ADDIE Model: Development Phase

After looking into each of the different tools that were provided this week, the one that I chose to use for my project will be Edmodo.  Of the tools that were presented, I have only used Google Sites before taking this course, and although I like that resource, I wanted to try something new.  Between Moodle and Edmodo, I instantly sided with Edmodo.  As I watched the introductory videos, Edmodo seemed simple to use with a very clean interface.  Furthermore, there was something very familiar about the design of the course management tool...it looks exactly like Facebook.  

Not only is that appealing to me, it will undoubtedly be engaging for the students to be able to interact for class on an educational site that feels just like a social networking site.  The site is very simple to use and posting materials, comments, and assignments is extremely easy and quick to do.  Another key feature is the security side of the site.  As a teacher in this day and age, you have to be extremely careful how you communicate with your students (making sure you follow your district's acceptable use policy, get signed consent forms for communication, etc.).  Edmodo makes the security side of things very easy, and it is great to have this real separation between social networking and educational social networking.  Additionally, the courses are by invite only using the course code, so you can easily manage the members and monitor everything that is going on.

For my curricular project, the students will be investigating systems of complex inequalities and eventually creating interactive presentations of their own.  This project will have to be broken down into many assignments in order to accomplish the task, so Edmodo will make it easy to post assignments, deadlines, and grades for the students.  Furthermore, it will allow for students to ask any questions of me or their classmates as we are progressing through the project.

The first thing I will post will be the links and materials necessary for the students to gain the conceptualizations needed to solve these types of problems.  A great resource that I reviewed last week, was Khan Academy and the video tutorials that go along with that.  I will be able to post the videos that I find the most helpful in the best order for the students to work their way through the solutions.  Following this stage, I will be able to post assignments that students will submit for a grade based on the completion and correctness of their practice assignment.  Eventually, when they get to designing their own presentations, I can post helpful links and tutorial videos for how to use Prezi and Vuvox for the students to explore.  I was concerned at first how I could embed Edmodo into my project, but I quickly realized that its a seamless transition to using this course management site for my project.

iPad App Review: Khan Academy

The Khan Academy app is a helpful app that provides mobile access to the educational database compiled by Salman Khan.  Khan Academy is an online collection of video tutorials covering topics and concepts within many content areas (Math, Science, Health, Finance, Computer Science, etc.).

It is incredible how many different topics are covered in the Khan Academy database.  As a math teacher, my focus was on the quality of the mathematics tutorials, and it is really impressive.  The variety of concepts that are covered makes this app an invaluable resource for students of any age that need extra support with their mathematics courses.  Khan narrates the entire time that he is working, and many times the subtitles are included with the video.  The majority of his work is completed using a black backdrop (sometimes with a graph) and he writes with what appears to be a mouse or stylus on a computer screen.  Although it can at times get a little sloppy, the overall quality is good given the circumstances.  The mathematics he uses is sound and easy to follow along with.

When looking at some of the other content areas available it appears that some of the other material uses a similar display to the math tutorials, but many others are homemade videos with real recordings.  All of the videos are well done and provide great insight if a student was to use this as a supplement to their classroom experience.  Furthermore,  it can be a great resources for educators who need to brush up on old and forgotten material that they may be using for the first time since college.

A fun addition that I found on the app was the library of "Lebron Asks" tutorials, where Khan responds to educational questions that Lebron James asks (ex. "What is the probability I make 10 free throws in a row?") A great way to engage the audience that may not have normally used an educational resource like this.

In conclusion, I give this app a 4.5/5.  It is a phenomenal resources for students, as well as, teachers who need any support with new or old concepts in their classroom.  It is easy to use and very informative in each of the videos.  One of the only issues that arise is with the quality of the videos that Khan is writing with what appears to be a mouse on a computer.  Also, on the Khan Academy website there are practice problems that are paired with the lessons, and on the app they have not included that  reinforcement.  If they eventually include the practice to go along with the video library, this would be a perfect app for all of our students.

            

ADDIE- Design Phase

For this project, the focus is on solving systems of complex inequalities through the use of a digital tutorial.  Additionally, students will create their own student presentations of the process for solving the systems and share them with their classmates.  The learning goal will be for the class to increase scores from a pre-test to a post-test by a margin of 15% or more.  Many of the activities included will be completed through the successful completion of the tutorial, and will also be demonstrated through the completion of their presentations on vuvox or prezi. 

I find this method to be really helpful and somewhat surprising. You do not realize how much goes into the instruction of a single learning goal until it is broken down like we have with the action maps.  From the overall goal to the activities designed and the prior knowledge necessary, it is surprising to see how deeply you can dig into just one single concept within the large curriculum.