Making Techonology Work

In this article, 3 authors from Croatia explain why technology is necessary to incorporate into math education and how it can enhance the math curriculum. In summary, technology is beneficial because it enables students to work on more complex, often real-life, tasks, motivates students, and helps students visualize math concepts. However, technology is only useful in teaching when it's use has been thoughtfully evaluated and planned out. The authors described several specific programs and tools and their suggested uses in the classroom. The Geometer's Sketchpad is particularly liked by students and teachers because it allows students to focus more on overall concepts, rather than spending too much time on measuring and computations. Also, the article described a game in which students learn to differentiate when they should and should not use a calculator. Finally, the authors describe various real-life problems that students are able to analyze using various computer programs. Without these programs assistance, these problems would often be too advanced or too time consuming to implement.

I really enjoyed reading this article, as it has brought me one step closer to embracing more forms of technology for use in the math classroom. The article was extremely well written and concise, yet included excellent points and provided useful examples. I particularly liked the game in which students race to see if a computation can be solved faster by using a calculator or by doing mental math. I think that this is an excellent way to show students, rather than tell them, when they should choose to use a calculator as opposed to mental math. However, the idea of racing bothers me, especially the idea of having two students race against each other. What if one student is simply faster than another? This would skew results not to mention likely be the cause of hurt feelings. To alleviate this I may consider having students time themselves with a stop watch doing the problem first mentally, then using the calculator. This would not eliminate being timed, but at least it would minimize competition.

Soucie T., Radovic N. and Svedrec R. (2010). Making Technology Work. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15 (8), 467-471.