Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Algebra 1 Technology Plan

I have been using various tech tools in algebra 1 class over the last few years, my plan for the 2012-2013 school year is to increase the amount of content that is available to the students online.  I teach in a room with enough desktop computers for everyone.  We use a block schedule and I have the students for a half block lab in addition to the regular one block class.

We will be using ALEKS in the lab, I tried it last year for the second half of the year and I liked it.  I will be directing the student learning in ALEKS so they will not have access to the whole curriculum at once, they will be held to the topics in the current chapter being taught.

I plan to use the open source ck-12 textbooks, although I will arrange the chapters to closely follow the Pearson book (Lial, Introductory Algebra 9e) that the rest of the algebra 1 classes in my school are using.  Maybe someday the students will have a Kindle to keep that book on, but for now, they will have online access and they can print out materials if they have problems accessing a computer outside of class.

I am also using a SMART Board for class notes, I plan to make those notes available online.  I am also going to be compiling worksheets, videos (Khan) and activities that they can access.  I will be using Moodle to organize all of these materials.  At first, it will just be a collection of resources, but possibly I will make it more interactive in future years.  I have been gathering algebra 1 games online for years, they can be found here 


I have been using clickers as a student response system over the past few years.  I understand that there are several computer based systems now, I will be finding one of those and giving it a try.

I know this is a lot, but I feel it is important and the time has come for it all to work together well.  I have been doing pieces of these things for years and I am hopeful I will be able to put it all together in a way that provides more opportunities for more students.

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