After having discussed the use of calculators in class on Wednesday, I decided to take a deeper look at the affect of calculators on students' maths kills
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/math_learning_software_and_other_technology_are_hurting_education_.html
This article talks about how calculators are ruining math. It also talks about how the common core is doing nothing to promote areas such as math and science.
A quote from the article says:
Computer technology, while great for many things, is just not much good
for teaching, yet. Paradoxically, using technology can inhibit
understanding how it works. If you learn how to multiply 37 by 41 using a
calculator, you only understand the black box. You’ll never learn how
to build a better calculator that way
It's a pretty long article, but it makes some good points, including: new text books make terrible analogies and make math confusing. Old text books are superior. It also appears that technology is being forced into the classroom, which doesn't help anyone.
I believe that math is the hardest subject to teach because sometimes it's the hardest to understand. The use of calculator doesn't make understanding any easier. Sure you get the correct answer but how did you get that answer? We need to know the basics, not because they are a foundation but because there are real life situations where needing to know the information is necessary.
ReplyDeleteI'm aiming to be a math teacher and I don't think calculators are ruining math. Like Alison said, the students need to know where the numbers are coming from and which math symbols to use when solving a problem. Calculator or not, the students still engage in a thought process and need to know the steps and formulas necessary to solve the problem. Math is getting harder and technology is enhancing as generations go by. I don't think students are getting dumber at math as time goes by, just adapting.
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