Use Technology as a Tool

Technology provides a unique opportunity to improve student performance in mathematical reasoning and problem solving. When a teacher seeks the appropriate training and learns to use technology effectively, the focus in his or her classroom shifts away from teacher-centered instruction to a learning environment that is more student-centered and flexible.

Research suggests that with even eight hours of technology training, teachers are more likely to feel prepared and to use technology in class activities. Other studies have shown that instructional technology improves teaching programs in mathematics.13 Research further shows that technology positively affects students' learning, as teachers using technology were better equipped to adapt to their students' needs and interests.14 Furthermore, some research suggests that the use of technology has an impact on students' attendance, time spent on task, and pro-social behavior.15

Still, teachers must control when and how students use technology in the classroom to ensure that it enhances teaching and learning. Specifically in geometry, using interactive software can enhance student development and understanding of two-dimensional shapes and their properties.16 However, software programs that do not actively engage students can result in less learning than for students who do not use the software.17 In addition, the possibilities for engaging students with physical challenges and other special needs increase dramatically with the use of technology.

Certain computer software offers immediate, personal feedback, as well as privacy, so that students can move at their own pace and either make repeated attempts at the same task, go back to simpler problems, or move swiftly ahead into more difficult subject matter without becoming discouraged, bored, or frustrated. This flexibility often leads to students who are persistent and effective in their problem solving and also willing to risk giving a wrong answer.

A classroom with five or more computers is an ideal environment for student collaboration and group investigations, which have a positive effect on students' attitudes and confidence.18 The Internet, in particular, is an excellent tool for teachers and students to use to collect data, access information related to mathematics, and communicate with mathematicians as well as other students and teachers. The rapid pace of change in technology is a constant reminder that a teacher needs to be flexible and creative in keeping up with the developments that students will be asked to face in later years.

While there has been some controversy about the use of calculators in elementary school classrooms, there is substantial research indicating that calculators are a tool that supports student performance in mathematics.19 Studies suggest that students who use calculators have better attitudes towards mathematics, are more proficient at mental arithmetic, and perform better in problem-solving situations.20 Even on tests without calculators, students who are accustomed to using calculators on a daily basis in class have been shown to perform as well as or better than students who have not used calculators in an ongoing way.21 If their use is carefully prescribed by the teacher, calculators can offer students a simple way to test their ideas and conjectures while avoiding tedious calculations.

For an example of how to use technology as a tool, see the lesson plan Sum of the Interior Angles of a Polygon.

James Kulik, Effects of Using Instructional Technology in Elementary and Secondary Schools: What Controlled Evaluation Studies Say, Final Report (Arlington, Va.: SRI International, 2003).
Brent G. Wilson and Karen Peterson, "Successful Technology Integration in an Elementary School: A Case Study," in Practitioners Write the Book: What Works in Educational Technology, Carolyn Lucas and Larry Lucas, eds. (Denton, Tex.: Texas Center for Educational Technology, 1995), pp. 201-67. Available online at http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/peakview.html.
Kathleen Cotton, "Computer-Assisted Instruction," Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory School's Improvement Research Series (SIRS), Close-Up, series 5, no. 10 (May 1991). Available online at http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/5/cu10.html.
Michael T. Battista, "Learning Geometry in a Dynamic Computer Environment," Teaching Children Mathematics 8, no. 6 (February 2002): p. 333.
In Does It Compute? The Relationship between Educational Technology and Student Achievement in Mathematics (Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service, 1998), Harold Wenglinsky states that appropriate technology has a positive impact, but use of drill and practice software has either limited impact or a negative impact. See http://www.ets.org/research/pic/pir.html.
Jamie McKenzie, "Creating Technology Enhanced Student-Centered Learning Environments," From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal 7, no. 6 (1998). Available online at http://www.fno.org/mar98/flotilla.html#anchor275428.
Kilpatrick et al., Adding It Up, p. 427; Aimee J. Ellington, "A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Calculators on Students' Achievement and Attitude Levels in Precollege Mathematics Classes," Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 34, no. 5 (November 2003): pp. 456-57.
Sutton and Krueger, EDThoughts, pp. 64-65.
Ray Hembree and Donald J. Dessart, "Research on Calculators in Mathematics Education," in Calculators in Mathematics Education. NCTM 1992 Yearbook, ed. James T. Fey (Reston, Va.: 1992), pp. 24-26.