• Introduction to a reading 25%
• Technology / task critique 25%
• Try something in your classroom 25%
• Problem portfolio 25%

NOTES:

The above and following are some sample assignments. Precise assignments and their due dates will be finalised (following class discussion) by the end of the first weekend.

1. Introduction to a reading: Introducing a reading may involve addressing questions such as (you don’t need to address them all): What is the article about? Who is the intended audience? Is it rhetorical, empirical or theoretical in its arguments? What do you find interesting? How does it connect to activities or discussions we’ve had in the course? How does it connect to other papers we’ve read in the course? What question would you have for the author? Please also be prepared to have some questions you would like the whole group to discuss.
2. Technology/task critique. You will choose a mathematical idea or concept that you want to teach your students. You will then design a task that will be carried out using digital technology. You will describe in detail why this digital technology is a good tool for the task. How is this digital technology different from traditional tools, what affordances does the technology offer the student and how and what will they learn. Attend to the various design choices that were made in creating the digital technology and that we’ve discussed in class. Is it manipulative or constructive? What kind of feedback is given? Is the interaction direct or indirect? Is it continuous or discrete? What things can you do with it that you couldn’t do in a paper-and-pencil environment or with a physical manipulative? Why, for example, is the task you are posing relevant and bound to be enhanced in this technological environment? How does it change the nature of the mathematical objects involved? Does the task make good use of the digital technology? What kinds of actions does it invite students to undertake? How does it help teachers learn about what students can do and can think? What would you change about the task or the digital technology? You do not have to address all these questions.
   
   
3. Try something out in your classroom. This is a follow-up assignment to the Technology/Task assignment above. Implement the task with the digital technology outlined in assignment 2. For this assignment, other forms of technology may be used as well to enhance the overall teaching of the mathematics idea or concept.
   
   The implementation can take many forms. It might involve using a laptop with a small group or students, going to the computer lab, using iPads, doing a show classroom discussion with the IWB, or any other configuration that works for you.  It may also take more than one class. Take notes of what you experience immediately after your implementation. If you can, gather work from the students, or jot down some things they said or did to help you explain what happened. There will be time in this course to discuss with your partners who also implemented the digital technology and task to discuss different experiences. Produce an individual written report that includes what actually happened, how it differed (if at all) with your thinking in assignment two, the differences of you with your group members, a reflection on what you would do differently next time.
   
   Presentations will be made after implementation in class.
   
   
4. Problem Portfolio. You will pose/play and (maybe) solve a problem using a digital technology. A problem that interests you may arise from an investigation in class. It may be an extension or variation on an existing problem, or it may be inspired by our readings. By “process” I do not mean a long list of the things you did “First I did this and then I did that...”, rather, I mean a more reflective, narrative explanation of the barriers you ran into, the insights you had, the way in which the software you used helped or detracted, and so on. I want to read a story of your time with the problem. In a reflection section, I want to know why you found your problem interesting, and what role technology played in helping you pose or solve the problem.