Journal 2

Speaking Math;Using Chat in the Multiculural Classroom, Janet Graham & Ted Hodgson, Learning & Leading with Technology, Volume 35, Number 5, February 2008

Online chats and forums are popular among young people, so a couple of teachers decided to make them available to their geometry and algebra II classes as a supplement to the traditional classroom setting. They focused their discussions on specific math vocabulary and concepts.

The two venues that were used were online chat rooms and discussion forums. The online chat rooms were real-time and the discussion forums were different times over the duration of the assignments. Full credit depends on whether the student uses the specific target vocabulary terms or not. The students chat with each other and help each other to understand the math concepts. The teachers moderate the chat rooms and forums to make sure that appropriate topics are being covered. The teachers also use the students' discussions to create lesson plans when it is apparent that the students need a better understanding of a concept. The teachers also found that this was an extremely beneficial venue for non-native speakers. The non-native speakers have time to process and plan out their responses, and that they all use the same online acronyms.

The authors did an informal study and found that electronic communication positively affects student learning.

Question 1: Would this be a good supplement to instruction in my classroom?

Answer: Yes, I would like to implement electronic communication into my lesson plans. We have a great computer lab at our school, and I could designate a time during the week for math chat. I will have to look into which software to purchase, which brings us to the next question.

Question 2: What are the expenses and will this be something that our school can find the funds for?

Answer: I will have to do some research to find out the expenses associated with implementing this kind of program into our school. Depending on the cost, I may be able to take it out of our math budget this year.