - and some do!

Why I Use MyMathLab and Why I'm Wavering

2010-08-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

I began using Pearson's MyMathLab more than 5 years ago when I first started teaching an online course and I've stayed with it for all this time. I was looking for a homework solution for online courses that helped students when they got stuck. When considering the products at the time, my keys were:

Ease of use for me. Can I easily navigate and get done what I want?
Ease of use for students. I really don't want to be technical support for those who are technology challenged or inexperienced. So please make it simple.
Great Technical Support for me and for students. If I'm having a problem, I want a quick response and a fix. I want students to have a place to go so I won't be their technical support.

I ended up getting so much more. MyMathLab also has:

Excellent, multi-modal professional development. You can read on the web, you can have a trainer come to your campus, or best of all - the excellent online, synchronous webinars taught by math professors. The others should pay attention. We rarely want a techie-kid to show us how to do things that are unfamiliar. We want a math professor to share how she teaches. Brilliant!
Continuous enhancement of the platform. Every year there are improvements based on requests by teachers! Every time there are improvements I've been wanting or something I didn't even think of to make the logistics of teaching easier.

I really am quite happy with the MyMathLab product. But I wonder if there could be a way to get the homework part without the textbook. In the future, I see good alternatives to textbooks: class notes, videos, an online text. These could be free for students.
Then they could pay a small fee for the homework system - say $20. I've seen some homework systems out there, but frankly they've looked clunky and difficult to use. Others are not adaptable. I want to be able to pick and choose questions or even edit the wording to match how I explain things in class.

I see these coming soon. If there's something out there, let me know.

Favorite Blogs: George Woodbury's Blogarithm

2010-08-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

I began following George Woodbury's Blog several months ago when I was looking for another Inspired Math Prof who mentioned using MyMathLab or StatCrunch like I do. I found that and more!

George's no-nonsense style is compelling as are his succinct posts telling of his use of different pedagogies and tools (tech and not). Reading his blog, I have met a prof who clearly enjoys teaching and working with students. He also is not afraid of updating his teaching with new ideas.

His most recent post "This Fall’s Blog Schedule" offers his plan to blog during the upcoming semester. He has laid out a schedule to post each week about MyMathLab, Study Skills, and more.

So it's a great time to begin to follow him. Stop on by and tell him I said, "Hello!"

Using Facebook to Enhance Your Teaching

2010-07-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

I have a Facebook account that I use for work only. I use it to connect with colleagues and students from my campus. But its best use is conversing with colleagues from across the country and across the globe.

When you attend conferences, you meet great colleagues: some are the speakers and some are the casual conversations between presentations, at dinner, etc. When I return, I look for those folks on Facebook and request to be their "friend". I also look at my favorite blogs to see who can be followed on Facebook.

Status updates tell what people are doing, offer suggestions and new ideas, answer questions, and can become conversations.

Some examples from recent weeks. People were:

Attending an event hosted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Reading a great article. Link was attached and it was inspiring.
Contemplating the use of a new technology in the classroom. (that led to a conversation).
Writing a proposal for a conference. (I decided to write my own proposal. Wish me luck.)

Also you can become a "fan" of professional organizations, periodicals, newspapers, etc. Then you get updates of interesting content. I often "share" content with my Facebook colleagues about Mathematics and Teaching and Technology. It's easy!

My suggestions:

If you already have a Facebook page for friends and family and games you play, etc., consider having a page that is just for work. It keeps those parts of your lives separate and private.
If you don't have a Facebook page, see if your college or a colleague has one. Ask their advice.
Try it. Log on once a day and just look for friends, read status updates, etc.
If you post a status update, remember to make it relevant and interesting and o.k. if yous supervisor reads it! (I really don't care what you had for breakfast and your supervisor might not want you writing bad things about the college or your students).

Tell me your experiences with Facebook. And be sure to look for me!

Is it malpractice if you teach the same way year after year (after year)?

2010-07-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

Did you hear about the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education? Well, it's summer - so maybe you missed it. In "Reaching the Last Technology Holdouts at the Front of he Classroom" (July 24, 2010), Jeffrey Deeds reports that Chris Dede, Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard University argues that clinging to outdated practices is malpractice.

We all know some faculty, usually close to retirement (but not always) who roll out the same syllabus, lecture notes and box of chalk each semester. They rarely think about practices for effective learning and are sure that students don't work hard enough, so that's why they don't do well. For those folks, I'd agree with Professor Dede.

But, there are some faculty who don't think much about student learning because they're too busy getting the newest gadget to work in their classroom. They flit from one technology to another as if though the shiny objects are the key to teaching. And when they don't live up to their claims, then they try something else.

While I like to dabble in technology, I try to remained focused on using technology that will help me meet certain learning objectives. And I force myself to only use one new tech toy in any given class.

I also know faculty who have yet to dive into tech use like me. Like some swimmers, they prefer to go into the water one toe at a time. So you might not think they use much tech at all - and you'd be right. But they keep their focus on student learning. And they are excellent teachers.

It's the old saying: To thine own self be true.

Pre-Algebra and Algebra Games

2010-07-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

I will definitely be using these great games in my teaching of algebra this fall and recommend you look at their use for students in pre-algebra, too! There are games that keep you entertained, while helping yu develop or enhance your basic math skills. They're fun! Try them!

Getting Organized with GTD

2010-06-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across GTD a year ago (on a blog of course). Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is the book by David Allen that started me learning how to be more organized and stay on top of the many activities and projects that concern me.

Last summer I read the book from the library, learned a great deal and had a good first attempt.

I have implemented the Inbox Zero method - that means each Day I go through my inbox and delete items I don't need, add items to my Maybe/Someday list or my Next Actions (To do items) List or just do them right away (if they'll take less than 2 minutes). Then they get filed away out of my inbox in a big archive. Since I can search for any item in my email by keyword or person, I don't keep it in my inbox. I add it to a list and put it away for later.

This year, I bought the book and I re-read it and began using the system. Periodically, I'll post on here how it is all going.
If you're interested in reading more or hearing more Check out David Allen's Blog for more information.

My accomplishments this week with GTD are:

Making a complete list of next actions and putting them in Toodledo.
Making a map of my projects in Mindomo.
Scheduling a committed time for weekly review of my lists, projects and commitments.