Introduction Video

The Introduce yourself video was a fun assignment that helped me to learn about using my computer’s webcam and publishing to youtube.  I had some bumps on the road in the process of getting my video made and then turned in in the correct format, but the lesson I am taking away is how important it is to give yourself plenty of time, and to be patient with yourself, when learning how to use new technology.

The Introduction Video is an example of the AECT Standard 2.4: Integrated Technologies; encompassing several forms of media under the control of the computer.  I used photo booth and imovie to create the video and then uploaded it to youtube.

I see myself using the skills I learned in this video in future courses I teach when I would want to do a more traditional lecture lesson.  If I were teaching an online Math or Physics course I could see posting short videos of me explaining examples that students could watch before working on similar practice problems.  I think the key to this approach would be to have the videos be short, so that students wouldn’t be tempted to skip ahead, and to make sure the examples are directly applicable to the following problems.

The Glow of Technology Alone Cannot Light a Fire

The story of technology use and CS classes (along with the crazy schedule and budget cute) that was told in chapter 2 of our book was certainly sad and frustrating. They have the technology, why aren’t their students getting better CS curriculum?!?!!

As I have been learning in my computer science classes, access to technology does not equal tech literacy, and certainly doesn’t guarantee that students are learning the problem solving principles that are at the heart of computer science. Writing programs that are focussed on simple input and output, along with having a teacher who is struggling to stay a step ahead of the students is not the way to have vertically aligned courses that lead students through a well planned sequence of classes.

Many of the excuses revolve around lack of student motivation, and that the students do not have the prior knowledge to get anything out of a rigorous curriculum. This is certainly a valid concern, but it does seem to be a case of if you lead a horse to water, it WILL drink… One example from East river includes the calculus class taken in the summer time that inspired students to study more math. Another example closer to home is the CS program we are in right now; many of us including myself had no prior CS knowledge, but because of the high quality of instruction we are motivated and determined to succeed.

One theme that I hit on in this reading and in many of my other education readings of late is how it seems that most successful programs in education rely on “hero teachers”. These are teachers who commit large portions of their free time to implement new exciting programs. They often have a devoted following of students and parents, and are much acclaimed at their schools. “Hero teachers” burn bright and fast, like a roaring fire, but also BURN OUT! When will we be at a point where teachers can have a work life balance AND enough support and time to be effective and inspiring?

EdTech 506 White space graphic

My graphic for the week gives my high school Algebra 2 students an overview of how to solve equations that have logarithms on both sides of the equals sign.  I made use of color to label and differentiate (Lohr pg 265) and to aid with selection (Lorh pg. 267) so that students can really see what is being done from one step to the next.  I made use of “gray space” to divide the text (Lohr pg. 272).  By aligning each column of the graphic and using space between instead of a table, it allows the image to remain uncluttered and lets the eye focus on the information, not the container.  

For the equation column, I chose to align the = sign, which is a standard way of presenting equations in a problem solving process.  

My husband, who has learned quite a bit about logarithms as I have progressed through this course, helped me to come to the idea of adding the color coding.  The first graphic had all black text, with the different backgrounds to distinguish between the first and second parts of the problem solving process.  He was not able to follow the steps in the top portion of the problem; I explained it to him by pointing at the math words (coefficients, powers, addition, etc) and the parts of the problem that they corresponded to.  Adding the color coding takes away the necessity to point and explain the graphic to a reader.  

 

EdTech 506 Hierarchy graphic

My graphic for my High School Algebra 2 unit on using logarithms shows the problem solving process for solving equations where the variable appears in the exponent.  The first approach to take is to attempt to write each side using the same base raised to a power.  If this approach is possible, it is the fastest and simplest way to solve the equation.  If this approach is not possible, the process of using logarithms must be used.  I showed the hierarchy of these approached by using signal words (Lorh pg 146) and tilting the signal words towards the steps to direct the eye that way (Lorh pg 149).  I chose not to use a table with lines in between each step to follow the book’s advice to focus the attention on the data, not the data container (Lorh pg 140).  Instead of having lines, I chunked the steps that were written in words so that they aligned horizontally with the mathematical steps,  I chose to have the = signs align for the mathematical column, which allows for the eye to keep each side of the = straight and separate.  

I gave my husband four problems and had him use the graphic to solve them.  He had worked with many students on Algebra 1 topics, but has not done logarithms since he was in high school.  He was able to use the graphic to work through problems, and “got” the hierarchy that the first approach of rewriting the problem using the same base was the faster, preferred method to use when possible.  

EdTech 506 Color Project

I used color coding to show the difference between exponential growth and decay in my graphic.  This graphic is intended for High school Algebra 2 students who are being exposed to graphing exponential curves for the first time.  The technique of choosing x values to input into the function, and then finding the y value, or output, is a standard technique for graphing that students are familiar with.  The calculations once the x value is plugged in, shown in the middle column, is also a skill that students have prior to this concept’s introduction.  

I showed my graphic to several teachers, who gave me feedback which I used on what x values to show in the table; I had used only three values for each function.  It was pointed out that the true “exponential” nature of the functions is not shown as well, and that just adding two more data points can show the overall trend much better.  

EdTech 506 Selection Graphic

The learners this graphic is designed for is a high school Algebra 2 class.  The exponent rules shown are review material for them; the information was first presented in previous math classes.  Since the rules are so similar and so simple, I have found that students tend to mix them up.

 

My goal in creating this graphic was to illustrate why each rule is what it is by showing the expanded form of each exponent in the graphic.  Knowing that the exponent tells how many times the base is multiplied by itself, it is easy to understand the exponent rules when one takes the time and space to write the problem out in expanded form.  

I also wanted this graphic to be a quick and easy reminder of what the rules are.  I attempted to use the principle of figure-ground (Lohr pg 102) to emphasize the rule in the figure with bright colored text, and to have the expanded exponent form in the ground in more muted colors.  

The quantum number chart shown in Figure 5-3 (Lohr pg 104) gave me the idea to visually separate each rule using background shading instead of intrusive lines of a chart.  

The exponent rules are prerequisite skills for students to be able to succeed in the logarithm unit that I have chosen for my project.  I included some problems of this type in a review activity in my classroom this week, and showed my graphic while students worked on that part of the review.  I am happy with the results of this user test, students were able to use the graphic to correctly work through similar problems.  

I may continue to play with the alignment of the examples.  Since each expanded exponent problem is of different width, it is hard to have them aligned well and also under the appropriate heading.  

EdTech 506 Synthesis graphic

I chose to make a flow chart for working through logarithm problems for the graphic that is to help students in the synthesis of material from the unit.  The high school Algebra 2 students who are the intended users of this graphic tend to have a hard time seeing what type of problem they have been given, and choosing the tools required for solving the problem at hand.  This graphic will help students to make the first big distinction, between equations and expressions, and then to start with the steps required to solve each type of problem.

During the user test, I realized how important it would be to make connections between this graphic, and other graphics that relate to the parts of this one.  For example, when this graphic mentions translating to exponential form using the “exponential circle” it is referencing a skill that is illustrated in a different graphic.  The logarithm rules are another example of a small subset of this overview that are laid out in detail in a different graphic.  I plan on using the street sign theme throughout the project, and will use signs to help students see the links between the graphics.

EdTech 506 CARP graphic

I chose to focus on the relationship between the rules for exponents and the rules for logarithms for this week’s project.  The users for this graphic are high school Algebra 2 students.  It is assumed that they have already had exposure to, and mastery of the exponent rules.  Students should also be “fluent” in translating from exponential to logarithmic form.  This graphic is meant to help the students to make the link between the exponent rules they know and logarithm rules they are learning.

I chose to use black text on a white background and contrasting white text on black background for each set of rules.  This decision was based off of out text’s recommendation to “create more [contrast] than you think you need.”  (Lohr pg 201) I used alignment and repetition (Lohr pg 203) to show the differences similarities between exponents and logarithms.

My husband was my standard user tester for this graphic.  He suggested that I work in a reminder of how to transform from exponents to logarithms, possibly by turning each part into a street sign for each area.  I will work this into my final project; I might try to go with a street sign theme throughout the project.

Logarithm Unit Typography Graphic

I chose to put the words for my typography project together in one image to show how the parts of a logarithmic equation are related to each other.  The learners this graphic is designed for are high school Algebra 2 students, for whom this unit is most likely their first exposure to logarithms.  As such, it is difficult for them to “translate” from the logarithmic form to the exponential form of an equation.  

The color coding of the equations helps students to track where each component moves to in each form.  The word form of each equation shows what each part of the equation is called.  The number form of each equation allows students to connect a math fact they know to the new format of logarithms.  

I chose verdana for the font of this graphic because it is a sans serif font that was designed for electronic viewing (Lohr 233) and because the short bursts of colored text are designed for legibility, for which sans serif typefaces are preferred (Lorh 227). The verdana font combined with the lowercase allow the log and exp of exponent to look like calculator buttons used for those functions.  

Even though centered text is hard to read (Lohr pg 239) I followed the “It Depends” rule (Lohr pg 227) and lined the = signs of each equation up.  This works in the context of mathematics, where I find that it is easier to follow a “line of thinking” in a list of equations if the = signs are aligned.  

My first image is shown below.  I had my husband be my user to test the visual.  As a Special Ed teacher who has worked in a high school resource room, he has a firm grasp math, but admitted to not remembering logarithms.  His first question when shown the first image was “How is that an exponent?  Aren’t they usually up high?”  I got a scratch paper and showed him how logarithmic equations translate to exponential equations, and gave him the example with numbers included to show how it would looK for a real problem. That cleared up the confusion, so I figured I should add those components to the image.  I also chose to take the word “equation” out of the image because all of the examples are equations.  I may use this first image in a graphic to illustrate the difference between a logarithmic equation (which has an = sign)  and an expression (which does not have an = sign).  I also chose to drop the parentheses around the word expression because the number examples I chose to use do not require parentheses, and I figured that less is more.  

 

 

Universal Design Example. EdTech 506

Universal Design principles have a goal of making information accessible to a wide range of people. (Lohr, pg 8) When applied to a graphic or visual the idea is that anyone could understand the information being conveyed regardless of their background.

A Simple Example of Universal Design is in the faucet shown to the right.  The H for hot and C for cold water are even more clearly represented in the colors of red and blue, which are pretty much universally agreed upon to be the colors for hot and cold.

Another Example of Universal Design that I have used to help my math students remember the process for solving quadratic equations  by factoring is below.  The two column layout is a strategy I use in almost all of the examples we do in class.  One column is for the words to describe the steps of the problem.  In the second column we start with actual number examples.  After we have done a lot of one problem type I find that a visual reminder like the one below helps students to remember what the problem should “look like”.  They are then able to start on the problem on their own,  inserting the actual algebraic expressions in place of the squiggly lines.  The path of the red factor and green factor helps students to see where the multiple answers are coming from.  This representation is universal because it has multiple means of representation in both verbal and visual cues. (Burghstahler, 2012)

I used Fireworks to create this graphic.

Resources:  http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/instruction.html

 

Intro Graphic EdTech 506

Using Fireworks to design my EdTech 506 Introduction Graphic was challenging for me.  Having only used Fireworks a few times in the past, I had to do some trial and error, and some research on how to work with the program.

I feel that the image captures what I am passionate about.  The purple background is a close up of the bloom on a hyacinth that is part of my yard’s beautiful spring bulb show.  The mountain is also a picture I took, on a backpacking trip in my home state of Idaho’s beautiful Sawtooth range.  I like the stark white contrast of the images I found online of the skis and the gardening tools.