Reaching Your Students More Reaching Your Students More Effectively Through the WebEffectively Through the Web

presented by Bob Mathewspresented by Bob MathewsDesign Science, Inc.Design Science, Inc.

What I’ll cover…

• Top 10 reasons every math teacher needs a web page

• Available tools & services• Best & worst practices

Where do I start?

• It helps to have a blueprint.• What’s the purpose of the web page?

• Find out what others are doing.• Ask around.• Look at other web pages.

• How do I get there from here?

• Why do I need a web page anyway?• Here is my Top 10 List of reasons, in no

particular order…

1. Communicate

• Number one reason.• Specific things to communicate…

• Personal information• Course/class information• School information

• Examples:http://www.soamath.net/psmyth/apcalculus/apcalculus.htmhttp://www.algebrawizard.com/faqs.html

Communicate more: calendar

• Such a simple item, but it can include a wealth of information.• List homework assignments• Test schedule• Special school events (“Career Day”,

etc.)• Holidays & in-service days

• Example:http://www.soamath.net/Calendars/eventspage.htm

2. Web-based learning

• What are your learning goals?• Why online anyway?http://www.edtech.neu.edu/workshops/materials/course/materials/goals

• Example:http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/models/mathematical/examples/XLstats.html

3. Rules & Expectations

• Important to publish, whether to hand out or put on your web site (or both!).

• Putting them on the web lets you change them easily.• Also makes it easy for you to send out a

mass e-mail with a link to the rules and an explanation of the changes.

• Post a date at the top.

4. Class notes

• This may be something you post for every lesson.

• It may be something you post only when your explanation is better than the book’s explanation.

• Excellent source of info for the homebound student.

• Example:www.s-cool.co.uk (GCSE & AS/A2 content)

5. Tutorials

• More detailed than class notes.• Good for leading students step-by-step

through a solution.• Good for presenting alternate

methods.• Example:

http://www.mathsnet.netGreat source for lessons & tutorials for all levels.

6. Practice problems• Homework problems, practice problems, & practice

quizzes.• Post homework problems that are either your

own or from a source other than the text.• Post practice problems either for extra credit or

extra practice.• Practice quizzes & tests so students will know

what areas need more study before an in-class quiz or test.

• Example:http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/mth251/cq/Stage4/Practice/classify.html

7. Explain common errors

• Several ways to do this (not mutually exclusive)• Before a test• After a test• Generic

• Could also do a bit of this with each lesson.

• Example:http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/AllBrowsers/CommonErrors/CommonMathErrors.asp

8. Links

• Links to:• Sources of help• Math dictionary• Exam & exam help sites

• http://www.gcseguide.co.uk• http://www.gcse.com

• College web sites

• Example:http://www.eevl.ac.uk/mathematics/math-learningandteaching.htm

9. Share resources

• Everyone has something to contribute!• Lesson plans• Activities• Problem sets

• Don’t put anything in this section that you wouldn’t want your students to see.

• Example:http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/Algebra/rentacar.html

10. Fun stuff!

• Fun stuff falls into 2 categories:• Just plain fun

• Music sites• Movie sites• Sports & recreation sites• …

• Math stuff• Show them math can be fun!• www.funbrain.com is one example

Available tools and services

• yourhomework.com• “yourhomework.com makes it easy for

any teacher to post assignments online for students and parents, enhancing communication between school and home!”

• Free for teachers, students, & parents• There is also a “premium” service that’s

free for teachers, but $29.95/year for students/parents.

Available tools and services

• TeacherWeb.com• www.teacherweb.com• $2.50/month or $25.00 per year• Post assignments, class calendar,

syllabus, rules, teacher info, etc.• A TeacherWeb.com address allows 99

web pages (?) plus 7.5 MB of disk space for additional files.

Available tools and services

• Other web sites to consider:• FunBrain

• www.funbrain.com• Mostly ages 6-14, but there’s a cool “Quiz

Lab” for any level.• Either click the Quiz Lab link or use the

separate URL: www.quizlab.com• Quiz Lab is $32.95/year, but you can get a

30-day free trial.• Special features for team teaching and

sharing among teachers.

• Other web sites to consider:• FunBrain• QuizStar

• http://quizstar.4teachers.org• “With this web-based utility, you will be able

to create a custom quiz that others can take online!”

• FREE!

Available tools and services

• Other web sites to consider:• FunBrain• QuizStar

• Tools to use:• The first assumption is that you have

some place to put your page.• school server• personal ISP• yourhomework.com, etc.

Available tools and services

• Other web sites to consider:• FunBrain• QuizStar

• Tools to use:• The first assumption is that you have

some place to put your page.• For creating pages from scratch – use

FrontPage 2003 and MathType 5.• For simple, quick pages – use Word 2000

or later and MathType 5.

Available tools and services

Some suggestions• Keep it simple!

• It’s easy to get carried away with graphics & sounds, but that can easily become more distracting and annoying than helpful.

• Don’t…• …use a patterned background or animations.• …use MIDIs or WAVs.• …try to give too much information on any one page.

Remember – keep it simple!• …use Tripod, Geocities, Angelfire, or any other page

that uses pop-up advertisements!

Wrapping it up…• Top 10• Easy ways to go:

• yourhomework.com• TeacherWeb• (Windows) Word + MathType = MathPage• (Mac or Windows) FrontPage + MathType

Sites referenced

• School of the Arts Math (SOA Math)http://www.soamath.net/homepage.htm

• MathsNethttp://www.mathsnet.net

• Common Math Errorshttp://tutorial.math.lamar.edu

• Math Resources (links)http://www.eevl.ac.uk/mathematics/math-learningandteaching.htm

• S-Cool: www.s-cool.co.uk

Sites referenced (cont.)

• Math Lessons (lesson plans)http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/Lessons/

• NCTM Illuminationshttp://illuminations.nctm.org

• Journal of Online Math & its Applicationshttp://www.joma.orghttp://www.joma.org/mathDL/4/?pa=content&sa=browseNode&categoryId=18

(for Mathlets)

• Algebra FAQs for Parentshttp://www.algebrawizard.com/faqs.html