Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well!
Welcome to my new blog post! My name is Julia Park and I am a senior Early Childhood Education major at Millersville University. I would love it if you could check out my other blog posts to get to know me a bit more!
In my last post, I focused on the use of interactive notebooks in math class! In this post, I will be providing information on how technology can be another tool to benefit mathematical instruction.
How Does Technology Support our Students?
Technology supports students’ experiences in math by providing them with different ways to learn and review mathematical concepts taught in class. The following are some examples of how technology can support the learning of our students in math:
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- Students can practice their math skills through virtual activities, apps, and games. Children can feel much more involved in and responsible for their learning when participating in fun, interactive activities. This feeling of being involved will increase their engagement in class and their understanding of the material.
- Children can utilize online manipulatives to develop skills they are working on. Many manipulatives like number lines, color tiles, and more are offered online!
- Students can watch videos or presentations that further illustrate specific skills to provide them with another way of learning a new concept.
- Experiences online can be individualized, which can meet the needs of many students.
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Click on the image above for four awesome ways technology can be used in the classroom to support teachers and students! These ways are discussed in this section and in the next, but this article provides a bit more detail for each one and I wanted to share it with you all!
Technology Can Benefit Teachers Too!
Teachers can use technology to assist them in the classroom in a variety of ways. One major benefit is that technology extends our students’ learning, which we have discussed in the previous section. Those benefits support teachers because, through the use of technology, we can provide our students with resources to help them improve on their math skills.
The use of technology provides teachers with computers to research concepts, find or create materials, organize and store lesson plans, create presentations for students, find mathematical videos, and so much more. SMART Boards or projectors are also useful for showing presentations or videos to provide visual representations of math skills when needed.
With the range of materials available online, one benefit for teachers and students is that we can differentiate the learning experiences for each child. If needed, we are able to assemble activities for each student that meets their specific needs to help them grow in certain areas.
Along with being able to differentiate for each child, teachers can use online activities or games to monitor student work and track their progress. Teachers can use the information they gain from monitoring their progress to modify their teaching strategies for in-person and online instruction! My cooperating teacher in my fourth-grade classroom has been using Google Classroom, especially during the pandemic, to assign work from home. This is just one example of how teachers can review the work students do online!
One more really important benefit that is actually connected to both the student and teacher is that technology often allows teachers to stay in touch with families. Strengthening the relationship between the school and families will provide more support for the child. Teachers can keep in contact with families through emails, phone calls, and video chats. Educators can also allow families to be updated on their students’ progress by seeing their online work.
Useful Mathematical Resources
Throughout my time at Millersville and out in the field, I have come across many mathematical resources that benefit students’ learning. The following are just a few examples that I have learned about so far:
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- Students can access online manipulatives on many different websites. Click on the image in this section to explore one website that offers some great virtual manipulatives!
- There is a website students can use to practice creating all kinds of graphs called “Create a Graph.”
- In my field placement, my fourth graders use a math app called Prodigy! This app lets students participate in battle games while practicing their math skills throughout their battles! My fourth graders love it!
- Sumdog is another program where students can play games while strengthening their mathematical skills.
- BrainPOP offers a wide range of animated movies, games, and activities for a variety of math concepts to provide children with fun experiences while building upon their mathematical skill sets.
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Thanks so much for checking out my blog!
I hope you learned a lot about why technology is beneficial for teachers and children and how to utilize it in the classroom! During this pandemic, we have had to rely on technology a great deal. I have found it very helpful to embrace this new world of technology so that I can take advantage of all its benefits! Maybe this post will inspire you to do the same! Thanks again for reading! Check out my blog again soon.
-Julia 🙂