Thinking and Talking About Technology in Math Classrooms By: Greg Brumm and Melissa Schwerha

Rotation Activity  The class will be divided into 2 groups. One group will have GSP. One group will have rulers and protractors.  Using the given materials, complete the worksheet.

Rotation Activity Discussion  For this particular activity, is it more beneficial to work these problems by hand or by using the computer?  What will students gain/lose with each method? Quality vs. quantity?  Should both methods be taught? If so, at what time should the teacher transition from one method to the other?

“Not everything that can be done should be done.” pg 1  Regarding technology in your classroom, do you agree or disagree with this quote and why?  With regards to technology, do you think the quote is promoting its use or trying to deter its use?

Genre Principle  Is technology useful or a distraction for this lesson? Look at the objective of the lesson!  Use technology to aid in the objective of the lesson by removing the unnecessary work involved. The focus of the lesson changes from the objective to the manual work.

Purpose Principle  Sometimes, the method and the reasoning are important to learn, so technology is not recommended.  The technology does not explain why, so the teacher shouldn’t use technology at this point in the lesson. May be used as support but should not be the focus of the lesson.

Genre vs. Purpose  Both principles seem to conflict with each other… Efficiency vs. manual work.  Which one is more important, or are they both equally important to consider? Why or why not?  Can both principles be used effectively in the same lesson?

Answer vs. Analysis Principle  Figuring out if technology for the given problem is appropriate or not. Example: knowing how to divide 2 integers will yield the answer to the problem, but is it more important to know how to divide the integers or to just know that dividing the integers is the proper solution? Context of the problem will answer this.  While the old methods (paper/pencil) are slower, they will always remain unchanged.  Technology is always changing, so these methods may not stay consistent (or stay at all).

The Who Does the Thinking Principle  This principle focuses on how technology is being used.  Is it being used to solve a problem, or to help students develop ways of thinking about a problem. In your experience in the classroom, how have you seen technology being used? What worked? What didn’t?

“More generally, we might ask – specific to a lesson or even to a particular problem – whether the role of the technology is to replace a capacity that the student might otherwise need to develop or to develop the student’s capacity to think, independent of the technology.” Pg 6  What do you think the role of technology is? Is it replacing a capacity or is it developing capacities?

Change Content Carefully Principle  This principle talks about when it is appropriate to make content obsolete.  It asks teachers to analysis what their students need to be able to do. When is the proper time to switch from the hand- written method of something to using technology? What makes a topic in Math obsolete, and who determines when we can stop learning a particular method and just use the technology instead?

Fluent Tool Use Principle  This principle talks about how it can be a waste of time and money to briefly teach students uses of technology and then never use it again.  Instead it is better to teach students a few very good tools and have them become very familiar with them. Do you agree that it is better for students to see less technology but gain a deeper understanding of how to use it or is it better to use all of the technology that we can with our students?

“Think foremost about what you want for your children—the goals of the particular classroom, and the needs of each particular student—and after deciding on your goals, then assess whether the tools are bringing you closer or distracting you away.” Pg. 8