Practicum Stories

I was surprised by the reaction to technology in the classroom. I expected students and teachers both would be excited by the introduction of technology and eager to learn but there was a surprising amount of negative reaction. Possibly we are in a transition period where technology is still finding it's feet in mathematics classrooms.

One class I observed was using a smartboard, the lesson was very interactive with the students taking turns to write their answers on the board. The students were excited and attentive but the teacher expressed his concern to me that their learning was superficial, made so by the use of technology in the class. I was surprised to hear this but after observing the students further I began to understand where he was coming from. The students were eager to do their work and to get the correct answer but just so that they could write it on the board, they had no interest in the bigger picture. On the other hand they were getting the correct answers so they were motivated to learn, a motivation which may not have been present without the smartboard.

The classroom in which I taught had a graphing calculator hooked up to a TV so the students could visually follow the input steps as well as see a graphical representation of any ideas we were discussing at the time. I thought this was fantastic and expected excitement and enthusiasm from the students regarding the technology, even though it wasn't incredibly high-tech for this day and age, but many students expressed concerns regarding too much emphasis being placed on their calculators. A couple of students went as far as to say they hated using calculators. I wonder what has sparked this reaction, are calculators too boring these days, for instance they're not in colour? Are students expecting more or are we taking pen and paper forgranted? I personally prefer pen and paper but that was my only option for most of my studies, possibly we do not realise that even though great technology is out there this will not be everyone's personal preference.