Technology in Math Education: Tapping into Visions of the Future

This article did an excellent job of describing how technology could be used in future classrooms. I liked how the article discussed so many different ways technology could be used in the classroom. However, I had a hard time following some of the uses of technology because I have not heard of some of the programs and software. Are schools actually using programs like CAS and the Algebra Tutor? I wish the article would have better described the technology and how it has been used in classrooms. If this would have been done, I would have been more convinced to try the programs they mentioned in the article.

I liked how the article discussed the issue of web-based learning. In the last few years it seems as though so many more college courses have online components than in the past. I think web-based learning is an excellent use of technology for some subjects, but I think it would be difficult to teach math completely online. I would have a lot of trouble understanding how to write mathematical expressions symbolically without an instructors direct instruction. I also would find it difficult to learn procedures used in mathematics without being able to watch a few examples from the teacher.

Technology Grant

http://www.adoptaclassroom.org/index.aspx

This site allows teachers to register their classroom. Then donors look for classrooms they would like to help financially. The donors then develop relationships with their adopted classrooms. Teachers are allowed to use the money donors provide however they would like to in their classrooms.

The Reality of Using Technology in the Classroom

I was disappointed that this article was so outdated. I feel that a more current article would have been a great resource for our cohort. However, some of the sites the article mentioned are still active and were interesting to look at. For example, the Leonardo da Vinci activity seemed like an excellent activity to use in a math classroom. It used spreadsheets in the lesson to deal with the data component, and I thought this was a unique way of integrating technology and math. The lesson also covers science and history topics as well and could easily be carried out in a classroom with a lot of technology resources and one without such resources. I also liked the “Create a Graph” interactive tool. I thought this tool would be useful to students who are learning to make graphs based on data. This website would be an excellent way of showing students the differences between bar graphs, line graphs, pie graphs, etc. It provides a visual comparison of why some graphs are better to represent sets of data than others.
The article mentions quite a few sites that require a subscription. Are schools willing to pay for the subscription to these websites? I feel like schools that have such limited funding for technology components would not be willing to spend extra money on subscriptions to a math website. Even though schools might not want to pay the money for these sites, I feel that there are ample free sources teachers have access to today.
This article also makes me wonder what resources current schools offer. Do a majority of classrooms have computers? If not, how are current teachers working with technology in their classrooms? I would have liked to read an article that addresses the current use of technology in math classrooms.