Blog Post #12

Read this blog post - Winning Equation: How Technology Can Help Save Math Education. Think about your math learning experiences. Do you think these ideas could have helped you? Write two or more paragraphs in which you discuss whether or not you think these ideas can help save math education.

Experts have concluded that math education in the United States is a broken system. They think that if we do not fix it then we are in danger of falling even farther behind other countries. In the early 20th century, the United States was world renowned for its creativity and and great strides in all fields of mathematics. However, today's statistics are very frightening. Less than one out of four seniors in high school are proficient in math. Higher math scores have been proven to be associated with students that are more successful in college and in the work place.

Introducing technology into the classroom has been proven to help students achieve more and also learn and retain more. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel recommended technology to freshen up an old curriculum, noting that "technology-based drill and practice and tutorials can improve student performance in specific areas of mathematics." There are many programs out there to help teachers educate their kids, and certain programs like "The Assistment System" can even give teachers guidelines for what their students strengths and weaknesses are in certain math subjects. It also frees up the teacher to focus on students that need more help than others. There is definitely room for technology in the classroom, but I do not think that blogging or a PLN will ever have a very great effect on math. I think that the best way to learn math is still practice, practice, practice.