Using Youtube to Teach Math (or anything)

When my son went to his formal he wanted to know how to tie a tie. Solution Youtube.

We have started to use youtube videos (some we produce ourselves) to help students learn everything from podcasting to math concepts.

The article below entitled "Need Help With Class? YouTube Videos Await" discusses how Youtube math tutorials can help students.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/12/11/208825bctecyoutubetutoring_ap.html

Google Apps - a free spreadsheet for math students

I implement Google Apps Education Edition in my school.  

 

One of the best things about Google Apps is it gives any student with a gmail account a free spreadsheet. I polled students in math classes and only about 1/3 has spreadsheet software at home. Teachers now can assign math homework that requires the use of a spreadsheet - because now all students will have access to a spreadsheet at home. The spreadsheet also is very good at graphing and is used in both math and geography classes. The Google Apps spreadsheet can both export and import Microsoft Excel files.

Math teachers do not need Google Apps Education Edition to be set up for their students to access Google Docs spreadsheets.  Math teachers only have to ask their students  to get a free gmail account (they automatically get a free spreadsheet as part of the gmail service).

Web 2.0 Tools

Here is a link to 2.0 tools.

Many them are great. The one challenge is that if KPR educators all decide on different tools (for example there are 5 recommended tools to create wikis) then it becomes more difficult to provide PD and support for each other.

http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/About+This+Wiki

Some years ago I had the chance to get a tour at River Oaks Public School in Oakville - which had one of the top reputations in Canada and the world - (many international educators toured it) in the successful use of technology in the classroom. See Wikipedia article on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Oaks_Public_School

I interviewed the Jerry Smith, the principal and asked him what is important for the successful implemenation of technology in schools. He said one of the most important things to do is standardize the use of the technolgy so both students and teachers can teach each other how to use it. He  also said it very important to choose technolgy that will last into the future. From the list of web 2.0 tools in the above link how many will still be around in five years ?

Student View Summary

Here is the student summary of the 3 questions that were asked, complete with spelling and typos.

1. - having laptops in school
- creating a school network and instant messaging program from the students to use, somthing peer-to-peer, similar to msn or facebook.
- also a student to teacher, school based networks
- smart boards for every class ; implying more modern technology can make people more interested in the lesson and some students can relate to it and can learn faster, also having easy access to notes is a great innovation.
- using music/mp3 players in class (durung a study period not during lessons) ; with this students wouldnt be descussing to eachother about off topic conversations and students can consentrate more of their work.
- all textbooks on the computer ; having a virtual textbook would be much better, there would be less weight on childrens backs. because they wouldnt have to lug around all the different textbooks their teachers give them

2. - not very convinient ; many student going to enss (like myself) dont have high-speed internet, downloading pod casts would litterally take hours to download especially if they were video podcasts.
- if they were perhaps put on the school network it might be better
- not too many students own ipods so the entire thing seems redundent. you would be watching the videos on your computer.
- they could be used for reviewing lessons for texts and come podcasts could be created for a unit or exam review

3. - all depends on the class ; certain classes would obviously interperate more technology than others, any tech class will obviously be leading but math and science classes really benefit by the smart board technology, while classes like english wouldnt benefit much from smart boards and other technology, it would of course be used but not as much as other specific classes.
- everyone but maybe a select few, uses technology at home daily. there hasnt been a single person who hasnt used google search or wikipedia. obviously technology is a major advancement in everyones lives and is interperated into every students lives at home.

Interesting Links

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
http://www.heppell.net/weblog/stephen/
http://www.heppell.net/
http://www.iste.org


Have a look at some of these links. They are very infomative and highlight initiatives and thinkers who can inform our process. Onn the ISTE site have a look at NETS link and have a look at NET(S) and NET(T). These also might provide insight into some of the thoughts out there milling around.

Establishing an ITAC Committee

Ron, Rob, Jeff and Colin met (Using MOVI no less) to discuss the formation of the ITAC committee.

We have established a list of participants and a tentative date of Oct 9th at 9 am - three of the members will be meeting with us via video conference from ENSS.

We will post and agenda on the BLOG once we have one!

Our Motto?? NO PAPER :) <--- this is a smiling face (look sideways)

What products can we consider?

Technology (Wireless access for teachers/students personal equipment, P.C. vs MAC, Laptop vs Desktop vs PDA vs iPOD, Smartboards, $299 Laptops,etc)
Software (instructional software, OSAPAC, Wiggleworks, etc)
Programs (e-learning, d-learning, collaborative space, social networking, Video Conferencing, Adobe Connects,Facebook, googledocs, podcasts, Youtube, wikis, blogs, video streaming)

PD (Face2Face, Video Conferencing, E-Learning, Captivates, Adobe Connects, video streaming)

How Do We Determine That a New Piece of Instructional Technology Is Effective?

Research from other districts?
Pilot projects?
It sounds cool?
How do we monitor effectiveness?
When Do We Review?

How Do We Identify Our Systems Needs?

Focus groups
Surveys
Working Committees
Research what other DSB's are doing and what is working
- How do we prioritize the needs?

How Does Technology Planning Align with the Areas of Emphasis & Curriculum Expectations

Where can we make the connections?
Where are the best values to be realized?

Where Are We Today? (Inventory)

What Technology do we have in our system today?
What standards have we established, ie: ratios, what is supported, what is not.
What services do we offer? What supports do we have in place? What in-service do we provide?
What is working well, what do we need to fix, what should we abandon?

What is Our Vision for Instructional Technology Implementation and Use?

What a typical School Elem/Sec should look like in terms of Instructional Technology (Infrastructure).
What technology skills should teachers have (Professional Development).
What resources will the system need to implement, support and train (Resources)

Pre Meeting Set Up

We are currently working on the technology set up for the meeting on the 25th. This is really pretty easy to use.

Opening Remarks

On September 25, 2008 we will be meeting in the Fishbowl at to the Board Offic to discuss the development of a long term plan that will vision and direct how classroom instructional technology access, use and training will be addressed in the future. This blog will act as the central record of the work done at this and subsequent meetings to be held this year. We are looking forward to seeing you there as we consider how we can capitalize on the transformative nature of technolgy to create relevant and motivating learning opportunities for our students. If you have a free minute please access http://www.edugains.ca/ and view the video segments given by Will Richardson at the Edugains conference.