Musings

Daniel J. Brahier
Department of Educational Curriculum & Instruction
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403

DECEMBER 1996

"Musings" can be described as a column that attempts to stimulate ongoing professional dialogue that may revisit research, provide opportunities to discuss informal observations of students doing mathematics, or reflect on discourse that takes place during mathematics instruction. As editors, we would like to emphasize the importance of making this column interactive. We are interested in short, "knee-jerk" reactions to comments made in this column, as well as musings submitted as a column for possible future publication. For your convenience, any RCML member for whom we have an email address is, again, being sent a copy of this column electronically, to make it easy to send back a response. If you have an email address and do not receive this column electronically, please send us a message and we'll put you on our list.

ADDITIONAL MUSINGS ON TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGE

In the last issue of the RCDPM Newsletter, I put forth some thoughts on the development of technology and how it has influenced what educators do in the classroom.  Research by Cuban was cited that shows the tendency of most teachers to "add on" innovations to the classroom, rather than to fundamentally rethink how they conduct business.  After a discussion of advances in computers, the internet, calculators, and laser disk technology, the following questions were raised:  To what degree are these tools really being used to their fullest potential?  What have you done in your elementary or secondary methods or content courses to attempt to keep up with the rapid changes in technology?  This particular "Musings" column generated more responses from readers than any previous column to date.  We were delighted to see the enthusiasm of RCDPM members as several of you even responded to the questions by addressing the entire mailing list to share thoughts.  A sampling of a few of the comments made by the membership follows.

Sandy Pryor Clarkson, from Hunter College in New York, reflected that, "I agree that many use technology in the classroom as a tack on without fundamentally rethinking their curriculum.  What a missed opportunity!"
Others, such as Dixie Metheny, expressed specific ways in which they are already using technology in methods classes.  She wrote, "My favorite assignment in my secondary math methods class this semester was asking the question 'what is the best car?'  My students researched the question on the internet and then gave presentations in pairs.  The students graded each other using a rubric they had designed.  They had a wonderful time and found new sites.  One student actually bought the car he had researched."

Ginny Usnick pointed out that UNLV's preservice teachers have a generally low comfort level with the use of technology, including the internet.  She explained that, "One of our doctoral students is studying the integration of technology into teache


Please address your comments, reactions, or submissions to Bill Speer or Dan Brahier at the addresses listed in the column heading. We look forward to hearing from YOU! E-mail reflections will be distributed to other electronic respondents without delay, rather than waiting for the next newsletter.

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