Knowledge at your fingertips: Rayan Russell revolutionises teaching of Mathematics
Published:Monday | August 30, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter
Knowledge at your fingertips. That's where Rayan Russell wants to place mathematics, literally - so close you can manipulate it with just the touch of a finger. No pen necessary.
The technology he is using to achieve this is the interactive white board.
Rocky, as the 29-year-old mathematics tutor prefers to be called, is enthusiastic about the board which he believes redefines teaching and learning.
"Children are now able to see and touch math," Rocky said. The tutor, who will complete his master's degree in math education from Florida International University this year, explained that it allows the teacher to present information to the student and for students to learn in an all-new way.
It looks similar to a whiteboard but the vast differences are what make it special. For example, the electronic device, mounted on a wall just like the regular whiteboard or blackboard, allows the user to write with his/her fingers, select shapes, import information from the Internet to a page being generated by the user, construct angles using a virtual compass or measure those angles with a virtual protractor, all with the use of the fingers. If the user so desires, electronic markers, which accompany the board can be used instead.
In a simple demonstration for Flair, to show children that fractions are parts of a whole, he simply tapped on the desired shape; in this case it was a circle, placed it on the workspace and selected an option which segmented that circle into his desired parts. The diagram ended up resembling a pie chart.
The teacher can then drag away any number of slices to indicate subtraction and put them back to indicate addition. The entire process gives students not only a visual to help make the link but also allows the child to come to the board and do this him or herself. However, that is probably one of the simplest tasks the technology allows individuals to perform. Rocky will be using it for classes from the elementary to PhD level in mathematics. It also eliminates the need for copious note-taking, as all the notes can be saved as a PDF file and emailed to students.
No more notes
"Children won't have to worry about writing notes down before 'Sir rubs them off the board'," he explained.
He believes in the possibilities so much, he has established an education centre where teaching and learning revolve around this technology. He used the board last month with 10 seven- to 12-year-old students in a free three-week summer programme. With funding from the NCB Foundation and Wisynco he was able to bus students to a common location, provide them with lunch before they got to work.
They were weak in long division and their time tables, but there has been a marked improvement. "They were pumped up to touch and manipulate," he said.
The technology is not restricted to mathematics instruction. The students also received language arts instruction from Daniel Campbell using the tool.
In September, Rocky will be admitting students to the centre which will, over time, cover a variety of subjects besides math. The classes are meant to be an interactive experience with small class sizes.
Asked why he thinks mathematics continues to be a weak subject for so many Jamaicans, Rocky said it all boils down to them not being taught the foundation of many math concepts.
"The fundamentals are lacking. Once the math starts to get more complicated and the fundamentals are lacking, the child will get frustrated," he said.
In order to rectify this, he said the entire nation must be up for the task, teachers, students, parents, just to name a few. He believes in the possibilities of math. "I'm trying to use math as a nation-building tool. It can train you to think things through in a logical manner," he said.
Therefore, with the help of modern technology and human input, the country can work out a solution.
"Mathematics is a beautiful language that we use every day but we don't even recognise it," he said. But, maybe, in this case, touching will be believing.
Contact information: Website www.mathjunkies.com, email Rocky@mathjunkies.com or call 899-3876.