Week 13: Meaningful Learning

                Technology based rubrics are extremely helpful, but only under certain conditions (specifically for math teachers). They are helpful in that they guide both the teacher and the students in their work. Teachers can remember all that they are looking for and assist in grading, while students can know exactly what they need to do and what is expected. As stated in the text, however, they are time-consuming to make and require a lot of pre-assignment hours for the teacher. However, once they are made, they can be continually reused and modified fairly quickly, another benefit thanks to technology. One may also use rubrics made by other teachers, but the teacher who is searching for one will have to make sure they find one that is specific to their needs. I believe that the benefits outweigh the negative aspects. They are a great way of organization, and there are several tools available online for teachers to use to make rubrics which makes the process easier.

             Clicker technology is useful, but is very limited. In math, I do not see many practical applications for it in math. While clicker technology does eliminate the need for raising hands and talking to each other in class, it also limits the students to either what can be typed on a keyboard or selected form a bank of questions. In math, where I strongly believe in critical thinking through written work, clickers have little use. In other settings, it is more usable. Some perks are that it (usually) supports anonymity; that is, students can answer question and not have their answers, right or wrong, be linked to themselves. Also, clickers allow ALL students to answer, not just ones that would typically blurt out the answer or raise their hand first. If there are more ways in which this type of technology can be used in math, then I would really like to use it. After all, math is response-heavy class and students could answer questions anonymously without fear of being right or wrong.

            Inspiration and Kidspiration seem like good ways to organize and collect ideas and thoughts. This could be either a drawback or a benefit in math. Students could use the visual maps to connect theorems and formulas to certain conditions and applications. Unfortunately, I could not really think of many other uses. Inspiration had little or no in depth math applications. However, I attribute this to the whole concept of math: you have to use and apply it to learn it. Otherwise, Inspiration seemed like a great way for visual learners to get the information. They can see the material and connections within it.

            Overall, while all these technologies may be helpful in most classes, their uses are limited in math. I doubt I would use them, but if I did, it would likely not be often. Electronic rubrics could be used when doing projects; that is, students could know exactly what type of data they need to collect, how to organize it, and all the smaller details that may be involved. As with clicker technology, I might try to make a bank of questions that requires students to really think about the question before they answer. I might make all the answers so similar that students would feel weary just trying to guess. They can work on problems at their desks, then answer them when they get an answer. For Inspiration, I do not think I would use it. I just do not see a practical use for it. It would require a lot of time to prepare something, or to get students to prepare something, and it does not support math very well.

Reference:
Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning With Technology (3rd Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson/Prentice Hall.