JOURNAL # 6, Owen, A., (2002), Mapping Students Minds

Of all the material which I have read in response to assignments in this class the article, Owen, A.(2002), Mapping Students Minds, seems the most out-dated. The revelations made by the article are old news. I feel this way not because I have been in any type of detailed study of the educational system and its tools, but as a parent whose children are between the ages of 26 and 20. The website described in the article attributed to the University of California at Berkeley may have been big news to the author but programs to tract student learning and to enhance the learning process have been around for a long time. I purchased programs for my children in the early 1990s which allowed me to see the differences in each of my children's thought-making process which the children thought were absolutely fun. If I remember correctly one was by Disney and the other by Mattel.

After visiting the website, difficult as it was to gain entrance, the program is definitely more advanced than those of which I previously had experience. The details in utilizing web search engines and tracking that process appears to illuminate not only what the student is thinking about and how, but in what order and with an explanation on how the student finds the path to their conclusions. I agree that this website is interesting and can prove to be useful in the classroom but I thought that people knew about this subject prior to 2002 when the article was written.

Question # 1: Will I utilize similar websites in my mathematics classes? I am actually learning first to master the presentation of material before I attempt to involve web projects in my classroom. The precious time I will have with the students I believe will better the students only if they are able to clearly understand the courses according to the California Teaching Standards. Given that the majority of classes I will teach will need the classroom time for this purpose I doubt that I will be able to use websites like this one even if mathematically oriented. Now, if I am in an affluent district with students who have computers at home and are in advanced-placement classes then certainly I will consider using this type of resource.

Question # 2: How much time should one use to decide which program or website to use? I think that because we will dedicate both our time and our students' time that we should not decide which one to use unless we invest significant time in choosing the appropriate program. Using all avenues of research, peer review, association endorsement and thorough usage prior to choosing is certainly a prerequisite to the correct decision.

Owen, A.,(2002), Mapping Students Minds, L & L with technology, 29(7), 6-9, 26.