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Mathematics
is our bread and butter. We have more experience, both in
the classroom and also in training, in this field than in any
other. Our approach to teaching mathematics is strongly
influenced by technology, but we also feel that the use of
technology should always be appropriate for the subject and
grade level. While we strongly endorse the use of
calculators in secondary classes (grades 6 and above) they can
be inappropriate (and even counterproductive) to use in primary
and intermediate elementary classrooms.
Along with being appropriate, the
technology should be easy to use and cost effective. That
is why we are urging teachers to use software like
GeoGebra which is free and
open-source, as opposed to
Geometer's Sketchpad.
While Sketchpad is awesome software and contains some features
that are not available in GeoGebra, it is a commercial product
which many schools cannot afford. Likewise, the new Texas
Instruments,
TI Nspire graphing calculators
are fantastic tools that will do many amazing things and will
probably become the standard for graphing calculator technology,
the fact is that very few schools have them to use with their
students. For that reason we are choosing to focus on
TI-83 and TI-84 activities right now which are much more common
in schools and therefore more useful to the majority of
teachers.
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