Teaching Mathematics (Free Online Assessment Tool and 3 Act Tasks), Content Chunking in eLearning, and a Virtual Tour through a Cave... in Education Today

If you are interested in these topics--virtual tours, teaching mathematics, and/or content chunking--then you may find useful ideas in these posts.

Hang En Cave 6 / Hugh Derr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Take a Virtual Journey through Vietnam's Massive Son Doong Cave
http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/30/8691739/son-doong-cave-vietnam-tour
May 30, 2015

Lizzie Plaugic
http://www.theverge.com/users/lizzieplaugic

National Geographic created a virtual tour of the Son Doong cave, one of the world's largest caves. This cave is so large that clouds can form inside it.

The tour uses text, a site map, sound, zoom, and sharing. You can manipulate the 360-degree image to explore inside the cave. Be sure to also click on the link to the video shot inside the cave by a drone.

Math Wordle Bulletin Board / Enokson / CC BY-NC 2.0

Tap into Teen Minds
https://tapintoteenminds.com/knowledgehooks-free-gameshow-assessment-tool/
May 30, 2015

Kyle Pearce
https://tapintoteenminds.com/about-me/

Check Out @Knowledgehook’s FREE Gameshow Assessment Tool!
A Free Gamified Clicker Tool With Ready-Made Content!

Pearce explores this free online assessment tool that can be used as a game show with questions already prepared... or with questions that you have customized. He shares screen shots and pros and cons of this product that is in beta production. Using your own questions is one of the pros; the fact that only Canadian provinces are listed at this point is one of the cons. He believes this product has much potential.

I tried playing the game both as a teacher and as a student. It was easy--as a teacher--to modify the questions. It was fun--as a student--to play on my smartphone. In the classroom you can project the questions and possible answers for all to see. Students can play as long as they have access to a web browser.

This assessment tool is promoted for reviewing mathematics. However, I agree with Kyle Pearce. There is very good potential here for other subjects as well.


Also... while you are visiting Kyle Pearce's blog, be sure to check out the 3 Act Math Tasks at https://tapintoteenminds.com/3act-math/. Scroll to the bottom of the page to access more than 100 3 Act Math Tasks and related resources. (For more information, see a previous post I wrote about 3 Act Math Tasks (http://teachinginadigitalworld.blogspot.com/2014/09/3-act-tasks-in-classroom.html).)
 
These resources are enough to make me wish I were teaching mathematics again!

Chunking / Phil and Jo Schiffbauer / CC BY 2.0

6 Advantages of Content Chunking in E-learning -- An Infographic
http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/advantages-of-elearning-content-chunking-infographic
May 29, 2015

Chinthakunta Krishna
http://blog.commlabindia.com/author/krishnac/

Krishna explains what content chunking is and then presents an infographic to list the importance of using it in elearning (or online learning). Is an infographic necessary to list six items? No. But, it is a good visual tool if you are sharing the idea with others... and I think it's a good reminder to myself to take advantage of chunking when I'm creating online courses.

Chunking and Being a Minimalist Can Help You Design Effective Lessons

Chunking training materials. Being a minimalist. The two ideas almost sound contradictory... but they are not.

Our School / woodleywonderworks / CC BY 2.0

Whether we are preparing instructional materials for face-to-face instruction or for elearning we need to decide how much content to put in each lesson. What order should be used for introducing new ideas? How should we organize our materials? The reason for each of these decisions is so that our teaching is effective in helping our students to learn.

Jeffrey Dalto at Convergence Training explains what chunking is, why it's important, how our memory works, and how to use this information to help us prepare effective lessons.

Clutter / spykster / CC BY 2.0

So, what is minimalism? This concept is often described as eliminating the clutter in our lives so that we can focus on what is important to achieving the goals in our lives. Rob Nightingale shares How to be an Effective Minimalist in your Daily Life on the Make Use Of website.

Clutter shows up in many areas. We might see it in our wardrobes, possessions, paperwork, computer desktop and applications. Cutting back in any of these areas can mean less money and time spent initially and in maintenance. As educators we often hear that less is more. Our students can benefit if we keep clutter out of our lessons... and that's where chunking and being a minimalist connect.

Chunking is not a new idea in instructional design. Minimalism is frequently discussed as a component of one's lifestyle. Chunking and minimalism are complementary when we think about creating lessons that will help our students learn.