Amistad Project

I admit--I was intrigued by the description of the Amistad Project (http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/portfolio/repositories_and_reference_tools/amistad.html): I've been fascinated with La Amistad's place in the history of slavery and race relations.  It's an amazing story--how a group of slaves commander a ship, land in New Haven, and gain enough support from the local community that John Quincy Adams defends them.  Really--an amazing story, that even the movie didn't do justice to--although the reproduction ship which travels the world spreading the message of the Amistad around the world tries to help keep that experience alive (Their website, currently under construction, is https://amistadamerica.net/Home_Page.php)

Imagine my surprise when the Amistad project at Columbia included not a single mention of the Amistad itself.  Don't get me wrong--it's a nicely organized online textbook on race relations in the United States in the 20th century.  The three modules: Plantation to Ghetto, the Civil Rights Era, and The Future in the Present, are reasonably organized.  Each is divided into discrete sections, and includes video, audio, and images--although they are more isolated from the text than I would prefer.  The text and content are at a fairly to very high level, clearly geared towards high school students and up, rather than a younger audience.  Also, it's not particularly easy to navigate between modules--it's not impossible, but it's not entirely intuitive either.  Using an accordion bar on the left could have made it much easier.

When I ignore the title of the project, it's a nice change from a traditional textbook--although they could clearly push the envelope further.  But I keep coming back to the title--why call it the Amistad project if it has nothing to do with that particular event.  Maybe as they continue to develop modules (the website says 6 more may be added) the connection will become clear--but as of right now, I must admit to a fair amount of confusion.

Animations

One of my favorite puzzle games when I just need to relax for a bit is a 4-peg codebreaking game, often called Mastermind.  You, the player, need to guess the correct sequence of colored pegs in a finite number of guesses.  After each guess, you get feedback: a white peg for each peg that is the correct color but in the wrong order, and a black peg for each peg that is in the correct sequence.  It’s a great game for working on logical reasoning skills and developing strategy, if you’re creating your own, you can start simple with only a handful of colors, or create something more complex for a higher degree of difficulty.  One of my favorite traditional versions of the game is at: http://www.web-games-online.com/mastermind/, but check out this adaptation for girls using fashion design and espionage instead of colored pegs: http://www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/fashion-spy-dress-for-danger.jsp.  Enjoy!

Animation

I'll admit it--I grew up watching and loving the Disney movies--and thoroughly enjoy Pixar films, Futurama, and other animated offerings.  I admit it--as film mediums, they are amazing, and a great source of entertainment.  For education, however, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really like them.  Perhaps its because too many websites seem to go overboard on their animations--and I've never seen a good one to help teach mathematics.

My third year of teaching, we piloted using a self-paced remedial math program that was designed around having each student help teach a purple alien mathematics.  While the program was mostly marketed to Elementary and Middle school-aged children, we were told it was appropriate for "early High School" students as well.  To a student, within three weeks, each student in our test group complained that the program was "juvenile," "silly," and/or "baby-ish."  Even though they legitimately needed the help the program would provide around the mathematics, they weren't willing to deal with the animated alien interface to get to the practice--and I can't blame them.

One of my pet peeve websites is www.coolmath.com.  When I first started using this website for enrichment and practice with students, it was a kaliedoscopic carnival of colors, flashing icons, and a custom cursor.  While it's been toned down a fair amount, it's sill not anywhere near a pleasant site to look at.  I guess my overexposure to bad animations--those "oh, look at me--I can create moving flashing lights!" sorts of interfaces has blinded me to any kinds of good animation on the web.  I'm still looking--but especially in thinking about working with high school age students and up, I wonder whether animation is ever more effective than live video.

Math TV

I'll admit it--I used this website, http://www.mathtv.com/, frequently in the classroom.  There's an amazing amount of work here that's been done not only creating individual videos aligned to specific topics AND specific question types...but also to create multiple solutions!  It's one of the things I love about math--while there may be a "standard process," there's almost always more than one correct way to solve a problem.  And by showing multiple solution strategies to students--that come from somewhere other than just me--I can help to highlight that facet of mathematics for them.  True, it often leads to someone someday using it as justification for an incorrect solution or one that only works by happenstance...but that just lets me discuss the difference between "multiple correct solutions" and "every solution is correct."  Ah, the nuances of mathematics!  I had a few students enjoy this website so much that they wanted to create their own version--unfortunately something that never quite took off--and others who developed favorite video creators who they'd try to find anytime they needed help.  While it wasn't always the first way I showed a student how to do something mathematically, this has been a fabulous resource for me.

Warning: Digital Natives?

I'm tired of hearing people say, "Students know how to use technology." I am!  While there are a multitude of statistics that imply that young adults--really anyone born after about 1980--use (and love) technology, too many individuals and organizations use this as a blanket statement.  It may be the majority of individuals--but I'd be hard pressed to agree that it was everyone.

For me, it's extremely dangerous to assume that because of someone's age, they are intuitively capable--or even interested--in technology.  Although many studies indicate that "digital natives" are more likely to be users of technology, the ways in which they are using technologies can be very different than the academic uses.  Being able to text and update Facebook, for example, are important skills for communicating--but often decidedly unhelpful when it comes to academic assignments.  No professor or teacher that I know would accept a formal essay written in texting style.  These differences between formal and informal uses of technology can often be barriers to learning with technology.  Identifying--and explicitly instructing on these issues--is often key in helping "digital natives" become successful in using technology in academic, and even career applications.

With each of these videos, I was instinctively apprehensive about the implicit conclusion that current students need to be taught with technology.  There are too many ways that technology can be used as a band-aid, rather than in appropriate pedagogical ways.  Videos like these--and indeed Prensky-ism in general--seems to be used as evidence that any technology is good technology.  And for me, using technology badly is worse than not using it at all.

Menu Planning Website

For my course project, I'm working on creating a website that will provide a week's worth of healthy and flavorful recipes, designed for busy individuals who are not used to cooking at home. This week, I scoured the internet to find a website that might be a good model for what I'm planning to create, and found one that has some good characteristics...and also some ways that I might change and improve their design and organization for my particular implementation.

Eat At Home: Everyday Food for Busy People (http://eatathomecooks.com/) is a blog that publishes a weekly feature with pre-planned meals (6 dinners and one dessert). The current menu (http://eatathomecooks.com/2010/10/menu-grocery-list-recipes-year-2-week-8.html) features several slow cooker recipes to be prepared before work, and then several that can be completed quickly. In addition, there is a PDF shopping list, organized by type (produce, dairy), and including printable versions of each recipe. Each recipe includes clear, concise directions, and the online versions also include several images of the finished dish and/or steps along the way. While the recipes aren't always ones that I'm interested in eating, the layout and organization does make it easy to use the entire set.

What I find frustrating about this site, however, is its organization. Since the site has multiple purposes, it isn't always easy to see what recipes are there--and what the week's meals are once you get further into the week. Also, once you navigate to the individual recipe, the only way back to the weekly plan is the "back" button on the browser--there's no link between it. Finally, there is little support or illumination in the recipes themselves. While there are images, they are often only raw ingredients and finished dishes--not intermediary steps to clarify directions. In addition, there is no clear resource for understanding specific vocabulary--such as the difference between "dice" and "mince." The overall layout is cluttered with advertisements and non-helpful links, with no defining characteristics for the active parts of the page (where the recipe is). I am impressed that they've been producing weekly dinner plans for families for over 2 years now, however, there really isn't an easy way to go backwards in time to find older recipes, or any running organization for meals sorted by main ingredient, cooking time, etc. While I may borrow some of their recipes for my site, I think there's enough that needs to be changed about its organization and flow so that mine will be distinct from this environment.

podcasts!

I'll admit--I'm not a huge fan of podcasts. I've never really gotten into the serialized format as a listener, and as a creator of media, I'm a bit stumped by how best to use the format for education. As a learner, the only podcast I listen to with any regularity is Marc Finn's Irish and Celtic Music podcast (WWW.celticmusic.com). It's a great way to hear new bands and tunes, interspersed with the occasional artist interview. Each podcast is about an hour long, and includes songs and narration. It's almost always entertaining--and often informative as a survey of upand coming bands.

What music podcasts do you listen to?

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