Tuesday, November 16, 2004

My Head is Spinning, Part 2

There is just too much out there right now. Today I had planned on writing an entry about digital photos and Flickr, but I decided to change course after I started exploring the Moodle site.

Obviously before I ever consider integrating a technology into my classroom I give it a thorough trial myself. I haven't tried Moodle yet, but I have looked into the philosophy behind the site. Interesting stuff here.

I am familiar with constructivism, but until my reading of this page, I had never heard of constructionism. Here is the definition from the site:

"Constructionism asserts that learning is particularly effective when constructing something for others to experience. This can be anything from a spoken sentence or an internet posting, to more complex artifacts like a painting, a house or a software package."

My reading of this is that students learn best when they are constructing products that display their learning. Wow! This is exactly the point of this blog and also of Future of Math--teaching math should be about more than textbooks, worksheets, and manipulatives; it should also involve the creation of products like Web pages created with digital photos, blog entries, forum posts, & spreadsheets. I am getting excited here...

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