Central Tendencies Exploration

Using Google Earth and Social Media

By: Karen Cameron, Cheronne Edwards and Bryan Wiedeman

Social Media, Central Tendency, and You

Social media is more and more prevalent in our society. Some people use Twitter,
Facebook, or Instagram to keep their family and friends updated on what is going on
in their lives. For this project you will be using your own social media accounts to see
how far reaching your friends and family connections extend.
Essential Question: How far does your reach extend with social media?
What you need to know: For this project the class will be divided into teams of
three or four students. Each team will be assigned a team hashtag to use, along with
the class hashtag. These tags must be included in all of your interactions using
Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger. Each team member will send a message using both
Twitter and Facebook to all friends/followers that include the class and team hashtag
requesting feedback on the recipients location. The results will be tracked in a
shared Google spreadsheet.
Skills: For this unit you will be using a combination of technology skills including:
word processing, blogging, spreadsheet, presentation, and video production in
conjunction with your mathematical knowledge of central tendency.
Content: This project provides you a chance to apply what you know about
calculating central tendency: mean, median, mode, and range.
Inquiry: As a team decide who will create and share the team spreadsheet. Each
team member will log the number of responses they receive in response to the
tweet/post in the shared team spreadsheet. As you begin receiving responses map
the responses on a Google map, and calculate the distance to input in your team
spreadsheet. Take notes on whether or not the distance, relationship, gender, or age
has any impact on speed of response. Also, track how many reposting or retweets
you get.
Choose your audience: Is the audience for your presentation your peers or
someone who is just learning about central tendency? How will this affect your
presentation?
Voice and Choice: Based on your intended audience, determine the format for your
presentation. As a team decide if you are going to do screenshots, a Prezi, or some
other type of presentation for your video.
Revision and reflection: Each team will review another teams presentation and
provide feedback prior to final production. Throughout the project students will post
weekly reflections on how well they feel their team is collaborating and problems
solving with specific examples, in addition to a response to a project related prompt.

All students must comment on at least two other students posts. Each team member
will compose a final blog post reflection on the process with a link (or embedded) to
their team presentation, what they learned about their social media reach, and
working with the team. Each student will tweet and post updates on team progress
and links to their reflection post. Additionally, each student will review and comment
on at least two other non-team members post and respond to tweets as appropriate.

Unit Description:
Using Twitter and Facebook, students will ask their followers and friends where they
are located. Then, using Google Maps and Google Earth, students will map the
distances between friends. Students will find the greatest distances compared to the
schools location and the average distance. Additionally, they will determine how
many people fall in the average, and calculate the central tendencies for the team
data. The final wrap up of the project is to create a presentation about what they
learned and then comment on two posts from classmates on different teams.

Learning Outcomes:
Objective: Students will create a video explaining how to find the central tendencies
of Mean, Median, Mode, or Range of the distances from their Twitter and Facebook
friends/followers, based on the calculated distances using Google Doc spreadsheet
and Mapping features.
Calculate mean, median, mode and range of distances of Twitter/Facebook
friends.
Accurately represent distances using Google Earth or Google Maps.
Create a video for students explaining the process of finding central
tendency.
Optional: As an enrichment or extra credit activity, students will create an
expression of the frequency of responses and postulate if distance,
relationship, or age was a factor

Performance and Participation Expectations:

This project is about using social media and collaboration using a math class for the
forum. All students will work on a team with 2 to 3 other class members to collect
and analyze data that will be used to produce a presentation on mean, median,
mode, and/or range. During the unit students are expected to continue to use
Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger to communicate with team members and the class.
Each team will complete a collaboration rubric as part of the assessment and
reflection process.

Social Media Use Guidelines:

All students in the course will comply with the Social Media Use Guidelines in
addition to the districts Authorized User Agreement.

Student/Course Content Creation and Sharing Platforms:

Sharing work and discussions: Edmodo is the platform for assignments and work
submissions and discussion questions.
Students own learning pages: Students will utilize Blogger as the blogging
platform to post projects, reflections, and comments.
Video Sharing: Students will post a team video to YouTube of a screencast tutorial
or presentation on calculating mean, median, mode, and/or range.
Synchronous Meeting Discussions: Google+ for activities where students can
reach out to experts in a certain field.
Information Sharing and Dissemination: Twitter class/team hashtags and
Edmodo
Curation: Scoopit. storing resources is the platform selected for this course.
Students may utilize their Scoopit for resources they find as it relates to the project
and course.
Student Collaboration: Each team will create a shared Google Docs spreadsheet
to compile the Twitter and Facebook response data. The minimal information the
spreadsheet will contain the type of response, time of the response, location of
responder, the distance.

Student Interaction:

Description for unit and activities posted on Edmodo. Students go to Edmodo

for resources, to turn in finished projects, to learn about learning activities and
to get clarification via message boards and forums for specific tasks and also
for the unit as a whole. Its the main LMS and where to start and finish. This is
an interactive forum that is utilized daily to get started, to find out more info
and to turn in finished products.
The blog will be used as a personal ePortfolio. Students will post their work
here when it is finished and reflect on the learning that occurs. This is
something that students maintain for multiple courses over the entirety of their
K-12 school experience. It can also be used throughout the unit(s) for
formative feedback through posting drafts and receiving and posting
comments from peers. Weekly progress report made at end of week with
reflection on learning.
YouTube is another place for teams to post finished video products. One of
the project activities is for students to post a screencast tutorial on how to
solve a problem or use a formula for their final project. Commenting is
required from peers for the interaction element.
Google+ - Teams will host an online Hangout with an expert in the field from
somewhere else around the world that can provide input on the essential
question and the project they are creating.
Twitter - Teams will use the class and team hashtags for sharing resources,
posting updates on projects and searching for experts or resources.
Scoop.it to collect resources and ideas for group project. Each student is
required to submit 3 resources and provide descriptions.

Google Docs - Teams will use shared documents to collaborate and plan the
entire project. Students can put links to important documents. Share the
responsibility of planning the final project. Detailed log of what is happening
throughout the project.

Monitor Course Interactions:

Hashtag for Twitter - both class and team hashtag to track tweets and
responses. These tags allow for verification of data for a particular team
and/or student.
To assess participation and provide feedback, the instructor will compile
class, team, and student tweets using keyhole.co to check Twitter stats.
Edmodo class page is the central hub for all submissions to be graded.
Students are expected to submit final assignments and links to all actions in
the Edmodo class portal.
o Submit blog posts links to Edmodo and post to Twitter using class
hashtag
o YouTube links tweeted and posted to Edmodo and blog.
o G+ Hangout recorded and posted to YouTube and embedded in Blog
and then Tweeted and shared on Edmodo.
o Link to Scoop.it tweeted and posted on Edmodo
o Google Docs set to anyone with the link in the organization can view
Then the link can be Tweeted and posted to Edmodo
o All announcements will be made on Edmodo and Tweeted to class
hashtag.
Setup Edmodo to accept Twitter feed for class and team hashtags here

Sample Learning Activities:

1. Connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter using class and team hashtags
to find out where they are located.
2. Create a shared Google Doc spreadsheet to collect data
3. Create blog post in response to a prompt and weekly reflections on the
project, collaboration, and problem solving.
4. Use Google Maps and Google Earth to approximate distances between
friends
5. Create a short tutorial and upload to YouTube to explain the process for
finding the mean, median, mode, or range
6. Create a presentation about what you learned and post it to your blog.
Comment on your peers work.
This document will detail the different social networking platforms we will be using
throughout the unit. We will spend the first two periods of the unit creating and
setting up the accounts that we will use to complete the lessons and activities. Below
you will find instructions on how to set up each account and also how we will use it in
class. Please remember to thoroughly read the Social Media Use Guidelines (this
document can also be found on the Edmodo page in the resources folder) document
that details our expectations for your behaviour while using social media at school.

Although you are creating individual accounts for these activities, they are being
used for class and school activities. As a result, you will need to provide us both the
username and password for each educational account so we can monitor your
activity on that account.

Edmodo
Set-Up:
You will need to set-up a student account for our Edmodo course.
Here is a guide to setting up your account, or you can watch this screencast.
The 6 digit code for our course is: 7epmhq.
When creating your username please use the same username provided by
the school for your email account.
When creating your password please use the same password provided by the
school for your email account.
Purpose:
Edmodo will be used as the central hub of our unit.
All details for activities and lessons will be posted here.
All resources for the unit will be stored in the folders.
You can post any questions you have about the unit in a post and we will
respond to them there.

Facebook
Set-Up:
Facebook is the one personal network that you will use for this project.
If you do not have a Facebook account you can find instructions on how to
create an account here or by watching this screencast.
You will need to add/find at least 25 friends for this activity.
You can find help on how to add friends here.
Purpose:
This is the only exception to the rule above about providing us with username
and password information.
Facebook will be used to collect data for our unit.
For at least 25 of your friends you will need to find out where they live.
You can find this information in 1 of 2 ways.
o If you navigate to your friends page and look in their about section
they might list where they live
o If they do not have their location listed, you will need to message them
and ask.

Blogger
Set-Up:

You will need to set-up a blog for our class with your school provided Google
account.
If you log into gmail and click on the square icon that looks like 9 little boxes
at the top of the screen and then click on the more link you will see the
Blogger icon. Please click there.
Here is a guide on how to create your blog or you can watch this screencast.
Please title your blog (yourname math blog) i.e. Bryan Wiedemans Math Blog
Please make the address (usernamemath.blogspot.com) i.e.
bwiedemanmath.blogspot.com

Purpose:
Your blog will serve two purposes for this class.
It will be the place where you reflect on the work you do in class. We know
what learners learn best when they reflect on what they learn.
You will be responsible for reflecting on your learning at the end of each
activity.
It will also serve as your ePortfolio where you will post and store all finished
activities and culminating projects.

YouTube
Set-Up:
You will need to set-up your own YouTube channel for our class with your
school provided Google account.
If you log into gmail and click on the square icon that looks like 9 little boxes
at the top of the screen and then click on the more link you will see the
YouTube icon. Please click there.
Here is a guide to setting up your channel.
Please make sure your channel is public.
Here is a guide that will show you how to upload your videos to YouTube.
Purpose:
YouTube will be used to post the group screencast tutorials that you create.

Twitter
Set-Up:
You will need to create a Twitter account for use for school. Even if you
already have a personal Twitter account, you need to create one for class.
You will need to associate this account with your school email address.
Your handle should be your Google username plus the school acronym. i.e.
@bwiedemanaisr.
Your password should be the same as your school email password.
Here is a guide to help you set up your account, or you can watch this
screencast.
After you set up your account you need to upload a photo, fill out your profile
and send your first few tweets.

If you dont then Twitter might view you as a spammer and wont publish your
tweets.
Also you need to follow all other members in the class.

Purpose:
Twitter will be our other main communication tool besides Edmodo.
When you publish anything to your blog you need to include the class and
group hashtag.
When you find a resource for our unit you need to include the class and group
hashtag.
When you are sharing ideas with your group please use the group hashtag.
You will also need to post a tweet to find out where your followers live. Please
add your group hashtag to this tweet.
Whenever someone responds you will need to record that info in your Google
Sheet

Scoop.It
Set-Up:
One person in your group will need to set up a Scoop.It account for your
group.
Here is a guide on how to create a Scoop.It account.
You need to use one of the school created Twitter accounts to set up your
account.
Please decide who will do this and email the information to the teacher.
Please label your topic with the associated username and school acronym.
i.e. bwiedeman aisr
Here is a guide to posting content on your topic.
Purpose:
Your Scoop.It topic will be used to collect resources related to measures of
central tendency.
When you find a resource about topic please post the link on your topic and
also write a brief description for that resource.
Throughout the unit you will need to post at least 20 resources to your topic.

Google Sheets
Set-Up:
You will need to create a Google Sheet to responses responses from
Facebook and Twitter.
Here is an introduction to Sheets.
Nominate one person in your group to create the sheet.
Please title it with your Grouphashtag.
Please share the sheet with the other members in your group and the
teachers

Please make sure the sharing is set to anyone in the organization with the
link can view
Please refer to the Spreadsheet Setup document for specific instructions on
setting up your sheet.

Purpose:
This Sheet will be used to record all the data you receive from Facebook and
Twitter

YouTube Screencast Tutorial

Outcomes:

By the end of this activity you will be able to upload and publish a video to
YouTube
Be able to collaborate with your peers by creating a script and storyboard
using a Google Doc
Be able to post and reflect on your learning
Know how to create a screencast using Quicktime
Know how to edit your screencast using iMovie
Be able to explain one of the following concepts
o Mean
o Median
o Mode
o Range
Be able to apply the understanding of that concept to real world sets of data

Activity:

With your group you are going to plan, document, create and publish a
YouTube screencast tutorial on one of Mean, Median, Mode and Range
Your video must contain an explanation of the concept
Your video must have at least 4 different examples of how to apply that
concept and at least one using manipulatives

Planning:

As a group decide what topic you would like to create your video about
Have one person create a Google Doc and share it with the other members of
the group
On this document you will need to detail the explanation of the concept and
the four examples
Each example should have an accompanying story board showing the
different video shots that will be shown. These can be either photographed
and uploaded or created using a Google Drawing
You will also need to include a final script for the audio that will accompany
the video
Once completed, please share the document with the teachers and ensure
that the sharing settings are set to anyone with the link can view
Please post a link to your plan to Twitter with the group and class hashtags
Please also post a copy of the plan to your blog with a description of what you
learned while planning

Gathering Content/Filming:

Now you can begin collecting resources you will use to either show during
your screencast or describe. Please post these resources to your group
Scoop.It topic and also on Twitter with the group and class hashtags
Begin filming your screencast tutorial using Quicktime
Edit your footage using iMovie

Publication:

Once you have completed your tutorial have each group member upload it to
their individual YouTube account
Submit the link to the assignment section of our Edmodo Account
Embed the video into your blog and write a reflective piece on what you
learned during the project
Share the link to your post on Twitter using the group and class hashtags and
also post the link on the Edmodo page
Finally, you need to comment on at least 5 of your peers blog posts that did
not work in your group

Blog Post Rubric:

Criteria

Analysis of
topic &
question

Initial blog post

on topic and/or
question is
answered
accurately and
with much detail

Initial blog post

on topic lacks
some accuracy or
detail

Initial blog post

is limited in
accuracy and/or
detail

Initial blog post

lacks any
accuracy and/or
detail (did not
address prompt)

Initial blog post

was not started
or only a
cursory
attempt was
made

Critical
thinking
question or
thought

A critical thinking
question or
thought relevant
to the topic
and/or question
is provided

A critical thinking
question or
thought, not
relevant to the
topic and/or
question is
provided

A question or
thought is
provided

A question or
thought is not
provided

No evidence of
an attempt at
critical thought

Quality of
writing

Post is very
informative or
reflective and is
written in an
interesting style
and voice.

Post contains
information
about topic or a
reflection and
has a somewhat
interesting style
and voice.

Post contains
some basic
information
about topic, is
poorly organized
and has little
style or voice

Post gives no
new information
or is off topic, is
poorly
organized, and
has no style or
voice

Post does not

address topic,
and lacks
organization,
style and voice

Mechanics

Posting is
mechanically and
grammatically
correct

Posting contains
1-3 spelling,
grammatical, or
punctuation
errors

Posting contains
4-6 spelling,
grammatical, or
punctuation
errors

Posting contains
more than 6
spelling,
grammatical, or
punctuation
errors

Posting
contains more
than 6 errors
that impede
the readability

Community

Post contains
several links that
adds to readers
understanding
and contains
appropriate tags

Post contains
links for readers
and contains
some of the
appropriate tags

Post contains
only basic links
to cursory
information and
may contain
some of the
appropriate tags

Post contains a
link or a tag

Post contains
no links or tags

Timelines

Post is submitted
on time

Post is submitted
by the next class
period

Post is submitted
1-2 days late

Post is submitted
3-5 days late

Post is not
submitted for
review at end
of a week

Rubric adapted from: http://www.goramblersre.org/2010/02/16/blogging-rubric/

and http://www.evenfromhere.org/2010/02/16/blogging-rubric/