"Technology & Pedagogy"

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnE_xOcbOMXodDAyUFdPUUs3X2pNYVdNVC1YRUVzRlE&usp=sharing

I chose this particular lesson for two reasons. First, when it comes to online activities and and integrating technology into math I feel as though geometry does it the best. Because geometry is such a visual topic finding different programs to show triangle or circle constructions is very simple. But also makes learning geometry fun and interesting which helps because of how dry a subject geometry can be for many students. The second reason is because I have personally done this project myself in class so I had a firm grasp of how the lesson plan worked and what was being asked of the students.

The biggest gap between the goals for this project and the strategies is the fact that it doesn't mention the introduction of theorems to help the students construct the different triangles until the end of the lesson. When I did this project I had a whole class period on how to use a compass and straightedge to construct the different triangles where as these students seem to have just been asked to attempt this without any direction. To me this is an easy fix by including that kind of lesson first or perhaps that is not an issue because this lesson is one of many in a whole unit and the tools to find these different triangles was already taught to the students.

The use of the Triangle Classification online activity was not essential to achieving the curriculum goals. The use of this program was more of an after thought used to reenforce the topic and skills the students were practicing. If I were teaching the lesson I would use Geometers Sketchpad to generate the triangle constructions because it allows you to show more than the program Illuminations offers.

"History of Technology in Math"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TI-biju.jpg 

The loss of basic math skills.

"Technology Autobiography"

The three most influential technologies in my life would have to be my smart phone, facebook, and online forums. To me my phone is my life to the point that if I don't have it on me I feel naked. My phone keeps me up to date in every area of my life. I can browses the internet for places to go or read up on articles about my interests in math, teaching, and yugioh. My email is sent straight to my phone so I am always kept up to date on everything that is going on in my classes, my hobbies, my work, and my education. All this on top of letting me stay in touch with my friends and family through text messages and phone calls. 

My second most influential technology has to be facebook. Facebook has to be the thing that changed my life for the better and the worse. In high school all my friends talked about their facebooks and were always nagging me to make one for myself. I never really saw the point but towards the end of senior year I thought it would be a good way to keep in touch with my friends as we went off to college so I broke down and made one. First two years of college facebook controlled my life I was on 24/7, every time I opened a web browser it was the first place I went instinctively. I got so distracted my grades started to slip. At that point enough was enough so I deleted it for several months. After my life was back together I reactivated it. However, this time I use self control and it has worked out. Everything I know goes through facebook my friends post news articles on facebook about current events, under the radar events, and events that relate to our hobbies. I follow the groups that interest me and they post even more information about current news and other media. So even though facebook almost ruined my life it is also one of the most informative things currently in it.

The last technology I would like to talk about is one that many may not be familiar with, that is online forums. The thing I enjoy about online forums is that there is literally something out there for everyone. No matter what your hobby or interest you can find people with the same interests that post stories or articles or links to related articles in an organized place. As I mentioned previously I am into card games mostly yugioh. I started posting in several yugioh forums when I was 13 and have stayed an active member in these places ever since. However, as I grew up my love for information gathering and discussion with like minded people on these types of forums have not been limited to just yugioh. I have recently started to read and subscribe to forums that are in the fields of both education and mathematics two things that I am equally passionate about. The

Some similarities I found between my use of technology and the students in the videos are our ability to use something that we enjoy or are passionate about in our own education and betterment. The students were able to take things like video games or taking photos and relate them to everyday school and real life activities. The glaring difference is the students abilities to use these technologies. Where they have advance understanding and can manipulate the technology to do what they want I can really only comprehend technology in its basic understanding.