Reading+and+Reflection+2

 Web 2.0 in Instruction: Adding Spice to Math Education  By Patricia Deubel  Date: February 17, 2010  http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/02/17/Web-2.0-in-Instruction-Adding-Spice-to-Math-Education.aspx?p=1

 Math 2.0 Interest Group Wiki

 __**Summary**__  This article discussed how math can apply and use Web 2.0 strategies and ideas in our curriculum. There is a trend of a lag of mathematic behind other subject in class-centered Web 2.0 communities, restricting math to classes, homework, and standardized tests.  According to Maria Droujkova, there are five directions to take math in her framework: mathematical authoring, community mathematics, humanistic mathematics, executable mathematics, and the psychology of mathematics learning and education.  Math 2.0 was discussed and defined: “Math 2.0 links math education to social networking; involves using Web 2.0 tools to build and share knowledge of math concepts; is collaborating and connecting with others on problem solving, math thinking, and learning; and is an ability of users to create their own math-rich social objects using Web technologies.”  Math authoring consists of Web 2.0 tools that allow students to learn math, design processes, to work collaboratively, think creatively and to reason systematically. The article pointed out several great resources for this, including Scratch and ScratchED, a programming tool used to create interactive stories, games, and art.  Community mathematics includes the wikis, blogs, and discussion forums that are ever so popular. There are many great wikis and blogs that students and teachers have access to for ideas on teaching or learning math concepts. Humanistic mathematics allow students to create something that an audience would enjoy. Pixton was mentioned, which would be similar to our BitStrips in class. Making a comic allows the students to write and organize thoughts in math, which is heavily encouraged by NCTM.  Executable mathematics consists of open source software or manipulatives at no cost, such as the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. GeoGebra is another free, open source mathematics software. The psychology of mathematics learning and education focused a lot on reducing math anxiety for students, especially for health reason.

 __**Reflection**__  I really enjoyed this article because it is directly related to my subject matter. I love to incorporate more Web 2.0 tools in my curriculum, but sometimes it’s hard to find ways to apply these tools to math. This article was full of great ideas and resources that I’ve never heard of. I will definitely be bookmarking this site just because of all the links it provided to various resources.  I’m glad that they brought up math anxiety in students. I think this is a huge problem, and some students come in “knowing” they can’t do math, which isn’t true. It’s all about breaking down the walls of anxiety. I love learning new ways to teach and explore concepts simply because I want my students to know that they CAN succeed in math, and it’s not as scary as it seems. I recently went to a workshop that discussed math anxiety and that also had some great ideas on helping students relax in the classroom. Overall, I loved the plethora of activities and ideas this article gave, especially because it was specific to math.