To end on a positive note, we will begin with a negative experience:
One member of our group submitted that the two most frustrating classes she ever took were both computer/technology classes. Her professor fell prey to expert blindness and failed to realize the classes were going too quickly and that the students were having trouble keeping up with the learning curve. Technology classes can be more challenging than other subjects for students, especially digital immigrants; not only are the concepts new, but the tools and venues are as well.
The positive experience is of a class on integrating technology into mathematics instruction. One specific technology the class focused on was Sketchpad, an amazing visual tool that helps to teach math. The class was so helpful that, in the course of the semester, some questions about mathematical formulas were made clear. Not only did the technology help our colleague learn how to teach math better, but it also increased her personal knowledge of the subject.
Tilghman Gordon
Andrew Haff
Laurie Kendall
Krista Spath
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I think the math department is one of the last to start tapping into technology into the classroom, but with a new generation of teachers coming into the field I have been seeing more and more of it. I think the older generation of teachers teach the way they were taught and not to say that writing problems on the chalk board is wrong, but sometimes things can be more efficient. Using a document camera in math allows the instructor to simply put the book where he/she would have copied the problem from under the camera and allow the students to get to work faster. Since it is digital and projected, the instructor will not be "in the way" like they can be when using a chalk board sometimes. This sketchpad sounds exciting and wish I could see one being used in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteIt can be very challenging for students to be in computer/technology classes in high school and college, because most of the time there will be a wide range of experience with technology within the class. One student may have had opportunities to learn all about computers, and another may come into the class having no background knowledge. For the teacher or instructor, it's difficult to state specific goals that he/she would like his/her students to achieve by the end of the course, but it's also difficult when it comes to completing assignments in class and making sure everyone is on the same page.
ReplyDeleteI also had experience with the sketchpad in one of my college math classes, and once I got the hang of it, it became a lot easier for me to follow along with the professor. Again, there were often difficulties because the professor had to guide us through the program step by step, and we really had to learn how to use it because he asked us to open the program on quizzes as well.
As a future teacher, I would explain things and make sure that every student understands what we are doing. I believe that students learn more on hands-on experiences, so I would defenitely have them practice at school and then have them do homework or so. Computer/Technology classes should be fun and interesting, so everyone can learn and gain experience as time goes by.
ReplyDeleteI remember taking a Math course with the Sketchpatch program and it was very interesting and fun. I learned so many things in this class. I think it was becasue the professor took the time to explain things and make sure that we were all at on the same page. That's what a teacher should do, make sure that their students understand what he/she is teaching.