weekly thoughts III

In last week's class we learned to use sketchpad, and similar tools. It got me thinking about the importance of play, experiment, touch, and action in the process of learning mathematical concepts. I am new to these types of software, and I struggled to keep up with many of the tasks simply because I couldn't get the application to do what it was supposed to.

What all this tells me is that technology in the classroom can be either rewarding or debilitating, depending on (a) how well we can navigate it, and (b) how well we can cope when it breaks down. There is no question that these are serious obstacles for the digital teacher, and I have to face up to them if I am going to use digital teaching tools effectively.

One additional issue with putting computers in front of students is that attention and discussion become massively fragmented. Sometimes that's okay. But it's still valuable to have integrated discussion with one's class and to focus everyone's attention on the same thing.