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Western Oklahoma Serves Up Blended Math
9/19/2007
"Students who really work at it can complete a 16-week class in 12 weeks," he said.
Some students have finished the most basic math class in just a few weeks, for example, allowing them to take a second required math course during the same semester and moving them that much faster through the four basic math courses required for graduation.
In Western Oklahoma State classes in which the Plato system is used for instruction, the software is available to each student individually at a computer in class; Huntzinger then roams the classroom to answer questions but otherwise lets the software do the teaching.
Another advantage of the system, Huntzinger said, is how well it caters to the schedules of students, some of whom work, have families, or are in the military, and thus may unavoidably miss a lecture. "If they miss my class, they've missed the whole 50-minute lecture," he said. But with the Web-based tools, students can make up a missed class by reviewing the materials online literally anywhere in the world at their convenience.
The Plato system is used at Western Oklahoma for students taking beginning, intermediate, and college algebra; students typically spend about four hours a week on the software, including class time.
Huntzinger, who has taught algebra for years, said he appreciates the ability to easily remove content from the Academic Systems Algebra package or to rearrange the order. When students recently struggled to work out volume and area problems, he created a slide presentation explaining the concepts and dropped it into the Academic Systems lesson that dealt with the geometry formulas they were having trouble with. That ability to customize the software, Huntzinger said, is "one of the unique things about the program."
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Linda L. Briggs is a freelance writer based in San Diego, Calif.
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