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| How Technology Effects Students |
| Research has shown that before before calculators, many teachers only asked students to solve contrived, often phony, problems. Graphing calculators and other technology can now make it possible for student to explore problems that have no exact solution or problems that can not be solved by paper and pencil methods alone. |
| Benefits for Students |
| Calculators reduce the drudgery of applying arithmetic and algebraic procedures when they are not the focus of the lesson. |
| Calculators make it possible for some typically inaccessible mathematics topics to be explored. |
| Advanced calculators like the TI-92 with Cabri computer dynamic geometry allow for advanced investigations that lead to a much better understanding of geometry and other mathematical ideas. |
| Calculators help students see that mathematics has value and application in the real world. |
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| By using technology, students become better prepared for an active role in a technological world. |
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| The above statements are just some of the reasons why advocates or reform mathematics believe that technology is beneficial to students. Unfortunatle, the use of technology in the classroom is still very controversial just as reform mathematics is not supported by everyone. However, there are many arguments to support the use of calculators and other such technology in the classroom. |
| "The fear that calculators will undermine mathematics learning is widespread, in spite of the fact that no evidence to support such a position exists. On the contrary, considerable research evidence suggests that calculators can play an important role in children’s learning mathematics. In an environment where calculators are available, the emphasis of mathematics instruction can be on meaningful concept development and problem solving and not on computational procedures." |
| Wheatly & Shumway |
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| Adapted from Calculators in Mathematics Teaching and Learning: Past, Present, and Future By Bert K. Waits and Franklin Demana |