mybloggy

Graphics Calculators.

My initial reaction to the graphics calculator was not really a positive one. It is a new piece of equipment that I am not familiar with. It seems that I needed a degree just on how to use the thing. To me it seemed to be an overly complex wigit.

Realistically my opinion of these calculators matters little. The question that needs to be asked is “Do they add value to a math student’s ability to learn?” If it does, then my nearly 40yo brain needs to get into gear and learn how to use this tool effectively.

It would be of benefit to visit a school that actually uses them to gain an informed opinion of their value. Unfortunately, I know of no school that uses them. Why would this be so? There would be many good reasons for schools to give as to why they do not have them; cost, students loosing them, waste of time, to complex, no BOS compulsory programming requirement. I would suggest that the old cycle of “I learnt it this way, so current students can too!” would be a factor here also. Until mathematic educators demand appropriate technology in their classrooms, teachers will be confined to using the old methods of direct instruction and boring textbook lessons with the occasional use of the good-old worn-out overhead projector.

The Federal Government is looking at putting a computer for each student in all schools. I see this as a real bonus as websites have easy-to-use programs which cover all the capabilities of the graphics calculator and more on them. Such websites include  http://www.expertmathtutoring.com/Plot-Graphs.php for plotting functions, http://www.quickmath.com/www02/pages/modules/equations/index.shtml for solving equations, http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_5th_original.htm for quick skills testing and  http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/sci__tech/math.html   for fun quizzes in specific topics. These tools can assist students to have a better intuition for math problems and how functions and other answers should look like. I would like to see greater technology used in classrooms, either graphic calculators or computers, as students need to be familiar with it in today’s world and can have their learning greatly enhanced by using them.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS