This module focuses on designing across spaces, has helped me think more intentionally about how I structure learning in my algebra classroom. Designing beyond the screen means creating opportunities for students to engage with mathematical ideas in ways that are connected to their lived experiences, home communities, and interests, not just through digital platforms or traditional classroom tasks. Emphasize that meaningful learning emerges through embodied, social, and multimodal experiences. (Leander & Boldt, 2013). That idea has pushed me to reflect on how my algebra lessons can better integrate both digital and analog practices to support deeper, more equitable learning. One important aspect of this work is preparing students to think critically about the tools they use. In algebra, students often rely on Desmos, graphing calculators, or online videos to support their understanding. While these tools are powerful, they can sometimes mask the underlying mathematical thinking. I want students to not just use tools, but to ask questions like: What is this graph showing? Why does changing the slope here change the story? What happens when you add a negative out front? By facilitating classroom conversations about the affordances and limitations of digital tools, I hope to help students become more intentional, critical users of technology (Leu et al., 2013). Equity is hard to ensure in the classroom. Hull and Greeno remind us that access to rich learning opportunities varies widely, and that includes access to technology, time, and safe environments for learning. Not all of my students have Wi-Fi at home or the flexibility to do digital work outside of class. Not all schools, nor students, have access to a laptop at home. That means I need to ensure that digital experiences happen during class time and that there are always non-digital entry points into assignments. I also draw on the idea of “third space” to design tasks that invite students to bring their home knowledge and identities into math learning, for example, by connecting functions to real-world situations they care about. (Moje et al.’s 2004)
Example Project:
One project I could assign during our unit on quadratic functions is called Parabola in Motion. In this activity, students explore real-world applications of parabolas by analyzing the arc of a projectile, such as a basketball shot, a kicked soccer ball, or even a water fountain stream. The goal is for students to collect or observe data, model it with a quadratic function, and use that model to interpret key features (vertex, axis of symmetry, zeros, etc.). When given a project with Parabolas, most students do not understand the zeros. Doing a project like this, I like to spend a lot of time talking about the start of the motion and the end of the motion. Why negatives are or are not important, depending on the project. This project builds on the work of Jones & Storm (2022), who emphasize designing with students’ “textual passions.” By allowing students to choose their context, whether that is Angry Birds (how to project the bird to hit the object), basketball games, Fortnite, Fast & Furious, or dance videos, we position them as experts in their interests, sustaining engagement and relevance in math.
Question: How have you balanced digital and analog learning in your own classroom or discipline? What strategies have helped you ensure that all students, regardless of access or background, can fully participate in new literacies practices?
References:
Hull, G. A., & Greeno, J. G. (2006). Identity and agency in nonschool and school settings. In Z. Bekerman, N. C. Burbules, & D. Silberman-Keller (Eds.), Learning in places: The informal education reader (pp. 77–97). Peter Lang.
Jones, S., & Storm, S. (2022). Sustaining textual passions: Teaching with texts youth love. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 65(4), 397–405. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1204
Leander, K. M., & Boldt, G. (2013). Rereading “A pedagogy of multiliteracies”: Bodies, texts, and emergence. Journal of Literacy Research, 45(1), 22–46.
Leu, D. J., Forzani, E., Rhoads, C., Maykel, C., Kennedy, C., & Timbrell, N. (2013). The new literacies of online research and comprehension: Rethinking the reading achievement gap. Reading Research Quarterly, 50(1), 37–59.
Moje, E. B., Ciechanowski, K. M., Kramer, K., Ellis, L., Carrillo, R., & Collazo, T. (2004). Working toward third space in content area literacy: An examin
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