The Townsley Tribune

Today at midnight is/was the due date for our final paper. I turned mine in last night around 11 - a whole 24 hours early! Once again, this is the aspect I love about distance education - I had some 'extra' time, so I stayed up and put the finishing touches on my paper. With any luck, I'll get the green light from Ann and submit this article for publication in the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics Journal. An "obstacle" might be trimming my article down from 14 pages to the required 12 page maximum.

It's been a great semester. I'm looking forward to two more years of coursework in this format to finish up my degree. For my faithful (and sometimes anonymous) readers out there, thanks for keeping up on my progress over the past few months. I don't really know the fate of this blog, so I wanted to give thank you before I lost my privilege to do so!

Posted by Matt at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was speaking with a colleague of mine at the school I teach at a week or so ago and found out that she's taking a science course via distance education. I'm not sure of the title of the course, but I think it has something to do with rocks, weather and/or meteorology. The course is being piloted by the local AEA and my colleagues claims it is a LOAD of work. It's setup in some sort of read and then take tests and quizzes format. She is overwhelmed to say the least. If she didn't have a student teacher this semester, she admits that she would not have time to complete the coursework due to having a family and simply keeping up at school. She also mentioned that she is getting tired of the format of the course, even though she admits it is sometimes very engaging. The level of interactivity is high due to the online java applets and experiments the reading provides, but she told me that it is almost TOO stimulating. I never thought I would hear this perspective on distance education. I think distance education can be stereotyped as boring, repetitive and less-than-engaging. This has not been the case for me at Iowa State so far. Like I said in my last post, I find myself diving into the class discussions and actively looking forward to the next assignments. Read the other posts I've made on this blog and you'll soon realize that distance education is simply an alternative to 'traditional' education. For me, it's an alternative I will continue to embrace and promote to others I encounter. Perhaps I will be able to teach in this format someday. Only time will tell....

Posted by Matt at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Saturday was our final face to face meeting for CI505. We discussed the issue of equity as it relates to technology in education. Ann challenged us to think about this issue as we continue on through our program, particularly as many of us someday assume leadership roles in our school districts. It's hard to believe we are 1/3 done with our masters' program. It's even harder to believe this semester is less than a week away from ending! As I put the finishing touches on my paper, I have only positive things to say about CI505. I may have blogged this before, but there's just been something about the ideas in this class that have made me want to work hard, become even more engaged than usual in the discussions, and see the potential for application of the theory mentioned in our readings. The article we read on technology pedagogical content knowledge really brought together a lot of the ideas I believe can bring our educational system to where it should be in the 21st century. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not on a 'save the world' type mission or anything after taking this class, but I do feel that I can better explain the reason I'm involved with this masters program. Connecting the way I teach with appropriate uses of technology is the key. Too many times I've seen technology used for technology's sake. This is just plain silly.

We'll see what sort of 'aha' moments this summer's class brings...

Posted by Matt at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I recently read an article in District Administration magazine about virtual schools. Because the class I took last semester was all about virtual school and because I am completing most of my graduate work in a virtual format, the article naturally caught my eye. The article was entitled "Creating an Effective Virtual School Program." Anyone familiar with virtual schools in the U.S. has probably heard about the Florida Virtual School. It is by far the "model" virtual school that others look at when measuring success. "Why ramble on about virtual schools?" you might be thinking right now. Well, without boring you with 100 reasons why I think distance education is the best thing since sliced bread, I want to leave you with a quote from the article.

If it's not working, change it. "One of the things we believe very strongly is that if something isn't working, change it," says Julie Young, president and CEO of the Florida Virtual School.

Time and time again, the article quotes those in the field of virtual education and the need for flexibility. I admit that one of my weaknesses as a teacher is that my logical and math-minded personality does not always give me as much flexibility as I would like. I tend to 'come up with a plan' and go for it. The more I teach, the more I realize the need to be flexible on a daily basis. I've seen this come into play this semester with CI505 as well. Ann asked for pros and cons of 505 around midterm with the plan of making changes if need be. Similarly, she had to change the way our software reviews were to be done due to the weather canceling our second face to face meeting. Kudos to everyone involved with this semester's class, my peers, Ann and Clyciane for doing such a great job at being flexible. Until next time...

Posted by Matt at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Exactly one week from today will be our final face-to-face meeting for CI505. Because our second meeting was canceled due to weather, I think everyone is even more anxious to meet up in the basement of Lago on the 28th. Some students will be presenting their software reviews. Others of us decided to present ours online.

We will also briefly be discussing our final papers. I think I have a pretty good start on mine. I had a solid outline and have a lot of my thoughts on paper. I just need to finalize the 'meat' of the paper. I'm currently installing Geometer's Sketchpad on my home computer so that I can tweak a few thoughts that have been running through my mind. For being a logical-thinking math teacher, I sure do seem scatter-brained sometimes when it comes to these big-picture projects and papers. Ann, our CI505 professor, mentioned in an email or her weekly movie (I can't remember which) that sometimes writing bigger papers from afar can be a challenge. Motivation doesn't seem to be an issue for our cohort, but sometimes I sense that not all of us are on the same page as far as expectations go. We usually end up emailing each other or asking questions on the discussion boards to clarify our thoughts on what the final should look like. Ann asked if I would lead a discussion this coming week focusing in on everyone's progress on the final paper. I think it will be interesting to see where everyone is at. I imagine some will be close to done while others won't have started yet. Based on the initial topic proposals a few weeks ago, some of my colleagues had lots of thinking to do between then and now!

Enough of my ramblings. My wife should be getting home soon. She has been busy this week with her job. This evening, it gave me some time to work on my paper. I'd better take advantage of the time I have left!

Until the next edition of T3...

Posted by Matt at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been nearly a month since I've blogged. I can't believe it! I have had a lot on my mind lately, but just haven't taken the time to write. Let's start with what's going on in CI505...

I submitted my online software review (see last entry) and it seemed to go over fairly well. I received a little bit of feedback, but I was expecting more. The interesting part about doing this software review online is that I can look back and re-read others' responses. Had I done this review at our face-to-face meeting, I could only attempt to remember the verbal feedback and questions, if indeed there was any. Looking back, I shouldn't have really expected a lot of feedback. There are two other math teachers, but even they did not seem to be as excited about it as I was. Admittedly, I spent quite a bit of time on this software review, because I didn't know what the true expectations were. I went as far as surveying students' perceptions of using the software - other students in the class simply described their software without much elaboration. I'm not trying to put myself up on a pedestal or anything (or put down others), but simply pointing out that in the virtual environment there is often a level of ambiguity. One doesn't always know if/when he/she is going over the top, as I feel I did for this last assignment. Enough rambling about that. It's done and over and I look forward to a (hopefully) positive grade from the instructor.

On a more positive note, there are only a few more weeks left in the semester. Our last face to face meeting will be on April 28th. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. It's crazy to think back to our first meeting back in January. We've all communicated so much online, but when we meet together as a group it seems like a bunch of old friends meeting up. Clyciane will be there (I know you're reading this!) to help us with the logistical side of things for our program; Keith will be there with pictures of his little one; Diana will be there and talk about her kids, too.

Our final project is to write an article about the use of technology within our discipline. It can be a new idea or a practical use of technology within a specific lesson or unit of study. The intended audience is a practitioner's journal or magazine. I've decided to discuss using Geometer's Sketchpad to teach properties of parallelograms. I've taught this concept several times before in a more of a constructivist approach (allowing students to 'discover' their own properties using compass and protractor) so I'm looking forward to applying these same ideas to Sketchpad. Honestly, it seems like a great fit. It might even be too easy! If all goes as planned, I hope to submit my article to the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics journal for possible publication. I'm not really the type of person that just wants to see my name in print, but if I'm going to all of this work for an assignment, I might as well follow through and find out out if my work is worth something in the 'real world.'

As I prepare for the 'home stretch' both at my teaching job (36 more school days!) and for this semester, I thing I'm going to miss CI505. It has (by far) been the most enjoyable class I've taken so far at ISU. The projects we've done have, for the most part, been easily applied to my classroom. In fact, I have taken several existing ideas (like my final project idea) and extended them a bit for use in 505. I don't know what to think about this summer's class "Contemporary Curriculum Theory and Principles." I guess being in the "home stretch" allows me to focus on today rather than what's ahead. Until next time....

Posted by Matt at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A week or so ago, I wrote about how our face-to-face meeting was canceled. Along with the cancellation came the challenge of missing out on the opportunity for some of us to present our software reviews. We were issued a challenge by our instructor to, if possible, present our software review online instead. I have to admit that I was a bit unsure about this idea at first. Deep down, I wanted to video tape my entire presentation or do a voice over to supplement my PowerPoint presentation. Then...reality set in. This was going to be an awful lot of work! Instead, I opted to use my web authoring skills to create an outline of what my presentation might have looked like. I posted all of my handouts in pdf format, created a small movie to illustrate how the software works and attempted to put my would-have-been spoken words into writing. Our initial software reviews were to be 10 minutes in length, but I'm guessing the typical person reading the online version will need to spend longer than 10 minutes to read it. This is the challenge of a virtual environment - transforming the spoken word into a different, but yet still deliverable, format. Spoken word would have done the trick, but most likely it would have taken more bandwidth and sure more time. I guess my "old school" web authoring software (no Web 2.0 here, folks!) had to do the trick.

Check out my software review and let me know what you think...

Posted by Matt at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(Image courtesy iowaroadconditions.org)

How ironic! In my last entry, I wrote about the ice storm that hit Iowa and how it wasn't going to keep me from doing my school work. Well, I received an email last night that our face-to-face meeting which was scheduled for tomorrow is now canceled. Schools across Iowa canceled classes today due to the blizzard-like conditions. News reports tell me that some parts of Iowa may have received upwards of 20" of snow. Here in Cedar Rapids, the snow keeps blowing. While we may have only received two or three inches, the visibility caused by blowing snow continues to create lackluster road conditions. The red roads in the picture above indicate 'travel not advised'; pink means the road is 'completely covered'; orange 'mostly covered' and yellow 'partially covered.' I think Ann made the right move by canceling tomorrow's class. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone, but I would have dreaded the drive.
There you have it, class has officially been 'canceled' and arrangements must be made to somehow hand-in our digital stories (postal mail) and present our software reviews (video tape?!?) as well as review for our midterm exam (WebCT discussion). Flexibility is the name of the game here in the distance education world. Until next time....

Posted by Matt at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The bad news first...travel is "not advised" in much of Eastern Iowa today due to the sleet and rain we've been getting throughout the day. The picture above was taken from inside my house looking across the street and vividly illustrates the ice that's been accumulating here in Cedar Rapids. Because of the weather conditions, the 5k race my wife and I were hoping to run today was postponed, a family get-together was canceled and most likely church will be canceled, too. If today would have been a school day, my school district would have surely canceled classes.

The good news...I can still work on my grad school! This is the wonderful aspect of being a virtual student. If I feel like staying up late to post on the discussion board, I can. If I have a few extra minutes at the public library, I can work on it there, too. The possibilities are really endless with distance education.

While colleges like Kirkwood CC and Hawkeye CC are shutting down for the weekend, the distance ed. program at ISU lives on. That is, as long as the power doesn't go out...

Posted by Matt at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)