Curator: Linnea Czerney
Through the Ladybug Maze game, students are required to problem solve to help the ladybug navigate through the maze. You need to put together a series of commands for the ladybug to follow to get them to the end point. These steps may be forward, backward, or a variety of rotations. A variety of mazes are available and chosen at random for the ladybug.
Grade Level: 3-5
PSSM Content Standard: Geometry
CCSSM Content Standard: Elementary – Geometry: translations/slides, rotations, flips, reflections
Math Content: rotations, translations/slides,
Evaluation
What is being learned? What mathematics is the focus of the activity/technology? Is relational or instrumental understanding emphasized?
The focus of this technology is relational, the learner is not being given a specific procedure, but rather it allows for students to see and learn through exploration to come to their own realizations of the topics. However, the vocabulary is not used explicitly to aid those connections, it mentions 45 degree and 90 degree rotations.
How does learning take place? What are the underlying assumptions (explicit or implicit) about the nature of learning?
The learning takes place through exploration, it asks the learner to make the connections. This is very much implicit learning. If a the concepts are not brought to attention, the learner may just view it as moving the ladybug throughout the maze through guess and check rather than using mathematical knowledge.
What role does technology play? What advantages or disadvantages does the technology hold for this role? What unique contribution does the technology make in facilitating learning?
Technology allows for speedy practice and application, if the learner makes a mistake it is much easier to correct. Similarly, once a maze is completed new ones are available at the click of a button. This enables quick and easy repetition. Also, when mazes are completed on paper, the learner just draws a line through the maze. By having this website, the ladybug completes a series of moves to navigate the maze. It takes on a new perspective as the learner needs to consider each turn and the distance that ladybug needs to travel. That is not something that would be easily enabled without technology.
How does it fit within existing school curriculum? (e.g., is it intended to supplement or supplant existing curriculum? Is it intended to enhance the learning of something already central to the curriculum or some new set of understandings or competencies?)
How does the technology fit or interact with the social context of learning? (e.g., Are computers used by individuals or groups? Does the technology/activity support collaboration or individual work? What sorts of interaction does the technology facilitate or hinder?)
How are important differences among learners taken into account?
What do teachers and learners need to know? What demands are placed on teachers and other "users"? What knowledge is needed? What knowledge supports does the innovation provide (e.g., skills in using particular kinds of technology)?