EDUC4105

Maths teaching websites

Educational Java Programs is a website containing some interactive ‘java applets’ that aim to scaffold the teaching of particular math topics. There isn’t much structure to the site, and there are only ten math applets, mostly geared to early high school or late primary teaching. This aside, the applets tackle integers, fractions, Pi, tessellations and Pythagoras theorem to name a few. The applets are very user friendly, visually well made and have lesson plans attached, making the site useful for these particular topics.
The Math forum is a fairly comprehensive site, covering a wide range of topics and abilities. It provides articles on teaching and also includes approaches to assessment. I have found this site to be most helpful in finding resources for more advanced and difficult topics, and I think it excels in this area. The in site search function was not very helpful and I was left better off just browsing the site for particular concepts, which often involved dead ends like subscription sites or courses. However most general topics are linked to both internet projects, software and classroom resources.

PBS Teacherline is a professional development site for educators. This is a correspondence education site where you pay per course, with most courses averaging 30 hours. Its courses cover everything from teaching strategies and approaches to particular subjects such as ‘Fostering Cooperative learning, discussion, and critical thinking in elementary Math’. This site seems to imply that it might help American based educators maintain some sort of state level professional development, so Australian teachers would need to be keen learners to pay for these courses as professional development is not quite so prevalent in our system, or more to the point, the value of these courses might be hard to judge.