Technology Project

Preparing for Surface Area

EDCI 890
Melissa Miller

- 10 honors math
students
- Requirements:
- No more than 4
per class period
- Volunteer basis

Participants

 I conversed with a small group of students about the

following topics:

PreAssessment
Interview

Do you know what surface area is?

Do you think math is difficult when you learned
something a long time ago and then you have to
remember it again?
Do you feel like you can learn independently using tools
and videos from the internet?
Do you feel confident that you can teach math
concepts that you are good at?
Do you feel comfortable working with an iPad or a
computer and using web 2.0 tools on the internet
independently or with a partner?

 Do you know what surface area is?

None of the students new what surface area was.

Do you think math is difficult when you learned something a long

time ago and then you have to remember it again?
They all agreed that it was nice to have a quick review and hard to
learn 2 things at once.

PreAssessment
Results

Do you feel like you can learn independently using tools and
videos from the internet?
100% yes

Do you feel confident that you can teach math concepts that you
are good at?
60% felt very confident the remaining 40% thought they could do it
but were a bit more hesitant.

Do you feel comfortable working with an iPad or a computer and

using web 2.0 tools on the internet independently or with a
partner?
80% were very comfortable with an iPad or iPhone
100% were comfortable with Microsoft tools
Web 2.0 tools: none of the students knew that term so I listed several
tools they might use 0% had experience using some of the tools but
100% felt confident in their computer skills and wanted to try.

Completing
the Project

Completing
the Project

Completing
the Project

Link to Edmodo: https://www.edmodo.com/home

Link to Class generated website:
http://kidsdosurfacearea.weebly.com/

Category

PostAssessment
Using
Rubric

Rubric for Surface Area Skill Review

Poor 1 Point
Good 2 Points Excellent 3
Points

Blog Posting

Student posted 1 or
2 times. The
response did not
communicate
information clearly
or provide new
ideas and insights
to the conversation.

Skills
Identified

Students identified
2 skills needed to
successful compute
surface area.

Resources
found/create
d

Student found
similar resources
that reviewed
content but not a
lot of variety we
present. Student
did not create any
resources
themselves.
Students only
represented the
skill/knowledge one
way.
Students used 1 or
2 web 2.0 tools
throughout the
entire project.
Student did not
give credit to
borrowed images
and content.

Multiple
Representati
ons
Web 2.0 Tools

Digital
Citizenship

Student posted 3
or 4 times. The
response did
communicate
information clearly
but did not provide
new ideas and
insights to the
conversation.
Students identified
4 skills needed to
successful
compute surface
area.
Student found a
small variety of
resources that
reviewed content
and students
created 1 resource
themselves.

Student posted 5 or 6
times. The response
did communicate
information clearly
and provided new
ideas and insights to
the conversation.

About 50% of the

skills/knowledge
had multiple
representations.
Students used 3-5
web 2.0 tools
throughout the
entire project.
Students
attempted to give
credit but either
not all resources
were cited or not

All of the
skills/knowledge had
multiple
representations.
Students used 5+
web 2.0 tools
throughout the entire
project.
Students cited each
resource correctly.

Students identified 6
skills needed to
successful compute
surface area.
Each type of resource
presented content in
a different way or
through a different
medium. At least 50%
of the resources were
created by the
students.

Category

PostAssessment
Using
Rubric

Rubric for Surface Area Skill Review

Poor 1 Point
Good 2 Points Excellent 3
Points

Blog Posting

Student posted 1 or
2 times. The
response did not
communicate
information clearly
or provide new
ideas and insights
to the conversation.

Skills
Identified

Students identified
2 skills needed to
successful compute
surface area.

Resources
found/create
d

Student found
similar resources
that reviewed
content but not a
lot of variety we
present. Student
did not create any
resources
themselves.
Students only
represented the
skill/knowledge one
way.
Students used 1 or
2 web 2.0 tools
throughout the
entire project.
Student did not
give credit to
borrowed images
and content.

Multiple
Representati
ons
Web 2.0 Tools

Digital
Citizenship

Student posted 3
or 4 times. The
response did
communicate
information clearly
but did not provide
new ideas and
insights to the
conversation.
Students identified
4 skills needed to
successful
compute surface
area.
Student found a
small variety of
resources that
reviewed content
and students
created 1 resource
themselves.

Student posted 5 or 6
times. The response
did communicate
information clearly
and provided new
ideas and insights to
the conversation.

About 50% of the

skills/knowledge
had multiple
representations.
Students used 3-5
web 2.0 tools
throughout the
entire project.
Students
attempted to give
credit but either
not all resources
were cited or not

All of the
skills/knowledge had
multiple
representations.
Students used 5+
web 2.0 tools
throughout the entire
project.
Students cited each
resource correctly.

Students identified 6
skills needed to
successful compute
surface area.
Each type of resource
presented content in
a different way or
through a different
medium. At least 50%
of the resources were
created by the
students.

Reflection

 Students had a purpose for doing the assignment

they saw value in what they were creating
Students used new web 2.0 tools that they had not
used before.

Highlights

Students used higher level thinking by developing

activities that would be fun and engaging to them and
classmates.
Students collaborated and practiced working as a
team.
Students built confidence in their abilities.

 Every student interacted with at least one new tool

they had not used before.
Students were self learners of the ideas behind
surface area.

Reflections
of Student
Learning

Students were able to analyze the skills they needed

to have mastered in order to correctly perform
surface area.
Using technology increased productivity,
engagement, and productive work time.
The students are excited to share their knowledge
and product with their classmates.
The students were easily able to communicate
digitally and using the class whiteboard.

 Technology was not always cooperative which made completing the

project on time challenging for certain students.
I had to be flexible and change sharing interface.

The group should have been much smaller. Groups of 5-6 would
have been better.

Improveme
nts

Digital citizenship: when they learned they would have to cite

resources they found they decided they just wanted to create their
own. Next time, this needs to be a requirement.
The idea of citing seemed scary and overwhelming so I will need to
provide some type of instruction or resource on how to do that.

Design: the students had very little concept of design. On the

website I had to make a list of things they needed to change for
example background pictures. They need instruction or an example
of what a completed website should look like.
Accountability/Communication with Instructor: Since the students
were working independently (I was almost always trying to fix a
tech problem) students should have recorded what they got
accomplished and set a goal for the next day using Edmodo. This
would allow me to communicate with them and offer suggestions
and tips as they were going along.