At the completion of the discussion symposium on the Jasper Woodbury series, a number of issues have either appeared as recurring themes or of particular interest to me. Overall, the discussion centered on the idea that the series, when implemented as intended, made good use of constructivism and problem based learning but that the series was somewhat dated. It is somewhat surprising that the Jasper Woodbury series has not visibly been brought into the 21st Century, either with new videos or through making use of the internet.
During our discussion, a number of people commented how the Jasper Series used constructivism and collaboration to help students learn to solve real-life problems. This met one of the series’ goals to move away from rote, meaningless learning towards more authentic and deep learning. The technology provided a way to tell the story that was easy to move back and forth through (allowing students to go back to information they needed) and that reduced issues that poor literacy causes when students are attempting word problems. RM commented that the technology “mediated” between numeracy and literacy and let the students concentrate on the math.
The Jasper Series appeared to be innovative and creative when it was first introduced to North American teachers. It is unfortunate that such innovation seems to have fallen by the wayside. An internet search revealed out-of-date sites and no apparent newer, internet integrated versions of the series. Funding for updates may have been an issue, or perhaps teachers are now creating their own problems, however, updating a series such as this is an area that would be of great potential value to the educational community.