The Educational Technology Continuum

Math education is an important part of a child's growth. It helps a child perform critical thinking, decision-making, and problem solving, which are part of every imaginable job and daily activity. An informed and educated populace also can positively affect our economy.

The reader should investigate the following four sites in addition to http://www.mathguide.com/:

Teachers and Administrators
http://free.ed.gov/
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivitySearch.aspx

Students
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/index.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hotscience/

I could have easily pulled up more sites using Google and strategic keywords, like “interactive, math, science, demonstration, explanation, tutorial, …” This is sufficient evidence that there is instructional media available to help math and science education. I encourage more educators, parents and students to investigate along these lines to find sites of their own.

It is clear that the pursuit of math education is no longer like it was. Comparing math education to what it was 15 years ago is an eye-opener to where we have come. Not taking advantage of all the dynamic interfaces that are available online and with modern calculators would be a sure fire way of not operating and one’s true potential.

I’ll leave the reader to entertain these questions to determine where their school is on the educational technology continuum.

Teachers should ask themselves:
Do I have a blog?
Do I encourage my students to have their own blogs?
How can I use modern technology to stimulate my students?
Is there a better way of teaching my curriculum than how I taught it in previous years?

Students should ask themselves:
How much time do I spend outside of the classroom actively furthering my own education?
How can I use the Internet in addition to other avenues to help myself be a better student?
When I plan entertainment with friends, are games involved?
Are there books I would like to read?

Administrators should ask themselves:
Is there a way I can encourage teachers to use technology to enhance their lessons?
Do my teachers utilize lessons that are both engaging and relevant to students?
Are the activities and learning experiences my teachers are using going to prepare students for our technological world and life after high school?How can I help teachers become metacognitive facilitators?