We did it--classes are done for this crazy year!

I always get the privilege of writing the last #Math371 blog post of the semester. I like to reflect on what I have learned while teaching this course that semester. While I will do some of that, I will also reflect on things the students have shared throughout the semester.

For the past 2 years, I have asked the #Math371 students to create a Desmos Activity Builder. This year I decided to make that task more formal and give them a list of items that needed to be included in their activity. I got feedback on the activity before I assigned it from Mark Kreie, Brookings High School math teacher. He was very helpful and offered great suggestions. I feel like this was one of the most successful assignments this semester. The students did a great job and many of them are now excited about using Desmos in their classroom. After they created their activity, they also had to reflect on the experience. Here are a few excerpts from journal entries:

• I think it would be good to use this as an interactive lesson in the classroom versus as a homework assignment. It facilitates lots of group discussion and it allows the opportunity to correct student misconceptions immediately.
• I decided that this tool is best utilized not as a method to teach new material to students, but a way to find entertaining new ways to show the new material that has been taught.
• Creating an activity for a classroom was rather fun to me. I felt like I was playing teacher and thinking about my students and how this kind of stuff would make the most sense to them. For me, that was really fun to experience the work teachers have to put in to make a good activity.

Another project that I improved for this semester was the group teaching project. I divided students into groups, assigned them a Learning Management System, and they had to create a video lesson, a homework assignment, and a quiz in their course that they created in their LMS. This assignment wasn’t without issues as I assigned one group Moodle and we discovered that it involved downloading software so I switched them to a different one, which also didn’t work well. They finally decided that they wanted to use Edmodo. In general, this was a good assignment as they had to figure out their own LMS as a teacher as well as understand the other groups’ systems as a student. I feel like we all learned something from this project. In their reflection on this project, some students said:

• Overall, I liked being able to experience the different system in this project. Before I worked on this project, I had only used Google Classroom. I liked being able to see the pros and cons of each different management system as the student’s point of view. This is only going to help me make a better choice for my classroom in the future.
• Nevertheless, the LMS project made me ponder about what I like and dislike in LMS and gave me appreciated experience with using a system from the perspective of a teacher.

Despite the pandemic, we had another great semester in #Math371. We all learned new things and had fun in the process—well, at least I did. I always feel so lucky because SDSTATE has awesome students! I can’t wait to watch them grow and become great math teachers.

Should Calculators Be Allowed in the Math Classroom?

This is the age-old question that all mathematics educators have been faced with. They might not have referred to the modern-day calculator but rather an equivalent item of assistance for the era. In fact, in early mathematical history, the abacus was used to aid in calculation. Eventually, we had the slide rule, then the handheld calculator, and now we all have calculation apps embedded into our smartphones. All these tools have made mathematical calculations easier. If they were never allowed, how many mathematical discoveries would still be undiscovered? This being said, there are pros and cons to allowing calculators in our classroom.

One of the main advantages to implementing calculators in the classroom is that it allows for students to solve more advanced problems. Online graphing calculators such as Desmos and GeoGebra, are quite powerful tools. There are so many ways to implement sites like these to allow students to explore different aspects of graphs. GeoGebra is especially valuable when teaching geometric theorems as it provides students with visual aids. Another pro is that it gives students opportunities to connect algebraic expressions with the graphical representations of those expressions. It really comes down to student mastery and understanding. Calculators should be used when students have shown us that they have mastered the skills a calculator can do for them.

One of the biggest downsides of calculators is that because calculators are so powerful students can easily use them to cheat on exams. Many of the TI graphing calculators can be used to store notes and formulas that we wouldn’t want students to use on exams. Another big downside is that it can give students an easy way out. Many concepts can be figured out with a calculator, but students need to know how to do them on their own because they are building blocks for bigger and more complicated concepts. Many professors at SDSU take the approach that “If we let our students use calculators for everything, they won’t know how to do the math on their own”. This is a valid point, but I would argue that if we are using calculators in a valuable way, students will still gain conceptual understanding.

I hear a lot of older teachers say things like:

• “calculators have hindered students because they don’t work as hard as students used to.”
• “This new generation is too addicted to technology.”
• And my personal favorite: “What happens when technology fails, and you can’t figure out what to do?”

While I agree and fully believe that students are not thinking as critically as they used to, I don’t think we can solely blame this on calculation tools in the classroom. Our main goal as math educators is to promote mathematical understanding. It doesn’t really matter if our students can perform mathematical process after process if they don’t know where it is coming from. Technology can be used in both good and bad ways, and we have to learn how to teach our students knowing that they will be thrown into a technology-oriented world. The notion that students of today must have it just as difficult as we did is quite frankly ridiculous. Society evolves. That’s what it does. Shouldn’t the way we are educating our future generations adapt to the era we’re living in? It’s time we stop churning out human calculators and teach our students to learn for understanding.

So in conclusion, calculators are wonderful inventions that have allowed for some of the greatest mathematical discoveries. We would be depriving our students of valuable knowledge if we didn’t allow them to learn how to use technology in a positive way. In all things, it comes down to balance. I believe that teachers should continue to allow students to use calculators in the math classroom. However, policies need to be created and implemented to prevent cheating and create problem solvers and critical thinkers.

Annamarie Dobbs

 

Technology, Mathematics, and Grading

     As a future educator, there are a lot of things I am learning that are important in the teaching world that I never really thought about before. One of them is grading, and relating to that, homework and assignments. A teacher's job and goal is to help their students. Help them learn and achieve their goals in the class. The way we assess their progress is through grades. So a big question is, what type of homework should teachers give so that the grades reflect student progress?

    When I was considering this question, I thought back to assignments I had in high school. Some teachers would load us up with homework that wasn't very meaningful, but it was worth a large part of our grade. We did whatever we had to do to get it finished. This means our grades probably didn't reflect how well we learned the material. But then I thought of the stimulating research projects I did in an AP English class and writing the research paper for that. The paper was worth a lot of our grade, but I loved writing the paper and I learned so much from it. This was a perfect example of an assignment that returns an accurately reflective grade. 

    As I started college, many of the assignments were more along those lines. The assignments required us to demonstrate what we learned and sometimes give our own unique understandings on the subject as well. For example, in a Calculus I class, our professor put us in groups to solve a few questions. This way, we learned from the different perspectives of our group members as well as practiced the skills we needed. 

    Of course, teachers can't always give in depth assignments like this to constantly stimulate our minds so much. It would be hard on students and would create a lot more time needed to grade the assignments for teachers. But what I learned from my experience and from classes I have taken, short answer questions are almost like the sweet-spot of an assignment. It is harder to cheat on short answer questions that require an opinion of a student.They don't require such in depth thinking all the time, but they are a more accurate way to gauge how well a student has learned something in a quick three to five sentences.

    Another huge factor that teachers must consider today is technology. Should they give assignments online or not? This decision has big implications. If they don't give assignments online through a program like WebAssign, they will have to grade the assignments themselves, which is always something to consider. However, there is always the risk that if they give an online assignment, the students will cheat to get it done instead of just doing it themselves. For myself, I know that I will do online homework, but if I am running low on time, I will look up the answers and just do the problems later when I have more time to make sure I understand them. I think if students did that, it might be fine. However, there is now way for teachers to guarantee that their students will do that, which leads back to the question of an accurately reflective grade.

    In the end, I think it must be left up to the teacher's discretion. They know their students best. They should be able to assess what their class would be capable of handling, the best way of assessing them, and helping them practice their skills. Hopefully, with the knowledge from a relationship with their students, teachers would be able to give relevant assignments. This way, teachers can grade accurately and give their students meaningful homework that they may be more willing to do.

Kaia Erickson

Is Technology Making Students Lazy?

by Halle Gronlund    

     With the use of online homework, zoom, online instruction, and social media, the world of education has turned to the use of technology during this unprecedented time. At the start of the pandemic, we had no other option than to turn to technology to help us continue learning and teaching. We would have struggled without our current advancements. Now with students waking up 2 minutes before class, lying in bed during class, and cheating through online homework, it begs the question: “Are students lazier because of this technology?” As we navigate our way back to a “normal” post-pandemic world in the next few months, we will see the effects of the pandemic in our education.

     Technology has not always been a controversial topic in education. We talk to our parents and there was no such thing as cheating or online homework when they went to school. They didn’t have the websites to look up a problem when they got stuck or text a friend to send them the answers. They did the work on their own, for the most part at least. With the developments of technology even before COVID-19, students get stuck on a problem for 30 seconds and the first thought in their head is to look it up on the internet. And that is being generous on some occasions, some students don’t even try for themselves and look up the answer the minute they get the assignment. We wonder why homework grades are soaring and test grades are plummeting. With COVID-19, I feel as if this is only worsening. Time management was given to students to figure out on their own. They received a list of assignments for the day and they weren’t given a certain time to do it. This led to procrastinating until the last moment and only having time to look up the answers to turn the assignment in on time. I can only imagine the student would see how easy this is and never want to do another assignment on their own, even after this pandemic is over.

     Zoom is great. Great in a pandemic when you have no other option than to record lectures for students to watch at a given time or whenever the student found time. Great for meetings with people across the country. Even great to catch up with family that lives states away. It’s not great for when students are too lazy to get out of bed in the morning and jump onto class 2 minutes before it starts. It’s not the teacher’s fault, but the responsibility lies within the student. Students have found a way to make life “easier” in a pandemic. I mean I would love to lay in bed, watch class, take notes, and understand what is going on, but that’s just not how it works most of the time. No teacher is watching you making sure you are paying attention, so many students do not pay attention. There are so many distractions to take your focus off class that aren’t present when you attend class in a classroom. Don’t get me wrong, some students need zoom as their only way to learn in this pandemic, but some students are abusing the system because they are too lazy to walk or drive to class.

     To wrap things up, I think technology is super useful when it is used right. But I also believe students are not using the technology in the way it is supposed to be used. Students are only using it to make their lives the easiest they can. Without the educational technology created, the pandemic would have been even more of a mess. But as students, educators, and parents, we need to reflect on how we are using the technology given to us. 

How Much Technology is too Much?

 

    Technology surrounds us every day. The smartwatch on our wrists, the phone in our hands, the laptop we complete homework on, the washing machine and dryer used to do laundry, and even the coffee machine used every morning to give us caffeine boosts are all considered technology. According to, “How many devices will you use in your life,” by WebFix, the average American lives to be 79 years old and will have 43.9 phones, 15.8-26.3 laptops, 7.7-17.2 TVs, and 13.2 coffee makers. As you can tell technology is taking the world by storm.

    Relating this to my Technology for STEM class, it makes me wonder is there too much technology in the classroom? Or maybe a better question is, is there such a thing as too much technology in the classroom? In my opinion, there are benefits and downfalls to technology in the classroom, but is there  a fine line of too much technology?

    Starting positively, there are billions of resourses available for students at the click of a button. These resources allow students to view videos to understand topics, read articles about different concepts or other technologies to better their understanding, use online calculators to check their answers, and easily communicate with their professors. On the other hand, students are spending too much time staring at a computer screen. Personally, I spend about six or seven hours a day on my laptop completing homework. This does not include my other activities on the computer such as watching Netflix or reading a book. The recommended amount of screen time is two hours total (shout out to Shelby’s blog post). Students are spending three to four times the recommended amount of screen time. This has negative effects on students physically and mentally.

    Similar to students, teachers have access to thousands of resources. These resources can help teachers create lesson plans, worksheets, exams, and share their creations with other teachers. This semester alone we have learned about video-making software, online homework systems, learning management systems, and even apps that can solve equations. However, all the different resources can be problematic when deciding which website is better than a different one or is a certain learning management system better than another. Credibility of student also becomes problematic. How can a teacher decide if a student completed their homework or cheated off of Chegg or even one another?

    Overall, I believe technology is more good than bad right now. However, I believe there is still a point where there is such a thing as too much technology in the classroom, we simply have not reached that point yet. 

 https://www.webfx.com/blog/general/how-many-devices-will-you-use-in-your-life/

Homework in the Math Classroom

As I was thinking about what to blog this week, my mind kept coming back to a topic we talk about a lot in our pedagogy classes: homework in the math classroom. In middle and high school, the majority of my homework assignments were simply 2-40 even or something similar to that. Although they weren’t extremely long, it still felt like I was just doing extra problems for no reason. Eventually, there was more of a variety, but I still didn’t really know why I had to do that much homework since it was just a completion grade anyway. I tutor a student in Algebra I, and the review assignment for their first test was literally 80 questions long! Yes, it was review and they had a few days to complete it, but that is outrageous! The assignments have gotten shorter as the year has gone by, but he still has 30-40 problem assignments to do for every class period.

Now why am I talking about homework in a blogpost that should be dedicated to technology? Well, this week we learned about different online homework programs that have become popular, especially since last year when all schooling went online. We looked at DeltaMath and Edulastic, both of which have free versions along with paid versions. They had hundreds of subjects and standards to choose from and you can assign a specific number of questions from whichever standard/subject you want. I really liked the instant data on the teacher side of Edulastic because you could see all kinds of information such as which questions were being missed more frequently and how much time is being spent on the questions. I feel like this is a program that could enhance my job as a teacher because I can instantly see what concepts need more explanation in real time and where the class is at with the material. This insight would allow me to tweak the lessons and set my students up for success.

In my college courses, I have used Webassign for the majority of my math homework, which I actually really like. The questions are very similar to the textbook questions, and you can normally practice similar problems or watch how to do a problem if you need some help. The assignments also are normally 10-15 questions, so they aren’t too long. I could see myself using an online homework system like Webassign for classroom. There are some definite cons to online homework though. We all make silly little mistakes when working a math problem, and sometimes you can get partial credit for questions when you turn in handwritten homework. But with online homework, it’s normally all or nothing, which can be really annoying.

Regardless of whether you have handwritten or online homework, I think that we need to normalize having fewer problems on math homework and emphasize that homework is meant to help you understand concepts better, rather than just act as busy work with no reward. I think that using something such as Edulastic or DeltaMath at least part of the time in the classroom would benefit the students as well as the teacher. I don’t think I would use a program like this for all of my homework assignments because I would rather use questions that align with the textbook, but I think it would be a nice review resource or a tool to check understanding. The important thing no matter what is explaining the purpose of homework and making sure your students know why they are doing homework.

 

Study Tools with Growing Technology

            As a third-year math education major at South Dakota State, math exams have been on my plate since I started my post high school education. As this week ends, I just finished two exams over the course of the week, so as you could imagine I did my fair share of studying this week. I have never been great at studying nor have I ever enjoyed it. I thought to myself, “how can I make this experience easier for my students?” As time passes and technology gets more innovative, the cluster and sheer number of options for our students to utilize while studying can become overwhelming. Being a student in a time of such rapid growth in technology has shown me firsthand how exhausting it can be to siphon through it all.
            Studying is one of the aspects that the teacher doesn’t have nearly as much control over. It is the responsibility of the student to put in the appropriate amount of time and effort into studying, so that they can get the outcome they want to achieve. While this is true, I believe that technology has provided teachers an easier way to help students with their studying. Because most schools have an online program that they use to assign homework and such, it is the perfect location to provide students with ample material to use to study. This can be more than just practice exams and study guides. While those are great tools provided to students, there is so much more technology has to offer. One great tool I’ve used these past three years is YouTube. YouTube as hundreds of channels that can provide short lessons on a topic. A couple channels I’ve found incredibly useful are patrickJMT and 3Blue1Brown. Now while I do say that YouTube is a great tool, it is important to remember how troublesome or dangerous it can be. As a future teacher, I want to provide students with great channels that can serve as a helpful tool or second voice in the learning process. I believe it is the responsibility of the teacher to provide their students with channels they have watched and trust.
             One last tool I’ve found is an incredible tool that was just recently come into use of education is Zoom and other tools like it. Zoom may be the only good thing to come out of the COVID-19 period of time. Not only does Zoom provide a way for students to attend class while they are sick or need to be home for whatever reason, it also allows the student and teacher to connect better. I believe the teacher is the most useful study tool that a student can use when studying for an exam. Before Zoom, once a student went home, the only way get in contact with their teacher was for them to email them and hope for a response. Zoom is a great way for students to ask their teachers a question about their studying while also getting a verbal response when they aren’t at school.
            Overall, as technology continues to rapidly grow, so will the ways students can study. It is the responsibility of the teacher to select the best options that will allow their students to succeed. 

Screen Time for College Students

    Technology has become even more prevalent in education in the past year in ways that we may have never imagined it to.  In February 2020, if you had told me or any of my classmates that one month later the only way we would be able to attend class would be virtually, we probably would’ve thought you were crazy.  However, COVID-19 managed to make that crazy thought a reality.  One day we were leaving for spring break, a week later we’re told that we get an “extra week of spring break,” and then the next week we’re told that the university, along with every other school in the country, would not be holding face-to-face classes for the rest of the semester.  All of our class meetings were now held over Zoom, discussion posts became the one of the only ways of communicating with our peers, and all of our assignments were turned in using technology.  I was one of the “lucky” ones.  My adjustment to online classes was pretty simple, since three of my classes were already fully online, one of them already offered a Zoom option for students who couldn’t make it to class, and the fifth class was one that could be taught through PowerPoint slides and didn’t require any virtual meetings.  

            College students all over the world have had to learn how to adjust to their education being taught almost fully, if not fully online.  Multiple pinned tabs for different homework websites and new accounts created for each of them.  But when does the technological aspect of school become too much?  I thought about how much screen time I have for school-related purposes during a week:

1.     Discussion posts: 45 minutes

2.     At least 4 math assignments: averaging about an hour for each

3.     1 journal entry: about 30 minutes

4.     Reading articles: about 1 hour

5.     Looking at a screen in class: about 8 hours

These all add up to about 14 hours of school-related screen time each week.  Of course, this does not include additional projects or assignments that vary from week to week.  Sometimes it feels like I never get a break from my laptop or do anything school related without technology.  I never go to sleep anymore without charging it in fear that I will unexpectedly need it at some point the next day in class.  This time spent looking at a computer screen can really start to mess with your eyes and your head.  For example, just earlier this week I was working on assignments for what seemed like several hours throughout the day.  By the time I was finally finished, I had such a bad migraine that I couldn’t even look at my phone long enough to watch a TikTok, and all I wanted to do was go to sleep so that I could close my eyes.  Sometimes I wish school would go back to how it used to be.  Most assignments were done on paper and articles were usually paper copies that were handed out to read, rather than everything being on a computer screen.  I also think there is a correlation with how distracted I am while doing homework on a computer versus on paper.  When I do homework on my computer, I am easily distracted by notifications that pop up or ads on websites, which lead me to spend more time on my computer and leading to even more screen time.

            The recommended screen time per day is two hours.  My screen time every day is much higher than what is recommended.  Based on my average from earlier, I spend about 2 hours looking at a screen everyday (including weekends).  Outside of school, I use my phone for social media and to play games to pass time.  I also use a computer screen at the restaurant where I work.  Staring at a computer screen (especially while focusing on reading articles, typing an essay, or taking notes during a lecture), causes you to blink less and makes your eyes dry out quicker.  Your eyes can also just become tired from looking at a screen for a long period of time, which can lead to headaches or migraines.  

            It is important for students who spend more than the recommended screen time on a computer to take breaks, turn the brightness down in darker rooms, and to turn on “night mode” if it is available.  Night mode is pretty common in social media.  Turning the whole screen black instead of white takes a lot of strain off of the eyes.  However, some programs that we use for school, such as Microsoft Word, homework websites like WebAssign, and D2L do not always have this mode available, and we are stuck looking at a bright white screen all the time.  Some computers have settings that can either be automatically or manually turned on in darker rooms that causes the white screens to not appear as bright or white to also help prevent eye strain.  There are many other steps that can be followed to help prevent dry eyes or eye fatigue.  However, even following these simple steps can help make a huge difference. 

A Teacher's Search for a Technological Elixir

           With the plethora of technology that is available to educators, it is quite daunting to be held responsible for implementing the best products into one’s classroom. It seems like everyday more and more software flashes across the screen with a new twist claiming this development will be the one tool that will launch your students into success never dreamt before. Then, there is the situation of being reluctant to envelop any new technology since the techniques and teaching styles being used now are already proving to be effective. What is the right move? What is the right course of action to take in this age where technology is calling the shots?

Before that question is answered, let me share a thought that I have frequently. For a while, I have been keeping mental notes of what the supposed “best” way to distribute and share mathematical course material is. Here are some of the main contenders: SmartBoard, generic whiteboard, document camera, slideshows, and videos. Out of all of these, I am proud to say that my favorite is (drumroll please. . . ) using a simple whiteboard! I have concluded that the whiteboard is my favorite medium through which I am taught because of the following. When a teacher writes on a whiteboard, the information is tangible; I could go up to the board and touch the markings on the board, look at my hand, and see the residue of the EXPO markers on my fingertips. The fact that there is no obstruction between by mind and the whiteboard is fantastic. Now, let us analyze the document camera and a slideshow. When mathematical material appears here, it still is right in front of me; I can see it and learn from it clearly. However, if I went up to the screen and reached out my hand, I would not see its remains left upon my skin.

Now I must clarify that I do very much enjoy learning from the document camera and slideshows; I can testify I am still learning the material. There is just a tangible factor about the whiteboard that none of its counterparts possess. Now how can I say this? The whiteboard is old news, an anachronism. Surely newer technology has already perfected the idea of a whiteboard and overcome its shortfalls? The answer to this question is yes and no; it is here where the truth resides. We will all have different preferences on technology! No one product is going to be everyone’s favorite or do the best job. As a student I prefer the whiteboard, but as a teacher my stance could change. As a teacher it will be important to remember that just because I am the head of the classroom does not mean I must use my favorite applications all the time, every single day. Not only will students become tried from the monotony, but also they want their favorite applications to be used! We need to learn how to think of technology as a toolkit of equally helpful methods and styles, and not a contest of which technology is best and which is worst.

           As young teachers enter the classroom, creating new notes on slideshows, composing Kahoots, and mastering the art of generating videos can be inundating. Experienced teachers know that finding a balance and personal groove can take years to figure out, so don’t stress. When we ask ourselves the question what the best course of action in a technologically dominated realm is, the answer is there is no perfect app or perfect software. There is no right way; rather, use many different tactics, and keep students guessing every time they walk into your classroom. A teacher’s search for a technological elixir ends right when he or she looks into the mirror. Just like Batman’s utility belt, we have the capacity to use what is at our disposal, no matter how antediluvian or modernized.

Technology's Impact on Math Homework

After my classmates and I shared different educational apps with each other in our Technology for STEM Educators class this week, there seemed to be a common theme running with almost half of them.  While a few of the apps were amplifiers that consisted primarily of creating more effective and efficient ways for students to learn and grow, many were just apps that churn out answers for students.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of apps that solve equations for students who need only to take a picture of their problem without putting forth any effort. These apps pose a problem for educators and make assigning homework and evaluating students a challenge. Cheating has always been and always will be something students find a way to accomplish whether it be with homework, tests, or quizzes, and these apps make it so easy that even kids who may not have cheated before will use it. These apps and other related software have become so commonplace that even social media giant Snapchat has included a feature on their app that solves problems for students. While if used effectively, these apps could be great for students to turn to when stuck on a problem, this is not what students do.  

We as future educators need to realize the popularity of these apps and realize that while it is almost impossible to keep our students from using them outside of the classroom, we must prioritize learning rather than getting the right answer. Too often students are so focused on getting the right answer and not following the right processes to obtaining them that they miss the whole point of the assignment. Students chasing an A+ on every assignment by taking the easy route will have more trouble when it comes to future tests or problem solving in their future careers. These apps are something students turn to way too quickly rather than struggling with a couple homework problems and becoming better learners.

While it would be easy to knock the students for taking the easy way out with these apps, I think it is essential that teachers find ways to make it less appealing to use these solvers. This reaction might come in the form of flipped classrooms, homework having a lesser impact on final grades, or having regular quizzes to ensure students have a solid grasp on the material and the processes. Controlling the learning process while students are in my classroom seems to be the most important way of doing things and keeping control of students learning. While completely giving up on assigning homework is not the right decision, assigning hours of homework every night can oftentimes be counterproductive. I know that when I was in high school, having activities and up to 5 other classes where homework was due, I sometimes found it impossible to completely immerse myself into the homework. Having smaller grade percentages based on homework can help students realize mistakes can be a good thing and struggling through an assignment can end up helping them out in the long run.

As they are new, these apps and recent technologies have many positive impacts, yet some pose many problems to education, and it will be our job as future teachers to find ways to combat cheating and find ways to make learning their best option.

Should Educators Continue Some Form of Online Learning

     The Spring 2020 semester started and I'm sure many educators thought that it was going to be another regular semester. Oh they could not have been more wrong. As we all know from experience, COVID-19 hit the world by storm and flipped most lives upside down. Educators were not immune to this struggle at all. Teachers all over frantically figured out how to work ZOOM and post lectures and online content so their students could receive the education they need. That semester could not have gone worse for most teachers.

    While this time of struggle was not enjoyable for many, it did bring out some creative and innovative ways to get students to learn away from the school classroom setting. During this time teachers were able to figure out how to record lectures so students could see what was taught even if they weren't in class. On top of that, ZOOM allowed for students to attend live class and have real life/time experiences with their teachers while learning. These kinds of innovations allowed for many classes to progress educationally during the difficult times.

    As a student, I enjoyed having all of these online resources to go to. Although I attended every single class (alright maybe not, but let's say I did), I found myself forgetting specific things my professor said about a topic. Before Spring 2020, I would have been freaked out because I would have to go to classmates or the teacher themselves to get the information. With the increase of use of technology and online resources, I was able to just find the lecture and get the information from there. I think from a student point of view, online learning and resources can allow for enhanced learning outside of the classroom.

    As a future educator, I can't help but feel bad for most teachers during this time. Teaching by itself is a job that requires lot of hours and focus to ensure students are getting proper education and a good learning environment. Teachers during this time not only had to fulfill these duties, but also pump out online content and record lectures to make sure students could learn. This essentially doubles the job of the teacher, so the question has to be asked: should educators continue with some form of online learning for their students? An obvious answer to the problem would be to pay teachers more so they feel the extra work and hours are well worth it, but unfortunately this will probably not happen for the foreseeable future. I think that it would be very beneficial for all kinds of students to have recorded classes to go back to when they miss class. While this might encourage more kids purposefully skipping class, I think it would be helpful for students to still receive the lesson rather than no learning at all.

    Overall, COVID has produced various types of new classrooms that allow for students to learn. These new types of classrooms utilize technology to produce education outside of the classroom. I hope that in the future more teachers can utilize these technologies to enhance their classroom and the overall learning experience for their students.

    

Will the younger generation keep up with technology forever?

I am confident that I am well versed with technology at this point in my life.  I cannot say the same for my grandparents.  My grandparents on both sides of my family both struggle with technology in their daily lives.  My grandma does not have wifi, a laptop, or even a cell phone.  She is not interested in it at all.  My other grandparents have an early 2000s computer and a tablet, but do not have the knowledge to use it at an advanced level.  I am sure this is also the case in many families around the world.  I want to answer the question: Will the younger generation today stay up to date with technology for the rest of their lives?

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate.  With the pandemic, technology has changed forever.  Not only has it advanced during this time, but new forms of technology have also been developed.  No one knows what technology is going to look like in 20+ years.  

I have had teachers that used technology to enhance their class, but I have also had teachers that do not want to use technology at all in the classroom.  Usually the teachers that do not want to use technology are the ones that are in the later stages of their careers.  I think this is because they are used to the way they teach.  Soon many of my classmates and I will start our teaching careers.  We will all be able to use the technology that we have learned in class, but will we evolve with the technology in our classrooms once new technology arrives?  Will we be forced to change our classrooms as technology changes?  I want to think that I will be able to keep learning new technology, but the older generation says otherwise.  Many older teachers are choosing not to evolve with the times and implement technology in their daily classrooms.  This has changed because of COVID-19, but once the virus is controlled we may see more teachers going back to their old habits.  I know many teachers that prefer using a pencil and paper.    

Once my generation of teachers experiences new technology, will we be willing to learn something new and implement it into our classrooms during the later stages of our careers?  I hope that if this technology enhances learning, my generation will learn it and use it.  I think that teachers need to be willing to give up what they know and learn something new for a better learning experience.  Throughout my education some teachers have not changed in many years.  I want the new generation of teachers to learn new technology and never “settle” in the way they teach.  We need to be open to learning a new program or piece of technology even if we are 50-60 years old.  We need to change the stereotypical “older” teacher.  Also, since our students will most likely be using this technology we, as teachers, need to use it as well.  If we can understand the technology students already know, then both sides can create positive learning in the classroom.

Some older teachers have implemented technology in their classrooms pre-COVID, but not all of them have.  I want my generation of teachers to change their classrooms for their entire teaching careers as long as it enhances our students’ ability to learn.  Again, I think my generation of teachers needs to change with the times and not fall into old habits.  As the world’s educational technology changes, teachers need to change as well.

Use Technology to Understand Other Technology

 

Recently, I had the opportunity to use and work with MATLAB for the first time.  MATLAB is a programming platform that is used to help aid in complex calculations that would otherwise be difficult to do by hand or some other method.  Because this was the first time that I had ever used this software, I was a little concerned on how well I would be able to navigate through the program in order to complete the tasks that my Linear Algebra professor had assigned us.

The tasks that were asked of us were to perform different types of elementary row operations on a specific matrix in order to achieve the outcome desired.  First, we needed to define a matrix.  I should probably mention that, during class the day before, our professor went over some basics of MATLAB.  In this case, I was able to define the matrix rather easily because that was one of the things we went over in class.  Then, we were supposed to perform different operations on this matrix in order to manipulate it.  This turned into a bit of a challenge for me, especially when it came to the last task where we were supposed to create a for loop that would sift through the matrix, find a row that contained all zeros, and replace that row with the numbers 2020 and 2021.  At first glance, I got pretty discouraged because that seemed like a very complicated feat, for me anyway.

After being stumped for a good while, I was enlightened by this insane idea that popped in my head.  Technology can help with understanding other technology.  Crazy right.  Who would have ever thought that this would be true?  Sure enough, it is.  Knowing this, I will say that Google was my friend in trying to figure out some of the steps that I had no idea on how to complete.  However, looking up something on the internet is not always as easy as it seems nor was it for me in this situation.  Though, in the end, I was able to figure it out.

Since I have taken a couple of computer science classes here at SDSU, some of this programming stuff was a little familiar to me.  Even further yet, while taking these two classes, I developed a small appreciation, if you will, for programming because of the way I feel after being stumped and then figuring out a way around a certain problem that pops up.   Anyway, I think that this experience may have aided me when I was looking up how to do things on Google because I understood what needed to happen, I just was not sure on how to do it in MATLAB necessarily.  Not only that but I have experience with what it is like to come to a halt in the process and the feeling of what it is like after you get past that obstacle.  In this way, I feel like that was another driving factor for me while working on this assignment.  However, others with no experience may have found it difficult to look up how to do certain things or even struggle with having the drive to continue after coming to a spot in a problem that seems impossible to figure out.  But I’m here to tell you to not hang your head or say you will not find a way because more times than not you will figure out the steps necessary to get through it.  Oh, and by the way, a helpful tip that I would also suggest is to not forget to use technology as another resource to help you understand other technology when you need to.

When Technology is Frustrating

Last Tuesday at the beginning of the STEM Technology course, I tried to display the computer on the screen. I hit all the needed buttons and I tried other things, but it wouldn't work. Finally I emailed Classroom Technology Services and they came over and fixed it. Even better--the tech showed me what was wrong so I could look for that issue if I encountered the same problem in the future.

On Wednesday I am in the same classroom for History of Math and I went to display the document camera on Zoom.  I followed all the steps that I used last semester, switched cameras multiple times, and it didn't work. After class I asked Dr. Larson if she had the same issue that morning in her class, and she did. I think it may have worked on Friday, but I am not convinced.

So this is a blogpost for the technology class--why would I be negative in this post? I am not trying to be negative, but rather I am being realistic. Technology isn't going to work perfectly every time we use it so we have to have a backup plan for everything. As a teacher, we must not only learn how to use technology, we have to learn how to troubleshoot problems, and we have to have a backup plan. Don't let anyone tell you that teaching is an easy job--it is not. Those that say it is have no idea what we do every day and frequently they don't respect what we do. So the first thing you need to do to prepare for a career as a teacher is to get thick skin.