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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Chapter 15 - Illuminate the Internet

This chapter in Technology-Supported Mathematics Learning Environments gives an overview of the "Illuminations" program within a classroom. Its mission pursues interactive multimedia resources that can be found online, internet-based lesson plans, external web resources, and easily accessible organized content.

I like that it is stated on page 223 that Illuminations has been designed with the idea in mind that student motivation is a main factor towards successful teaching. It actively engages students into the content by integrating all of it with modern technology. After all, with all of the vast knowledge available on the internet, a program like this can help to gather valuable online information easily.

A feature of Illuminations that I found interesting to read about was the Guiding Questions, which helped teachers "consider types of questions that would help focus students' attention on making sense of the mathematical concepts and the skills and applications associated with those concepts" (p.239). The choice of questions, or even how one phrases it, can make the difference for a student's understanding. Furthermore, I thought that the reflection activities were very applicable to Wesleyan student teachers especially, as reflection is an integral part of our framework.

1 comment:

Danielle said...

I too thought that their emphasis on teachers reflecting on their own practices was very refreshing. It seems that most sites only focus on activities and/or lessons for the students. But here we see lessons on how to become a better teacher by improving the kinds of questions asked. Teaching is an evolving profession and I believe that incorporating internet into our math teaching will help us grow as successful teachers.