Free Online Math Courses (fwd)

[Mel Roseman <mrosema@EIS.CALSTATE.EDU>]

Forwarded by Gleason Sackman - InterNIC net-happenings moderator
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 19:42:44 -0400
From: Margaret Honey <mhoney@ralphbunche.rbs.edu>
Subject: Free Online Math Courses


The Center for Children and Technology and Bank Street College of Education
are looking for elementary and junior high school teachers to participate
in a special pilot telecommunications project, the Mathematics Learning
Forums, designed for teachers interested in exploring their own mathematics
teaching and learning.  Participants selected for this Spring pilot will
choose one of two, tuition free, courses:  Teaching Probability (grades
5-8), Classroom Discourse:  Talking and Writing Mathematics (grades K-4).
The project pilot will begin May 1, 1994 and will last for 6 weeks.
Teachers who participate in this pilot will join a group of 8 to 10
teachers and a Bank Street College advisor/facilitator in an on-line
course.  During the 6 week forum, teachers will implement mathematics
activities in their classrooms and receive support and feedback from other
members of their forum, and from the forum advisor.  All selected
participants will be provided with free on-line time, long distance access,
and all course materials will be provided at no-charge.  If you are
interested in joining one of our pilot forums, or would like more
information about this project, contact Margaret Honey:  email:
mhoney@ralphbunche.rbs.edu  voice:  212/807-4209.  Two attachments
describing the project and the courses are provided below.

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Attachment 1:
The Mathematics Learning Forums
Distance Learning at Bank Street College of Education

The Mathematics Learning Forums are designed to help teachers introduce new
mathematics teaching practices in their classrooms in accordance with
current nation-wide mathematics reform efforts.  Each forum is offered over
a telecommunications network making it possible for teachers to communicate
with colleagues throughout the country. The forums are hosted by a faculty
advisor and focus on the how of mathematics instruction, providing on-going
support to teachers as they implement mathematics reform in their own
classrooms.  Each forum focuses on a particular area of instruction
including mathematical content, student learning, teaching strategies and
assessment techniques.  The goal of each forum is to help teachers do
mathematics with their students, and talk about mathematics with colleagues
participating in the forum.  Through doing and talking about mathematics,
teachers can develop a new understanding of the learning process as they
pay close attention to the learning  of their students, their own learning
and the learning experiences of their on-line colleagues.

The content forums focus on elements of a topic within a content area,
rather than a broad overview.  These forums are designed to introduce
selected aspects of an area of study to teachers, and to introduce a
variety of teaching strategies and approaches to the particular topic.
Forums focusing on teaching, student learning, or assessment emphasize
teaching strategies and approaches to mathematics that build on teachers'
current practices and understandings.


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Attachment 2:  Course Descriptions

Teaching Probability  (5-8)
Probability gives people the power to make predictions where uncertainty
exists and to make sense of claims they see and hear.  In this forum,
teachers will have an opportunity to work with their students to explore
concepts of probability.   Does probability have the same meaning in
everyday life as it does in the world of mathematics?  Why is probability
important?  Teachers will explore classroom experiences with probability by
viewing and discussing videotapes of actual classrooms where children are
engaged in probability activities, by reading and discussing articles, and
by trying out probability activities with their students.
On-line discussions will help teachers support their students in developing
mathematical ideas about probability.

Classroom Discourse:  Talking and Writing Mathematics  (K-4)
Discourse is important in mathematics because it is the medium through
which students express and construct their knowledge.  Discourse is the way
in which children form language and ideas.  Teachers will learn about this
teaching strategy by viewing and discussing videotapes of actual classrooms
where children are engaged in lively discourse, by reading and discussing
articles, and by encouraging mathematical discourse among their students.
In this on-line forum teachers will explore the many ways in which students
express and construct their mathematical knowledge, and the ways in which
discourse is shaped by interactions that take place between teachers and
students, between students and their peers, and when students are working
with materials.  Teachers will be asked to try out activities with their
students with an eye towards investigating who talks, about what, in what
ways?  And in written work, to examine what their students record and why?


************************
mhoney@ralphbunche.rbs.edu
Center for Children and Technology
Education Development Center
96 Morton Street
New York, NY  10014
212/807-4209
Fax 212/633-8804
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