Sunday, April 23, 2017

4th Grade Math Discussion

Week 7 Assignment 2 – Discussion Creation

Rationale for this discussion:
Since I teach 4th grade math, I wanted to make a discussion that I could use next year in my own classroom to try and create more online activities in a traditional classroom.  To do this, I wanted to make a connection to the 4th grade math curriculum.  In our school district, they use a computer program called ST Math where they have to solve math problems to move a little cartoon penguin named JiJi across the screen.  I use this program a lot for my Math Talk in our classroom to make connections to our math concepts.  ST Math makes visual connections to the math concepts for the students.  I would like to have a discussion at the beginning of the school year to show how we will use JiJi during our math talk.  Below, I pasted in some pictures to be able to make the connection to the discussion.  In 4th grade, we work extensively with multi-digit multiplication.  Before we start working on multi-digit multiplication, we review basic one digit multiplication.  It is a good place to use JiJi as a discussion topic to see who gets the basic concept of multiplication before we move into multi-digit multiplication. 
Discussion:
In 4th grade, we will continue to work with multiplication that you have learned in 3rd grade.  But before we move forward, I would like to see how well you understand the concept of multiplication.  Below, is a picture of a math problem that you might see on JiJi.  You have to put shoes onto the robots so they will move out of the way of JiJi.  We will discuss how two different kids solved the math problem and which of the students is correct.  Study the picture below and think about how you would solve the problem.














Now, I would like you to think about how you would solve this problem.  But, you can’t just say the answer.  Please provide a math sentence (ex. 3+2=5) on how you would solve the problem and some reasoning to why you would solve it that way.  Then I would like to compare how you would solve it to each student who solved it below.  Explain which student completed the problem correctly and which student completed the problem incorrectly.  Finally, I would like you to give reasoning to why the student got it incorrectly. 
Student 1:














Student 2:















Finally, you will need to read and respond to two other student’s postings.  I am looking for each student to behave appropriately while responding to their fellow students.  An appropriate response would be one of the following:
  • ·       Build onto what they have posted.  Add your own thoughts to what they have said.
  • ·       Ask them how they got their answer.
  • ·       Offer your opinion on their posting. 
  • ·       Give some feedback to their work by sharing your experience with the question.
  • ·       Ask them a question you might have about their posting.

 
All of these activities are due by Wednesday after school.  I will check the postings by 8 p.m.


Scoring Rubric:

Math - Problem Solving : 3x5=?





Teacher Name: Andrew Norkoli
Student Name:     ________________________________________
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
Mathematical Concepts
Explanation shows complete understanding of the mathematical concepts used to solve the problem(s).
Explanation shows substantial understanding of the mathematical concepts used to solve the problem(s).
Explanation shows some understanding of the mathematical concepts needed to solve the problem(s).
Explanation shows very limited understanding of the underlying concepts needed to solve the problem(s) OR is not written.
Mathematical Reasoning
Uses complex and refined mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Uses effective mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Some evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Little evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Mathematical Reasoning
Uses complex and refined mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Uses effective mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Some evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Little evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Mathematical Errors
90-100% of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors.
Almost all (85-89%) of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors.
Most (75-84%) of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors.
More than 75% of the steps and solutions have mathematical errors.
Working with Others
Student was an engaged with 2 students\' postings, posting to their discussion posting with an appropriate response.
Student was an engaged with 1 students\' postings, posting to their discussion posting with an appropriate response.
Student cooperated with others, but didn\'t post to their discussion postings appropriately.
Student did not respond to other students\' discussion postings.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

Traditionally, whenever someone thinks about the online learning environment, they think about how easy it would be to cheat in that environment.  As a student and an instructor in the past, I have never had the desire to cheat or to worry about my students cheating.  In our video this week, Dr. Pratt and Dr. Palloff discuss the topic of cheating and plagiarism in the online learning environment.  During the video, they made the point that “learners cheat about as often in an online environment as they do in traditional environments (Laureate Education, 2010).”  To me, this makes a lot of sense.  As a student in the traditional classroom, I felt a lot more pressure to do well on the exams and midterms because they were your traditional assessments.  They were all based on memorization.  This anxiety to do well always made me consider making it easier for myself by cheating.  And I think this is what drives a lot of students to cheat or plagiarize their work in the first place.  They feel an intense pressure that they can’t remember the material that is presented on the exams.  So how do we change this feeling or pressure for our students to cheat or plagiarize?  We, as the instructors, change how we assess our students.

As the instructor, there are a few responsibilities to help their students not cheat.  It is up to the instructor to educate their students about copyright, fair use, plagiarism and cheating (Laureate Education, 2010).  Many students don’t realize that they can’t use pictures from websites without giving credit to the source.  They might also fail to realize that using little quotes or sayings from an author or video is also considered plagiarism.  It is important for the instructor to inform their students that copying and pasting from a website is considered plagiarism (Laureate Education, 2010).  Many students also try to re-use their work from a different course to limit working so much on the material.  They don’t realize that using their previous work is considered cheating (Laureate Education, 2010).  Again, it is up to the instructor to educate their students that reusing their work is not going to be allowed. 

If an instructor is still worried about cheating and plagiarism, there are many tools out there to help them keep this under control.  While working through this program at Walden, I have used the tool that is on our submission page.  This tool looks through your page to make sure that your submission is authentic and isn’t from another source.  As a student, it is nice to be able to check your work before you submit it for grading.  From an instructor’s perspective, I would think that it would be convenient to be able to have this tool to check each student’s work for authenticity.  Without this tool, it would be impossible to make sure every page turned in is authentic.   

Our job as instructors is to prepare our students for the real world.  In the real world, we are allowed to use many tools to help solve our daily problems in our profession.  Dr. Palloff and Dr. Pratt made great points about how creating assessments that check for real world skills can help alleviate the desire to cheat.  When I reflect on my years as an online student, I know that this program has been enjoyable because it has allowed me to use my problem solving skills to show that I have acquired the knowledge in a course.  In this program, I have not had one assessment that was like a traditional quiz or test.  This has helped eliminate my anxiety completely because I have felt like I am being assessed as a professional, not as a student. 

When all is said and done, the instructor can play a big role in preventing their students from cheating or plagiarizing.  They can inform their students what actually constitutes cheating or plagiarism.  The instructor can also design their assessments to incorporate more problem solving skills that mirror real life scenarios of the professional world.  With careful planning and clear expectations, the instructor can help students eliminate the need or desire to cheat.

Resources:


-          Laureate Education (Producer).  (2010).  Plagiarism and cheating [Video file].  

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Technology and Multimedia Impact on Online Learning Environments

Technology and Multimedia Impact on Online Learning Environments

Technology has a considerable impact on the online learning environment.  This statement might be a very obvious statement to some people.  But with my experience as an instructor and a student in the online environment, the technology and multi-media don’t make the online learning environment.  That job is up to the instructor.  In my opinion, technology is a tool for the teacher to use in the online learning environment.  Similarly, in the traditional learning environment, the book based curriculum is the tool used by the teacher.  The traditional learning environment is created and supported by the teacher in that environment.  If a school wants to create an effective online learning environment and they just focus on buying the newest technology, they will be dropping the ball on creating the effective online learning environment. What really makes an effective learning environment is an effective teacher using the available technology appropriately.  With that being said, there are some important considerations for teachers to consider when incorporating technology into the online learning environment.   

In the past, I taught for one year in an online K-8 school in our district.  I was the Language Arts teacher for K-6 grade.  During this time, I quickly realized the importance of understanding our Learning Management System (LMS).  In our textbook by Boettcher and Conrad, they made a very good reason why getting to know your Learning Management System is so important.  They said, “You as the faculty mentor serve as the hub, the host the glue of the learning community (Boettcher and Conrad, 2010).”  If you are struggling with the Learning Management System you will struggle to be successful as a teacher in my opinion.  Many Learning Management Systems come with effective tools readily available for the teacher.  At the time, our school was using Moodle for our LMS.  Moodle was a great platform because of the multiple tools available for use.  Moodle had a gradebook, a quiz or test generator, a discussion platform and allowed teachers to embed video and audio directly into the webpage.  At the time, the embedding tool was very helpful because it helped the teachers make the videos available for viewing without worrying about the video format.

Another consideration when incorporating technology into the online environment is utilizing the web 2.0 tools available.  In our video this week with Dr. Pratt and Dr. Palloff discussed the different Web 2.0 tools that are available.  The big difference between a standard technology tool and a Web 2.0 tool is the sense of community that it creates (Laureate Producer, 2010).  A good example of the community a Web 2.0 tool brings is a Wiki.  Wiki’s allow students located in different places to collaborate together on creating a web-page of information (Laureate Producer, 2010).  Allowing for collaboration is a great idea for the online environment.  According to Boettcher and Conrad in our textbook, “tools with social networking features that support new collaborative and constructivist pedagogies that encourage peer-to-peer linking, commenting, and messaging (Boettcher and Conrad, 2010).”  In a traditional classroom, collaboration is very easy because you have the opportunity to meet face-to-face.  In the online environment, getting the students to collaborate is a little more difficult.  Utilizing Web 2.0 tools like a Wiki allow for the students to work together and collaborate even when they live far apart. 

The usability and accessibility are another important consideration when incorporating technology into the online learning environment.  Many times, the new technology that comes out to us as teachers is so new that many of our students don’t have the ability to use the new technology.  In our video this week, Dr. Pratt brought up a good point about internet connections speeds in rural towns.  In some of these rural towns, citizens are using dial up for their internet connection.  Many Learning Management Systems will be unavailable to students using a dial up connection (Laureate Productions, 2010).  This is an important consideration for an instructor to think about before using new technologies.  Another thing that should be considered is your video format when uploading to your webpage.  From personal experience in the past, using a Learning Management System that allows you to embed the video directly into the webpage allows for students to access the video with less complications.  If you just put the video up as a downloadable file, then some students who are using a different software might not be able to view the video.  Embedding the video into the webpage allows students to view the video if they can view the webpage. 

For me, as I move forward in my career as an Instructional Designer, there are three tools that are very intriguing to me.  First is the use of blogs.  While working through this program at Walden, I have enjoyed posting to my blog on a regular basis and reading fellow student’s blogs.  This has allowed us to interact socially and professionally even when we live in different states.  I have also enjoyed using a RSS Reader to keep me updated on the new professional development opportunities out there for an elementary school teacher.  The reader filters out any blogs that I enjoy and allows me to see when they are updated regularly.  Another technology tool I am excited for is the ability to find or create video to go with your lesson.  For the visual learners, it is extremely helpful to have a visual component with each lesson.  Many students make a stronger connection to the material when there is a visual component.  Learning Management Systems are now making it more feasible for instructors to embed their video directly into the webpage to make the video more accessible.  I have fought the format battle in the past with videos and it is not enjoyable.  The new technology tool I am most excited about is the idea of using a voice cast or a pod cast for your instruction.  In our video, Dr. Pratt and Dr. Palloff discussed with one of the panelists about how he uses it in his online environment (Laureate Productions, 2010).  Allowing the students to communicate with audio or video opens up new doors that gets me very excited. 

In the end, using technology in the online environment is just a tool for the instructor.  It can help you become more effective in your teaching.  Having the mindset that technology alone will make your teaching online more effective is a dangerous mindset.  Good lesson design with many of tools in your tool-box is the way I want to teach in the future!
Resources:
-        Boettcher, J.V., & Conrad, R. (2010).  The online teaching survival guide:  Simple and practical pedagogical tips.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

-        Laureate Education (Producer).  (2010). Enhancing the online experience [Video file].