Once upon a time, teaching mathematics was predominantly about being the bridge between the content (codified in a textbook) and the students. In modern times, however, the prevalence of printed textbooks is waning and teaching is becoming more and more about finding (and adapting) resources online. Therefore, to be an “effective teacher” now involves some level of skill in navigating online resources and discerning good learning activities for particular students. This assignment is designed to prompt careful consideration of some of the online search behaviors that we may engage in automatically.
PART ONEThink of a topic you will be teaching 2-3 weeks from now. (If you’re not currently teaching, think of a topic that you will be teaching in some form sometime in the future.) Then go online and find an activity or lesson that addresses the topic you identified.
On the SHARE Internet Resource discussion forum, make a post that indicates where online you initiated your search for the activity/lesson and also attach the activity/lesson you ended up finding.
PART TWOThen, think about the details of your search-and-selection process and write a paper that answers the following reflective questions:
- Where do you go to start your search? Why?
- How did you search? (What did you actually type and why? Did you refine or change what you searched for? Why?)
- How did you decide what search results to examine more closely?
- Did you look at something that you ended up NOT selecting? Why did you decide against selecting that thing?
- For the one you did select, why did you choose that one over everything else the internet has to offer?
A few paragraphs for each question should be plenty. Turn in this paper by submitting it on Canvas via this assignment page.
