Document Cameras in the Math Classroom

I think document cameras are one of the best technology tools for the math classroom available today. If you have not had the opportunity to use one, it is like an overhead, only 100x better since you do not need transparencies.

Having students share their work can be so important, since student mistakes can sometimes teach more than a correct response. With a document camera, students do not have to redo their work on the board to show the class, they simply lay their paper under the camera and it is projected up on the screen. 3-dimensional objects can also easily be shown, so that a geometry demonstration can be shown to the whole class, such as disecting a 3-D figure by a plane.

The document camera I have used is called a Lumens, and runs for a little over $500 but a high quality document camera can cost 10x more.

At this point I am only a student teacher, but I highly recommend this technology! I am sure that I am only beginning to realize the many benefits of this tool.

See a sample of how a document camera works in the video below.

Concept Mapping Quadrilateral Relationships

One way of integrating technology into the math classroom would be the use of concept mapping software to show the relationships between geometric shapes. Quadrilaterals, 4-sided polygons, including kites, trapazoids, parallelagrams, rectangles, rhombi, and squares can be compared visually with a flow chart to show similarities and differences.

Many schools have invested in Inspiration concept mapping software. A free 30-day trial can also be downloaded at their website if you want to give it a try, first.

The video below can be used to describe the relationships between various quadrilaterals before trying to graphically organize them.



Please comment with any other ideas you may have to use concept mapping software in math.

Calculators in the Classroom

In regards to technology and mathematics, one of the biggest debates in education deals with whether using calculators helps or hinders students' number sense. I would like to get the opinions of other educators on when they think calculators should be introduced. I currently student teach with 7th graders who are NOT allowed to use calculators, although I can remember using them as a student in my math classroom as far back as 6th grade, even though my 7th grade students are learning the material I did not see until 8th grade.

While I understand that we want students to master arithmetic before letting them use calculators, I also feel that being able to use them to check your work can provide benefits. While calculators do not provide practice with long division or other computations, the time saved can provide students exposure to even more problems so that time is spent understanding and processing the problems instead of crunching the numbers to only a question or two.

I find it interesting that some states have eliminated the use of calulators for students below grade six, while other states are exposing middle school students to graphing calculators. (Read more)

Also, see what the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) has to say about the topic.