Chapter 7

To me it makes complete sense that calculators and technology are  part of the mathematics education today. According to the NCTM, technology is an essential tool for both learning and teaching mathematics (Van De Walle et. al., 2010). It is important that children learn how to make mental computations. However, I agree with Van De Walle, Karp and Bay-Wiliams (2010) that students should learn when to use mental mathematics,when to use estimation, when to do a problem with paper and pencil and when to use a calculator. In Sweden during my school days (which was long ago…) we were allowed to use a calculator in the younger grade levels. For me it was great because I felt less anxious and could concentrate on solving the problem rather than getting stuck with the computations. Although, I wish that there would have been a greater emphasis on mental computations just for the sake of practice and confidence. My 15 year old daughter is worried that my 10 year old son is using the calculator too often when doing his math homework. It is interesting to observe that he is more interested in the challenge of solving the problem than just the computation and he uses a lot of common sense. I do not think that we should be concerned with the use of calculators but instead see it as a tool to help improve learning. As stated by Van De Walle et. al. (2010) calculators that are used considerately and meaningfully can enhance the learning of mathematics.  The danger would be if the children do not have a conceptual understanding of math and this can happen with or without the help of calculators or other technology. According to Van De Walle et. al. calculators should be used when the activity is not to compute but computation is involved in the problem solving, generating and analyzing patterns or accommodating students with special needs. I agree! If the calculators are used in a variety of ways in lower grade levels such as counting by ones, pressing the equal button and looking for patterns (Van De Walle et. al., 2010). We are living in a technological society that is rapidly changing. Today’s children are used to computers and electronic games. They will be the ones who will create new technology in the future and have a career that is not even known of today. Teachers have to learn more about mathematical software and how it can enhance learning in the math class. As stated by Van De Walle et. al., 2010 a mathematical software tool is like a physical manipulative; it does not teach but gives the user of a well-designed tool an electronic “thinker toy” with which to explore mathematical ideas. There are programs that provide “counters”, base-ten blocks (ones, tens, and hundreds model) and so forth. Instructional software is designed for student interaction and functions in the same way as a textbook or a tutor (Van De Walle et. al., 2010). It is important to follow certain guidelines when selecting and using software and, again as with most things, there should be a balance, combine software activities with off-computer activities (Van De Walle et. al., 2010). This is big business and teachers need to be able to scrutinize and select good software programs to ensure, that indeed, the program develops conceptual knowledge and follows the objectives of learning. It was interesting to go through the teachers resources on page 124 with my son. We found some really interesting math games that helped him visualize, for example, the concept of fractions.

In conclusion, I think technology is great and we need to keep up with it but BALANCE with instruction and support is crucial.

Reference

Van De Walle, J., Karp, K. & Bay-Williams, J. (2010).  Elementary & middle school mathematics. Teaching developmentally (7^th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon