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CAROL'S BLOGBlog is short for weblog (weBLOG).Check here to see the latest information about my site (and, occasionally, about my life in general). Sunday, March 7, 2010 I've been working really hard on a new web exercise, "Work Problems". It's a totally new design; a bit more mainstream. It has unlimited guided practice, "talking" you through the solution steps. It uses JSMath, so it should be available to all mainstream browsers and platforms. I should have it up soon. I'll advertise it on all my pages (top banner), and hopefully get some good feedback on this new format. Monday, February 22, 2010 Finished the cataloguing of my utility functions—a collection of 71 JavaScript functions that I've written over the past decade to use in my web exercises. I divided them into two parts: Randomization functions (26) and Expression Generators (45). For each function, I did the following:
Thursday, February 18, 2010 Finished the big job of updating my Map of MCAS Objectives to Fisher Web Site; next—filling in the identified gaps! I'll very likely be using JSMath for my new web exercises; check out this JSMath Test page. Also, freerice.com has expanded their offerings to now include basic math and multiplication tables, so I've added these two links to my "Fun Stuff". Thursday, February 11, 2010 One of my users brought to my attention that some of my exercises did not include links to the text exercise solutions. (These links were only available from the right-hand column of the Table of Contents.) I've corrected this situation. Thanks! Sunday, February 7, 2010 I am filling out and improving my Map of MCAS Objectives to Fisher Web Site; since I initially created this document, I've written a lots of new exercises that needed to be incorporated. Wednesday, February 3, 2010 In doing some OpenVES work, I discovered that the entire first parts of my "Introduction to Exponential Functions", "Introduction to Logarithmic Functions", "Equations of Simple Parabolas", "Basic Arithmetic with Matrices", "Arithmetic with Complex Numbers", "Introduction to Logarithms", and "Properties of Logarithms" (all in the Algebra II curriculum) had been inadvertently deleted... have no idea how long ago this happened. Sigh. I must have had a period of time that I was really out of it! Went to a back-up disk and restored them. Sorry to everyone who may have been affected by this mistake on my part. Saturday, January 30, 2010 Have been checking out JSMath as a way to expand my browser audience. It works well for static content in web pages, but I haven't yet gotten the dynamic part (writing exercises into floating frames) to work. Using it would mean "giving up on" MathML, so I'm definitely torn. But, I feel that it's worth some serious consideration. Just got notice that my online Algebra I was reviewed by Curriki.org and received the highest possible rating of 3–Exemplary. Yeh! You can read the review here. I'm also currently reading A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing (a Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives) to better enable me to construct good math assessments. And, I'm reading through this PISA study (Programme for International Student Assessment). It affords a view of 15-year-old student capabilities, across nations, as seen through the lens of mathematical literacy as defined by the PISA 2003 mathematics framework and the resulting assessment. I hope, again, to use this information to help me to write high-quality math assessments. Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Have been sick for a couple days with chills, fever, nausea, diarrhea. Yuck. Now, I'm going through each of my web exercises and summarizing each type of question (each "case") in a commented section before the JavaScript begins. I'm also locating (and marking with a named anchor) each part of the text that relates to a given case. Monday, January 18, 2010 Submitted my self-nomination for the 2010 Tech Awards. It's unfortunate that this nomination coincides with the sudden decrease in my daily hits; wish I could figure out what has happened! Wednesday, January 13, 2010 REALLY weird. My hits are WAAAAYYYY down. They were low over the Christmas break (as usual), but they bounced back at the beginning of January to near-normal levels. But now, this week, I'm only getting a few hundred visitors per day. Has Google completely changed where it sends people for math? Have I done something that got the search engines upset?? Is something not working on my site, that I'm not aware of? It's a mystery to me! Friday, January 8, 2010 Updated multiplication.htm to include content and questions on the Associative Property of Multiplication. Thursday, January 7, 2010 Paid Bravenet the $39.95 to upgrade my Guestbook page to PRO so that I could get rid of the branding and annoying advertising. I've had more comments in the last month than I've had in years, so this forum does indeed seem to be working to get some feedback on my site. Yeh! Also, I got a free "talking avatar" (limited to 150 audio streams per month) with the upgrade; I had a fun time designing it and recording my welcoming message. Check it out! Monday, January 4, 2010 A new year! A new decade! And, this year started with a blue moon, which is quite rare. I've now archived 2009 (see bottom of page), so this page is short again (for a while)! Spent the day researching OpenVES.org (an open virtual educational space) and jsMath (a method of including mathematics in HTML pages that works across multiple browsers and platforms). Along the way, I learned about IMS GLC (Instructional Management Systems Global Learning Consortium); they're working on standards that enable the development and adoption of innovative technologies to improve and transform education worldwide. I will submit a self-nomination for the Tech Awards 2010; since I'm now trying to make a living at math-on-the-web, the recognition and/or monetary award would be really, really helpful. Blog Archive, 2009 Blog Archive, 2008 Blog Archive, 2007 Blog Archive, 2006 Blog Archive, 2005 |