Using Geogebra to Geometrically Prove Pythagorean Theorem

Hi all,

Below is the common geometric proof of pythagorean theorem. The idea is that since the sum of the areas of the triangles doesn’t change between these two squares, the total of the hatched areas does as well. Therefore The area of the square on the left – who’s side is represented by the hypotenuse of the 4 identical right triangles – must be the same as the area of the little square on the right (who’s one side is “a” units) plus the larger square on the right (who’s area is b units). In other words a^2+b^2=c^2.

The tutorial below shows how to create the diagram above using geogebra as an interactive simulation (changing the sliders changes the shape of the triangles, yet the property always stays the same):

 

The recording cut out at the end, but the only things I did after that part were purely asthetic.

Cheers,

Doug

The Mathematics Online Planning Guides are now on Learnalberta.ca

Hi all, 

Several of you have been asking where the rest of the Mathematics Planning Guides are. Here’s a brief screencast about how to find all of them from K-9. 

1. Browse to http://learnalberta.ca
2. Create a teacher account if you don’t already have one, and log in.
3. Click on the Programs of Study tab.
4. Find K-9 Mathematics
5. Find the outcome you are working on.
6. Click the apple icon and choose “Planning Guide”

As always, let me know if you have questions…

Doug

Using Google Docs to create a live interactive Venn Diagram for Moodle

Hi all,

I used this trick in a workshop I facilitated last week. Rather than using chart paper to collect ideas as a Venn Diagram I created a live Venn Diagram using Google Docs and linked to it via our moodle page. Here are the basic steps I used, but the screencast below takes you through the whole process:

1. Create a GMail account and use it to sign in to Google Docs 
   • Create a New Drawing in Google Docs
   • Draw 2 circles overlapping and use the paint function to make them partially transparent.
   • Use the text tool to label the circles
2. Click share and change the privacy settings to “Anyone with the link”
3. Copy the URL provided to your clipboard
4. Turn editing on in your Moodle classroom and select Add a resource -> URL
5. Give the link a description and paste in the URL you copied in step 3.

Here’s the whole process as a screencast. Enjoy.

Cheers,

Doug

Backing up your Moodle course

As the semester is coming to a close it is time again to backup the latest version of your courses.  The following screencast shows how to backup your Moodle course for archiving:

 

 

Here are the steps:

1) Go to your course main page.

2) On the admin panel click “Backup”

3) If you are creating a template, uncheck the box that says “Include enrolled users” then click next.

4) Make sure all components that you want included in your archive are checked (they should be by default) then click next.

5) Click perform backup (this may take a while so this may be a good time to get coffee

6) Press continue, then click the download link next to the “Backup” file you created.

7) Save the file somewhere you can find it. 

 

Let me know if you have questions,

Doug

Wonderful Mahara Tutorial

Hi all, 

Short post today – without a screencast to watch (woohoo!). I found this excellent Mahara tutorial compliments of the American University of Beirut.

Follow this link to access it.

Cheers,

Doug

Burning Questions

Hi all,

Hot Questions is a new Moodle Activity module used to collect burning questions from your students and proritize them. Students can either post their own questions or “like” questions posted by others. The most “liked” questions bubble to the top. Take a look at the screencast below for more details.

To add a Hot Question to your moodle page:

1. Turn editing on.
2. Select one of the “Activities” drop downs.
3. Choose Hot Question.

Cheers

Doug

Accessing Resources with LearnAlberta.ca

LearnAlberta.ca is a powerful source of curriculum aligned learning objects to include within your moodle courses including videos, simulations, readings, audio, and more!

Big brother? (Tracking your students)

Here are a few ways to track your students’ involvement within your Moodle space. Enjoy.

Let me know if you have questions,

Doug

New and better blog for the FSD Moodle

Hi all, 

Many of you have asked me if there was a better way to blog than the built in Moodle blog platform. I’ve now installed “OU Blog” as a new activity module. This allows you to create a blog space for each of your students within the classroom space. It includes the ability to create both private and public blogs and the ability to post moderated comments to each student’s post!

To check it out, look for “OU Blog” under Add activity.

Let me know if you have questions….

Cheers,

Doug

Introduction to Mahara

With the tie between Moodle and Mahara now complete FSD teachers can now access their eportfolio by:

1) Browsing to Moodle: http://moodle.fsd38.ab.ca

2) Clicking the Mahara link at the bottom of the main page.

Here is a 15 min screencast taking you through the basics: