Maths and Web 2.0

Using web 2.0 tools for Maths-

Our group decided to focus on the details of how web 2.0 can be used in specific subjects and we decided to look at each subject in particular-
So, I found web 2.0 tools for mathematics:

For that I have decided into various sections:

Wikis – it is a page or a collection of web pages where we can contribute and get the information from.

7th grade math wiki from Alabama - http://7math.wikispaces.com/

Mathematical Association information on math club http://www.maa.org/students/middle_high/

GeoGeBra Wiki – includes Algebra and geometry for middle school http://www.geogebra.org/en/wiki/index.php/English#Algebra

Algebra 1 wiki page -http://robertfant.com/PMWiki/pmwiki.php/Algebra1/HomePage

Question Point homework help - http://wiki.questionpoint.org/Homework+by+Subject

Mathcasts and ExamView Wiki (Math247) - http://math247.pbwiki.com/

Blogs- there are also various blogs related to maths.

Video- Screen casts mainly focus on mathematics and they are screen movies with writing and voice. And the screen casts are further organized according to each topic , type and course - http://www.mathcasts.org/

Social networking groups – There is a Middle school math teacher community - http://www.classroom20.com/group/middleschoolmath

Podcasts – they are a series of audio or digital media files which can be subscribed for. The Educational Podcast Network is the place where teachers can look for the content to be taught and also to explore the issues of teaching and learning - http://epnweb.org/. Then, one can also go to iTunes stores and search for middle school maths and find various math series.

Free math homework help – The math teachers are there to help if one is stuck with any math problems. Math mentor, produced by the Santa Clara Country Office of Education, helps students with their math problems. Students can receive help either live from the teachers or off air - http://www.mathmentor.tv .

Other web 2.0 resources on maths –
Real World Math – this is the website for the people who want to discuss something beyond the textbook. http://realworldmath.org/iWeb/Real%20World%20Math/About%20the%20site.html

• Word Press Math Publisher – it allows publishing math equations by blogger. http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/44421/
• For those who need the English terms to be translated into Spanish, there is a bilingual mathematics dictionary which does that. http://nw.pima.edu/dmeeks/spandict/

So, we can see that there are many tools available only for a single subject and these tools can help the children to not only discuss their ideas but also to get help when they are stuck.

Disadvantages and advantages of web 2 + some technology

There are some advantages and disadvantages of using web 2.0.

Advantages – with the use of web 2.0, information can be received from various places. People will have their freedom of speech and can express their ideas freely. Web 2.0 has made the internet more personalized and now you can talk all over the world. Now the people with low levels of computer skills can also use it easily.

Disadvantages- it leads to low quality of the actual content. As most of the services are free, the security is very low and the websites can be easily targeted by the hackers.

Web 2.0 and technology: Ajax technology is behind Web 2.0. It is creating the desktop experience in the browser again. It consists of writing JavaScript that manipulates the Document Object Model (DOM) of the host page, uses Xml Http Requests and callback objects to send and receive data asynchronously. Maintaining a JavaScript code base for large- scale applications is a major concern

In web 2.0, you require things instantly, for that we can think of tools such as Joomla or Drupal which allow to establish a web 2.0 website quickly with all sorts of functions in it such as blogs, forums, surveys, Google gadgets. This functionality is already prebuilt and minimal effort is needed to set up and run the site but you need to have complete control over the user interface (UI) and also need to configure fine – grained security.

web 2.0 and education!!!!!!!!

Web 2.0 is now being used in education as well and some of the Web 2.0 tools used are –

· Blogging- Blogging is increasingly being used by the students. Its journal format helps students to keep a record of their thoughts over time. This also allows comments from people and they can be by the teachers, peers or a wider audience. The result is finally a truly democratic learning space.

· The other option adopted is podcasting, as it pushes education content to learners. For example, Stanford University along with Apple has created Stanford iTunes University and the students can subscribe to a range of digital content by using Apple’s iTunes software.

· Flickr, the photo sharing site has also found a place within education as it allows students to search for images to be used for their presentations and coursework. The tagging of images makes it much easier to use. It can also help the students to publish their digital photography to a wider audience and then it also allows getting people’s feedback.

discussion on flickr..

The various other tools that can prove to be very useful for education purposes are:

· Stu.dicio.us – it helps students to writ public notebooks in an outline – format, store files for classes, create a schedule, track their grades, manage to-do list. It also allows them to connect with their friends.

· Gradefix: students that use this feel less stressed and it also improves their grades. This allows them to create a study schedule to prioritize and organize their homework throughout the week. It is described by Gradfefix as, “Gradefix intelligently organizes and prioritizes all of your homework so you are always on top of it.”

· Chalksite: it is made for the teachers, parents and the students providing the teachers with an opportunity to communicate with the students, parents, send messages, manage a website for their course and post grades and assignments.

· MynoteIT: this allows students to take online notes including to do lists, grade management, WYSIWYG note editor and assignment reminders. The students can also share their notes and get feedbacks from their friends.

· Backpack is another nice one and it includes file storage, calendars, to do lists, note taking. The students can create pages in their organizer for each class and also manage notes on class discussions and they can also class documents.

This is just a picture of some of the tools available in web 2.0. well, there are many web 2.0 tools available.

Research on what is web 2.0 and how is it different from web 1.0?

What is web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is the popular term given to the advanced applications and internet technology. It is the second generation of World Wide Web that basically works because of people sharing their ideas online. The two major technological advances that constitute web 2.0 are enabled by Ajax and others such as Eclipse and RSS.
But critics commenting on web 2.0 say that it becomes too easy to affect online that web content could suffer a lot but the defenders defending it say that these problems have existed since the beginning. The final judgement however is left to the users.

The differences between web 1.0 and web 2.0:



Web 1.0 was computer based.
Web 2.0 uses the web as a platform.

Web 1.0 relied on installed software.
Web 2.0 uses the browser.

Web 1.0 was solitary.
Web 2.0 encourages sharing.

Web 1.0 was individuals working.
Web 2.0 is community sharing wisdom.

Web 1.0 was data in one place.
Web 2.0 is the portability of the data.

Web 1.0 was about consuming (data).
Web 2.0 is about creating data.

Web 1.0 was homepages.
Web 2.0 is weblogs.

Web 1.0 was tracking information down.
Web 2.0 is having information coming to you

Web 1.0 was badging your content.
Web 2.0 is getting the answer out quickly.

Web 1.0 was slow transfer rates.
Web 2.0 is about broadband.

Web 1.0 was about limitations.
Web 2.0 is about state of mind.

Then, I also found a nice video explaining about web 2.0 on youtube so I thought that I should link it on the blog as it will make our blog more interesting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsa5ZTRJQ5w

What would be the best media to aware people about Web 2.0?

Video - 30
PowerPoint - 22
Audio- 11
Microsoft document- 16

Do you think Web 2.0 can be used at school for educational purposes?

Yes – 35

No - 8

Do you think Web 2.0 should be used in school? (Only students)

YES: 21 NO: 4

Which of the following do you use?

Facebook – 46
Google – 53
Yahoo- 32
Blog- 13
Myspace- 3
Orkut- 2
Youtube- 47
Gmail- 31
Wikipedia- 38

Do you know what Web 2.0 is?

YES:31

NO:28

Survey Results

I think we got quite a lot of results for our surveys. 29 from the students and 29 from the teachers. we learnt what we wanted to. But one mistake that cam up from the surveys was that our questions were not thought about; if a person did not know what Web 2.0 is, they could not answer most of the questions. I think if our survey does not prove to be useful that will be because of our mistake. The link to the results is below but I found out that the various pie charts I used to show are results do not come up in the document so, I will post them separately.

http://www.scribd.com/full/14212767?access_key=key-1sl2315a8k5lyveo1knv

The second survey was for the students and sent at the same time as the first one. It was sent to all the secondary students. All the questions were the same as the ones for the teachers except for that we forgot to ask the comments on Web 2.0 from the students and we asked one more question from the students asking them that whether they think that Web 2.0 should be used in school or not. Now, I think that we could have sent the same one to everyone and there was no point sending it twice - once to the teachers and once to the students. I think we took the decision of sending it to the teachers and the students sepeartely because we intended to ask the teachers about how they think that using WEB 2.0 will be useful for their particular subjects but we forgot to add it. So, now I think that while processing the results, it will be better to put the results from both the surveys together.

I tried linking this document but I could not so, I am just putting the survey for the students in this post:

· Do you know what Web2.0 is?
Yes/No

· What of the following do you use?
Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, Orkut, Gmail, Myspace, Yahoo, Blog

· Do you think Web 2.0 is a good development or not? Why?

· Do you think Web 2.0 should be used in school?
Yes/ No

· Can it be used in the school for teaching purposes?
Yes/No
How?

· What would be the best media to aware people about Web 2.0? power point, video, audio, document, others

Reflection on the essential question.

Essential Question: In what ways has technology influenced knowledge?

According to me, I think in todays's life, technology plays a great role in the knowledge gained by the people. As the technology is increasing, the people are using it more and more to gain knowledge. The internet plays a major role in the lives of the people. Most of the people depend on the internet for various reasons. Even for educational purposes, technology plays a great role and it is a very good source for increasing the knowledge. I think, talking mainly about Web 2.0, it can become a very good source for the development of the knowledge, a person can just not post what he/she thinks but it can be very helpful in the discussion of the ideas and the views of the people can be put forward and therefore the knowledge is spread.