I was asked to watch a couple of videos (one being the ways a teacher uses technology in her classroom and one being a recorded webcast between EDM 310 and a technology literate teacher).
I found both of these videos interesting, but neither really deal with math specific ideas. The Nintendo DS is a great way for children to play brain teasers, but what about the students who aren't in elementary school? Do they lose out on this technology? Assuming they do, are we upgrading them to on the board brain teasers(which is already a common practice among secondary math educators)? Assuming they don't, are we down grading them to an elementary level's learning curve and dousing their ambitions to cross over into adulthood and adulthood learning methods? Certainly. I'm constantly weary that my kids (of secondary education) will often have the glazed looks of depression when they sit in my classroom, but what can I do? Not only do they have to grow up in my class, but they have to leave behind the better parts of what technology in education can provide (as shown and heard in both videos) for higher learning.
I understand that this is a common problem for many secondary math teachers. Our curriculum is rigid, the concepts are dry, and even hearing it puts some of us to sleep! In a previous post, I talk about the technology I could use in my classroom, but it consisted of the clicker. In my book, this isn't necessarily exciting for students, but it's useful for feedback on how well concepts are sinking in. I'm hoping more technology comes out for secondary education's technology, besides what has been listed, and in the meantime, I'll have an eye out. Great videos, though!
The world (and EDM310) is not composed only of math teachers so not everything can be addressed directly to your specific interest. Are you blaming the lack of math interest and math skills on teachers in lower grades? on the use of technology? It is unclear to me. Do you still believe the only tool available to math teachers is the clicker? What do you hope your students will learn to do? to know? to have experienced? How do excellent practitioners of math use technology in their professional lives? How can teachers provide experiences that help achieve the goals of math teachers while replicating the real world experiences math specialists will encounter? I am certain they will not practice their professions without using technology - lots of it!
ReplyDeleteAlice- great post! I'm also in secondary education, but my focus is social sciences. I do agree that Math can be very rigid and I believe your subject is more challenged when it comes to creative ways of using technology. There are probably already some amazing programs being developed today as we take EDM 310. Best of luck going forward!
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