Pages

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Mathway: It Solves Math Problems

I just bumped into Mathway on a tech coordinator listserv that I get. It is an interesting site. You can enter math problems that range from basic math through calculus and it give you the answer. Good or Bad? I don't know.

I began by entering a formula, -3y+3x=-7(x+3) (don't be impressed, I found it on the page). It asked me what class I was taking that required me to complete such a task and I selected Pre-Algebra. I clicked on the Answer button.

I progressed to a second page where it gave me a wide selection of what to do with the equation. Look to the right and you can see the variety of opportunities that I have available to me.

As an ignorant purist, I decided to continue with the more mundane opportunity which was to Solve the Equation. It asked me which variable I wanted to "solve for." I selected y.


The next page (see left) was a total surprise to me. It did SOOOOO much more than just give the value of y. It took me on a step-by-step progression through what one would do to "solve for y". It showed each step, explained what needed to be done, and even had hyperlinks to a glossary for words that I didn't understand. WOW!!!


As if this wasn't enough . . . it graphed the answer for me.




There was even code for embedding this equation and linking to the answer from my blog (see below). This will be terrific for teachers/students who want to instruct how to complete specific equations online.

Click Here to Find the Slope and Y Intercept

QUESTION: Is this a good t
hing?

Is it a good thing to give away the answers like this? Will students use this website instead of their own ingenuity to complete their homework? Will this be used for cheating on tests?

Probably!!!

There will be learners . . .no . . . students who use this site inappropriately. I call them students instead of learners because they won't be learning anything if they use this site to cheat. BUT if they use this site to help walk them through math problems that they are learning to complete in class, this site could be QUITE valuable. It is the next step after putting the answers to all of the odd-numbered problems in the back of the textbook.

This is the sort of interactive site that can place the learner at the center of his/her education. This is where the serious learner can access individualized tutorials to improve personal learning.



Thursday, July 31, 2008

Podcasting from Your Phone

Podcasting is a great way to record what is happening or what is on your mind, but the technology is sometimes daunting for some educators. That's too bad because usually simple is best. Cell phones are in everybody's pocket in schools today. Yes, school policy usually restricts students from having cell phones at school, but they have them anyway. Wouldn't it be interesting to find an academic application for them?


I just returned from joining 15,000 of my best friends to ride our bikes across Iowa (500 miles) in a week. This was an annual experience called RAGBRAI and I rode with Team Flamingo. This experience is something that I wanted to share with my friends and readers so I created our Team Flamingo blog. I tried to maintain the text-based blog, but the wireless access was limited from the back of my bike. =-)

I tried posting to our blog using by texting from my Treo 800p smartphone, but Verizon decided to add 9 additional lines of advertisements to the end of each of my posts. I called up Verizon and went to their stores to find out how to stop this but it wasn't possible.

Ultimately, I decided to use my phone to post audio podcasts to my blog. It was easy to call the 888 number and leave updates about our progress. It was easy, it was quick and it was effective.
The coolest part of it was that I could embed the podcast receptor into my webpage/blog. This made it easy to access and enjoy.

I used GCast. It only took creating an account and then putting the receptor on my webpage/blog. I called up the GCast phone number, 888-654-2278. I entered my secret code number. Then I created the podcast. When I was done, I could review the podcast to approve or deny its posting. Once I have approved the podcast, it was posted within minutes. Best of all, this is FREE. You can even upload files from your computer if you want to include a file that you custom-made instead of limiting it to the phone versions. I found that I could even subscribe to the RSS feed of my GCast podcast using iTunes.

A similar service is Gabcast. You call a toll-free number (they provide phone numbers for multiple continents) and leave your thoughts through your phone. Gabcast has a three levels of service. The free version doesn't allow you to upload files from your computer but you can do that for $6 or $12 per month. Paying for the service will provide you with more storage space services as well. One capability that I found in Gabcast that didn't seem to be in Gcast is that you can link to individual recordings. They suggested that you could use this to verbally explain things like eBay postings or interesting webpages.

Westley Fryer wrote an informative article about these sorts of tools entitled Mobile Digital Storytelling for The TechEdge: The Journal of the Texas Computer Education Association. This is an informative article with lots of links if you want to learn more about it.

I don't know that this storytelling is the only way that students will benefit from this mobile digital recording system, but it provides an exciting way to chronical throughts, ideas and experiences.

Have you used these tools? If so, share what you have done.

Z

Monday, June 16, 2008

Second Life Tutorials

Here are a few tutorials on the web that I have found for Second Life.

From the Web
Video Tutorials
Second Life Tutorial website
Complete Fool's Guide to Second Life

In Second Life
Harbinger's Haven - Builder's Sandbox Tutorials
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lozi/239/94/26

Please add additional tutorials as you find them. Post them as comments.

Z


Web 2.0: Gadgets, Gizmos, and Widgets

Here are some additional resources to supplement the materials that I have provided on my presentation wiki.

Classroom Blogs
Overall Blogging Examples
Blogging Utilities

Instruction & Tech Conference for 21st Century Learners

I am attending the Integrating Instruction and Technology for the 21st Century Learner conference in Storm Lake, Iowa today. It is being sponsored by the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency.

There is a wonderful collection of offerings today. The keynote on all three days is Doug Johnson. He is a good presenter and today is doing a great job of laying the foundation for integrating technology into our curriculum in his presentation "The Technology? Skills Every Student Needs."

I will be presenting later today. This presentation, "Web 2.0: Gadgets, Gizmos and Widgets." It is my review of over 20 goodies that I like. You can find the wiki I have created with all of the links that I will be using.

This is also the first day of the Emerging Instructional Technologies class that I am teaching this summer. Robin Galloway is subbing for me today. Even though I am away, I can't stay away so I Skyped with the students this morning before the keynote address. It worked quite well. Good to see the students. Can't wait until I get to meet them in person tomorrow.

Sitting in Doug Johnson's follow-up session. Cited the Mitri Group's report on the success of technology in education.
He has provided a wealth of information in his 28-page handout.

Well, I better get back to the conference. Will update this blog posting as time progresses. This is how you can get an on-going update of this conference.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Doodle 4 Google

Just found a fun art contest sponsored by Google.

There is a video on YouTube that introduces you to the guy (Dennis Hwang) who draws the various thematic title pages for Google. It shows a time-lapsed video of him creating one with a couple of mice on it.

When he is finished, he tells you about the contest for k-12 schools. Kids can sign-up their schools to participate. The winner's doodle will be shown on Google for a whole day.

Check it out!!! The 2008 winner in at http://www.google.com/doodle4google/