Think Education

In the movie “Back to the Future” when Michael J. Fox plays the Chuck Berry song “Johnny B. Goode” at the prom in 1955, there is excitement at first which then turns to stunned silence.

In many math classes, the technology supports are stuck in 1985 -  not!  Now there’s Moodle and many teachers have created class Moodles or club Moodles or Extracurriclular Moodles.  In my district of about 8000 high school students,  Moodle has exploded to 100 sites in the last 18 months. (Approx. numbers – I’m a math teacher.)

The really funny thing that has happened is the push back from students when technology is introduced to the classroom learning culture.  And it is a culture of learning – a system of attitudes, beleifs and social structures.  Students are simply not accustomed to technology in their classrooms.

Danika Barker offers this exchange with a student in her English class:

“Um, it’s kinda weird being in a computer lab for English.”

My heart started to race a bit as it does when I get anxious.

“Weird good? Or weird bad?” I asked hopefully.

She smiled, not wishing to offend. “Kind of weird bad. Like, it’s English class. I don’t really think there’s a need for technology.”

http://dbarker.edublogs.org/2009/09/17/digital-natives/

This is a very good situation to be in.  It shows that teachers are catching up and getting ahead of the curve.  Students actually need our help in using web2.0 to learn.  Students are not yet enculturated in using social media is support of their education and they are uncomfortable with that.  Okay maybe not uncomfortable with social media…or especially social media?!!

In the real world I tutor math with a browser open. The struggling student routinely uses online graphing calculators (4 to choose from). We use Wolframalpha is used to check algebra, and Geometer’s Sketchpad is used for visuals. Virtual manipulatives are used to support concept formation. We email important links and screen captures to the student.   Oh, and the student usually logs into his class Moodle first to check what homework was assigned.  Note that the student does not have online access during class time.

Not that every math activity is online, it’s just there is so much interesting mathematics that is online.  Please name a math topic that cannot be enhanced with online support. (Be kind, I like to be proven wrong but not too wrong!)  In fact I  fondly recall cleaning out the old math office in 2006 and finding a large (10 ft long) wooden demonstration slide-rule.  The slide rule found a home in the corner of my classroom, where from time to time a student would ask me “what’s that”?  On off days we would carefully maneuver the massive slide-rule to the front of the class, and perform calculations for the group.  Often I would promise to go into the mathematics of how the slide-rule works, how the markings are placed to allow for the seemingly magic results.   Alas, we never seemed to have the time.

So setting aside the slide-rule, it is a huge challenge for classrooms to incorporate browsers for students but frankly I wouldn’t want my own daughter (Grade 6) to sit in a high-school math class without a browser.   Rather than make the case for browsers in high school, suffice to say that it’s looking mighty attractive for my daughter to stay home for math class and earn the credit online.  Put another way, how many online math supports are needed before teachers admit them and students demand them?

In Doug Peterson’s post In Advance of ECOO (2008) he writes “…Cell phones don’t make it into classrooms, for example.  I had a nice discussion with a retired educator over that one.  We’ve come so far, but there’s that last mile that stops us from the dream.”

We’re near the point in public education that we’d better bridge that “last mile” or become “at risk” ourselves!  For my daughter we have 3 years and counting…