Integrating technology is something educators all try to do.
Some more successful than others, and some more motivated than others. But no
matter how savvy or uncoordinated you are in the tech world, somewhere along
the line you will run into an obstacle or two. More specifically I will be
discussing the obstacles and solutions for integrating technology into
elementary math education.
Technology is difficult to control some days, especially
when the technology you want to use doesn’t work! “Dealing
with 32 students' error messages was alternately amusing and hair-raising
“(David). It’s a teachers’ worst nightmare to have technology built into the
lesson and it fail quickly with error messages. The solution to this obstacle
would be planning for the error message in your plans. Have an alternate plan.
To solve the issue of the error message altogether, gather a couple of students
to try and trouble shoot while the other students are completing the
assignment. The students troubleshooting should be students that can be trusted
and will be able to catch up on the assignment.
Another obstacle
relating to technology in the math classroom is getting everyone on board;
students, parents, teachers and administration. “…working with a large group of
students whose computer and calculator literacy skills ranged from beginner to
expert—as did their parents' skills” (David). If students don’t have access to
the technology at home, it will make their learning curve different than
students with technology experience. If a parent is not comfortable using
technology, usually they are more open to their child learning because they see
the void it creates in their lives. Keeping communication open with parents
about what tools their students are using and allowing them to see finished
products will help the parent buy in.
“Integrating
technology into mathematics is not without controversy. Many educators fear
that calculators and other technology will eliminate opportunities for students
to strengthen their computational abilities” (Technology in Mathematics). Allowing students to use technology is also
trusting them to make smart and logical decisions. Some students may use a
calculator to multiply 2 by 0 and then remember they have the ability to
compute it on their own. We need to model how we would use technology before
handing it over to our students. If we model appropriate and smart choices, our
students will most likely follow suit. Taking time to walk through a problem
and show what you would compute in your head, and what you would use the tool
for is a great way for students to understand your expectations.
With any change, there
comes a learning curve. In my opinion, mathematics is one of the easiest and
most effective content areas to implement technology. It can save educators
time and money, and give students the tools they will use later in life.
David, S. (n.d.). Educational Leadership (Vol.
55, pp. 49-51).
Technology in Mathematics. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6,
2015.
Courtney, good post. I can relate to having lessons planned out, and then finding out our school had not internet access that day! Lesson learned, always have a back up plan!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like the point that you bring up about calculators. I see students in high school physics use their calculator all the time for simple calculations,and then they say, "oh yeah, I knew that!"
I'm glad your students are realizing the silly mistake. Hopefully they learn from it and try to solve that on their own first!
ReplyDeleteBeing a technology integrator it is always frustrating when it doesn't work the way it is intended. However, I take these opportunities (when time is not a priority) to involve the students in the problem solving process. Having them ask questions and figure out why they may have received an error message or why the computer shut down is a great opportunity for these students. It can turn a potential nightmare situation into a great learning activity.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a great idea! Children are probably most patient when given responsibility. I like your thinking!
DeleteI have seen many obstacles in my time and I feel like I am much more tech savvy than other teachers at my site. Even with wireless internet at my site, there are quite a few times that our network is down. That creates such havoc in the beginning of the day and trying to come up with an alternate plan for that day. I usually follow what you suggested with having an alternate plan. I try to sandwich a tech day between two non-tech days that are still going over the same topic. That way I can switch up days, if needed. I like how you suggest to have a student work on it to troubleshoot while the other students complete an alternate activity. Since I have so many TA's (1-2 in every single period), this would be a great activity for them to complete. I could even have my TA's from the period before test the technology to be implemented in the following period. Modeling is such an important concept when using technology that many teachers skip. The first time my students use the chromebooks this year, they will be working on just playing with the technology.
ReplyDelete