Using a YouTube Video: "A Basketball Parabola"

The video link: A Basketball Parabola

This video provides a plethora of benefits in classroom usage for algebra among other areas such as physics or calculus in motion studies or graph studies. The designer uses the form of Cat Maher shooting a basketball from the free throw line and then uses algebraic methods and point plotting to find the equation of her. This video is an attention grabber as many students play or watch basketball games. In addition, it allows a nice visual way to relate how graphing can be used to predict motion and by extension other values in science or finance. Using handouts or drawing on a board is useful and traditional but takes a bit of time and may seem mundane to students.

The video allows a nice visual of a real-world topic, then quickly overlays plotted points and introduces the concept of the parabola. The general method of identifying points and showing the algebraic method of elimination to solve a two-variable system of equations is part of the scrolling equations. I would show this video, perhaps twice for a large group, and then the second showing have students record the plotted points and go through the computations. Once the equations are found they could repeat the video step of plugging the equations into a graphing calculator and seeing the parabolic curve mimicking Cat’s free throw.

If resources allowed, students could use a digital camera or device to record a couple of volunteers of different heights (Cat is 5’7” so perhaps someone several inches shorter and someone taller) shoot a free throw. Another option would be to record a couple of basketball players shooting a free throw and have students estimate the maximum height of the ball and position (a freeze frame or ratio from a still shot would be able to approximate fairly closely) then repeat the calculations. The three graphs could be overlaid and compared. Ideally a 5’2” and 6’4” to 6’8” player would show interesting similarities in graphs). Another option would be to use footage from a Memphis Tigers or Grizzlies clip shooting free throws.

The video not only ties in graphing and solving equations but also is a nice reminder for students that while educational use allows some leeway in using videos and other materials, proper credit and permission should be obtained before any widespread usage, especially if the content will be present for any non-educational display.

mini assignment other reflections

1. K-12 video

After viewing this video, I think that many teachers miss out the opportunity to channel potential energy students possess for using technology. While many school systems may lack resources and funding to make it possible for a teacher to do as much as desired, the video begins by emphasizing the point of engaging students in a “collaborative, inquiry-based environment” and ends by advocating teachers to “engage” their students. This reminded me of the end of virtually every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the captain commanded “Engage” as a directive to shift from low to high speed for exploring and learning more about the universe. Similarly, the students in the video mention familiarity with the cyber-universe of websites, blogs, and social networking such as texting whereas many of their teachers do not use much technology as a teaching resource. In past decades, students may have struggled and been resistant to using computers but now many teenagers and even younger students possess more familiarity with computers than their parents and teachers. While some of their time may be spent on television and games, students may be more interested in topics when some familiar tools such as videos, websites, blogs, and messaging are utilized to supplement traditional instruction methods. Teachers often struggle to find ways to motivate students and when possible to use technology that may help attract attention rather than face resistance by having students always listen or take notes without additional resources. Once again, as Bob Dylan penned, “The Times they are a Changin” as in his 1964 release, which veteran teachers may have on vinyl but now may set as a ringtone or watch a YouTube video. As one student observed about email versus texting, it si not that teachers do not know technology but that a new type of technology is upon us and should be utilized when possible in the classroom.

3. How does this information inform your teaching? What are steps that you need to take to have your classroom an engaging learning environment?"

The research done by the MacArthur Foundation in its “five-year, $50 million digital media and learning initiative in 2006 to help determine how digital media are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life” reiterates the point that today’s students have familiarity with technology in everyday life. Teachers may benefit by using technology since it not only requires little instruction for many students but also may save time by allowing some tasks to be done more quickly in addition to involving students in group work and activities. By using technology, many students who might otherwise have at best moderate interest may have their creative sides show up in presentation and research stages. The study notes that students use technology both for extending friendships and to search for interests and information. This is very informative for teachers, who may use an existing friendship or camaraderie in a class to create collaborative group projects using technological tools which students already possess familiarity with. Channeling this knowledge and interest productively may keep students interested in the topics of study.
The study notes the concern mentioned by David Buckingham of a ‘digital divide’ between in-school and out-of-school technology usage. Incorporating digital learning such as using search engines to locate data or information for math, science, and history courses or poems and drawings for literature and art courses provide more than just a new ways to present a lesson. With changing technology in the everyday world, this also helps students prepare for everyday life needs, friendships, and job requirements in a new era. Having students create a blog or retrieve assignments helps build tools for their future. In addition, peer-based learning will take place regardless of a teacher’s desire for classroom usage as much of the study used over 10,000 profiles from Facebook and other media outlets. By using certain tools, it allows a teacher the chance to integrate tips on usage as well as safety, both from a personal and computer security standpoint.

4. The site futureofed.org predicts what learning will be like in 2020. React to what you learn and then describe the role of a licensed teacher such as yourself

The future of education is rapidly changing and this site mentions many facets to consider. One suggested action is to explore diverse learning agent roles. Students may be presented information now through online videos or blogs or be instructed to gather information from websites, blogs, or via search engines. Similarly, teachers will be using more and more technology and may need to develop new skills to ‘catch up’ to teenagers already familiar with such resources as YouTube and blogging. The ever-growing number of online courses and new ways of teaching also calls for what the site refers to as finding ‘new forms of assessment and alternative credentialing’ as teachers may begin making more usage of portfolios and journals or blogs and perhaps become familiar with online teaching for a resource or perhaps even a career in distance education. With knowledge growth in areas such as open source assessments and using games as practice, teachers will need to prepare and become familiar with tools they wish to utilize such as Typer Shark to teach typing skills in a fun way or CoolMath to help break down math concepts into simplified terms.
The growing global community of learning offers benefits and challenges. New learning agents such as counselors to determine learning styles and tools to help stimulate thinking will be widespread and the growing usage of blogs and other social networking allows group learning but also opens the door for more outlets from family members or others to ask questions and make suggestions or comments on public sites. The licensed teacher will need to be able to adapt to the new learning styles and tools as well as work with new personalities who pop up to assist students in their educational, career, personal, or medical well-being.
Some changes to adapt for the new era would include:

• Identifying learning resources in unexpected places: schools will have a wide array of information comparing performance, resources, poverty rates, etc and sifting through statistics will help identify needs for the school and individual students. Using online learning profile styles will also be a benefit
• Be flexible with new methods: standardized assessments gradually will be incorporating new metrics and many will either embrace new systems or resist changes. Cooperation and maintaining an open mind for new ideas is critical.
• Adapting to amplified organization: teachers will need to use and/or learn how to incorporate digital tools and social media into the classroom as a new generation of students and educators enter the classroom and workforce.
• Determine a platform for resilience: as students gain widespread peers as well as a support system in the form of counselors, tutorials, and outlets for ideas it is important for teachers to also have a plan to maintain a healthy mindset and body while dealing with so many new ways of presenting information as well as being contacted and updated on policy changes, new assessments, and everyday questions from students and parents. The classroom experience no longer opens and closes solely synchronous with the doors of the school.

Blogging methods and thoughts

While personal class websites have been used for many years by teachers to supplement instruction and list assignments, many educators have begun to supplant the website approach with the usage of blogs. Blogs (‘web(site) logs’) allow students to receive information and interact in a similar manner as many do on social media sites, with the potential to make posting, view audio/video content, and navigate shared resources and information from peers. This blog, while created as a class assignment, contains examples of classroom blogs and techniques under the ‘Interesting teaching-related blogs’ topic on the right sidebar. Several of the blogs, as well as many others covering a variety of topics, are listed under ‘theedublogger’ link, which lists sample teacher blogs from many subjects and countries with a lot of interesting ideas.

Ms. Miller’s blog contains many nice features, as she incorporates writing and visuals. Those teaching math may enjoy the ‘Dear Poly(gon)’ letter as students write replies to concerns from geometric figures (the main page gives a sample of a right triangle envious of an equilateral triangle’s properties and a student writes a reply lauding the usefulness of being a right triangle). Aside from tips on dos-and don’t for blogging, another nice way to use her blog included having students take and submit pictures of geometric figures in the ‘real-world’ such as hexagonal floor tiles.

Miss Lindgren’s geek speak blog takes the approach of many by having students create their own blogs, with links on her blog to each student. She also makes use of a virtual teacher in the form of a ‘Voki’ (the orange tabby looking at you from the top right corner) virtual teacher avatar. The link takes you to the Voki site, at which a teacher may liven up simply posting assignments by customizing an avatar ranging from cats and dogs to cartoons and even ‘celebrities’ (one with a striking resemblance to Britney Spears, complete with pink shades and ear microphone). The teacher may record their own voice to make for a more interactive site.

While having ‘Britney’ help teach may seem over-the-top, many teachers do use blogs creatively to add a bit of fun to learning, especially in lower grades. The ‘Welcome to room 3’ blog includes a blog ‘from’ the class mascot Coco, apparently a very technology-saavy canine! Several teachers of younger students use similar methods to keep students interested in the blogs as they are given information in a different way.

Mr. C’s blog contains a myriad of useful information and techniques. He includes nice tools such as Google translate (one of many ‘gadgets’ you may add to a site, although many are not that useful for teaching so remember not to clutter up your blog),a dynamic periodic table, and a video about electric circuits. Both sidebars are used for links on everything from classroom procedures to other teaching blogs. This blog not only is used for teaching but also as a resource with listings of other teacher blogs and school information.

If Mr. C’s blog seems a bit daunting, most use a more subdued approach, such as Mrs. Rose’s math blog and Mrs. Smith’s English blog. Mrs. Rose maintains an archive of posts and makes general postings with useful and interesting math topics such as math riddles and fraction games. She invites viewers to email favorite websites, which is a good usage of learning from others and the sharing of websites and resources is one reason many like the usage of blogs. Mrs. Smith maintains her site with an emphasis on assignment due dates and reminders in a similar way as many use websites for classes. The design is very professional and may in its design be useful for the A.P. English students to teach design habits for presentations and sites at future jobs or for future classes. D. Brosius uses a similar businesslike approach in his blog.

Some blogs, such as the Fairview P.E. blog, use pictures to show what is being taught to parents and other students. Mr. Borges goes a step more, using not only a series of links to useful math resources but also podcasts. At times, links to other blogs may be useful as teaching resources. The SCC blog in Ireland is designed with more of a collegiate target yet has a plethora of useful links and artistic galleries which may be useful for a high school art class. Other useful ideas are the SVHS booster club, which includes fundraisers as well as memorials, and Moturoa’s blog, in which each elementary student in the New Zealand class creates a list of five things the next teacher should know about him/her. The design and usage should balance drawing students’ interest with usefulness in teaching. Videos, gadgets, and avatars are fine and can be exciting as long as they enhance rather than detract from the learning process.

The techniques used in a blog depend a bit on the subject and grade being taught. One aspect which I used in websites and would continue for a blog would be incorporating links to useful sites where students could practice and learn mathematical techniques as well as resources and tutorials, with a few puzzler/riddle/fun problems blended in to make the book topics a bit more interesting. I would check for effectiveness based on available resources. I would use the posting/email methods used by Ms. Miller among others to have students submit solutions for certain problems. Tests would on occasion include a problem using a theorem, property, or concept discussed on the blog or a required reading link. If students were able to have their own blog, then that could be a way to include writing and have students post real-world examples of certain math topics for others to see.