CEDO 540 Entry Three

This week in I happened to have the experience of being involved in two surveys. The first was a Census Bureau survey that required me to keep and expense diary to help the government adjust the Consumer Price Index. The second was a long survey about technology usage and ability for the tech department at my school. I do not believe that I will be able to see the results or how the data will be interpreted for either survey but it was interesting to participate in both of them considering that I am currently enrolled in a class about collecting data.

On a side note I had students in my World Cultures classes do research and create Prezi's. They turned out so great! The kids really got into making them and took pride in their work. I knew it was a successful project because the kids seemed enthusiastic presenting them and I learned a lot myself from watching them. For anyone skeptical about the power and effectiveness of having students create digital projects I would direct them to view these and there minds will be changed quickly.

CEDO 540 Entry Two

Doing the guided practice this week helped get some ideas regarding statistics and using them in my profession. Historically I have always used the class average (mean) when looking at a particular groups performance but by doing that I have clearly limited what I could have learned from my data. I believe that having more hard data to support teaching strategies, particularly those using technology. What I have discovered is that many teachers and even students are skeptical of new ideas and having data that has been examined may help promote buy-in. The next thing I need to find out is what types of data I should collect and what types of questions to ask

CEDO 540 Entry One

After really enjoying the last two classes in the program (Digital Storytelling, Web 2.0 Tools) I will be honest and say I'm a little more suspicious/apprehensive about a stats class. It has been a while since I've had any type of mathematics class (first year of college to be specific) so remembering some of the vocab might be tough. Despite the fact that I initially do not have the excitement my attitude always is to be open-minded and to always find things that I can use or that will help me improve.

I look forward to finding ways that I can gather data to improve my teaching and potentially my collaboration with other teachers. I have been seeing a need to have hard data about how effective using technology has been in my classes. Several teachers in my department and school are suspicious as to whether or not technology actually improves student learning and it would validate what I do if I have some hard evidence. On a personal level it may also help me determine what is having a measurable impact and what is not for my students. I will need to learn what type of questions to ask, how to gather the data, and most importantly how to interpret and apply the data.

My most extensive experience with statistics has to do with sports stats. When I was a kid I learned a lot of math from studying and playing around with football statistics and basketball statistics. I've been able to use that going forward so hopefully I get some stuff from this class that does the same...