Case Studies Blog Post #2

Case Study 1: Strategies for Showing Computations in Math in the Online Environment

Case Study 2: Strategies for Using Reading and Writing in the Online Science Environment

Answer to Question 1: As a veteran of the US Navy, having served 20 years on active duty, I have a significant amount of experience with distance education. This experience started with classes that were completed after receiving booklets with course requirements and books with course material, to courses that included video tapes that the student had to watch as part of the course requirement, to finally, courses that were completed online with discussion boards and blog post requirements.

One of the online course that I signed up for was an Algebra I course. The course required the use of a very expensive license to the Wolfram-Alpha software. This requirement to use the Wolfram-Alpha software, ended up being the obstacle that I was unable to overcome. Not because of the cost, but because of the learning curve required to use the software. I would spend 2 to 5 minutes working on the problem and finding the solution and then 15 to 20 minute working with the software to get it to display my work and solution in a clear, easy to understand, format. I ended up dropping out of the course and had to pay for the software out of pocket even though I did not end up using it.

I share this because it highlights one of the biggest problems with online education in mathematics, which is one of the problems addressed in the first case study I looked at. That is, how can students and teacher communicate mathematically considering the limitation of many applications with this? Even today, at least 10 years after my attempt at online/distance education for math, we still do not have one application the provides the perfect solution. However, we have come a long way and the case study provides some excellent examples. I would say that my favorite being the scanning of homework for submission. Now, the case study points out that one limitation to this is the lack of access for many students to a scanner at home. However, the smart phone, which most teenagers have access to these days, has provided a solution to this in the form of applications that turn photos into pdf documents, or simply taking photos of homework and sending the photos.

Another solution, which likely requires the same learning curve as Wolfram-Alpha, are online services such as http://www.overleaf.com/. Web services and programs like Overleaf provide access to the LaTeX editing software which includes powerful tools for use in communication mathematical ideas. Now I took two courses at GVSU that required the use of LaTeX and there were many students that really struggled with this. Don’t get me wrong, so did I. However, one key difference between my experience and theirs was this. The teacher gave us a document that he had prepared using Overleaf and challenged each of us to work to recreate this document. He gave us some time in class to work on it but not enough and completing it was not a requirement. However, that day after class, I spent the entire day work on that document until I had and exact copy. It took hours of trial and error, internet searches for examples of code, and even several emails back and forth with the instructor, but I eventually had it! After that, the use of the tool was not without it challenges but I had it far easier than most of my classmates.

This points to the second solution provided in case study 1. A tool provided to the students to allow them to write their mathematical ideas, LaTeX is also used in scientific writing, in a clear and well defined layout. This method requires effort on the teacher’s part to provide enough source material and instruction to allow the students to use the tool effectively. As stated, math classes, especially ones you have already failed, are stressful enough without the inclusion of difficult tools to understand and use.

What effect would the positives and negatives have on my perspective to eventually teach for a virtual school? I guess I would say that these issues are not exactly unique to the online learning environment. As a teacher with live students in front of me, I had to remind my students over and over again that they were required to show their work. “Why do we have to show our work?”, they would ask. Well, do you only write the first and last sentence for every paragraph in English class? What kind of story or report would that produce? The same goes for math, you have to tell me the entire story, not just the first and last sentence. So, I guess that is my way of saying that teachers are going to face challenges in any teaching environment. Some of them may be completely different in an online environment but many of them are likely the same challenges they faced in the classroom, just in a different form. Me personally, I love interacting with students in person, and so it is more about that lack of live interaction that would prevent me from teaching online, than the obstacles discussed.

Answer to Question 2:

Case Study 1: The issues were discussed above. Mainly, how do teachers and students communicate mathematical ideas considering the use of many, non-standard solutions, in math. Personally, I loved the solutions that the math teacher came up with and think that modern technology, such as smart phones and tablets, answers many of the limitations mentioned.

Case Study 2: Once again, because of the nature of science and the use of non-standard symbols, the difficulty and challenges presented to the teacher and student in communicating their ideas and organizing them, is one of the main struggles in the classroom and online. I really liked the ideas that the online teacher came up with for solutions. These solutions match very closely with solutions that work well in class as well.

In general, the solutions for the challenges of online teaching and learning are coming faster and faster, and yet, we have yet to “crack the code.” Companies like Apple and Google are currently offering the most popular technology based education solutions and yet both have products in my opinion are half-baked at best. While it frustrates me that they have provided us with products that don’t quite offer what we need and both excel in certain areas and not in others, I am also excited by the amazing possibilities that both have opened up that were only dreamed of a few years ago. In addition, by using the systems that in some ways could be considered beta products, we are taking part in creating the solutions of the future, and that is fun!