I read an interesting article by
Duncan Symons entitled “Using Microsoft Word to Teach Area”. In the article Mr.
Symons discusses the way he used MS Word to help his students understand the
concept of finding the Area of a rectangle. Mr. Symons discusses the principles
behind research conducted by Way and Webb, co-authors of “Mathematics, Numeracy
and E-Learning” (2006) Theses principles include “mov[ing] from
teacher-centered to student-centered learning activities”, focusing on more
global resources rather than local resources, and “increased complexity of
tasks and [the] use of multi-modal information.” (Way & Webb 2006)
The lesson
Mr. Symons conducted involved the students creating a MS Word document. The
students began by inserting a piece of clip art (their choice) and enlarging
the clip art to cover the entire page. Next students were instructed to
“insert” a table consisting of 18 rows and 18 columns. The students then
specified the height as 1cm therefore creating a grid of 1cm squares. Next the
students had to move the grid so that it covered the clip art choosing the
“send behind text” option. When the students were finished they printed their
documents and were now able to find the area of their irregular shapes by using
the overlaid grid.
Mr. Symons
felt that the lesson allowed the students “to construct their own knowledge of
the content” which led to students being able to “develop a more conceptual
understanding of what area actually is.” (Symons 2011) Mr. Symons concluded the
article referring back to principles set forth by Way & Webb and how each
related to the particular lesson.
In my
opinion I felt this article presented a great example of how the integration of
technology into the classroom improved student learning outcomes as well as
increase student engagement. I loved the idea of the lesson and will be trying
it with my students this year. Mr. Symons also pointed out other lessons he has
done incorporating technology into his math class such as using Excel to create
spreadsheets which allowed students to “quickly divide and multiply whole and
decimal powers of ten…allowing [students] to gain a better understanding of
place value and the process involved.
Reference:
Symons, D. (2011). Using Microsoft Word to Teach Area. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 16(3), 20-24.
Kristen, that sounds like an interesting and new way to expose children to the functions of MS Word when working on mathematical problems. I like the idea of using the grid with the "send behind text" option along with the clip art. There are so many creative ways to apply MS Word to other lessons, not just the typical "word processor" function.
ReplyDeleteMarijean
Kristen, I found your post to be very interesting. I have always used word to support the creation of projects, documents, assignments, etc. for my classroom. However, I have never thought of using it to teach mathematical standards. The article really shows the possibilities of word in the classroom. Thank you for sharing the article with us.
ReplyDeleteCaralee
Kristen,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating article and a creative use of MS Word to teach a mathematical concept. This is a perfect example of how important it is for teachers to share their ideas; one article such as yours will inspire lots of other similar ideas.
This article that you read seems to be extremely interesting. I believe that using MS Word in the classroom can be very helpful. Teachers and educators just need to get creative, like this teacher, and make the lesson around whatever topic you are teaching about using different features in Word. Any subject area can use MS Word within their curriculum. Again using what you know and applying it to a particular subject is the best way to utilize it in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteits interesting.
ReplyDelete