April Journal- Mathematics Teaching in The Middle School

Soucie, T., Radovic, N., & Svedrec, R. (2010). Making Technology Work. Mathematics Teaching in Middle School , 15(8), 466.

Making Technology Work

Summary

Students need to learn technology because it can really help them with their literacy. Teachers should really take advantage of the technology that they have. However, it is usually questioned about when students should use internet in the classroom. There are two questions that teachers should always ask themselves when using the internet. 1. Will it allow students to do something they could not have done before? 2. Will it allow students to do something they could have done before but in a better way? If the answer is yes to both questions than it is appropriate to use technology in the classroom. Teachers should choose specific technology based upon the mathematical topics in which they are going to teach. It is important to teach students how to use calculators effectively. Technology can also help students, and stimulate their interest in the topics being presented. A way to relate the math to real life is have students work on real life problems with real life data.

Evaluation

This article can be very beneficial for when I start teaching. I have always been very hesitant in using technology in the classroom. I have heard in the past that students should not be using calculators or computers and that they should be doing things by hand. However, technology has really given us great opportunities for our students to produce higher quality work and in a way that is just as beneficial, if not more beneficial than doing it by hand. Technology gives us new and exciting ways to teach our students that will both stimulate and interest them. By using technology and letting students see what is going on through technology, it will help students actually visualize what is happening with the concepts that they are learning. Technology is also a great way to make math fun and engaging for the students. Students love working on the computer, and as long as the topics being presented will be further enhanced by using the computer, than teachers should not be afraid to use it.