Journal Zone:
An Interactive, Online, Journaling
Experience in Learning Mathematics
By
Mhairi (Vi) Maeers and Beth Warkentin
[Faculty of Education, University of Regina]
And
Terry Cote, Heather Gantefoer, and Renee Montenegro
[Sacred Heart School, Regina, Saskatchewan]
At the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Conference
October 17, 2002
1-2 p.m. Kenosee Room, Regina Inn, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
In the Winter 2002 semester Early Childhood preservice teachers (Pre-Kindergarten-Grade 3) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina were paired with 18 Grade 3 children in a local elementary school and 'corresponded' with one another through an interactive online client/server software program called Journal Zone.
The intention was for participants to write and illustrate journal pages to highlight what they were doing and learning about in mathematics, to access the journal pages of others in the project--especially those paired together, and to write comments on the journal pages of their colleagues. Beth and Vi were interested in the viability of this program for mathematical understanding and hence collected and analysed data to determine the viability and usefulness of such a tool in learning mathematics. This session will demonstrate the program called Journal Zone and will highlight research findings on the impact of Journal Zone on learning mathematics and on attitudes towards mathematics. Teachers involved in this project will share their observations of their children's involvement in the project.
This project is continuing this Fall 2002 semester, but this time we have 82 grade 2 AND 5 children and 4 grade
2/5 teachers in the same school. The children are in mixed-grade groups with at least one grade 2 and one grade
5 in each group. The 28 Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 3 preservice teachers have groups of 3-4 children with whom to
interact. Again we are collecting data and we may have time to share some of our initial ideas of how this semester
is progressing.
Our presentation will proceed as follows:
1. Some history on this project.
Vi discovered JZ at a NCE (National Centres of Excellence) conference in October 2001. The demo was awesome and Vi felt there might be possibilities for using it with her preservice mathematics teachers. She spoke with the JZ presenter at NCE and he passed her name onto LCSI (LOGO Computer Systems International)--hence a beginning communication with two wonderful people --Ranya Tzortzatos and Peter Skillen (Ranya is the LCSI business manager and Peter is an author of the program). Vi shared her excitement with Beth who also saw possibilities for the presevice teachers and especially for the Early Childhood specialists (Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 3). We decided in the Fall 2001 that we would try out this program in the Winter 2002 semester with the Early Childhood group. Ranya and Peter wrote many times to support Vi and Beth in their endeavors to get this project underway. We easily convinced our 3 teachers to participate (Vi had already been working with them on a Math Trails project so they were quite eager to continue working with us). We had an exciting program to work with, we had 3 eager teachers who wanted to work with us, and we had the support of encouragement of LCSI--what more could we ask for?
Other comments on why we wanted to get involved!!
2. Rationale/framework for this project
Vi and Beth had both conducted research in the past that explored
different approaches to learning. Vi's masters thesis focused on journal writing as a tool for learning mathematics.
There is abundant research indicating that if ideas can be expressed in writing or by illustration then the concept
has reached a mental state. The learner has a mental image of the concept and can express ideas in an external
format.
This study is being conducted in a school that embraces Brain-Based learning and a socio-cultural approach to knowing
and interacting. Collaboration, peer mentoring, group work, respecting the needs and rights of others, establishing
and maintaining relationships, indeed a community of learners model is apparent in classrooms in this school.
We wished to capitalize on the socio-cultural Vygotskian perspectives and the community of learners model, and
extend this concept to embrace a collaborative online journalling program, where children would be grouped with
university students in small learning communities, and where knowledge would be constructed, mediated, and scaffolded
through online interaction.
The work of Vygotsky has informed this study. In the Winter 2002 semester we had groups of 2 or 3, with sometimes
two preservice teachers and one child (perhaps a bit intimidating). Now, in the Fall 2002 semester, we have groups
of 4 or 5 with one preservice teacher and 3 or 4 children. These groupings enable different forms of expertise
where a more able learner helps a less able learner--for a time--and then the roles are often reversed. We know
that each child has the potential to learn mathmatics and, given a rich environment with purposeful activity, we
felt that the children would experience success. Working in small groups may help the children to feel important
and also to feel that mathematics is important. Scaffolding, or building on previous understandings, is made possible
through the comments feature of JZ, where anyone in the project can comment on what others write or draw.
Constructivism, in its various forms, has been around for some time. Basically the tenets of constructivism outline
the need for learners to construct their own understanding (of mathematics), that a teacher cannot 'make' a child
learn. The environment is crucial as it forms the context for learning. How the environment is structured, and
what role the teacher and learners have within that structure, is critical. Other than demonstrating and helping
all the students (young and old) with the techniques of using the program, we wanted the JZ groups to be 'free'
of interference from us. The 5 of us had our own JZ group where we wrote to each other about how the project was
going.
Reflection and teaching our preservice teachers how to become reflective practitioners is a major focus of our
education program. The role of reflection has a tremendous impact on the growth of knowledge of becoming a teacher.
As instructors we are compelled to provide our students with appropriate opportunities to authentically practise reflection. Journal
writing is well documented as being an effective way for learners to make connections with prior learning, ask
appropriate questions and regulate thinking. Writing about something gives that something more permanence, more
focus or as D'Arcy (1989) states --writing is a means to "retain, re-collect, re-construct, re-create, and
re-present." Writing and illustrating are reflective tools for both the children and the preservice teachers;
the children reflect on mathematical understanding and the preservice teachers reflect on how the children are
making sense of mathematics through their writing and drawing. This JZ program offers a powerful opportunity for
our preservice teachers to get a glimpse of how children are thinking about mathematics. Through this window our
preservice teachers can bring forth their prior knowledge of how they learned mathematics, compare this to what
the children are experiencing, and see JZ as a 'method' of teaching and assessing mathematics (a new 'tool' for
teaching) and also as a way for children to create, consolidate, reflect on, collaborate about, construct, and
respond to mathematical ideas.
We felt that JZ would offer learners a creative and risk-free space to explore their ideas, and with help from
a more able learner (if needed), to share their growing understandings of mathematics. We felt it would offer
a collaborative platform for knowledge-building, for scaffolding, for mediating, and for consolidating and attaining
depth of understanding.
Other comments on rationale/framework
3. Demonstration of Journal Zone
I'll go through the slide show at the LCSI site
http://www.microworlds.com/jz_solutions/index.html
Other things we should do here!!!
4. Let's hear from the teachers
What did you observe last year as your children participated in this
project? Are you noticing anything different this year? Did you feel it was a worthwhile tool for learning/understanding
mathematics? How could the JZ project experience have been improved for you?
Terry Cote
Heather Gantefoer
Renee Montenegro
5. What kind of experience did our preservice students
have?
Beth/Vi will share some findings from Angie and Connie. We have the transcripts and we can pull out some quotes from the students, and maybe some from the children.
I will have 'booklets' (hopefully laminated) of each group's work. We can pass these booklets round the room or
have them on a table for people to look at.
Anything else here!!
6. Questions and comments from the audience