Creating web tools

Before students can begin to use the web to learn about Mathematics they need to create a web presence which they can use to publish what they have learnt. There are two web tools which they will be using - blogs and wikis.

Blogs will be used by students to publish exactly what they have learnt, what they have found they need to learn and what they will be doing in their next web challenge. Each student will have a seperate blog to do this. Parents are encourage to sign up to their child's blog and receive notification of updates by email. Other users can comment on what students have published but are not able to publish articles. I would like them to use "blogger" for their school blogs but their are other options they can use. Students can personalise their own blogs.

A wiki is a colaborative environment which our students will be using to build up a resource which other students or teachers can then use as a basis of future lessons. Only one wiki - Ragstop.wikispaces.com will be used for this. Students can edit each other's work. This part of the program will only occur later. First students have an opportunity to participate in the webquests themselves.

As you can imagine there is a fair amount of trust involved in allowing students to publish on the web under the school name but their must also be a level of accountability. Therefore to access the Ragstop wiki students must first create their own wiki. I will then invite them to join the Ragstop wiki. The wiki they create will be used by me as a password which allows me to track who is responsible for the changes made on our school wiki. They can also use the wikis they create for their own stuff.

Students can see me for help in creating their own wiki and blog. I would encourage each student to use these 2 web tools over the holidays so that they become familiar with them and prepare themselves for our program next term.

Peter Free

Explanation of E-learning Project

Rangitikei College
-Taking education into the 21st century

In this pilot program we have asked 16 students to participate in a 10 week e-learning program called Ragstop. The program is based on a series of web quests.

Students select from a menu of Webquests and are directed to another web site where they follow instructions to complete set tasks. There are a vast variety of tasks given.

At the end of each session students must do some self evaluation. The evaluation format is as follows:

• What have I learnt?

This week I have learnt: .......

• What do I need to learn?

In future I need to learn more about: .......

• Questions of Clarification

I would like to break through the blockages in my understanding and have answers to the following questions: .......

• Questions to Extend Understanding

I would like to extend my understanding and explore the following questions: .......

• Goal Setting

Next time I would like to: .......

Students participating in this program are expected to be self motivated and disciplined. A high level of maturity and an an ability to complete tasks to a high standard is a pre-requisite of this program.


List of Maths Webquests

Below is a link to the list of all the sites where you can go for your maths webquests.
Explore! Critique! Enjoy!