eJournal 6: Selecting Instructional Media

The selection of the most effective instructional media can make the biggest difference in whether the learner will have the best chance of understanding the concept or content of the lesson.

For the instruction of coordinate geometry, I choose to employ several tools that allow the user to be interactive on the coordinate grid.   Pencil and paper make the process of plotting points and reflecting an arduous task.  While the student needs to know where to place the points and how to graph a set of numbers, too often that process gets in the way of understanding the effects of reflection, translation and rotation.    Geogebra offers the students the ability to visualize the result of a reflection even as the shape is changed through interaction.   The idea of a line of reflection can be introduced or ignored by toggling a checkbox which either shows it or hides it from the grid.  

Questions and instructions can guide the student through a series of discoveries and give the learner a sense of control and freedom in their learning.

LearnAlberta is another tool which provides the students a similar interface and also have videos to help the learner to explore the concepts of coordinate geometry.  The virtual manipulatives  provide them with a visual representation and the ability to move the objects to see how they interact with each other.   The questions are associated with a game which help provide motivation for the students to figure out the correct answer so they can get to a new phase of the activity.

Some of the challenges for using media like this opposed to sticking with pencil and paper, is the range of activities available and the ability to create new, updated content.   Geogebra has a vast selection of worksheets provided by teachers who use the system.   Teachers can read the tutorials and learn how to develop worksheets that may fill gaps identified by their own students or fit better with their districts curriculum.  Learn Alberta seems more static than the other platform, so it will only be as useful as it connects to the need.   Changes to the system will require feedback or requests which may or may not be implemented.