Blog #5
Ch 7 & 8
Chapter
7 was particularly intriguing because it discussed how to teach problem solving
through computers. The ability to problem solve at any level has always been a
critical subject for students to learn. This is a life skill that people use in
every aspect of their everyday lives. It is imperative we teach our future
students as many problem-solving strategies as possible so they are as equipped
as possible for any problem that comes their way,
The
steps to problem solving are simple; 1. Understand the problem. 2. Using
problem-solving strategies. Finally, 3. Checking results. The kinds of
problem-solving we will be teaching our students more often than not deals with
the social, economic, or political world. These problems are called
ill-structured problems because there is no manual that you can follow that
help you solve what was the problem in the first place. Hard-to-solve problems offer
students the most knowledge and are a great learning tool because this is where
students learn how to zoom in on the problem and define it at its core. Once
they find the core of the problem they can then take the necessary steps to
solve it.
Computers
are great solves to teach problem solving because they offer so many programs,
apps, games, tutoring, and any kind of help or support you can even imagine.
With these tools students can take into consideration their different options
and with the feedback provided to them they can then determine what would be
the best choice so then for future problems they already have an idea how to
handle and solve the problem. With this the student will also learn when they
need to use in-depth thinking or just surface thinking.
Using
computers to teach problem-solving is a very modern and even futuristic way to
teach problem solving to students. It fascinates me that there are programs,
games, and apps out there that students can use and have “mock-trials”. They
can learn how they have to think in a certain problem and if they choose they
wrong way to solve it, they basically get a reset button and can do it all
over. I think this is good and bad because they are learning through “experience”
for lack of a better term. But the real world doesn’t work this way. You don’t
get a reset button if you chose the wrong way to solve a problem and the
results weren’t as good as what you were expecting them to me.
I
feel like Chapter 8 was repetitive because it discussed communication between
students, parents, and teachers. I feel like I have learned about this over and
over again since freshman year. This is continuously discussed. I understand
the importance of it but there’s only so much that can be said. I know the
different kinds of communication that is possible via phone calls, emails,
social media, blogs, wiki, online discussions. I have been using them for most
of my life. I understand how they work. I feel like instead of discussing the
different kinds of communication, they should be teaching us how to
communicate. Like how to properly speak to a parent about their child and so
on.
My questions after reading the two chapters are:
1. What
is the most effective way of communication between students, parents, and
teachers?
2. How
effective is teaching problem-solving through computers?
To answer your first question, I mentioned in my blog the teacher I observe for my math methods course using Class Dojo. I find this to be a very effective way of communication between the teacher and parents. As I witnessed in her classroom she is able to quickly shoot messages over to parents and get responses fairly quickly. This can be done individually or to the entire group of parents. Additionally she can see how many of the parents have received the message and how many she is stil waiting on. Through this she is able to share things such as highlights from the day to what parents should be working on with their kids. Unfortunately, the problem that I do see with a technology such as this would be communicating with either parents who may not have this technology readily available or parents who may not speak english all together. So, when the teacher told me that she's gotten 100% parents cooperation with the Dojo I was rather surprised.
ReplyDeleteAshley,
ReplyDeleteFor your first question, I feel as if it truly depends on the comfort level of the teacher involved. I know many teachers that have class websites where they will post the homework assignments and important reminders for families. I also know teachers that allow parents to contact them through their work email. I have heard recently at a faculty meeting of an application called Remind. This works well for out-of-the-classroom contact because it allows the teacher to send one-way alerts to parents without receiving a million bombarding responses back. Otherwise, I still like the idea of handwritten notes from parents and phone calls home when necessary. Email to me is very impersonal.
Hi Ashley ,
ReplyDeleteYou made some great points in your discussion of chapter 7 and 8. In regards to your 1st question, I think it really depends on the teacher. I have seen teachers use Skedula to communicate , in which the parents also have a login information , and they can see their child's grades, and percentage of missing work, as well as any anecdotal notes the teacher may have made. Some parents do have the teacher's numbers , in which they can communicate via text and phone calls. Recently , I met a teacher , who told me about the app called remind, in which she can remind student and parents about upcoming class tests. I have seen teachers leave notes in the students' take home folders. There are a variety of effective ways teachers can communicate with parents. Each method depends on the teacher , and the rapport with the parents.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI believe that communication between parents, teachers, and students must have must be done through multiple modalities depending on their need. For example, for a disciplinary problem a telephone call is a must since it needs to be immediate. However, other types of information should be continuous and consistent to provide parents and students with information. Furthermore, there needs to be a way to provide two way communication which is why I believe online chats or 'app' based communication should be used. Since many families are connected via the internet, they would be more inclined to follow-up. For your second question, I believe that problem-solving using technology is very effective since the integration of A.I. (artificial technology) and intuitive programs can provide unique responses. For example, if a student is performing an experiment online using a computer program, doing one step differently will not yield the same results as another student. I think this is a good way to spark interest since it allows for less dollars being spent in schools on materials and more online tools.