Teaching Math with Technology

Utilizing technology in the classroom while teaching mathematics helps to bring the numbers alive, off the paper and chalkboard, and into the 3D and interactive world. Different types of technology appeal to the varying learning styles that suit individuals best, whether they are visual, verbal, physical, social or logical learners. Using different approaches to teach one topic gives students multiple opportunities to understand the content, and keeps them engaged along the way.

Intercontinental studies illustrated in this article, Technology Adds to Student Math Comprehension, proved that educational technology can helping students grasp abstract math concepts that are fundamental to the content area. A study in the UK followed the progress of students and teachers in twenty seven schools over three years. They used different resources for interactive whiteboards in the classroom to teach math topics (Prabhu 2010).

Results highlighted that "80 percent of the 426 students surveyed said they believed they could learn new things in mathematics more easily than at the start..." and seventy one percent expressed that they found it easier to remember information that they learned using the interactive whiteboard (Prabhu 2010). Teachers agreed that the assistance of technology had greatly impacted their students, as well as their own way of teaching. Describing how technology made mathematics come alive, the head of mathematics at a High School in England said, "The students have better and sounder knowledge of the concepts of mathematics. The animations are so powerful; bisecting an angle becomes a really visual experience," (Prabhu 2010).

In our society, with the infinite amount of online resources at our fingertips, it is important to get creative and bring technology into the classroom. 21st century learners are used to multi-tasking and being engaged in the virtual world. It is vital to our students that they become comfortable with using technology. iPads are a great way for teachers to educate students not only on proper use of technology, but on a wide variety of subjects, with the help of educational apps!

Infiltrating iPads into education helps teachers enable students development of skills, knowledge and behaviors they will need to live, learn and work in the 21st century. iPads help students stay up to date on the globalized and interconnected world. An article in the New York Times talks about this new phenomenon of bringing iPads into schools, and how it allows teachers to expand learning beyond the classroom walls. A principal at a NY elementary school was even quoted saying, “I think this could very well be the biggest thing to hit school technology since the overhead projector,” (Hu 2011).

Located from Pinterest, this website has links to, and brief descriptions of, the Top 17 Math apps for the iPad. This site is very useful for classroom teachers, even teachers who have access to just one iPad in their classroom. The apps advertised on the page have teaching tools and interactive games for a large variety of math concepts and topics. Bringing an iPad into math time will help students get engaged in the lesson by utilizing the tablet's interactive features (Kharbach 2011).

The video on the right is a great representation of how using iPads in the classroom can help motivate students to learn math concepts, by incorporating interactive games. The teacher in the video talks about how hard it can be to capture a student's attention with worksheets or flashcards. He then lets the students tell their own stories about how they've used iPads in school. Not only through their words, but by the excitement they have in talking about their experiences with the iPad, you can see how much they enjoy learning with the assistance of this technological resource (Interaction 2012).

I am very excited to have the opportunity to be an educator in this great technological era. I think that math is a tricky subject for a lot of students, and there are so many wonderful resources I look forward to using to help them master the concepts. Depending on the availability of certain resources and funds, I understand that the amount of technology I am able to access in my future classroom may be limited. However, I am confident that even with one piece of technological equipment, it will be able to greatly benefit my mini mathematicians.

SMART Boards are often not used to their potential in classrooms because teachers are not aware of all the great ways they can be incorporated. I will encourage students to become familiar with the SMART Board by having them interact with it on a daily basis. My lessons will be adaptable for the different levels of student learning on personalized tablets or computers, and each student will have the chance to come up to the communal SMART board and work through mathematical problems.

With Glogster and SMART Notebook lesson plans, I will use videos, pictures, music, and interactive activities so that the students can be enthralled in every math topic. Students will no longer count on their fingers, or on a one dimensional number line. They will learn quantity in the virtual world by physically clicking on whatever they are counting and assigning it to the appropriate number. They will show that they understand the symbolic representation of 1/4th by dragging the fraction next to the image of a four slice pizza with one slice remaining. Knowledge and understanding of math vocabulary and concepts will reach an entirely new level with the help of technology.

Using technology in the classroom can help students become engaged and excited about lesson plans and learning. Interactive activities that utilize technological resources help appeal to the different learning styles of students. It is important that students become acclimated with different aspects of technology that they will use throughout their education and in their future professions. The pen-to-paper and chalkboard techniques of teaching in the past are no longer relevant or successful, and adding iPads to elementary classes is a positive way to update and refresh lessons in the 21st century classroom.

Hu, W. (2011, January 04). The new york times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Interaction Education (2012, March 27). Math evolve: the best math game app for the ipad, iphone, and ipod. Retrieved January 30, 2013. from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mAw4H0Izrzw&noredirect=1

Kharbach, M. (2011). The top 17 math apps for iPad. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/the-top-17-math-apps-for-ipad.html?m=1

Prabhu, M. (2010, March 17). Technology adds to students' math comprehension. Retrieved from http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/03/17/technology-adds-to-students-math-comprehension/