Update on actions taken.

19- Used of these activities with my own students. This activity started on Monday February 25th and will finish on Friday March 22nd.

23- Obtained and discussed feedback from students and collaborators.

24- As a result of the above, I found out that many students are not using the set of dynamic GeoGebraworksheets specially created for this practicum. There are 5 reasons for that:

• The use of these ready-to-use activities is not compulsory. 

• Students can also use their GDCs (Graphic Display Calculators) except for the two investigations they have to present.

• Students can also use other software. Examples of these are Logger Pro, Sketch Pad and Wolfrang Alpha. The first two are proprietary software which our school has a licence for and the latter can be used for free.

• Some students prefer to design their own investigations. Sometimes they use the set created as a model, but then they like to go further and investigate GeoGebra on their own.

• Some students are having problems opening the set of dynamic GeoGebraworksheets specially created for this practicum because of technical problems. These might be due to the use of other software (such as PowerSchool, used in the school to repport grades to students and parents) and Screenr (used in my classes to create screen cast videos for their presentations) and possibly a fault in the image of the macbooks provided by the school. As a result students have to download the Java Applet. And even though they know they can do that free of charge from http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp, it discourages them form doing it.

The first 4 reasons are actually very good news. The aim of these activities is to encourage and help students use technology to enhance their learning. If students prefer to use other software/hardware and/or design their own investigations using their own model, that is even better.
The last reason is not good news, but at the same time it is within the regular "risks" taken when using technology: there are often technical problems.


24- As a result of the above, I am now investigating the problem. I plan to liaise with the IT department in my school to find alternatives.