SCREENCASTS IN TEACHING WITH GEOGEBRA

Matija Lokar, GEOGEBRA CONFERENCE 2011, LINZ, AUGUST , 2011

An example GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , www/GeoGebra4/newFeatures.htm

Why New subject to teach Computer tools in mathematics Project NAUK Development of e-materials for mathematics, physics, computer science and logic Project EduMATICS Development of an in-service training course for math teachers „Crash“ course on new features of GeoGebra 4 All required appropriate teaching instructions for various usages of technology GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Problems when teaching with tools When tools (as GeoGebra) are used in teaching mathematics Students are usually exposed to two new things: mathematics tools usage They usually quite nicely follow the demonstration, but afterwards there are problems with understanding of the mathematical facts demonstrated of the use of a particular tool Quite often „in whole“ student understands the idea Be it on mathematics or on a tool usage Some details needed to be repeated again (and again …) So we give the student appropriate notes GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

In text form GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Improved with pictures... GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

But as we are in the „YouTube Era" we should use video instead! First attempts: Videotaping a person behind a computer and record his/her narration Person & computer & camera = Problems Problems with sound, appropriate lighting conditions Lengthy „postproduction“ Translation? We do not need "real video" – we just want to follow what is going on a computer screen Screen capturing programs GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

DEBUG MODE WINK An example of such a tool „Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS- Word/Excel etc. ).“ Plenty of others: Adobe Captivate, CamStudio, Camtasia … Freeware GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Classical demonstration Students just observe the video GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Video Instructions / GeoGebra Applet GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Some examples „Crash“ course on new features of GeoGebra 4 Project EduMATICS Development of an in-service training course for math teachers lj.si/www/EduMatics/V3/mod1/Overview.html Project NAUK Development of e-materials for mathematics, physics, computer science and logic GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Some observations Do not use sound It is very hard to get it right Use "explanation balloons" instead Skip as much typing as possible (get rid of intermediate screens) It is very boring (especially on subsequent views) waiting for the whole command to be typed You can not find timing appropriate for everyone Stop at certain important parts (click required to continue) To allow the student to rethink the seen situation Provide also back buttons to simplify repetition of the last section seen Extract text in separate file – to simplify the changes GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

E-LEARNING CONTENT SHOULD BE EASILY ADAPTABLE BY THE TEACHERS GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Authoring the resources Autor / teacher / student relation Author creates the resources for an ideal situation, teacher teaches in “real world” Author should merely be an initiator of the resource in various forms Teacher - "end provider" - is the one who upgrades the idea, adapts it to a certain pedagogical situation, his/her beliefs, … Modifiability „Hi, where can I get your.ggb? I will use it at my class and need to change just a few things.“ Teachers should be "in charge" Provide access to the sources If needed, they can alter the explanation, add additional stop points... Probably the main reason to use Wink GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

5 minutes between classes And you observed a mistake in an explanation in a videotutorial A slovenian word ;-) 5 steps without knowledge of Wink is enough to modify the resource Download source files Change txt file Open wnk file Use Import text file Press render button DEMO GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Is it true? Teachers do not need modifiability of resources will not modify resources have no knowledege to modify resources Majority of changes proposed are quite simple But nevertheless important for individual teacher GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Re-using resources Author creates the resources for an ideal situation, teacher teaches in “real world” Teacher should gain control over the resource He/she is the one who must adapt the resource to concrete teaching situation and to a particular student Author should merely be an initiator of the resource in various forms Teacher is the one who upgrades the idea, adapts it to a certain pedagogical situation, his/her beliefs, … Teacher has the possibility to adapt, change and (re)combine the resources provided by the author(s) GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

"Solution" Respect teacher – the end provider of the resource Allow him/her to easily modify the resource Separate appearance from the content Use simple tools Use standard formats Provide sources wnk, html, ggb Easy to obtain GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011

Many more to be told, but … GeoGebra Conference 2011, Linz, August , 2011