iPad Review

Math Ref Free is a free version of the great math reference application, Math Ref. This app gives you just a sample (over 600) of the over 1,400 helpful formulas, figures, tips, and examples that are included in the full version of Math Ref. So, if you're a student, teacher, or need math for work and want to try before you buy, this app is for you.

Because I have an iPad I sampled many different math learning apps.  Many where pretty simple... they give you an equation and you tap the answer and instantly know whether you are right or wrong.  Most of these where geared more towards younger students learning simple addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division problems. I did not find any clear instructions in these apps of course it was the free version I was using and the full version would potentially be more clear.

Since I want to teach secondary math I found the Free Math Ref app to be a great resource for myself as a teacher and for my students. I am constantly looking up formulas and rules in math. These are so abundant memorization is just not possible. With the Math Ref app these formulas and rules are at the tip of your fingers. Students could use this to find the particular information that they need in order to complete an assignment. Without directly telling students what formulas to use they could use the Math Ref app to gather the information that they need.

I must also add that I believe the iPad can be used in many different and exciting ways to stimulate a love of learning in our future students.

Lesson Plan and CSO

QARs + Tables = Successful Comprehension of Math Word Problems

The QAR framework supports comprehension of a word problem that relates to a graphic or table displaying data.

CSO:  select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data, develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on models 

By recognizing a variety of question types, students understand that a correct response might require analysis, manipulation, or computation of numerical information rather than identification of a number within the table.
CSO:  create grade-level real-world appropriate story problems using multiple strategies including simple ratios, justify the reason for choosing a particular strategy and present results.

Answering questions that relate to a graphic or table involves a complex, multistep process that includes understanding the question, determining how a response can be mathematically formulated, analyzing the graphic, and offering a response that rests upon sound mathematical principles.
CSO: formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them

Identifying the type of QAR supports mathematical reasoning skills and expands upon successful test-taking strategies.

The Altitudinist

 The Altitudinist: Higher level thinking is everything to you. There's too much emphasis on factual recall in schools today. The only justification for bringing technology into schools is if it opens up the possibility that students will have to analyze information, synthesize multiple perspectives, and take a stance on the merits of something. You also value sites that allow for some creative expression on the part of the learner.


Your Role

___Efficiency Expert

___Affiliator

___Altitudinist

___Technophile

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Gorillas	Allows students to address a specific issue and think about possible solutions creatively.	Does not encourage much higher thinking because the problem and many solutions are already presented. Students should think of other possible problems instead of just focusing on Gorillas.
Shakespeare	Students have lots of opportunity to be creative. Also working with other students to create skits will encourage higher learning.	There is so much information available about Shakespeare. Maybe students should compare him to another author during that time to get a better appreciation for Shakespeare instead of just analyzing the facts.
Earthquake	This activity is fun and students will enjoy the hands on and competitive aspect of it which will promote higher thinking in order to have the strongest structure.	Higher thinking is important when determining the design of your structure but success also has a lot to do with the materials and construction.
Foreign Country	This activity gives students the opportunity to express the facts creatively using technology.	This activity seems to have too much emphasis on gathering facts about a specific country and then presenting them.
Waves & Sound	This WebQuest promotes higher learning and allows students to go on a journey of learning without just directly stating what they are expected to take from the experience.	This activity make seem boring to many students.

Bernie Dodge, Department of Educational Technology, SDSU

StoryBird

My Mommy is a Teacher Too! by jcrandallcrawford, jglaspell2201 on Storybird

RED LIGHT TO SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR SEX OFFENDERS

The argument that Mr. Magid is trying to make is that it will not do any good to limit sex offenders' access to social networking sites. Though his opinions and feelings to support this argument are abundant and clear, his evidence seems to ONLY be abundant. Every peer-reviewed study conducted by the Crimes Against Children Research Center and other scholarly organizations, as well as the report of Internet Safety Technical Task Force, has concluded that the risk of online predators is greatly exaggerated (Magid, 2009). To say "greatly exaggerated" does not give me a clear comparison about the actual risk level of online predators. Mr. Magid continues to speak about his own knowledge of sex offenders. I'm not aware of any cases of a predator harming a prepubescent child whom he met on the Internet, and there are very few publicly known cases of sexual contact between a teenager and an adult they met online (Magid, 2009).  He says "I'm not aware". His unawareness of theses cases are probably intentional. Abuse of prepubescent children is confidential and not made public whether the Internet was involved or not. Magid continues with some "evidence" that involves numbers. A January 2009 analysis of Pennsylvania cases by the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use found, during a four-year period, that "only eight incidents involved actual teen victims with whom the Internet was used to form a relationship," compared to 9,934 children who were sexually abused in a single year in that state (Magid, 2009). Use of dates, times, and numbers to enforce his argument can easily be interpreted as facts by the average reader. Although with the information literacy strategies I have learned in my Instructional Technology class,  I am aware that this "evidence" can not be validated.  When I click on the link "analysis" I am directed to another posting by Mr. Magid. Also, I am always very weary of the validity of sites with advertisements and pop-ups.

This is a very controversial topic and I am not completely sure how I feel about it. Do I believe sex-offenders give up their right to social networking?...not so much.  I believe anyone can be rehabilitated. To limit rehabilitation seems counter-productive for society as a whole. Although, what role does social networking play for the rehabilitation of a sex-offender?  Um, seems like very little. Unlike Mr. Magid, I would choose to not try to sway emotions about this topic with unvalidated "evidence".  I am only talking about my personal opinion. With the controversial topic: Sex Offenders' Right to Social Networking... I don't believe any facts or statistics could ever completely change how a person really feels about this subject. Personally, I DO agree with Mr. Magid's argument for the most part. The process of trying to eliminate sex-offenders' access to a social networking site seems like more trouble than it is worth. Trouble that could take focus off of sex-offenders that are not registered.  Also, just the word "sex-offender" has such a broad meaning across different states. This label may not always be just. It is my most honest and personal opinion that parents are the most responsible for their children. It should not be the job of society or teachers to control what happens when our children are on-line. Proper use of social networking sites should be enforced by parents. Parents should be involved and aware of all aspects of their children's lives, and then should act and react accordingly instead of displacing blame somewhere else. Although this is just my opinion.


Reference

Magid, L. (2009, August 13). Social-networking ban for sex offenders: Bad call? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10309421-238.html

RESEARCH GETS A TUNE UP WITH WIKIPEDIA

Well I have definitely learned a lot about Wikipedia. I must admit it has aways been a reference I was told to stay away from. After learning more about it I think it is an excellent source of information. 

As in conventional encyclopedias, Wikipedia’s English language encyclopedia contains articles about topics traditionally considered important, but it also includes entries on all manner of contemporary popular culture and current events. (Crovitz & Smoot, 2009) The fact that it is ever changing and can be edited by anyone is considered a downfall of this resource. Yet, I consider this aspect the ultimate perk of Wikipedia.  Here is an authentic demonstration that knowledge isn’t settled, that there are always more questions to ask and always differing perspectives on the answers. (Crovitz & Smoot, 2009) Meaning that it is current and representative of our society on current events. It is a tool that is a perfect example of ideas and research evolving which would be a great way to encourage learning to our students.  Probably most teachers tell their students to stay away from Wikipedia because they think its only use is a reference.  But Wikipedia is to be used differently than a normal encyclopedia.  Because Wikipedia is constantly evolving, its entries often include unconventional sections that might never have been included in a traditional encyclopedia. (Crovitz & Smoot, 2009) I was also very surprised to discover that editing and management of the Wikipedia site is done but volunteers.That it is all non-profit. I believe this alone make it a more interesting and noble source of information. I was surprised also by the scrutiny that Wikipedia has encountered because it can be edited by anyone. As writer and educator Will Richardson has noted, Wikipedia’s goal is nothing less than “collecting the sum of human knowledge” in a vast, constantly growing digital repository. (Crovitz & Smoot, 2009) Maybe the biggest issue comes simple from the name and comparison to a resource like an encyclopedia. If Wikipedia was presented more as an archive maybe it would not experience so much scrutiny?

This is a time lapse of the first 12 hours of the Wikipedia article documenting the VT Massacre. Music is "tuff ghost" by the unicorns.

References

Crovitz, D. & Smoot, W. (2009, January). Wikipedia: Friend, not foe. English Journal, 98(3), 91-97. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/archival/EnglishJournalArticle2.pdf

Wikipedia Reliabilty

I used wikipedia worksheet to examine the reliability of the:

Labrador Retriever
Wikipedia

This page did not have any "clean-up banners".
The article was written very clear and all aspects were organized.
There was a neutral and informative tone to the article.
All important facts were referenced and there were links to related topics.
The information provided seemed very complete with no gaps. There was an overwhelming amount of information of the topic.

When Examining the References for this article I believed these sites to be:

Reliable References

1. ^ AKC Dog Registration Statistics
2.  Conant, EK; Juras R, Cothran EG (February 24, 2011). "Incidence of the mask phenotype M264V mutation in Labrador Retrievers". Research in Veterinary Science. doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2011.02.002. PMID 21353269. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21353269. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 

Possibly Unreliable References

1. ^ "Litter Size in Dogs". Crown Partners Scientific Library. Royal Canin. http://www.royalcanin.us/library/littersizeindogs.aspx. Retrieved April 25, 2011. 
2. 3. "Labrador Genealogy". U.P. Labradors. http://www.uplabradors.com/uplabradorsgenealogy.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 

Definitely Unreliable References

1. Miller, Liza Lee; Cindy Tittle Moore (2004-01-07). "FAQ Labrador Retrievers". Puget Sound Labrador Rescue. http://www.pslra.org/html/articles/faqs.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-13. 
2. ^ "Purina Life Span Study". Purina Pet Institute. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071026133336/http://purina.com/company/press/2003/BodyFat.aspx. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 

The Labrador Retriever article is classified as a "good article criteria".  Most of the discussion pertains to whether or not certain pictures should be taken out or left in to this article. Also what color lab best represents the breed.  After reading the discussion nothing makes me doubt the validity of this article.

I find this article to be a very reliable source.  It is well organized and describes the Labrador breed in every aspect from history to temperament. It is also a reliable source because you can use it to elaborate on whatever topic your are trying to explore about the Labrador retriever. I also believe it is reliable because of the neutral tone. All three colors of this breed are equally examined and explained.

Wikipedia

a. What is Wikipedia?
"Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization."b. How would you answer the question posed in this piece “How reliable can a source be when anyone can edit it?”?
"The problem with Wikipedia is that it only works in practice. In theory, it can never work."
c. Who do the creators of Wikipedia place their trust in when it comes to weeding out misinformation?
They put their faith in the "wisdom of crowds," believing that by having many people watching what appears there, errors and vandalism will be weeded out, sooner rather than later.
d. Why did founder Larry Sanger leave Wikipedia?
 Mr. Sanger left Wikipedia, believing that it should give more authority to experts; he has since created another site, Citizendium that does just that.
e. What would abuse or vandalism look like on a Wikipedia page?
self-interested editing by prominent businesses and governments around the world
f. What do the statistics quoted in the third paragraph of this piece reveal?
there are currently Wikipedias in more than 280 languages, with a total of more than eight million articles. The encyclopedia is among the top 10 most-visited sites on the Internet around the world
They are obviously doing something right.
g. Why do you think Wikipedia is so successful?
I think it is successful because it was a great idea from the beginning. It is non-profit so people find it to be reliable.
h. Why might Wikipedia’s creators not want to accept advertising?
This will cheapen the validity of the site. Wikipedia is information not advertisements.
i. How does Wikiscanner help increase the reliability of Wikipedia entries?
the IP address of anonymous editors of the site to be easily checked; the tool, Wikiscanner, quickly exposed examples of self-interested editing by prominent businesses and governments around the world.