This week I had the pleasure of listening to a presentation given by Kirsten Thompson, the tech coordinator at Mountain View School Division. It is clear that Kirsten knows her stuff when talking about technology use within the schools. I was fascinated to listen to her experiences, and her advice for my fellow classmates as future educators.
Early on in the presentation, Kirsten asked everyone to think about the question: What is your niche? What can you do that a computer cannot? For me, the first thought that came to mind was personality. Computers do not have personality, whereas teachers do. This is needed to connect with the diverse student body within the classroom, who also have distinct personalities. Teachers form connections with students, and give meaning to their learning. When I teach something, I always have to have a purpose. I often like to bring in real-life experiences of my own, or examples of logical application of the material I present. I have often heard students ask the following: Why do we have to learn this? Is this even important? For myself, I never want to be in a situation where I cannot provide an answer to those questions. The students should always be able to know why they are learning something, whether they will use it in the future, personally, or not.
It is easy for students to stop caring about their school work if they do not see meaning through it. This not only applies to the students who struggle with completing school work, but also with students who excel. I have often seen cases where the brilliant student in the classroom works hard initially, but slowly loses motivation if they are not stimulated. This is why computers can never replace teachers. Teachers are trained to recognize the needs of each individual student, and help lead them to success. In my experience in the classroom, my niche has often been connecting with those students that do not seem to want to learn. To this day, I do not know exactly what it is that I do, and of course it is different for each student, but I know that I have significantly changed the lives for some. It is likely the personal connections and meaning that I provide to students, or sometimes, it may have been as simple as putting in that extra effort to show that I care about them as an individual. This is something a computer cannot do.
In the presentation, we were also asked to think of what areas computers can replace humans for. I was mildly disturbed to see that several of my peers wrote “math” as their response. As a mathematics major, this thinking is unfathomable to me. The argument is that people nowadays always have access to a phone or calculator, which can perform basic arithmetic functions, so this can replace the need for mathematical thinking in humans. Firstly, I would like to point out that all of these devices were created by humans, and require people with strong math skills to program them, so surely some people would need to actually know their math. Perhaps then it would be fair to say that only a select few people need to be really good at math, and the rest of society can walk around empty minded punching numbers into their phone? But that argument assumes that the people using their phones have some base level of mathematical knowledge to be able to make sense of the numbers displayed on their screens. What good is knowing that 4 squared is 16, if I do not understand the concept of area to be able to apply it? Or taking that point even further, if one does not understand unit conversions, then they could easily confuse 16 square metres with 16 square centimeters. Sure they might have the right answer numerically, but what purpose would this serve? Similar to many other skills in school, mathematics skills are honed when concepts are explained by a teacher, and students are able to make sense of the numbers before them. Learning this online is not the same. I took several higher-level math classes online, and it was so much more difficult. I saw many different equations and formulas, but I did not know what they meant. It would have been so much easier if I had someone to explain to me what I was learning. On that note, I will attempt to create a quote on my own to sum-up this post, as I do not feel like using my computer to provide me with an answer at this time.
“It is the job of the calculator to know that 4 x 3 = 12. It is the job of the student to know that 3 x 4 will also equal 12” - Daniel
As a former math teacher I agree with you, but, technology can certainly help in exploring and understanding some math concepts. Nice quote , and true!!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you brought up that teachers are trained to recognize the needs of the students. I think that is something that is entirely overlooked about the profession. Not only could a computer not be able to replace a teacher in that situation, but I believe there are very few (if any) people that could come into a classroom and replace that aspect of a teacher.
ReplyDeleteI truly hope when you get into your own classroom, you laminate and hang your quote proud!
Daniel, you make some very important points. Like you, I am so grateful that I am not going to be completely replaced by technology. Like you, I recognize the importance of building a personal relationship with my students. In my most recent placement, I taught my grade 3's how to add and subtract two and three digit numbers. I showed them several ways to show me how they got the answer; standard form, number line, by place value, and base ten blocks. I remember one student kept telling me that he was never good at math and that he would never be good at mask. I spent extra time with him to practice the strategies and once he got the strategies down, he told me "so its true that practice makes perfect!" It's important that kids have a good grasp of basic math skills that they can do without a calculator. Like you said, most technology requires programming and an understanding of math formulas/theorems in order to input the numbers. Technology cannot tailor strategies to share based on students needs. Technology can definitely assist us but like we talked about in Kirsten's talk, it won't replace us! Thanks for sharing Daniel!
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed this read, Daniel! I agree that personality is what makes a teacher and really appreciated your take on making meaning of content.
ReplyDeleteYou make some pungent remarks about comprehension and the real-world applicability of math. While I agree with your perspective, I also think that technology offers an opportunity to support student learning and strengthen understanding. How do you think technology can supplement instruction in your math class?
I often think about the little ones and how hands on learning in math is so important in those primary grades. Yes there are numerous online and electronic resources that can try and replace the manipulatives but overall it is just not the same. Great post, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your review Daniel. I know we have several people in our division, focused on numeracy, who would appreciate and agree with your approach.
ReplyDeleteDan the man, You have some really good points and you are a very wise man! I really love reading your blogs they are always full with knowledge and I feel like I agree with everything you have to say! Your personality is amazing and a computer could never take your stop! Plus no computer or robot could ever make math as fun as you make it!
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