Math is one of my concentrations for my middle childhood education major, so it really interested me when Dr. Glassman talked about how calculators and technology could be ruining academic success. I for one don't think the advancement of calculators are making students any less smarter because student still need to know the concept of the material before they can even type anything in. This article, http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2008/08/calculators-okay-in-math-class-if-students-know-the-facts-first-62879/, would agree with me stating that, "... it is important children first learn how to calculate answers on their
own, but after that initial phase, using calculators is a fine thing to
do, even for basic multiplication facts."
Math, along with technology, is enhancing and becoming more complex. The material changes as time goes by and therefore, so does the teaching method and tools. It's not like the calculators are there telling us the answers to the problems, they're there to help us solve it quicker. It would be a hassle for students to have to multiply or take the square root of really long numbers. I think the purpose of technology in the classroom is to make teaching easier, not to think for us.
I agree....the purpose of calculators is to help us solve problems faster. Like you said, the student will need to know how to type the equation in correctly in order to solve for the correct answer. But the important thing is to let technology be a GUIDE for you rather than a crutch. If a child learns to calculate 5 + 5 via a calculator ONLY...then they do not actually comprehend what they are calculating...they do not actually understand what 5 + 5 means....they are letting the calculator think for them. It's important for children to learn the basics, and then let a calculator work as a guide so that they can advance in their mathematical understanding. If they start using a calculator for the get go...they are losing that fundamental building block that they need.
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