In February, I facilitated a professional conversation with the UCSB Math Project Leadership cohort around the use of technology in the math classroom. My belief at the time was that technology was not valuable unless it allows me as a teacher, to do something better than I can already do without technology or provide access that was not previously available. With the help of the amazing workshops and presenters at NCSM, and presentations by Janet Hollister and Fawn Nguyen at UCSB my thinking has greatly changed.

Our students live in a digital world. They must be able to read, write, and think in that world. Our math classrooms must include blended learning opportunities. In my classroom, students engage in face-to-face problem solving with rich tasks, using real hands-on manipulatives, charting their thinking on paper, and presenting their thinking to classmates for constructive feedback. This is the norm. Although a few apps appear in my classroom, I do not teach in a blended classroom. I am not integrating technology; technology is just a guest visitor. Students need opportunities to read problems delivered on the computer, use virtual manipulatives, record their thinking on the computer, collaborate with their peers and receive feedback on the computer, and use technology to do the calculations.

My thinking has changed and my classroom needs to change. Doing these things digitally did not meet my previous belief about technology integration as I was already doing these things as well, using my old school environment. I now believe that students need to be able to operate in both the physical, face-to-face world and in the digital environments even if it is not “better”. Higher education, the job market, and our students demand it. I have changes to make and learning to do!

My next post – If you’re not doing a rich task, the platform (paper and/or digital) is not the issue.