Remixing

Part of my job as the full time math tutor in our college's tutoring lab is to take information that is in a textbook and create and update handouts for the students to use for reference.  I take the formulas or descriptions of procedures and bring them into one word document so that there is no need to hunt through notes for a method on how to solve a problem.  In the past few years, I have realized that students like to see things more visually as well, so I have been making sure to incorporate more graphs and shapes into the handouts so students can relate the words to something they see in their calculators.  I didn't realize that I was using remixing in making these resources by merging tools from different computer programs.

I can gather the information from students on what they would like to see on specific handouts, and then edit the handouts that are currently in use.  For example, I decided to update our sheet on graph transformations which I felt needed to have a visual component.  All it stated were the ways a graph could shift verbally, and this confused many students when I gave it to them.  In order for this to be a good summary for students to use often, I looked through many books for reference and then used Microsoft Excel to create the graphs needed.  When I pasted the graphs into Microsoft Word I was able to link the two together, so anytime I made an update in Excel it also changed the look of the graphs in Word.  The graphs were color coded so students could see the differences, however I also made a black and white version with different line patterns for students who may be color blind, or do not have access to color printers.  Students seemed to like this version with the added graphs so that they could relate the concepts visually and verbally.

I think remixing is a great tool in my job for helping out students who struggle with math.  I am always looking for ways to expand and incorporate digital technologies into what we offer to students.  In reading Erstad's thoughts on remixing, I am encouraged by the examples of how other teachers are incorporating digital technologies into their class projects (2013).  Making videos that have either fun background music or adding in a math joke may make the resources posted on our website more appealing to students at home.

References

Erstad., O (2013). Ch. 2: Trajectories of remixing: Digital literacies, media production, and schooling. In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds.), A new literacies reader: Educational perspectives (pp.38-56). New York: Peter Lang.