Teaching Math and Music with Technology

I have been spending the past few weeks trying to think of better ways to get my future teachers to be more engaged in their learning. I have decided to model several ideas after a great friend of mine who writes the amazing Teaching College Math blog, Maria Andersen.

Not only am I going to use hands on manipulatives and technology (like I have been) to teach with, but to help my students organize their thoughts and the material for the course, I am going to have them create a Prezi, a Wiki, a Blog and a Mindmap. One fourth of the class will be doing each of these for every test. Each student will rotate through the 4 types of online tools for every test (but not in the same order as the rest of their group). All students will also create a google website to house links to all of their creations and any notes or other information they want to add, along with their service learning journal. The website will be private and they will only share viewing privileges with me. The other 4 online components will be public and shared with the rest of the class.

I am hoping that not only will they have a better feel for the material in each quarter of the course, but it will be theirs to keep online and reuse the ideas and links when they become teachers. It will be helpful for them to study for each test because all 4 types of models will be created by the class for each test, and they will be able to use one another’s to help them study.

I decided I would model some of the types for the students, by creating my syllabus as a Prezi, and also in a mindmap format. (I will write a new blog entry when I finish my mindmapped syllabus).

I thought it would not be as helpful to show them the syllabus in Blog format (they can see this blog for ideas), and my syllabus is already on a website (just not a free google one). I am still contemplating whether to show an example of my syllabus as a wiki.

Here is the first pass at my syllabus as a Prezi: