“There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if the teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work then it fails.” – Nancy Kassebaum, U.S. Senator

It is essential as an educator to keep learning and continue to modify your approach to find the best ways to relate material to your students.  We live in a generation filled with technology and it seems as though nearly everything today is somehow influenced by technology.  Technology today is not what it used to be, and I think the variety of technology will continue to rapidly change.  It’s our job as teachers to stay up-to-date with the many resources available and be able to implement them as necessary in the classroom.

How?

Some ask, how will I know what type of technology to incorporate in my classroom?  From my math education classes this semester I’ve learned that no matter how much planning goes into a lesson there’s always room for improvement.  However, it’s important to try and implement different technology in the classroom.  The worst case scenario, the technology doesn’t work well with the lesson but as a teacher we are still able to learn from this, and we know what not to use in the classroom.  By incorporating certain technology into lessons we can see what works well and what doesn’t work well.  Specifically, I have found several instances when Geometer’s Sketchpad has served as a great learning tool.  Especially in a geometry class, Geometer’s Sketchpad can be used to draw different geometric figures but what’s nice about this specific technology are the manipulations.  Any user can save his or her work and when students use the program they are able to manipulate the figures they draw by dragging vertices or sides.  The program also allows for measurements of any angle or side.  Many students are visual learners and I think Geometer’s Sketchpad helps enhance students learning because of the multiple representations and manipulations the program has available.  Aside from planning what technology will work well and actually implementing it in the classroom, teachers need to research what’s working well for students.  I mentioned earlier the diversity in the technology we have today.  There’s plenty of research available for educators, written by other educators, explaining what has worked well in the classroom.  Some articles even explain ways to implement certain technology in class. I think it’s always helpful to get others perspectives on ideas, even if you don’t agree with what the author is saying you can always adapt ideas to create your own technological implementations.  As a teacher, I will continue to research on what technology is working well in and outside of the classroom.  I will do my best to keep myself updated with current technology so I can properly implement and adapt lessons best suited for my students and classroom.  As an educator when thinking of how to incorporate technology into the classroom I will ask myself, How is the action purposeful, thoughtful, and deliberate? and How does the action-consequence scenario provide opportunities for reflection?

Why?

Why should technology be incorporated in today’s classrooms?  Karen L. Fonkert, author of “Does the use of individual laptop computers in the classroom create a barrier to student collaboration?”, from Interactions in Technology-Rich Classrooms Journal, suggests that the advantages computers have over calculators are the ease of manipulating the objects on the computer screen (clicking and dragging), the accuracy of measurements, the precision of movement of the objects, and the colorful visuals.  I agree with Fonkert except for the fact that we now have calculators that can also do what computers can.  The suggestions from Fonkert are from the year 2010, this just shows how quickly technology is able to adapt and grow.  In class this year (2014) we explored the TI-nSpire calculators that are basically a computer.  The nSpires have many features which include accuracy, multiple programs for any math class (algebra, stats, geometry, calculus, trig, etc.), movement of objects, the ability to click and drag objects/figures, create data tables/lists, graph, and do a number of calculations.  Fonkert also mentioned in her article that students today are comfortable using computers.  This still holds true for students today.  Social media plays a huge role with many students; when educators are able to use technology to improve a lesson and students feel comfortable using the technology, the lesson and student-learning become much more enhanced.  When incorporating technology in my classroom I will be sure to ask, What new knowledge and understandings can students build?  Is the connection between the action and consequence evident? These questions are important because if the technology doesn’t provide any sort of enhancement to the lesson it probably should not be incorporated into the lesson.  Why should we use technology in the classroom?  Technology should be used to enhance the mathematics being learned.  Technology should support the effective mathematics being taught.  Lastly, technology should allow students to explore mathematics and demand students to reflect and reason what they have learned.

When?

Knowing when to incorporate technology in the classroom is extremely important.  If the technology provides enhancements to the lesson, it should be incorporated.  If the students are able to build knowledge from using the technology, it should be incorporated.  Most importantly, if the students are able to make connections between the technology and explore what is being taught, the technology should be incorporated.  I think what happens is teachers feel the need to use technology and just end up using a Smartboard to share notes with the class.  If this is the case the notes should be visually enhanced.  It is much easier for students to read notes off a projector or Smartboard because the writing is much more clear. In addition to clarity, graphs and other helpful visuals can be incorporated when using a Smartboard or projector.  Studies show that many students are visual learners and when we can incorporate visuals that appeal to students we can also magnify student-learning.  I believe that every classroom needs to be student-centered and when incorporating technology I will always ask myself, how can this benefit my students?

As a future educator I will strive to integrate technology in my classroom to provide students with a 21st century education.  The bottom line is, Will the technology ask questions of students that demand reflection, sense making, and reasoning?…the answer should always be yes.  In order to provide the most successful learning environment for my students, I will continue to learn about technology and its innovations in the classroom.

The Technology Principle ~ Technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics; it influences the mathematics that is taught and enhances student learning.