Peter Pappas »
28 February 2009 »
In Commentary, Ed Tech, Strategies »
Today I listened to NPR's Scott Simon and Keith Devlin of Stanford University, answer the question:
Why Do We Need to Learn Algebra? (NPR Weekend Edition Saturday~February 28, 2009). Devlin described how spreadsheets have become essential to managing everything from your finances to your fantasy football team. And of course, spreadsheet are basically collections of algebraic formulas. You can follow this link to the
NPR story, comments and audio file. Teachers might use Devlin's comments as a springboard for getting students to think and discuss the application of algebraic thinking in their lives.
This is essential, since algebra is emerging as an academic gate keeper. I'm not a math teacher, but I suspect it stems in part from the fact that many students lack basic computation skills. But more importantly, students have to be able to transition from concrete lower order thinking skills (arithmetic) to higher-level and more abstract thinking (algebra and beyond).
As Doug Reeves has noted, "The single highest failure rate in high school is Algebra I. After pregnancy, it’s the leading indicator of high school dropout. The leading indicator of success in Algebra I is English 8. The Algebra 1 test is a reading test with numbers.” District Administrator, April ‘05
If Reeves is correct, then this is as much a literacy problem as a math problem. Teachers of all content areas can pitch in to support the higher order skills (analysis, evaluation and creating) that will help students with more advance mathematical thinking.
Tags: Algebra, Higher-order thinking, Math, STEM
Peter Pappas »
27 February 2009 »
In Commentary, Ed Policy »
Education continues to dominate the news with the release of President Barack Obama's proposed 2010 budget – "A New Era of Responsibility." “The path to jobs and growth begins in America’s classrooms. The decisions we make about how to educate our children will shape our future for generations to come. They will determine not just [...]
Tags: Obama
Peter Pappas »
25 February 2009 »
In Commentary, Ed Policy, Visualizations, Web 2.0 »
Note: For full web version of President Barack Obama's speech to Congress Feb 24, 2009 click here. I think Wordle.net is a great tool that helps teachers and students to analyze text. Read my post to see some ideas for how you can use Wordle to foster literacy and critical thinking in your classroom. I used [...]
Tags: Obama, Wordle
Peter Pappas »
15 February 2009 »
In Ed Tech, How To, Visualizations, Web 2.0 »
Please note that Prezi’s embed options have changed. I updated this post on July 16, 2011. Prezi is a great presentation software that replaces the lineal PowerPoint style with the ability to present text, videos and images in a unique zooming style. Here are samples of how I use Prezi in a variety of settings. [...]
Tags: Prezi
Peter Pappas »
09 February 2009 »
In Ed Tech, How To »
It's only been just over a year since Johnny Chung Lee's first posted his creative solution for turning a Wii remote into an cheap interactive whiteboard system. Watch Johnny Lee's original IWB video. Last week, Stan Merrell and Adam Wilcox - two of my Rochester NY tech buddies, met fellow Rochestarian – Tino Agnitti. Tino has [...]
Tags: Apps, Creativity, Hardware, Innovation, iPod, Rochester, Writing
Peter Pappas »
06 February 2009 »
In Ed Tech, How To, Visualizations, Web 2.0 »
I’ve been having great fun with Prezi a new web-based presentation software currently in private beta mode. (You can submit a request to be included in the beta.) Prezi allows you to easily create maps of texts, images, videos, PDFs, drawings and present them in a nonlinear way. The menu for adding elements has a [...]
Tags: Defining, Prezi
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