Hello everyone!
This week in our Mathematics Education class we focused on technology in the classroom. According to the
Ontario Mathematics Curriculum, "Technology can help to reduce the time spent on routine mathematical tasks and to allow students to devote more of their efforts to thinking and concept development.". Despite this, in my school experience, the only technology that I used in my mathematics classrooms was graphing calculators. Most of my high school mathematics classes involved paper and pencil techniques. While completing my undergrad I was able to take a class that focused on Technology in the Mathematics Classroom (MATH 4P96 at Brock University). This class opened my eyes to the world of mathematics technology. Through that class I was introduced to
Buzzmath,
Geometer's Sketch Pad,
Geogebra and
Journey Through Calculus; just to name a few. This was when I really started to see the importance of incorporating technology into my mathematics classroom.
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| Retrieved from http://support.desmos.com/hc/en-us |
Throughout last nights class we were able to explore and play around with
Desmos and Geogebra. Both activities were engaging and got the whole class involved in the mathematics. We started with an activity on Desmos called Polygraph. This online activity had a similar feel to the game
Guess Who? which is played in twos by asking questions to your opponent to guess what person they had chosen. But instead of faces, we were asking questions about parabolas. One partner would chose a graph while the second partner would ask questions and slowly eliminate graphs from their screen. I found this activity very engaging because it didn't feel as if we were doing math, it just felt like a game. But we really were practicing our mathematics skills; as we were articulating questions to ask and as we were answering those questions. This activity requires students to apply their knowledge of parabolas in a fun way. I would absolutely use this activity in my mathematics classroom because I think that it would be a great way to get all the students involved and practice their mathematics skills.
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| Retrieved from https://mix.office.com/watch/tkg75uzi32m1?lcid=1033 |
The second activity was done as a class with Geogebra. Amy Lin showed us a video of a boy throwing a basketball, but we only saw half the video leaving us unsure if the ball went in the hoop or not. This started a class discussion about whether or not the ball went in the hoop. After a few minutes of discussion, we opened up Geogebra and started to model the path of the basketball to see if the ball would make it in or not. After modeling, we watched the whole video and concluded that the ball did indeed go through the hoop. This activity was great because it got the whole class involved in the math as we were all interested in whether or not the basket was made. This activity would be great to use in the classroom as a class activity. It required the students to work together to solve the problem.
After completing these activities and having time to reflect, I understand the importance of incorporating technology into my mathematics classroom. Tools such as Desmos and Geogebra encourage students to become more engaged in the mathematics content. When students are more engaged in the content, they will become more curious and excited learners.
Hi Jordan,
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I was very impressed by your post and I can personally relate to many of the concepts you talked about. Similar to yourself, technology was not a big part of my learning in mathematics. The only experience I remember having with technology was through grafting calculators and rarely we were allowed to use the smartboard. I have also taken time to reflect about the importance of implementing technology in the classroom. Programs such as Desmos and GeoGebra foster problem solving and creative thinking skills, while still enhancing student’s knowledge on a concept. As demonstrated in class, implementing such programs maximizes student’s engagement and provides content in a meaningful and relevant way that students can connect to (i.e. the basketball shot). Since technology is present in almost every aspect of a student’s life, the importance of it being present in the classroom is apparent. I believe it’s really important that educators consider how they’re using the technology and the intention behind it. It shouldn't just be a method to “keep students busy,” but rather should take students to a deeper level of learning. I really like how you mentioned the importance of maintaining student engagement in order to create curious and excited learners. This is something I completely agree with! I am very excited to continue learning about all the awesome interactive tools available for math educators.
Great job and I look forward to reading your next posts.
Rachelle
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about engaging our students. I liked that the programs felt like games, and even students who may not be strong in math are able to be involved. I also liked that it gets the kinesthetic learners involved because they are very hands on. Kinesthetic learners are usually left out of the math lessons. I definitely never had any opportunities such as this to explore the concepts in a different way.
Great post!
Sarah
Hey Jordan,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I learned a lot from 4P96 and last class' activities. I couldn't agree with you more that when you incorporate technology into learning, students become more engaged, and therefore more curious and excited learners. However, I think we need to be more selective and aware of our students when we select the tools we use. Let's take our last class as an example. I thought that the Desmos activity we did was really cool! Who doesn't like a classic board game redesigned for mathematical purposes? It forces students to apply concepts they've learned in a way that doesn't feel like learning. However, after 2-3 rounds, the game began to get really repetitive, and I found my group members and I started to get bored and begin to goof around. I think knowing your students and knowing when to play, and for how long, are important things to consider when choosing a technology. On the other hand, I thought that the GeoGebra activity was great! Not only was it engaging and had everyone involved, but it could be integrated into an entire lesson, keeping students hooked and focused on whether or not the guy was going to make the shot or not the entire period.
On the other hand, when we discussed the SAMR model, we learned that we want the technology we use to integrate ideas that we couldn't do by ourselves. The activities we did in class still felt like we were doing math. I think that when we eliminate that feeling of doing math, we actually are able to learn more. For example, like you, I don't recall ever using technology in my math classes (I've never even used a graphing calculator before). However, I DO remember Math Circus (remember that?). Playing that game didn't feel like learning, did it? But we learned so much from that game: angles, rates, patterns, ratios, coordinates, etc. We learned all of these things without even realizing that we were learning. And, I would bet money that any student that played Math Circus as a child remembers more of that game than any traditional math lesson.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. To sum, I agree with you, however, I also think that we need to consider our students personality and interests when we select the technologies that we use.
Thanks for sharing,
Heather