Blog 1: Technology Enhanced Learning

Do you think mathematics is too vague to understand or was that your mathematics teacher who made it boring to understand it? Do you think that listening to a history lesson is more exciting than listening to a mathematics lesson? Well, my friend then your teacher didn’t make your lessons enjoyable by using some visualization tools to make mathematics more abstract. According to qualitative study conducted by Kennedy & Dunn (2018) using technology enhanced learning, promotes the interaction between the students and the teacher.  When I was in high school, my physics teacher used “simulations” to explain us how physics work, he used PhET simulations to teach us about gases, vectors, molecules and many more things.  It looked like this.

A PhET simulation about gas properties.

But I have always dreamt about learning mathematics in a similar way, because you know high school mathematics sounds boring with its logarithm, derivative, integral, trigonometry, cosines, sinuses etc. After going to university, our teachers showed us a software I have never heard before, it is called “GeoGebra”. Its software enables mathematics to be resembled as a visual, even if you are not proficient at the software, as long as you have the determination you can learn many things and see how mathematical things correspond to real life usage. Also Abu (et al, 2001) claim that with the help of visual ton technologies in mathematics, it is possible to teach calculus in an interactive way which enhances learning by visualizing mathematical concepts. It also has mobile applications, it is an open-source software and even supports “Augmented Reality.” And it offers a community resource center in which students and teachers all around the world can share their activities and works on it freely. Here are some visuals of it.

A flower made with triangles.

A flower made with functions.

A 3d sphere and a 3d geometric solid.

The activities below are interactive, try them out.

Cavalieri’s Principle 

                                                                

Pythagoras Theory Proof

Ferris Wheel AR 

All images are taken from Google Images.

Kennedy, M., Dunn, T. M. (2018) ,Improving the Use of Technology Enhanced Learning Environments in Higher Education in the UK: A Qualitative Visualization of Students’ Views, CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, 9(1), 76-89, Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1166426.pdf

Abu, Nur & Hassan, M. & Sahib, Shahrin. (2001). Mathematical animations: The art of teaching. Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference. 3. S1C - 10. 10.1109/FIE.2001.963987.