Improving Technology Expertise in Mathematics

InstructorsMaria H. Andersen, Muskegon Community College

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

~ Carl Sagan

How do you take a digital immigrant, and turn them into a

digital native?

Two problems:

1. Many instructors are not aware that technology exists that will suit their instructional needs.

2. Instructors overestimate their knowledge of the technology they do use.

Teach them threshold skills:• creating a web page• managing web links• understanding file types• searching the Internet• email management• Internet plug-ins• screen captures• fill in the gaps in their existing

technology knowledge• lesson their computer anxiety• make them at ease with

experimentation

Teaching in the Digital Age is so radically different, that instructors

must be updated.Seeing is Believing:

Before I saw the presentation at the MAA conference, online teaching is something that I had never thought about. I had a completely different idea about online teaching. I thought that the only way that that it could be done is by taking a video of a professor teaching in class or by a power point presentation with audio. I was not sure how that would be an effective way of teaching Math. Maria's presentation was an eye-opener. When I saw the sample video (with Camtasia studio), I was convinced that Math can be taught online.

~ Professor at small Liberal Arts College

Summary Comments:

The quantity of information was amazing and the feeling of community will help support the new found knowledge. I would highly recommend this workshop to anyone with any interest in technology and I would recommend it to anyone with NO interest in technology as it is part of our world whether we are comfortable with it or not. No one individual will ever know everything that is available; however, as a community we can explore and develop and share the information and thus establish a better educational community for ourselves and our students.

~ Workshop Participant, 2008

How do you see the use of this tool helping you

professionally?• Organization of Web Links: Bookmarks "follow me" to the classroom & lab

computers. Also, I was not comfortable going outside of my school platforms, so getting on Google and g-mail was quite liberating.

• Internet Searching: I will use them a ton to help become a better educator and find interesting things to engage my students.

• Digital Material Libraries: I was surprised by the amount of information out there on just a few sites. I can see using lots of the web sites with students.

• Screen Capture (SnagIt): It's SO COOL! I was surprised at how easy it is to create and use mouseovers, and how good they can make your websites look. I'm excited to try it for all sorts of new activities, demonstrations, tutorials and my website.

• Advanced Word: Agenda, conference/workshop agendas, notes, lectures, tests …

• Video Capture (Camtasia): Creating professional development demos for colleagues. Also, some short tutorials on the most difficult of topics in my classes.

Where are instructors getting math-specific training for online

pedagogy?At their colleges?No. Colleges are providing training on how to use the LMS (learning management system). A few participants were aware of an online pedagogy course at their college (not math-specific).

At conferences?Rarely. Those that had attended something mentioned day-long workshops sponsored by the textbook publishing companies.

Shouldn’t they get it somewhere?

Learning Communities that emerged …

• Collection of materials for SmartBoards

• National data collection effort

• Digital Materials for Developmental Math

• Digital Materials for Algebra

• Grant-writing workshop

• Digital Video Library for Mathematics