Teaching Mathematics in a Streaming, IPOD, RFD, VOIP, Virtual Age

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Teaching Mathematics in a Streaming, IPOD, RFD,
VOIP, Virtual Age

• Jeff MorganChair, Department of Mathematics
• Director, Center for Academic Support and
  Assessment
• University of Houston
• http//www.math.uh.edu/jmorgan

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A Word From My Sponsors

• The Department of Mathematics
• The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• The University of Houston
• The Houston Area Calculus Teachers
  Associationhttp//www.HoustonACT.org

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Thoughts from previous talks

• There are two types of students in mathematics
  courses
• The Few Less than 1/10 of 1 achieve
  understanding.
• The Masses 99.9 try to achieve numerical
  competency.

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Differences

• The Few advance the sciences.
• The Masses run and maintain all aspects of
  society. They are our laborers, our managers, our
  CEOs, our university chancellors, and our
  politicians.

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Remark

• Mathematics does not come by birthright. A
  mathematician can be born of any set of parents.

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Challenges

• The Few are hiding among The Masses.(we
  dont know them ahead of time)
• The Masses must have a successful and pleasant
  final mathematical experience. Otherwise, they
  will discourage their children, and they will not
  support our science.

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Our Youth Are Growing In An Online Mass Media
Environment

• http, https, html, xhtml, xml, xslt, javascript,
  jscript, j, pearl, php, asp, mathml, java,
  flash, quicktime, mp3, mp4, pdf, jpeg mpeg,
• Email, chat, blogs, im, podcasts, personal urls,
  cell phones, picture phones, vcast, palm,
  blackberry, streaming audio/video, downloadable
  audio/video, voip, ipod, rfd, online discussion
  boards,
• Satellite radio, virtual gaming, pc gaming, xbox,
  ps2, mp3 players, ebay, myspace.com, ebooks,
  online banking-shopping-news-education-gambling-da
  ting-everything,

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Times Have Changed

• According to MarketingVox.comOnline users are
  now spending about 14 hours a week, on average -
  the same amount of time that they spend watching
  TV.
• According to 2006 TrendswatchWhile some may
  write many (virtual) worlds off as 'kid-stuff,
  40 million habbos cant be ignored. If nothing
  else, I think the popularity of avatar-based
  online social experiences will continue to grow
  in 2006."

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In Case You Havent Noticed

• The young generation is always on and always
  connected. They want everything now. They get
  everything now!
• Higher Education is big business.
• Online Education is growing rapidly (375,000,000
  hits on google.com).
• Asynchronous classes will replace traditional
  offering (take a close look at the highly
  profitable University of Phoenix).

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An Interesting News Item

• Jan. 15, 2006 (AP newswire) - At Arizona State,
  11,000 students take fully online courses and
  40,000 use the online course management system,
  which is used by many "traditional" classes.
  Administrators say the distinction between online
  and traditional is now so meaningless it may not
  even be reflected in next fall's course
  catalogue.

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How Did I Get Into This?

• 1958
• 1968
• 1969 1972 a complete blur
• 1973 1979 blurred clarity
• 1980 1986
• 1986 - 1991 teaching with technology
• 1992 2001 massive exploration
• 2002 present e-learning obsession

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Chief Motivators Good and Bad

• Bob Collings HS Teacher, Friend
• History and Political Science Professors
• Plenty of Crummy Jobs
• John Hardy Friend, Mentor
• Texas AM University
• UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• Textbook publishers
• Blackboard, WebCT and Others
• Mathematics Department Needs

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The Truth

• All Mathematics Students NeedPlenty of WorkAnd
  Plenty of Feedback
• Mathematics is not a spectator sport!

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The University of Houston

• is a commuter campus.
• is a large state university which attracts the
  masses.
• teaches first and second year mathematics
  courses in very large sections.
• Question How can we provide sufficient work and
  feedback for our students?

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UH Mathematics Department Solutions

• Online Weekly Homework, daily poppers, and
  daily written work for 8,000 students in freshmen
  and sophomore level Mathematics courses.
• Online discussion and chat
• Online E-Tutoring
• Online E-Teaching
• Streaming capabilities.
• Complete control of course content.

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What Types of Teaching Give Rise To These Needs?

• Traditional Courses.
• Hibrid Courses.
• Online Low Level Undergraduate Courses.
• Online Graduate Level Courses (like many schools,
  UH offers an online Masters in Mathematics).
• The same types of teaching done by every
  department on the UH campus (and the world).

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Undergraduate Mathematics at UH

• Math 1xxx Fundamentals of Mathematics, College
  Algebra, Finite Mathematics, Business Calculus,
  Pre-Calculus, Calculus I and Calculus II.
• Math 2311 Introductory Statistics.
• Everything else.

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Breakdown

• Math 1xxx 14,000 students per year.
• Math 2311 1,500 students per year.
• The rest much smaller.

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Focus Math 1xxx and 2311

• Online Courses
• Traditional Courses

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Modern Similarities of Traditional and Online
Courses

• Online syllabi, handouts, assignments, course
  calendars, etc
• Email, online chat and online discussion board
  help.
• Online textbooks.
• Online streaming lectures.
• Online tutoring and teaching (combining
  electronic whiteboard, chat and VOIP).
• Online quizzes.

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Tools of the Trade

• Course Management Software WebCT, Balckboard,
  Moodle, and many more, including home-grown
  varieties (cf. University of Texas, University of
  Nebraska, South Carolina State University,
  University of Houston, )
• Online meeting software Macromedia Breeze,
  Horizon Wimba, Marratech, Elluminate, and many
  more, including home-grown varieties.
• Radio Frequency Devices Quizdom, etc

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Online Mathematics Courses at UH

• College Algebra, Finite Mathematics, Business
  Calculus and Basic Statistics.
• 1400 students per year and growing!
• Weekly online quizzes.
• Proctored midterm and final exam.
• Online discussion board help.
• Online texts.
• Streaming mini lectures.

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Traditional First and Second Year Courses at UH

• Large sections.
• Prerequisite testing.
• Attendance poppers.
• Written homework.
• Weekly online quizzes.
• Secure testing.
• Online texts.
• Streaming mini lectures.
• Online live tutoring (in beta).

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Performance

• Virtually Identical
• (although online instruction is not for everyone)

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Online Components

• World Viewable Learning Materials (home grown)
  Some of these can be seed at http//online.math.uh
  .edu.
• Secure Materials (grades, discussion boards,
  scheduler, quizzes, tests, publisher owned texts)
  http//casa.uh.edu.
• Online live tutoring and teaching (currently
  using Estudy developed at UH). I will host an
  online live session TOMORROW morning from Beijing
  with my students at UH.

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Shameless Self Exploitation(recall that I am
the director of CASA)

• What is CASA?
• How did CASA evolve?
• What is the mission of CASA?

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CASA

• Center for Academic Support and Assessment at the
  University of Houston
• (A center for learning support and e-learning
  software development.)

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The Evolution of CASA

• (its a long story that is easier said than
  written)

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What Is The Current Mission Of CASA?

• CASAs Mission is to Facilitate Improved Teaching
  and Learning in a Rapidly Evolving Environment.

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Components of CASA

• Face-to-Face Mathematics Tutoring
• Secure Testing
• Online Electronic Homework
• Online Tutoring
• E-Learning Software Development (CourseWare)

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CASA Inside And Out

• Bricks and Mortar
• Virtual Bricks and Mortar

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Bricks And Mortar
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Virtual Bricks And Mortar

• Online Homework
• Onsite and Remote Secure Testing
• Discussion and Chat
• Live E-Tutoring
• Live E-Instruction
• Electronic Textbooks
• Streaming Instruction
• (With independence from externally supplied
  software and learning/e-learning materials.)

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Time Table For Electronic Evolution
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Recent Quote on CNN

• "Historically, higher education has taken a
  one-size-fits-all mentality That if you want to
  get a degree, you must leave town, stop working,
  live in a dorm. But we are way past that. We have
  to be engaged in lifelong learning, especially if
  our society is to compete globally." -
  University of Phoenix President Laura Palmer
  Noone
• UH has never fit the historical model.Your
  university either doesnt fit the historical
  model, or it wont fit it in the future.

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For More Information

• Send email to jmorgan_at_math.uh.edu