Social Media in the Math Classroom

[Photo Credit: Google Images]

This article was very informative because it gave great real life examples of how technology can be incorporated into a math class. One of the ways the teacher included the two were using data visualizations. The students happened to be discussing the concept of area in class so the teacher took a map of Australia, and showed the extent of the 2012 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and how much space it would take up in their country. The students were both amazed and shocked at this. This made the students engage in deeper conversations and understanding of what area really means. It also showed the students that math is everywhere in the real world. The students were also given a project of using Google Earth to find the area of their homes. After finding their answers they posted their thoughts and ideas to the class page and had the ability to see other students work as well. 

As a future teacher I think this would be a wonderful way to incorporate the real world into math, especially with other students in middle and high schools. As a student I struggled with math and something like the projects mentioned above would have been really beneficial. This is a great way to get many different learning styles involved in learning a topic such as area. Google Earth will definitely be a tool I will use as a teacher in my classroom to make lessons more exciting and to get all learning styles engaged. 

I think that the ISTE standards they work well with this article are number 1which is creativity and innovation, number 2 which is communication and collaboration and number 6 which discusses technology operations and concepts. The students apply their existing knowledge of area to generate new ideas through the use of different programs such as google earth. This also shows their understanding and use of this technology system. 

Source: Casey, G. (November 2012) Social Media in the Math Classroom. Learning & Leading With Technology, 40(3), 36-37. Retrieved from http://iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading.aspx