Class 8: Online Books / Online Journals / 99 Tools / Video Introduction
Online Textbooks
1. Watch the short video below and react to it. It was made 4 years ago. Do you think their predictions were accurate? Why or why not? How do you see the future in this area? Have you used any online books or periodicals and what was your experience?
The video predicted a more or less complete transition from paper to digital textbooks by the early 2020’s. Since the video is four years old, we are almost halfway through this time frame, and while I agree that more textbooks will be digital by then, I do not think it will become the most prevalent form quite that early, if for no reason other than funding. Many states, districts, and schools have had to cut their funding, and this transition will not be cheap. The digital textbooks may grow more popular, but for some subjects and students, in particular early childhood students, the devices may take away the physical manipulatives that are often very useful. Additionally, I have seen a pushback from high school students who are simply tired of using computers for everything, and would honestly rather use a physical, paper textbook. Personally, I think that digital textbooks will become more popular, but I would not expect them to exceed fifty percent of the total textbook market. I have used digital textbooks, and while the interactions are not possible with a physical book, I found that I cannot look at a screen as long as I can view a page. In many cases, particularly for articles less than forty pages, I would print the article out and read it from paper, so that I could flip back and forth with greater ease, quickly make annotations on the paper, and create less strain on my eyes.
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2. Find 3 online books that can either be read online or downloaded. For each book, provide the following information:
NAME OF BOOK: Beginning and Intermediate Algebra
NAME AND ADDRESS OF WEB SITE: Free Book Centre
LINK TO WEBSITE: http://www.freebookcentre.net/
LINK TO TEXTBOOK: http://www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/Beginning_and_Intermediate_Algebra.pdf
FORMAT OF BOOK: PDF
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE BOOK: This book is an open-source mathematics textbook which covers numerous topics in algebra, such as linear equations, polynomial equations, inequalities, and systems of equations. The book mimics the setup of a traditional, printed textbook, right down to having an answer key at the end of the document.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THE BOOK: This book can be used to replace a traditional textbook. It covers all of the bases of a paper book, but is freely available on the Internet, and it can be either viewed online or downloaded. I would use this book as a first choice textbook when teaching a pre-algebra or algebra I class. If another textbook is already provided, then I would use this book as an extra resource to provide homework problems, quiz problems, and additional support for the students who need it.
OPINION: I find this book to be incredibly useful, as it is very well designed and thought it. It has everything that should be included in a printed textbook, in the same order, and with the same overall appearance. This digital book could be printed and bound, and no one would be able to tell the difference between this book and one designed as a traditional textbook. This book is very high quality, and incredibly useful.
NAME OF BOOK: Introduction to Calculus, Volume I
NAME OF WEB SITE: Free Book Centre
LINK TO WEBSITE: http://www.freebookcentre.net/
LINK TO TEXTBOOK: http://www.math.odu.edu/~jhh/Volume-1.PDF
FORMAT OF BOOK: PDF
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE BOOK: This book covers the content that would be covered in a pre-Calculus, Calculus I, and possibly a Calculus II course. It is set up like a traditional, printed textbook, with the same style of font, graphics, and explanation. This book could easily be used to replace or augment a printed textbook, without any loss in the educational quality of the material.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THE BOOK: I would use this book as my first choice textbook to teach a Calculus course, since it is essentially a free, online version of a paper textbook. If a different textbook were already provided for my students, I would use this one to provide additional materials so that my students could have maximal opportunities to study, review, and demonstrate an understanding of the material.
YOUR OPINION OF THE USEFULNESS AND OVERALL QUALITY OF THE BOOK: This book is of the same quality and usefulness of a traditional, printed textbook. The only difference is that this is digital. In fact, this book looks like it could have been the file used to create a printed version of the same textbook.
NAME OF BOOK: Introduction to Complex Numbers
NAME OF WEB SITE: Book Boon
LINK TO WEB SITE: http://bookboon.com
LINK TO TEXTBOOK: http://bookboon.com/en/introduction-to-complex-numbers-ebook?
FORMAT OF BOOK: PDF
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE BOOK: This book is designed to introduce students to all facets of complex numbers, from basic facts to polar form to trigonometric identities. This book is an excellent example of how to embed video into a digital textbook without distracting from the rest of the text or significantly changing the pacing of the learning. Thus, this particular book provides a way to give students a more interactive learning experience about complex numbers, as opposed to a static reading from a textbook. However, it must be noted that this book does not contain many practice problems, and it does contain a relatively large amount of advertisements.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THE BOOK: I would be hesitant to use this book as my first choice textbook, due to the lack of practice problems. However, I would use it to augment whichever textbook I am using, since the explanations and particularly the videos are very helpful. I would make sure that my students are well aware of this resource, and I would encourage all of them to utilize it, especially the students who are struggling with the content and need additional supporting materials.
OPINION: While this book is very well written and useful, it does not quite cover all of the traditional aspects of a textbook. The explanations are incredibly concise and well written, and the fact that so many videos are embedded into the ebook is a tremendous advantage that this book has over the other digital textbooks that I reviewed. Indeed, the previous two books seemed more like digital version of printed textbooks, whereas this book feels like a digital textbook. However, this book is lacking regarding practice problems. Traditional mathematic textbooks usually provide a large number of problems for independent practice, and while this book has the occasional problem or two, it does not have nearly enough practice problems for my future students to become comfortable and familiar with the content. This book has great explanations, but it could use a significant boost in regards to student independent practice.
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Online Journals (or Periodicals)
3. Find 5 FREE online journals that you and/or your students could use. For each journal, provide the following information:
NAME OF JOURNAL: The Journal of Educators Online
NAME OF WEB SITE: The JEO
ADDRESS OF WEB SITE: http://www.thejeo.com
FORMAT OF JOURNAL: online
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE JOURNAL: This is a journal dedicated to the research and dissemination of results from studies regarding online education. For example, the July 2016 issues contains articles covering topics such as how technology leads to a lack of civility within communications to how to better retain information in a secondary mathematics setting.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS JOURNAL: I would use this journal to develop my own personal skill set for teaching, as well as to stay up-to-date with current trends and ideas regarding online education.
OPINION: This journal seems to be mostly theoretical, and in that regard it is very well written and useful. The fact that it is peer reviewed is an excellent indicator of quality. However, I did not find very many practical suggestions from the journal. While it is a great way to stay abreast of theoretical developments, it may not be the best choice for specific practices to implement with my own students.
NAME OF JOURNAL: eLearn Magazine
NAME OF WEB SITE: eLearn Magazine
ADDRESS OF WEB SITE: http://elearnmag.acm.org/index.cfm
FORMAT OF JOURNAL: Online
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE JOURNAL: This journal is about various topics related to online education, with a focus on practical application. The articles are classified in various ways, such as being for educator development or regarding blended learning for a K-12 educational setting.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS JOURNAL: I would use this journal to learn more about specific techniques to use when teaching. For example, there is an article that clearly details better ways to be a reflexive practitioner when teaching only, as opposed to mildly vague theoretical suggestions.
OPINION: This journal is very useful, since it is full of practical ideas and suggestions. While theory is obviously important to know, it is merely academic and effectively useless unless it is correctly applied. This journal provides those applications. Furthermore, it is very well written, with the articles using clear, simple language to explain concepts, instead of obscuring the meaning behind extraneously verbose wordings.
NAME OF JOURNAL: EdTech Magazine
NAME OF WEB SITE: EdTech
ADDRESS OF WEB SITE: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/
FORMAT OF JOURNAL: Online
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE JOURNAL: This journal is focused on the technological side of education, with most of the articles about how topics such as 3D printing and the digital divide can affect the classroom.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS JOURNAL: This journal could be useful in helping to find new, fun, interactive ways to present content to students. For instance, there is a recent article about how Pokemon go can lead to educational opportunities. When I’m struggling to come up with a way to make my classes more fun, this is the journal I will start looking for ideas.
OPINION: The articles on this journal are very well written, and cover a wide variety of topics that are both useful and informative for today’s classroom. The home page of the journal is set up more like a website than an academic journal, so it has a much friendly, inviting look than the previous two journals I reviewed. In particular, I appreciate that the journal notes the distinction between using technology to distract from learning and using technology to enhance learning.
NAME OF JOURNAL: The Journal
NAME OF WEB SITE: The Journal
ADDRESS OF WEB SITE: https://thejournal.com/Home.aspx
FORMAT OF JOURNAL: Online
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE JOURNAL: This journal covers a wide variety of topics related to education, from Common Core to STEM to technology use in learning. Thus, it is a good journal to learn more about all facets of education, not just topics that correlate specifically to online learning.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS JOURNAL: This journal can be used to review and build an understanding about seemingly any topic in education, which I how I intend to use it. This where be one of my starting points when I need to research a topic that is beyond the traditional scope of online learning, such as applying for grants. While there are articles related to online learning in this journal, that is not it’s primary focus, so I will get information about those topics elsewhere, while learning about the remaining educational topics here.
OPINION: The Journal is a well-organized collection of well-written articles covering an incredible range of education topics. Thus, it is eminently useful when conducting research, and is a great place to search for ideas.
NAME OF JOURNAL: Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
NAME OF WEB SITE: Merlot
ADDRESS OF WEB SITE: http://jolt.merlot.org/index.html
FORMAT OF JOURNAL: PDF
MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE JOURNAL: This journal discusses topics related to online learning, such as MOOCS and plagiarism in online courses. The articles are either scholarly research, case studies, or position papers.
HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS JOURNAL: I would use this journal to research information that is both theoretical and practical. The research articles and position papers would be very useful when consider the how and why about my own teaching methods, while the case studies would provide examples for ways to improve as well as warnings about failed ideas and practices. This journal would be handy to ensure that my teaching as a whole improves, not just the theory or just the application, but both.
OPINION: This is a very well organized journal, and the fact that it includes research, case studies, and positions is fantastic, since that means that it provides a variety of forms of information, which the reader can apply as they see fit. This journal is neither too theory based or too application based. Out of the five journals I’ve research, this journal is the most useful overall.
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99 Top Tools for Teaching Online
NAME: TurnItIn
URL: http://turnitin.com
Cheating, in particular plagiarism, is one of the largest concerns about online education. TurnItIn is a service that helps to prevent plagiarism, by analyzing student submissions and determining if any submissions may have to be further checked for academic dishonestly. Furthermore, TurnItIn helps with providing student feedback and decreasing time spent grading. In short, this is a great way to streamline the processes involved with students submitting an assignment and grading the assignment. Additionally, by forcing students to remain honest, it will help to ensure that these students take ownership of their assignments, their classroom, and most of all their learning.
NAME: Scratch
Mathematics and computer programming are inherently linked, as both rely heavily upon logic. Furthermore, there are computer-programming languages, such as MATLAB, that are designed solely to aid in mathematical calculations, especially complex ones. I fully expect to have to teach some computer programming skills to my students, and Scratch is a great way to introduce some concepts. Scratch uses pre-built blocks of code, which can be dragged into place with the mouse as well as be modified, to help students quickly and easily create games. This will not only help students learn programming concepts, but also to keep these students engaged and involved in their learning. I intend to use Scratch to reinforce mathematical and programming concepts simultaneous, by giving my students projects to complete with a mathematical context. For instance, maybe the students will have to modify a game to include prime numbers as a target, and all other numbers should be avoided. The students will have to know what prime numbers are, as well as determine how to program the game to distinguish between prime and composite numbers.
NAME: Rubistar
URL: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Rubistar is a way to very quickly make rubrics for any project. There are rubric presets, such as categories, descriptions, and point value, which can all be quickly selected, or if needed modified and deleted. This tool is incredibly important, since creating rubrics is a basic part of teaching, and this site streamlines the process tremendous. It removes all concerns about the appearance or how to format a rubric, and instead allows the educator to focus entirely on the content of said rubric. While this may sound like a shortcut, it is merely a more efficient way to perform the same task as creating a rubric using a table of spreadsheet. Anyway to increase the efficiency of teaching, in particular the small yet very important details such as the creation of rubrics, is very helpful and important.
NAME: Hybrid Pedagogy
URL: http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/
Hybrid Pedagogy is a digital journal that catalogues articles pertaining to various aspects of technology use from social and educational standpoint. The articles are all peer reviewed to ensure maximum quality and correctness. This journal takes an interesting approach in that educational technology is not described as some miraculous cure for everything that today’s education system struggles with. Instead, it present various technologies as merely tools that need to be correctly developed and applied in order to have the desired results. I find this very useful, because the journal presents a balanced view of educational technology. This will be very helpful when I am looking for new ideas and techniques to try, since these ideas and techniques will be presented in a very neutral, sales-pitch free fashion.
NAME: iSpring QuizMaker
URL: http://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-quizmaker
iSpring QuizMaker is, as its name clearly implies, a way to quickly make quizzes for students to take. Several types of quizzes can be created, such as surveys and multiple choice. Additionally, the quizzes can utilize a variety of formats and templates, so that each quiz is attractively designed, and ideally at least tangentially related to the topic by the design. For example, a quiz about mountain ranges can have an image of a mountain as the background. I would use this tool to help create math and science quizzes that have a more engaging, friendlier appearance. Realistically, a traditional math quiz is one of the driest pieces of paper that a student can be handed. This tool is one way to change this, and I intend to use it to help my quizzes be more interesting, engaging, and a more valid assessment of my students’ skills.
NAME: Free Technology for Teachers
URL: http://www.freetech4teachers.com
Free Technology for Teachers is a blog written by former teacher Richard Byrne about the many different free resources that are available to teachers. The posts cover topics such as available educational apps and practical applications of educational technology. For example, though not exactly technology, the current main story on the homepage is about how many national parks there are throughout the United States. Each one of these parks offers a different educational opportunity for students to learn about everything from geology to national history. Personally, I find that blogs posts about topics such as better online searching are incredibly helpful, for both my students and myself. I am astounded at how poorly some people are at finding useful and valuable information online, and article like this can be used to help my students become better at discerning whether or not to believe what they find online.
NAME: WiredAcademic
URL: http://www.wiredacademic.com/
WiredAcademic is a website that strives to brings nonpartisan, independent analysis to various topics related to online education. This is crucial, because many journals, and particular many websites, seem to be either for or against online learning, and present all of their information through that filter. For proper decisions regarding online education to be made, all pertinent information must be accessed in a way that is not designed to sway opinion. I will use this website as an additional source of knowledge about the best practices for online learning. The more sources of information that I use the better for both myself and my students, so that I can best compare conflicting information, and determine what is the best decision for my students.
NAME: moodle
URL: https://moodle.com
Moodle is a learning management system that can be used to cover all of the needs an educator and students might have during a course. A course can be created and customized to the teacher’s liking. These courses can contain various components, such as lessons, links, quizzes, and surveys. Moodle will track student progress, and offers options for grading, such as allowing students to resubmit assignments until a desired grade is attained. Moodle is important to me because I have some experience with it, and while I do not think that it is perfect, it certainly is useful when designing an online course. I do not have any specific complaints or concerns about moodle, and there was nothing that I wanted to do when designing a course that I could not do.
NAME: Respondus
Respondus is a web browser that is designed to ensure student academic honestly during online quizzes and tests. Once a student begins an assessment, the student is unable to access other windows, websites, and programs, as well as be unable to copy or print. Additionally, assessment sessions can be recorded with a webcam, to prevent a student from using any physical resources or unacceptable collaboration with another individual. This is a very important service, since it will prevent just about every sort of cheating during an online assessment. While some students will still find a way around the preventative measures, Respondus will make it significantly more difficult for them to cheat. Since I plan to teach online and will have to assessment my students somehow, this is an incredibly necessary tool to use.
NAME: Planboard
URL: https://www.planboardapp.com
Planboard is a way to greatly streamline the process of creating an online course and content for said course. Video and images can easily be embedded right into a lesson. Furthermore, lesson templates can be used to make the lesson creation process even more efficient. The lessons can be simply aligned to educational standards, and students can be monitored as they progress through the materials. Planboard helps to cut down on teacher prep time, so that the teacher can focus on what and how they plan to teach, not procedural concerns such as the physical layout of an online lesson. This is an important tool to have access to, since it will make student learning the focal point of a teacher’s efforts.
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Video Introduction:
link:https://youtu.be/vnkKI93dWg4
