Using technology to teach math

By Brittany Greene
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March, 2011

The main device we use in math classes is the graphing calculator. I think this tool is wonderful and should be used, but I do think students should learn how to compute problems by hand. I know many people (who are in math classes) that can’t do simple addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of integers and need his/her calculator to solve problems. I’ve also seen students have difficulty graphing a simple parabola by hand because they’re so used to just hitting the “y = “ button and then punching in the function. I think it’s very important for teachers to teach students how to do the problems by hand first (and give them practice examples), and then teach them how to use the calculator to solve.

I have a professor now who won’t let us use our calculators on tests. He makes the problems doable, but of course there is quite a bit of algebra involved and you’d be surprised at how many people will mess up the simplest add and subtracting of integers since they can’t t rely on their calculator. It’s the previous teachers that are really harming us with allowing us to depend on our calculators to do all the work. Therefore, for the math classes I will teach in the future I won’t allow my students to rely so heavily on calculators and I will make sure they understand the material on their own.

I would also love to use a SMARTboard in my classroom; I know all the schools don’t have them yet, but I would really love to have it for my classes. They’re so beneficial in the math classes; I’ve seen wonderful things done on it in the semesters of observing. I’ve seen TI- SmartView, which is a giant graphing calculator on the SMARTboard and it’s interactive, so the teacher or a student can type on it. This helps students follow along with how to use the calculator. SMARTboard is also very helpful in designing triangle or circle proofs. I really enjoy the technology used in math classes; I find it all very fascinating, but I do think the technology needs to be used appropriately because it can take away from the students overall understanding of the material.