I read the article "Pre-service Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs about the Nature of Technology in the Classroom". These are my notes:
- The Technology Principle states, 'Technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics; it influences the mathematics that is taught and enhances students' learning'
- We learned about the 6 NCTM principles and standards in 276
- I like to see how my education classes overlap
- Kaput's prophecy appears to be coming true: 'Major limitations of computer use in the coming decades are likely to be less a result of technological limitations than a result of limited human imagination and the constraints of old habits and social structures'
- It's true that I don't feel comfortable using technology when I don't know how to, or don't understand why it could help me if I can do the same thing without the technology
- Some teachers believe technology should be used primarily after students understand certain mathematical content, while others believe technology can be used before or in order to facilitate understanding. Beliefs about when technology should be used have frequently been described in terms of this before-versus-after dimension
- I don't think there is one right time to use it. Sometimes it's better before, during or after the lesson or activity. It depends on how the teacher uses it, what it is used for, and how the students receive it.
- Hanzsek-Brill studied elementary teachers' beliefs about teaching mathematics with technology and located three positions along the BVAD (before- versus- after dimension) of beliefs: exploratory, post-mastery, and pre-mastery.
- Teachers with exploratory beliefs believe technology can and should be used to introduce and explore mathematical concepts and procedures.
- Teachers with post-mastery beliefs believe that technology should be used only after mathematical concepts and procedures have been learned by hand.'
- Teachers with pre-mastery beliefs find themselves somewhere in between post-mastery and exploratory. They have begun to use technology before their students have attained full understanding of the mathematical content, but that technology use is either rare or minimally productive.
- Hanzsek-Brill followed two PSTs through the four quarters of their undergraduate training program and found that both PSTs held the belief that successful exploration of a particular mathematical topic using technology required previously acquired knowledge of that topic. They believed they would teach their students how to work mathematics by hand before they turned to technology. Both PSTs would be classified as postmastery on the BVAD.
- (a) Do PSTs with significant experience learning mathematics with technology hold prominent, centrally held beliefs along the BVAD?
- (b) What other beliefs about technology may be central to PSTs' beliefs about technology use in their classrooms?
- To study what PSTs belief about teaching with technology you have to study what it means to believe something
- beliefs can be described in terms of their psychological strength, varying from central to peripheral.
- A second dimension of belief organization considers the quasi-logical relationships that may exist among an individual's beliefs.
- A third dimension of belief structure is the extent to which beliefs are clustered in isolation from other beliefs
- Determining what PSTs intend and do with respect to teaching mathematics with technology is more difficult than determining what they say. To reveal their intentions, a data collection strategy referred to as pedagogical brainstorming was developed, the main purpose of which was to put the PSTs in a context in which they considered various approaches they might use to teach a mathematical concept. This activity is, in essence, what PSTs do: They think about possibilities for future teaching. The PSTs first responded to a preparatory e-mail, which prompted them to brainstorm about how they might teach a particular mathematical topic. A follow-up interview, referred to as a pedagogical brainstorming session (PBS), was scheduled within the next several days. During the PBS, the PSTs were encouraged to explore and discuss the processes they had gone through in responding to the e-mail, as well as to brainstorm further, particularly in areas in which they had indicated technology might play a role.
- Studied a group of PSTs and found out what their beliefs were about teaching with technology
- Although no PST beheved that technology should be the driving force behind the teaching of mathematics, each PST viewed technology as a force to be reckoned with.
- BVAD- before- versus- after dimension
- Constant- versus- periodic dimension
- Alignment- what to use it with
- Students associate the appropriate use of technology with when it is made available. By contrast, when technology is constantly available, students choose when to use it
- We can't just think of how we want to use it to teach, but also how the students will use it to learn. they need to see its advantages
- Have a purpose for using the technology