Sunday, July 24, 2016

Mathecomicon comic book on math - concept note

Concept Note

The National Curricular Framework for Mathematics, strongly asserts that students learn mathematics well only when they construct their own mathematical thinking. Information can be transmitted from one person to another but mathematical understanding and knowledge come from within the learner as that individual explores, discovers, and makes connections.
This comic book is an endeavour to redirect mathematics instruction from a focus on delivering the content to a focus on active participation and involvement.
Mathematics instructors do not simply deliver content; rather, they facilitate learners’ construction of their own knowledge of mathematics

This book contains comic strips created by students using on line tools which have actively engaged students in mathematical explorations. It provided them the opportunity to examine and learn mathematics in a meaningful way. It also provides the instructor with the resources to make students understand real life application of abstract concepts of mathematics. Students experience mathematics directly by creating comic strips that embody concepts and promote mathematical thinking. This book represents the belief that

1.A concrete approach diminishes the mathematical anxiety often accompanying a more abstract concept.

2. Visual approach provide mental images that can be easily retained to provide understanding for symbolic representations.

Here are the special features of this book.

1.Active Learning Each comic strip provides visual models to provide a context for understanding. The scenes are set are sequentially to encourage discovery and active engagement of learner,.

2. Cooperative Learning The comic strips have been created in small groups. In particular , it was designed for small-group interaction during script writing and story board making .

3. Individual Reflections Throughout the comic book, learners are encouraged to observe and to describe patterns, analyse their thinking, and give suitable explanations of their reasoning. While designing the book students reflected at every step of story board making to ascertain a logical sequence of events.

4.Pedagogy The comic book demonstrates that visual and kinaesthetic models can be used in teaching of mathematics in classrooms to promote conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking and make it relevant to real life of learners.

This book is a step in stride for greater experimentation in pedagogy to make it more experiential and enriching ,

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Taking a Closer Look at Teachers' Technology Shortcomings

By Sean Cavanagh on January 2, 2013 8:03 AM

One of the biggest concerns about how technology is being used in the classroom today focuses on what some see as a fundamental breakdown in the system: many teachers aren't comfortable with technology, and are unsure how to weave it into their instruction.
The National Association of State Boards of Education probed this issue in a recent report, as part of a larger examination of how schools can keep up with students' tech knowledge and expectations.
I wrote about the release of that report, "Born in Another Time: Ensuring Educational Technology Meets the Needs of Students Today—and Tomorrow," but I'm turning back to it because it offers some revealing details on what state board officials, as well as faculty at teacher colleges and educators themselves, see as shortcomings in preparing teachers to use technology. The authors argue that many teacher-preparation programs fail to give teachers the tech skills they need, partly because they instead choose to focus heavily on things like pedagogical theory—in general, different philosophies about how teachers convey knowledge to students.
How much catching up on technology do teachers, and the system that produces them, have to do? The report's authors cite the following examples:
• The vast majority of faculty members and students in teacher preparation programs say that their programs require one stand-alone technology course, as opposed to integrating technology and pedagogy through the program and clinical experiences (the authors see integration as the preferred way to go);
• Teacher-prep programs tend to emphasize using technology to boost educators' "personal productivity," through the use of tools such as word processing and spreadsheets, and for use in presenting information, as opposed to giving aspiring educators the tech skills needed to collect, analyze, and utilize data in their instruction;
• Less than a quarter of educational technology faculty said they had taught their students how to use technology to analyze student achievement data, a skill that the authors say is crucial to tailor instruction to individual students' needs; and
• New teachers are no more likely to blend technology into their practice than their veteran peers—which is surprising, the authors say, "given that the vast majority of those entering the profession are digital natives."
Those findings come from a number of sources, including an analysis conducted by researchers at Indiana University, which included a survey of teacher-college faculty and their students; and a separate survey of teachers and administrators released by Walden University, an online university, and Grunwald Associates, a Bethesda, Md.-based research and consulting company.
How can policymakers help educators become more sophisticated users of technology? State officials, in cooperation with licensing boards and others, should revamp standards for new teachers to make sure they receive more preparation in technology and online instruction, including through clinical, or hands-on classroom work and observation, the report says. It adds that states should revamp professional development to include a greater focus on technology, provide sufficient funding for school technology coaches, and do more to weave virtual instruction into existing teacher mentoring and induction programs.