Category Archives: Resource Sharing Forum

This resource share forum is a place for you and your peers to contribute free or low-cost digital resources to the whole class that exemplify the lesson topic, for example, “Knowledge Representation and Information Visualization for Learning Math or Science”.

Photomath

(click on the above icon to go to a video)

Photomath is a free mobile application that is available on Google Android and iOS.

Typically, I would explore an app I have used in my classroom and explain how it impacts students learning. On the other hand, I have decided to investigate Photomath (higher level math) because my own children (grade 8 and 10) have occasionally used this app to support their mathematical understanding.  I want to examine the affordances and drawbacks of using this app to understand more complex mathematical algebraic equations.

What does Photomath do?

Point your phone camera toward a math problem and Photomath will show the result with a detailed step-by-step instructions.

Photomath provides:

  • Camera calculator Handwriting recognition
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • Smart calculator
  • Graphs (NEW)

Photomath supports:

  • Operations with: Integers, Fractions, Decimal numbers, Powers, Roots, Logarithms
  • Algebraic expressions
  • Equations: Linear, Quadratic, Absolute value, Rational, Irrational, Logarithmic, Exponential, Trigonometric
  • Inequalities: Linear, Quadratic, Absolute value, Rational, Irrational, Logarithmic, Exponential
  • Solving Systems using: Comparison, Substitution, Elimination, Gauss-Jordan method and Cramer’s Rule
  • Calculus: Derivatives, Integrals
  • Trigonometry: Converting Angles, Calculating trigonometric values, Finding Periods of trigonometric functions, Calculating with trigonometric expressions
  • Graphs of Elementary Functions

Resource: https://photomath.net

In ETEC 565A: Learning Technologies: Selection, Design and Application, I was introduced to The SECTIONS model (Bates, A. W., & Poole, G. 2003), which is a framework for selecting and using technology. At the same time, Motiwalla, L. F. (2007) argued that mobile learning does not transcend instantly, rather educators need to learn how to apply appropriate pedagogies from both social and constructive and conversational theories.Bates, A. W., & Poole, G. (2003). Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley. 10475 Crosspoint Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46256.

Motiwalla, L. F. (2007). Mobile learning: A framework and evaluation. Computers & education, 49(3), 581-596.

 

Number talks

My school’s School Development Plan this year centres around improving math scores and one of the things we have been using to improve math fluency is number talks. I have found them particularly useful in my immersion context because it’s a way to get students talking in maths.

Number Talk Images has lots of good images that work well for primary students.

Which one doesn’t belong also generates a lot of good talk for my students.

All of these help my students see that there is often more than one path to follow in math problem solving and takes the pressure off of them for getting the “right” answer. I have seen them becoming more persistent problem solvers away from number talks.

I have not yet tried the zukei puzzles with my students but it’s something I’d like to try. Would love your thoughts on it!

Math and Science VR apps

My school recently received Google Cardboard viewers for each student in our school. We have been testing out different ways to integrated these into our classrooms. I have been looking at ways to use these in our math classrooms to help get some of our reluctant learners more excited. Our science teachers are excitedly looking for videos and apps that make science more “understandable” for those visual learners (less abstract). I know there are lots of videos on the solar system and human body, but I have not explored these ones yet.  

VR Math app – https://vrmath.co/

This app helps students see and learn about 3D shapes. It is free for students, but teachers need a subscription to access all the features (some are free though!). Students can work at their own pace. Watch the video in the website above for a quick intro. This app brings 3D shapes to life, rather than trying to teach students using drawings (some struggle to visualize 3D shapes on flat paper).

Times Tables VR app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.KhoraVR.MathGame&hl=en

This is a free app that gets students practicing their multiplication tables to 12. Most of my students  love it. We use it as a quick 5-10 minute warm-up at the beginning of class and the students can work on it when they are finished their in-class activity. I find it helps with those students who continue to struggle with their recall of facts.  

VR Human Digestive System app – https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/vr-human-digestive-system/id1049691297?mt=8

This app is free (it does have a couple of in-app purchase options, but these are not necessary) and has tons of different options for teachers and students, including  

1) Users can Zoom and Rotate the 3d model.

2) Students and teachers can Take apart each of the parts.

3) Each Part of the virtual reality model can be made Glassy.

4) Teachers can Label or Title every part of the vr model in application.

5) Analyse feature allows teachers discuss any one part of the VR Human Digestive System.

6) The snap feature allows you to save the image of the 3D or augmented reality model. This image can be used for your next project or learning. Share or upload or print the images to showcase it to your friends.

7) Pen tool allows teachers to draw or pin specific parts of the VR Human Digestive System.

8) The AR button allows you to bring the model from virtual world to real life situation by placing the camera on a marker.

9) Quiz feature allows you to play a fun vr game of naming parts of the model.

Has anyone else used Google Cardboard viewers? If so, what apps/videos did your kids love?

App: Project Noah

I looked at the app Project Noah (https://www.projectnoah.org/mobile).

Project Noah is an app to explore and document wildlife. It also harnesses “the power of citizen scientists everywhere”. Users can spot and document wildlife, using several pre-defined categories. Users submit a picture and a description of the spotting; latitude/longitude and time of spotting are automatically added. Project Noah has a counter on its website indicating 810.570 spottings (13.3., 8 p.m.).

Users can leave comments to other spottings, find related or nearby spottings, and help to identify unidentified spottings. They can also join missions that can be predefined by anyone.

Regarding using Project Noah in education, the website writes: ” By encouraging your students to share their observations and contribute to Project Noah missions, you not only help students to reconnect with nature, you provide them with real opportunities to make a difference.” The website offers missions and challenges to be used in the classroom and supporting materials for the teacher.

Overall, I really appreciate this simple, yet effective app. Students are encouraged to go into the nature, observe, identify, document, share, and catalogue spottings in a group of peers. This is cooperative learning embedded in a real physical environment. The missions add gamification that will increase motivation. I see this related to LfU – it is about applying scientific research principles (observing, analysing, documenting) and about knowledge construction while doing research. And, most importantly: It is very easy to use, only a mobile phone is needed, no complex technology. So the barriers to try it out seem rather low to me.

Virtual Learning in the Science Classroom

I already wrote about InCell VR (Cardboard) in my Embodied Learning post, so for this one, I wanted to add another couple of VR resources that I came across while searching.

Anatomyou VR is a human anatomy VR experience that is free from the App Store for iOS.  By using this app, students are able to explore the inner workings of the human body and explore how they all work together. Inlays of information are available for student to access as they go through the body so that they can extend their learning at every twist and bend.

For those on Android Titans of Space is an immersive VR experience for exploring the solar system. It works with any Samsung VR set, including the Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard.

On any mobile device, you can explore the Space Shuttle Discovery just by navigating to this link. This free resource lets students experience what is like to be on a real live space shuttle. I have even used this resource in my creative writing class to allow students to try and bring their writing to life in a more authentic way. Something like this website coupled together with a guided Google Earth tour of a launch or even the ISS bring these far-reaching topics home for students in a more tangible way.

I could go on and on, but there are millions of resources out there with free VR experiences for students. (Just look at this!) What better way to let students have embodied experiences than with immersive technology. They’ll feel like they are there!

PhET

The resource that I would like to share is the interactive simulation called PhET, which stands for Physics Education Technology. This project is through the University of Colorado which was founded in 2002 by Carl Wieman. Phet began with “Wieman’s vision to improve the way science is taught and learned and the mission is to advance science and math literacy and education worldwide through free interactive simulations” (https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/phet/what.html ).

I mentioned this resource briefly in one of my posts for Module B but I was not able to elaborate on it. In math and science, many concepts are much too abstract for learners to grasp and understand with no visualization of the concept. With PhET, the “simulations are animated, interactive, and in a game-like environment where students learn through exploration” and these simulations also “help to make visual and conceptual models” which helps to make real-world connections. I remember being in science and math classes where I was not able to understand complex concepts and I struggled a lot with those courses. I am a visual and hands-on learner and I had no exposure to such tools. I think my experience with those classes would have been more positive if I was.

PhET simulations are not just animations, “students can interact with simulations by grabbing real and moving objects, such as batteries, bulbs, magnets, handles, and switches” to enhance student learning and students are able to construct their own knowledge through these interactive simulations which can increase scientific literacy and foster student engagement both in and outside of the classroom. Furthermore, there are not just simulations but also graphs and charts to help the learner decipher information and data in the written form; there are different forms of knowledge representation within PhET to increase cognitive functions for the learner.

Previously, I have used this resource with my students to help them with their multiplication facts. I have been using it for a couple of days now using the ‘arithmetic’ simulation and I already see a big difference. Not only are my learners having fun but they are also understanding the relationship between concepts that were hard for them to comprehend. I think that this technology could be used in many ways:

  • Supplementary tool to further student learning
  • Can be used for demonstrations
  • Students can test out their learning through the online quizzes
  • The teacher can manipulate the variables and adjust the simulations according to questions from students so that they can see what would happen if they, for example, moved the slope into the negative quadrant, and how that would affect the answer (slope-intercept relationship).
  • Students can make predictions and explore those predictions

These simulations allow students to be a part of the process and not just passive learners. They are able to see concepts and change certain aspects to see what would happen if they did this instead of that. The best part of this digital resource is that it is free! This is important because even if it was not free and the school bought the program for a year, students would not have access to it at home but since it is free, students are able to use this at home as well for their learning. It is engaging, fun, and is able to represent knowledge and conceptions that are difficult for students to understand; in this way, learning is meaningful and constructivist.

 

I wish I had this tool when I was in my math classes, I struggled quite a bit with slope-intercept because it was so abstract to me.

References:

https://phet.colorado.edu/