Technology

=Technology: Tools & Sites=


 * A. For Students:**

[|Math Playground] This site offers many practice games and applications for middle school math concepts. It also includes applications where students can learn real-world value for mathematical concepts. I like, too, how this site incorporates logic into math, because this topic of math is often overlooked or belittled.

[|Math.com] Math.com offers a much wider range of math areas, such as trig and geometry. It gives clear explanations of topics and contains many useful examples to fully grasp math concepts. This site would be beneficial for a student who likes everything written out to learn.

[|Webmath.com], powered by Discovery Education This site offers a quick homework check for students, and includes many higher level math areas, such as calculus. I do not like, though, how this site is mainly to check homework and only gives brief instructions and explanations. I would expect much more from Discovery Education.

[|Homework Check] This site is very similar to the Discovery Education site. This site is actually much user friendly than the Discovery Education page. This site is geared towards middle school math concepts, such as algebra and functions.

[|Games/Practice] Coolmath-games.com offers a chance for students to practice concepts learned in class. Most of the games pertain to math, but some games included on this site are a far stretch to be considered math related.

[|How-to-do] This site is by far the best I have run across for students. This site combines color and fun to efficiently express math ideas. It lays out step-by-step instructions on how to do many math functions. For example, a common problem area for beginner's math is mastering long division. This site provides a wonderful instruction of how to do long division.

[|Math Goodies] Math goodies is a somewhat weak site. It offers worksheets and webquests for students to use, but does not offer much. The appearance is also not very user friendly, with the ads on the page taking up more space than the content itself.

[|Math Help] This site is very useful for students. It again covers a wide range of math concepts. It lays out an explanation for each area, gives the general equation, and then goes on to give examples. This site would be aimed more for high schoolers studying higher math like calculus and trig.

[|Library] Math Library has a lot to offer, but the layout is very confusing. It takes multiple clicks to finally access the page I wanted in the first place. But the explanations and examples are pretty strong from the site.

[|AAA Math] AAA math is the second-best site I have come across. It has the widest range of math areas, even including economics. The layout is very user friendly and offers explanations, examples, and games all on the same page for each area.

Online math lessons: Metric Lesson This link is for a whole lesson regarding metric measurements and conversions. It is hosted by Discovery Education, and includes everything one would need to have a successful class. It also includes worksheets and activities for the students to do.
 * B. For Teachers:**

Ratio Lesson This lesson is also hosted by Discovery Education, and is a great tool for teaching students about ratios. Like the previous lesson, it includes objectives, worksheets and activities for students to complete.

Factoring Algebrahelp.com offers a lesson regarding factoring. Factoring is a topic that often takes a while for students to fully grasp, so this site would be extremely helpful for teachers needing additional resources for factoring. This site would also be useful for students because it lays out the proper steps for factoring and shows examples.

Math is Fun This website is an amazing resource for middle school teachers. It offers information about many math areas and disciplines. It has numerous activities and tools that students could use. It also includes worksheets that teachers could print out to use in class.

High School Despite the actual webpage title, this site covers math concepts most commonly discussed in high schools. One could compare this site to Google, but specifically for math areas. Once you click on a topic, it lists tons of related sites to expand knowledge. This site would be great to use during an independent or group research period.


 * C. Articles**

__Edutopia__ 1. Blended Learning by Heather Wolpert-Gawron Gawron's article "Blended Learning" describes five different aspects teachers must keep in mind when carrying out an online class. These aspects include having face-to-face time, real-time assessments, synchronized activities, differentiated lessons, and small class sizes. She also explains how teachers must have a way for students to contact and chat with them when having problems.

2. What Does "Technology Integration" Mean? by Mary Beth Hertz In Mary Beth Hertz's article, she addresses what the popular term "technology integration" truly means. In her article, Hertz lays out four stages of technology integration. They are sparse, basic, comfortable, and seamless. She describes how guided practice and exploration by students, guided by teachers, can allow classes to progress through these stages to reach the goal of seamless integration. It is important to always keep in mind that technology is a tool and should not be the only thing utilized in classrooms.

__eCampus News__ 1. Video Essays by Jenna Swang Jenna Swang reports in her article "Colleges accept video essays to connect with students" how colleges are moving away from requiring typed reports from students and how many admissions departments are now allowing students to film their own video essays for applying to college. This, she says, allows schools to get a better feel of each student trying to get in. This article makes me believe that soon, professors in colleges will begin to make the same move.

2. Adaptive Learning by Denny Carter In this article, Carter explains how he struggled to find ways for his college students to become motivated in the classroom. He explains how through a program, he was able to spark each individual's potential and creativity and allowed students to flourish. A key is being adaptive in the use of technology so that students are all able to freely express themselves.

__eSchool News__ 1. Bring Your Own Device by Laura Devaney Laura Devaney describes in her article how because so many children now posses many technological tools, schools are beginning to have students bring in their own personal devices to use in school. This allows students to use their own items and also allows the schools to save money. The article also addresses how schools who have some students who cannot afford devices ask businesses and other companies to make donations.

2. Curriculum and Instructional Technology This page is a compilation of the staff of eSchool. They investigated many tools and resources being used in the classrooms today to promote growth and development in students. It includes a vast amount of sites and gives a short description of new software and technology each company is using. Each write up also includes a hyperlink to the site being evaluated, making it super easy for educators to find what they are looking for in the write ups and go directly to the site. This is a large resource that would allow teachers to incorporate technology into the classroom in a variety of ways.