Comments on: Five Reasons To Download Classkick

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 16:11:19 +0000

Hello!

I am going to give this a try tomorrow with students. I have already have lots of those self correct quizzes and do think its great for kids to get instant feedback–but not worth the incorrectly given negative feedback.

Anyway, does classkick allow a teacher to easily save a students work?

Thanks,

-Josh

By: Matt Bury

Matt Bury — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 00:56:17 +0000

Hi Liz, I think what you’re looking for is a LaTeX and MathML integration like MathJax: http://www.mathjax.org/

There are already modules and integrations for some of the most widely used website software and learning management systems and it’s free and open source. They don’t list it here: http://docs.mathjax.org/en/latest/platforms/index.html but Moodle (http://moodle.org/) supports it.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 23:55:26 +0000

In college, the equation editor built into Word was pretty intuitive. The one thing that was a smidge tricky was doing square roots with (x)^0.5 and keeping all the brackets straight. So a quadratic equation would be x=(-b+(b^2-4ac)^0.5)/2a and it’d come out looking like the version in a textbook. And changing up the equation was pretty easy too.

I wonder if there’s a way to make an app that lets you insert an equation into any text field on a tablet. Then the equations could be typed in quickly and the handwriting could be saved for diagrams and such.

Also, I’m sure they know about it, but just in case I’ve passed this on to two of the professors in curriculum that do a lot of work with getting future teachers to assess whether a given app actually has benefit. Sent them a link to your review here.

Even if classkick doesn’t work out, just thinking about the benefit of it’s functionality will hopefully encourage more social learning.

By: This Week in Math Tools: ClassKick and Mathematica Online | EdSurge News | Teachers Tech

Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:35:05 +0000

[…] WEEK IN MATH: Dan Meyer, math blogger extraordinaire, writes a compelling article this week on why math teachers should download ClassKick. Here’s a sample: feedback tool ClassKick “organizes student work and puts it in front of […]

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 12:37:44 +0000

@Mo, thanks for your thoughtful response. You'll have to pardon my not keeping my readership fully informed on the back-and-forth between you and Ian. All of those comments remain on the record for their reading. Moreover, this process where a) a student is frustrated with software, b) a blogger highlights that frustration publicly, and c) the developer fixes the frustration, while inspiring, seems fairly unrepresentative of the state of affairs. The more likely case, which I have chosen to highlight on my blog, ends with a) the student's frustration. I have responded to your compelling argument for adaptive math software here.

By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » A Response To The Founder Of Mathspace On The Costs And Benefits Of Adaptive Math Software

Mon, 22 Sep 2014 12:32:02 +0000

[…] Jebara, the founder of Mathspace, has responded to my concerns about adaptive math software in general and his in particular. Feel free to read his entire […]

By: Doug McKenzie

Doug McKenzie — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 16:33:45 +0000

The five course meal… fork or spoon?
I think we get trapped by some false dichotomies in our discussion of math ed. There are multiple strands of mind activity involved in solving mathematically rich problems, and it seems different parts of the brain that address each one, not to mention the part that switches between them all. Students need the open attitude they practice in a 3Act, and the persistence they get from a growth mindset (Dweck/Boaler). They need to recognize the concepts in the context … I read in Moonwalking with Einstein that grandmaster chess players, when introduced to a game position 25 moves in, access their memory much more than they access the analytical part of their brains (cortex?). They don’t think about the position as much as they recognize it. Students need fluency in a variety of math tools — arithmetic skills, algebra, visual models like bars or arrays… here they also are better off when they can “recognize” fraction multiplication in the middle of a larger problem, not have that become the problem. They need to be able to problem solve, have an optimistic attitude, be expecting and willing to analyze, be resourceful, be able to use problem solving skills like collecting data and looking for patterns, drawings, working backwards… These are all separate strands in math education that I suspect need to be addressed in different ways. How often have you spent a good three days on the area of triangles with manipulatives and drawings on grids, only to have half the class forget the formula a week later? Analysis, memory… two different things, two different places in the brain. Once they have some solid thinking experience with triangles, I am going give them sprints to practice that formula, to talk directly to the memory. Think about how you learn stuff. Play piano? If you really understand music theory, can you get away without practicing scales… a lot? We need to think about what are the best methods and tools for working in each realm… I suspect that we will find that sometimes we are debating which is better, a fork or a spoon. Depends on what course you are on.

By: Classkick — Cool New (Free) App | Hilbert's Hotel

Classkick — Cool New (Free) App | Hilbert's Hotel — Sat, 20 Sep 2014 05:23:28 +0000

[…] Meyer usually railsÂ against apps & website rather than for them[1], so when I read that he was saying howÂ good an app is, I thought I should check it […]

By: Matt Bury

Matt Bury — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 15:08:09 +0000

For empirical support of peer discussion/instruction and the value of p2p interaction, this was published today: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/discussion-make-difference/

By: Matt Bury

Matt Bury — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 21:08:22 +0000

@Kenneth, re: “well, it might be a way for the students themselves to learn how best to help others.” — My point is that automated feedback and easy answers inhibit responsible learning.

“Anything that a child can do and should do for themselves, and that we do for them, takes away an opportunity to learn responsibly.” — Gene Bedely.

Accountable Talk is more common in the liberal arts (at all ages) and a well-worn path. It’s simply a case of getting more teachers in the natural sciences, ICT, and maths to “liberalise” their classrooms. It pays dividends from the start and encourages a more open and relaxed learning atmosphere; great for reducing teachers’ stress levels.