Description
An idea for using twitter to crowd source answers to mathematical questions.
In a period of ten days you can ask each student to tweet one question relating to maths or science. The content of the tweet should be a picture (taken somewhere in the student’s neighbourhood) with a question. This way you can draw student’s attention to the presence and usefulness of mathematics in every day life.
Examples
a) What is wrong with this?
b) When corrected, how much (in percentage) did they lower the price?
How much orange glass (in m²) was needed for the orange half circle if you know that: his diameter is 3m, the radius of the GH-logo is 40cm?
Mathematics (vocational education): percentages, geometry, proportions,…
(activity made for students in adult education)
How to do it
Decide on a period of ten days with your students and decide on the topics to use.
Every student has to tweet (with #10daysofmathtweets) his picture with question within that period. He e-mails the correct answer to the teacher who checks this. Students have to send their answer to the teacher by e-mail within 24 hours. After the 24 hours, the student who tweeted the question may tweet the answer to his/her question. He also completes a document in Google Drive with the explanation (of the answer) of his question. That way a database of questions gets created that can be used for example as a way of preparing for a an exam about those topics.
The teacher puts a graph on the ELO so the students can see who’s getting the most correct answers.
Tools/technology
ELO (Moodle,…)
Google Drive
camera
For how to include pictures in Tweets: https://support.twitter.com/articles/20156423-about-image-uploading-on-twitter#
If students want to edit the picture: Paint,…
Programme to make graphs: Excel,…
If you want a little warming-up or some inspiration for your students: video “the bourne numeracy” on http://www.googolpower.com/content/free-learning-resources/videos/mental-math-strategies
(Made by Katleen Vanden Driessche, CVO Antwerpen, BELGIUM)
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Cymraeg
It looks like to me a very interesting activity in order that the mathematics make sense in the life diária. The children will be able to familiarize with the prices and the quantities of the articles that are bought and are sold in his nearby environment. They will be able to observe the differences in the prices, if the prices rise or go down, they will be able to handle his economy.
Sounds like a very interesting idea to bring students to mathematics, since many of them believe they have a clear application in the world, and in their day to day. Des thus have a clearer concept that prices have now bought habitealmente items.