Time to look at something new...

I was watching TV the other day when a commercial completely halted the work that I was trying to get done. First off, Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bell-Air was the “star” of the commercial, and that makes everything better. Secondly, the commercial seemed like something that could have been used to advertise for the program we are a part of. Education needs to catch up the technology and teachers need to be able to adjust to using the technology in the learning process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50YBu14j3U


On a completely separate note, after spending more time blog hopping I came across 2¢ Worth, which caught my eye if only for the title, and then drew me in for a post on matrix codes. It’s the math geek in me that looks at stuff like this and gets interested for the math reference. From what I read in the article matrix codes are 2-D scan codes, similar to but more complex than a bar code. The author of the article commented on the current uses of the matrix codes, but was unsure how to use the codes educationally. I’m not sure if I would be any better at finding educational uses for the matrix codes, but it was interesting to see what might be coming down the technology pipeline.

Online Math Help Sites...

While looking for sites this week to share, I meandered into this collection of math help sites. While I know not everyone will be able to use this information, I figure pretty much every subject area probably has some kind of help sites online. For the couple of us who may use the site for ourselves or our students, use and enjoy. (Memo to me: Abstract Algebra is not the class that I have taught for 11 years. Oh man, have I lost a lot of my upper level math skills.)

So within the math help sites I found a site that gives a tutorial for finding online resources for any number of different subject areas. I've worked through part of the math tutorial and I've found a few sites that are worth a second look, even though I'm not in college or teaching a college course.

Online learning resources...

One of the great things about meeting each day with one of the math teams is that we can discuss things that are coming up and how we are going to tackle them. One of the major issues for my school right now is the impending laptop rollout. We were discussing how we were each planning on integrating the laptops and technology into our classes. Most of us are stumped because while all of the freshmen will have their laptops, most of us do not have freshmen only classes. So how does one use a 1:1 laptop rollout when over half of the class does not have laptops? (I am looking for suggestion, if you happen to have any…)

One of my colleagues shared a website that gives tips on how to use technology in the classroom. The website seems like it might have been originally designed for long distance college courses. But it goes through and list out ways to use technology that appeal to the different learning styles students have. Even though all of my students don’t have laptops, I’m very interested in seeing how I could use different technologies to reach my students in each learning style.

And in a completely separate note one of my colleagues shared a website where a math professor from Cornell University is going back and trying to give math lessons for adults. It’s an interesting article and I’m looking forward to reading the follow up math lessons to see if there are ways of explaining concepts that would be helpful for my students.