 Have you ever tried to teach mathematics to a class of thirty, seventh grade students? On top of that, how about teaching in a place where students are from an assortment of cultures with various learning styles and they are thrust together in a classroom with late twentieth century artifacts? Welcome to the New York City Public School system which must step into the twenty-first century. Without the investment necessary to integrate technology into the public school system, students' who are already faltering, will lag further behind any of their counterparts in this country or abroad. We must capture the imagination of young students before it is too late. I don't mean to sound like an alarmist, but many teachers' I know, are not ready for this sea change.
As a mathematics teacher, the two most asked questions by my students are; #1 ‘Why do we have to learn this stuff?” #2 “when will I ever use this again?” As I have pondered these two questions more and more, I have come to the realization that the gap between public school education and real-world technologies is getting increasingly wider. From my six years of teaching, there are always students' who just can't seem to engage themselves in a traditional classroom setting. At times the information seems irrelevant or too abstract for some students. I'm sure applications in mathematics would be welcome if students could find some relevancy with what is being performed in the classroom. Applying technology with course work will help teach students' how to use tools that are essential when they graduate and enter the workforce.
Public schools are faced with the reality of a limited budget for equipment and software. Public educators must make hard choices about how to integrate technology on a daily basis. Strategic use of information technologies has the ability to transform teaching and learning. We have a functional computer lab at J.H.S. 189. Most of our computers are operating and have internet service. This is the second year the computer lab is up and running, but my first year in the lab with my students. We are using Geometry Sketchpad*. Sketchpad* is a dynamic construction and exploration tool that enables students to explore and understand mathematics in ways that are simply not possible with traditional tools. Visualization is the heart of the program. With sketchpad*, students' can construct an object and then explore its mathematical properties by dragging an object with a mouse. All mathematical relationships are preserved, allowing students to examine an entire set of similar cases in a matter of seconds, leading then by natural course to generalizations. Sketchpad encourages a process of discovery in which students first visualize and analyze a problem and then make conjecture. In this type of environment my role is facilitator, designer, coach, not the center of attention. In this type of environment, students become better thinkers, because it encourages students to independent thought. What is a technology enhanced, student-centered classroom?
Connected to an exciting new world of hot and lively current information, students make meaning and develop insight while the teacher shows them how to navigate and reason through the labyrinth of new sources. The front of the room disappears as 5-8 networked computers support investigations, explorations and excursions.
Student questions and questioning become a major focus of classroom activity as teachers demonstrate and then require effective searching, prospecting, and gathering and interpretation techniques while students use the tools and information to explore solutions to contemporary issues. Questioning and information literacy become fundamental. They transform the wires and cables into powerful channels for learning.
Characteristics of Engaged Learners*
Responsible for their own learning
They invest personally in the quest for knowledge and understanding, in part because the questions or issues being investigated are drawn from their own curiosity about the world. Projects are pertinent and questions are essential.
Energized by learning
They feel excited, intrigued and motivated to solve the puzzles, make new answers and reach insight. Their work feels both important and worthwhile.
Strategic
They make thoughtful choices from a toolkit of strategies, considering carefully which approach, which source and which technique may work best to resolve a particular information challenge.
Collaborative
They work with others in a coordinated, planful manner, splitting up the work according to a plan and sharing good ideas during the search for understanding.
My classroom will be technology-supported, and room oriented. A classroom in which students' group work on long-term multidisciplinary projects involving challenging content that is interesting and important to them with the support of technology tools for collecting, analyzing and communicating data. Students will explore and create their own questions initially, and then advance through a series of diverse questions and answers. Students will learn different aspects of a project and be able to interchange tasks. All projects would be student centered. Each student would have access to a lab-top in school with his or her regular classes. Teachers could work with students at different levels in flexible work groups, different speeds, but still provide that the essential content is being learned. Each student should be taught appropriate technological skills and be actively involved with setting-up the equipment and trouble shooting technological difficulties.*
Future Look at Technology*
 Valerie and David teach a communications block with a science specialty. In this project, students are given a task. They must choose a current piece of technology, such as a toaster or a telephone, and predict what shape that tool will take 20 years into the future. They must then develop an advertising campaign for their futuristic piece of technology. Students first conduct research about their product, using the Internet and CD-ROM's as sources for both information and images. They prepare a research paper as well as a model of their object. For their advertising campaign, they videotape and edit television commercials, use tape recorders to create radio jingles and write and illustrate print pieces using computer software and digital cameras. The project addresses curriculum objectives in several subject areas. Valerie says that students work on language skills by producing ads for their invention. They learn about different advertising techniques and which are most appropriate for their project. Math skills are developed as students manage their advertising budget, using spreadsheets to track the money they spend on their campaign. Science is involved in the study of the inventions and inventors. The technology skills are approached as a means to create the end product. This use of technology allows all students to be successful and to create quality products, according to Valerie and David. Mainstreamed students do particularly well in this course. Since students work in pairs and have a choice of several types of project to complete, every student can find at least one area in which they shine. A student who has trouble with the written report may excel in the area of multimedia production or be a whiz with spreadsheets. David finds that his teaching has changed. He is now a facilitator rather than a lecturer, and students are self paced learners. He says that this makes it "harder at the beginning, but easier at the end." The course involves a lot of planning and preparation, but once the project is in motion the students take over.
At our school, a small group of teachers, including myself, have started making the transition, utilizing technology into our lessons. I believe with support of additional technological trainings, more teachers would get involved integrating appropriate technological skills into their lesson plans such as, CD-ROM, Multimedia, and internet information. So as all this information can be processed on a regular basis, I would have a website and e-mail accounts for my class. Best of all, parents would be able to monitor their child's progress. Technology should be an ongoing process, enhancing curriculum, and updated continuously for both staff and students. I would like to be a forerunner in my school and see my vision come true.
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