TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM: BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

Author(s): MARY ANN MATRAS

Source: The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 84, No. 2 (FEBRUARY 1991), pp. 86-87
Published by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27967032
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SOUNDOFF
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM:
BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS
By MARY ANN MATRAS, East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301

Two as-yet-unanswered questions raised by

the NCTM's curriculum standards involve

the appropriate use of technology in mathe

matics classrooms. These questions are,

When do we begin to use technology in the

classroom? and When do we end

our explorations with technol

ogy in the classroom?

The media attention given

like my grandmother before me, I use a

broom. It is fast, lightweight, easy to use,

and cheap. It is the right tool for that job.
However, for the carpeted floors, I do not use

a broom nor do I take up the carpet, hang it

on the line outside, and beat it.
That method, the only one avail
able to my grandmother, is not

as efficient as using an electric

the announcement of the Curric

vacuum cleaner. For carpeted

ulum and Evaluation Standards

for School Mathematics (NCTM

floors, the vacuum cleaner is the

most efficient method.

erybody Counts (National Re

the classroom for the same rea

son we use it in the home. Tech
nology has made it possible for

We should use technology in

1989) and the publication of Ev

search Council 1989) have

brought to the forefront such

some jobs to be done more

questions as Why do we need to

use technology in the mathe

matics classroom? and When do

we begin to use calculators and

computers with students? Mathematics

teachers are fielding these questions from

other teachers, administrators, and parents.
The usual attitude seems to be, I took math
ematics without calculators and computers;

why would students need them now? Re

sponding, I often use simple analogies from

quickly and effectively. Just as I

opt to clean my rugs with a vac

uum cleaner, mathematics

classrooms should take full advantage of

technology.

The challenge is which tool

to use.

home.

Our home has two types of floors?wood

and tile floors having hard surfaces and car
peted floors. When I clean the hard floors,
The views expressed in "Soundoff" do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Editorial Panel of the Mathemat
ics Teacher or the National Council of Teachers of Math
ematics. Readers are encouraged to respond to this edi

torial by sending double-spaced letters to the

Mathematics Teacher for possible publication in "Read

er Reflections" Editorials from readers are welcomed.

86

For many tasks in mathematics, the pen

cil is still the most efficient tool. When a
student can use a pencil to do a calculation

faster than, and as well as, he or she can do

it with a computer or calculator, then the

tool for the job should be the pencil. How

ever, when a calculation can be done more

quickly or more effectively with a computer

or calculator, then it should be done with

one of those tools. The challenge now facing

Mathematics Teacher

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us is to make those decisions concerning

when the tool of choice should be the pencil

or when it should be the calculator or com

puter.
A second challenge facing us has to do
with when to end the use of technology.
More particularly, it has to do with realizing
that having decided to use the computer or
calculator does not mean we have finished
with our consideration of the uses of calcu

lators and computers. Let me explain.

In our house we have a microwave oven.

When we bought it and placed it in the

kitchen, I read its 125-page instruction-and

recipe book entirely. Then we settled into a
pattern of using the microwave simply to
cook things faster. Nothing is wrong with

this approach; we enjoy our microwaved

baked potatoes, frozen foods, and leftovers.

But the fact is that I have probably never
used any ideas in the instruction book past
page 12. I have not changed the way that I
cook anything; I've never tried microwave
preparation of a turkey or a cake.

We can find new ways to do

mathematics.

My concern about the use of technology is

that we not use the computer, calculator, or

video machine the way I use the microwave
oven. Myriad ways exist to use technology in

mathematics classrooms that we have not

yet begun to consider. We need to be careful
that we do not just read the first few pages of
the instructions, learning to do a few things

faster and then stopping our innovations.

Recently I walked into the kitchen to find

six-year-old Katie sitting cross-legged on

the kitchen counter watching the microwave

cook her latest invention for breakfast.

Katie has none of the inhibitions that I have

and learning of mathematics. Along the way

we may, as Katie did, explode a few marsh
mallows. But by continuing our explorations
with technology, by looking for new mathe
matics that we couldn't do at all before, I

believe that we will be able to improve

mathematics education.
When do we begin to use technology in
the mathematics classroom? Whenever and
wherever the technology allows students to
do mathematics more efficiently and effec
tively. When do we end our explorations of
the use of technology in the mathematics
classroom? Not when we have learned to do
all the old things a little faster but when we
have found new ways to do mathematics and
ways of doing new mathematics while using
the technology to its fullest potential. And
that quest should keep us and our students
exploring and learning well into the twenty
first century.

REFERENCES
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Commis
sion on Standards for School Mathematics. Curricu
lum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathemat
ics. Reston, Va.: The Council, 1989.
National Research Council. Mathematical Sciences Ed
ucation Board. Everybody Counts: A Report to the
Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education.
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1989.

Call for Manuscripts

on Assessment
The Editorial Panel of the Mathematics Teacher
invites manuscripts focusing oh assessment. The
content should include, but is not limited to, the
following topics:

Alternative techniques for classroom assess

ment
Assessment of problem-solving skills
Assessment of learning in cooperative situa

tions

Assessment of attitudes and dispositions

Performance-based assessment

Program evaluation
Use of technology in assessment
Assessment of teachers

about using the microwave; she is ready to

explore it to its limits. Not only does she

Preference will be given to manuscripts that give

new recipes appropriate only for the micro

Mathematics Teacher masthead page for details

about submitting manuscripts (mention the call
directed at assessment). The deadline is 1 May

cook traditional foods in the new, faster way,

she tries new food combinations and invents

wave. This spirit needs to be part of all we do

specific classroom-tested examples. See the

1991.

as we continue to improve our instruction

February 1991_ 87

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