Week 1 EDUC 5313

Part 1: Introduction

Greetings! My name is Carla Symonette, and I have been a math educator for almost 15 years. I have taught most high school math courses from Geometry to Calculus and AP Statistics. My newest challenge is an assignment in the math curriculum department at Florida Virtual School. After 3 years teaching AP Statistics students virtually full-time, I am learning to write virtual lessons and digital assessments for secondary math courses. I am excited to be learning more about how I can integrate the technology standards into my everyday practice, as I continue to learn to engage students asynchronously.

Part 2: Learning Activity

I am currently writing content for Algebra 1 students using the Florida B.E.S.T. Standards (2020) benchmark:

MA.912.DP.2.4 Fit a linear function to bivariate numerical data that suggests a linear association and interpret the slope and y-intercept of the model. Use the model to solve real-world problems in terms of the context of the data (p. 164).

Computational Thinker 5a asks students to collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making. (ISTE, n.d.)

Students in Algebra 1 will work in pairs or groups of three to collect data from their peers regarding social media usage, such as the number of sites regularly visited; number of followers, friends, comments, etc.; and hours spent per day or week engaged in social media. Additional data about student behavior or markers of student success will be collected. Students will import their data into a spreadsheet and create various displays, including scatter plots and trend lines to see if there are relationships among the variables they collected. For example, there may be a positive association between the number of hours spent on social media and the number of friends a participant talks to in real life, or a negative association between the number of comments a participant receives on their posts and the participant’s grades in school. Students will analyze trends they find and look for ways to improve any metrics they may have discovered are detrimental to the well-being of the participants in their sample. Finally, the pairs will present their findings to their peers and the larger group will look for patterns evident among the various sample groups.

Part 3: Insights

Kolb (2020) emphasizes student collaboration coupled with technology, even though it is often easier to have students work independently. Just because technology allows students to work alone does not necessarily mean they should. The activity of collecting and analyzing data as a group makes the process more engaging and reaching out to a sample of people from whom they will collect responses makes the project even more social. Learning to use spreadsheet software may seem a tedious process but accurate displays are imperative if students are to find patterns in data to discover problems to solve. Working in partner pairs helps students feel more confident in exploring the technologies. Open-ended collaboration can be difficult to manage, so the teacher may want to use Google Sheets as collaborative spreadsheets and have students create presentations using Google Slides. The teacher may check progress digitally, and students may extend their learning beyond the school day. 

Florida’s B.E.S.T Standards: Mathematics. (2020, February). Florida Department of Education. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://cpalmsmediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/docs/standards/best/ma/mathbeststandardsfinal.pdf

ISTE. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-students

Kolb, L. (2020, July 6). Learning First, Technology Second in Practice: New Strategies, Research and Tools for Student Success. International Society for Technology in Education.

Comments

  1. Jo AnneOctober 21, 2022 at 3:11 PM

    I love your post. Your teaching history is amazing, and this program is only going enhance the career that you have already established.
    Technology is very important in the teaching and development of children, but it doesn't usually allow for collaboration. Collecting data together is a great way for students to work together using technology and this type of project, collecting data and collaborating for a presentation, also allows for a lot of 1:1 time with peers and the teacher. Presenting is another social aspect that is necessary for students. This is a way to incorporate technology and also allow for a lot of interaction.

    ReplyDelete

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