Teaching Children Mathematics; Feb 2002, 8,6, 364(7)



Teaching Children Mathematics; Feb 2002, 8,6, 364(7)

Powerful software to enhance the elementary school mathematics program

Not a scientific journal article, but a teacher review of software on the market. Shows the effectiveness of various programs – challenging activities, allows students to hypothesize and test, teachers used programs in group projects,

improve geometry. Imaginative animations keep students actively involved.

Puzzles requires logical reasoning and hypothesis testing. Exciting, challenging, motivating, frustrating, and just pure fun

Practicing basic skills – factors, multiples and primes, practice basic skills first through training then through competition

“They are interested, not because they care about the slope-intercept form of an equeation but because this new knowledge will help them capture many globs with one equation and, thus, accumulate a great number of points.”

Quote: Teachers Discovering Computers: A Link to the Future: “The best strategy for technology integration is to put the technology into the hands of trained teachers, make it easily accessible, and let them decide how best to use it in their classrooms at the point of instruction. Teachers then can use an array of teaching strategies to develop a learning environment in which students are encouraged to be independent learners and take responsibility for their own learning. (Shelly et al. 1999)”

Quote: NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics: “The effective use of technology in the mathematics classroom depends on the teacher. Technology is not a panacea.”

Effects of teacher efficacy on computer skills and computer cognitions of Canadian students in grades K-3.

The Elementary School Journal; Nov 2001, v.102, 2, 141(17)

Instructors with high teacher efficacy are more likely to try out new teaching ideas, particularly techniques that are difficult to implement and involve risks such as sharing control with students – quoted

Students will have problems if teachers have problems – students reflect teacher confidence

Teachers won’t use computers unless comfortable with them

3 strategies for linking: 1. measuring criterion and predictor variables at a single time – weak teachers = weak students, no real evidence. 2. (most persuasive) increase teacher efficacy scores and examine the effects on student performance. Ross = 8-month in-service on cooperative learning teaching techniques, end result = changes in teacher efficacy were not significantly correlated with increased student willingness to engage in reciprocal help exchanges. 3.student outcomes are measured before and after a change of teacher = result, high efficacy students fall lower (after having a low teacher second year) in second year than low students for 2 years.

NOT DONE

The future of technology in teaching

Usa today, march 1999

Good article to use as an opener into the topic. Points out that computers have spent way too much time collecting dust in classrooms due to lack of funding for hardware and software and lack of resources on the part of the teacher (time, money, and experience). In 1983-4 we had 125:1 ratio of computers to students – experts believe 4:1 is ideal. Another topic brought up is about budgets not being big enough – training, hardware, and software not enough. We need to figure out a way to teach teachers so they can effectively use, but since we can’t afford to pay them more and we can’t afford for them to leave for a few days, we’re stuck. Good program used by Ball State – education undergrads used as substitutes (free) while teachers are in training.

Strange – “New technology applications such as Web-based conferencing and help-desks can allow them to create communities of practice where they can seek out technical assistance and moral support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Do our teachers really need moral support? What for?

Lao-tzu: “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” We need to figure out how to provide our learners with the knowledge and tools to use the new technologies.

Software Target Elementary School readers

Brief article

Ad for a reading program – allows simultaneously teach three different leavels of readers.

Have students read a book then take a quiz, supplies teachers with data on how to improve reading performance

Teaching technology allows educators to become virtual mindreaders

Article is an ad for the Discourse system – a classroom-wide computer IR network

Potable computers for students, desktop for teacher. Supposed to help shy students excel and build self confidence by being able to answer without shame. Does this build a society of IMers and no personal contact?

“students love it, teachers are finding it indispensable, and the school has become a showcase for how technology can be successfully integrated into the daily curriculum”

truly a teacher’s tool. It is implemented in a school with only 53 students, over half qualify for free or reduced-price lunch – underprivileged youth.

Concerns that kindergartners and first graders would have difficulty using the keyboard-driven program proved unfounded. – helped in letter recognition and early literacy skills, also improved grammar, spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary.

Very positive outlook from students and teachers

Hang-ups of introducing computer technology

Talks about the personal account of a guy who brought computers into a school to teach teachers how to use them so they can waste money on more computers and software – didn’t address the need or utility of the computer, just that teachers need to know how to use them because it’s the 21st century.

Teachers say software often fails to make passing grades

President clinton’s initiateive to connect every classroom to internet – this article talks about my topic. Estimated $565 million in ed software “blindly” spent

Findings varied, many software not good enough. Language arts where drill and practice – should be done at home

Hands on software that relieves them from taching – lazy teachers want computer to do their job

Money should be spent on fixing school buildings

Fourth grade teacher beth whitfordthough 2/3 reviewed was generally fairly good and emphasized that teachers need to learn to integrate into their programs

“You can have all the technology in the world sitting in your classroom,” beth says, but unless the teacher knows how to use it and integrate it into the curriculum, “it can be pretty useless.”

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