Since we are coming to the end of the class, I thought it would be good to review the tools and techniques I have researched over the past few weeks. The whole purpose of the blog was to move the Math Lab I manage at UF towards a more online tutoring and web resource direction since the classes seem to be headed that way too. Web 2.0 tries to make the web a more like desktop environment - more responsive, easier feedback from apps, a more social environment! This led me to think about using the new Web 2.0 foundations to guide me through this process of moving in a new direction.
- The first thing that popped into my mind was how smooth will be this move? Will the school rules and red tape affect the process? After taking to my supervisor, I found out that the University is actually helping us change by increasing our budget! Since we are a free tutoring place, our main source of income is the grants from the University. It was refreshing to see that our efforts are appreciated by teachers, students and university officials! The students can now schedule individual appointments online with tutors as per their convenience using our software (TutorTrac)! The students can also rate their sessions with the tutors and leave comments for the tutors.
- In my previous blog entry I talked about using the concept of mutual learning; in this particular case using the concept of AnswerU to Math Lab. We can have tutors answer questions students might have after the Math Lab closes as suggested by Matt in one of the comments. The questions will be directed towards the tutors who are experts in that course and also other students in the course. This way if the tutor is not available, maybe other students can provide help! This leads to the following questions : Will this help? Sure it will! Is it feasible? Maybe - depends upon the availability of tutors. Is it worth the effort and money? Yes, if it is implemented right!
- I also talked about using IMs and "Electronic Ink". This looks like the best option right now since almost everyone on campus uses an IM client these days! The same questions as the previous ones appear again : Will this help? Sure it will! Is it feasible? The initial financial burden would be minimal since our lab has most of the PCs we will need. We also have tablets which the tutors can use. We can also set up webcams we own to give a more personal one on one tutoring! Is it worth the effort and money? Yes,since our initial investment will be minimal :)!
- Also setting up a resource rich, content manageable website will be great for the students. We can tie up with the Math Department to offer something on lines of an online web repository of information as described in this entry. But the main problem I see in this is making sure the content is updated regularly - who will do it? The Math Department will probably have its hands full since the courses are already online. Will we be able to maintain this? I think we should be! We already have a webmaster who can update the changes which the teachers or tutors or even the students suggest!
- While implementing these new techniques, I do believe that we must look into the aspect of accessible delivery of content to every student. UF does have a nice resource about accessibility which we can base our decision to implement some techniques on.
In my next blog entry I hope to summarize the rest of my thoughts on the various techniques and tools I looked at. I have my end of semester staff meeting with my tutors today in which I will be bringing up issues regarding this new look of Math Lab! I will be sure to post the reactions and suggestions, so stay tuned as we wind down to a bittersweet end of the semester!
2 comments:
Wow – you have your ideas together! I still like the remote tutoring technique. I hope that you assess this tool for application in your program. I would like to see the results. Tutoring and explaining concepts to people with a variety of backgrounds has helped me become a more rounded teacher. I would be interested in seeing what affects this has on the student as well as the tutor (if you decide to implement the peer tutoring idea). I have even thought that our school could have a wiki set aside to post answers to problems. I’m not sure if this would hurt or help. However, when the teacher is out --especially for an extended period – this would be a great way to extend her classroom.
You did a great job of synthezing everything that you presented in the blog. I was interested to see how you were going to bring all the information together and you have done a great job of making sense of how Web 2.0 can be used in education. I am interested to see if and when you implement some of the great Web 2.0 tools you presented how it will change the student tutor interaction and if it will influence learning. I hope you continue to publish your reflections and discoveries on your blog.
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