An Online Math Revolution

One of my goals this year was to use certain technologies--blogs, discussion forums, digital images, spreadsheets--in place of traditional methods to enhance student learning of mathematics. As part of that goal, I wanted to share my thoughts and discoveries with other teachers, particularly math teachers, in hopes that I would be able to persuade more of them to also begin using these tools in their classrooms. I also wanted to connect to more math teachers in hopes of discovering other teachers who shared my goals.

The results are in. This blog has increased in subscriptions from under ten at the beginning of the school year to 18. Not an incredible leap, and definitely not a huge number of readers (considering Weblogg-ed has over a thousand!), but there is something to be happy about here. Many of those subscribers are math teachers and they also have blogs. These teachers are also having their students complete some innovative projects in their classes using the same technologies I am using. One of these teachers, Mr. Kuropatwa, has even created a new project for teachers, the BPRIME (Best PRactices in Mathematics Education) wiki. From his latest blog post:

An Open Invitation to All Teachers: Come visit the BPRIME Wiki. A collaborative effort to collect teaching ideas and strategies that exemplify best practices in the teaching of mathematics at all levels. While the emphasis of this wiki is on mathematics this exercise can help all of us improve our craft. Every contribution you make encourages other people to do the same. Give a little bit, get a lot.

I plan to give a lot. Projects like this will help continue the Online Math Revolution which is in its early stages. Math teachers unite! Let's work to make sure that our friends who continue to rely on traditional outdated methods are enlightened. Spread the word through your blogs, speak at conferences, volunteer to lead workshops, and network, network, network!