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Monday, July 18, 2011

EDMS 6474 E-Portfolio

E-Portfolio


This is the electronic portfolio for my EDMS 6474 which is part of the Master of Arts in Teaching program offered through Georgia On My Line.  The class analyzed the application of technology resources in middle school or high school education.  Technology can be used to improve instruction and enhance student engagement and understanding of lessons. 

The use of technology in classrooms is supported by federal legislation including the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 which provides grants to States to address the assistive technology needs of individuals with disabilities.  In Georgia, these grants are put to a variety of uses one of which includes the Georgia Project for Assistive Technology.  Among the resources available to Georgia students with special needs are the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program and Parent to Parent of Georgia.  A wide range of technology resources that can assist Georgia students with special needs can be found at Tools for Life at http://www.gatfl.org/.  Many of these technology resources are Web-based and are therefore available to students anywhere in the world, not just students in Georgia.  Speech, language and hearing technologies and resources in Georgia including medical and surgical resources can be found at http://web.memberclicks.com/mc/page.do?sitePageId=74712&orgId=gsa.   

A number of selected class projects, some of which might be able to be used in a high school or middle school classroom, are summarized briefly below.  Each summary contains a link to the complete project.

The projects are listed in the Table of Contents that follows:

1.      Lesson Plan on Arc Lengths
2.      Math Education Technology Review
3.      Science Education Technology Review
4.      Class Module on Dichotomous Keys
5.      Class Module on Using TI-80 Series Calculators in the Classroom
6.      Online Discussion Response Text
7.      Movie to Introduce and Motivate a Lesson on Exponents

Lesson Plan on Arc Lengths

This lesson employs Geometer's Sketchpad to help teach students how to calculate arc lengths.  Geometer's Sketchpad permits students to take a hands-on approach to learning about arc lengths.  They are able to make changes to geometric constructions and immediately see the results of those changes.  For arc lengths, this permits students to change the radius of a circle or the measure of a central angle of a circle and see the change to the measure of the arc length.  The lesson can be accessed here.

Math Education Technology Review

Trigonometry Solved!™ is software that provides step-by-step solutions to virtually any trigonometry problem.  This software will not only help students work through difficult homework problems, but it will help teach them the concepts underlying the work along the way.  A complete review of Trigonometry Solved!™ can be found here.

Science Education Technology Review

Virtual Chemistry Laboratory allows students to perform virtual chemistry experiments without the danger or expense that can be associated with actual chemistry experimentation.  In addition students can perform these virtual experiments from home.  The virtual experiments could be used to augment, replace, or prepare for actual experiments.  What makes this particular piece of classroom technology so useful is that it is free.  For more information about Virtual Chemistry Laboratory click here.

Class Module on Dichotomous Keys

Dichotomous keys guide users through a decision-making process to arrive at a particular conclusion.  For the EDMS 6474 class, I prepared a dichotomous key that allows a user to properly identify types of leaves.  To prepare the key which can be seen here, I used a digital camera and PowerPoint both of which can be put to good use in the classroom environment.

Class Module on Using TI-80 Series Calculators in the Classroom

The TI-80 series of calculators are a staple of the modern classroom and provide students with graphing, statistic, trigonometric, calculus, and programming functions.  There are numerous lessons available online from the Texas Instruments Web site.  I prepared a lesson plan (which is available at) utilizing one such lesson on logarithms.  Logarithms can be difficult for students to understand, and the use of technology might help them better understand this difficult topic.

Online Discussion Response

Throughout the semester, students in EDMS 6474 were expected to read chapters from Integrating Technology and make online posts regarding our readings.  My post concerning the chapters on using technology when teaching English and language arts as well as math and science can be found here.

Movie to Introduce and Motivate a Lesson on Exponents

I prepared a video introducing lessons on exponents.  The video (which can be accessed here) explores the importance of exponents and uses recent news events and topics that I hope students will find interesting and relevant to motivate lessons on exponents.  Video technology can help make lessons more engaging for students who have been raised with multimedia technology as a part of their daily lives.