Tech & kids

If you didn't think technology was a powerful tool for kids' learning, spend some time with a child with an iPad in his or her hands. My 7-year old nephew got his hands on my iPad yesterday and today and we spent time talking about constellations, music, and math. Of course, I don't have empirical evidence that he learned any of it, but he was engaged and excited. I know in the hands of a skilled teacher, technology is a great tool.

When graphing calculators first came out, there were those who didn't think students should be using them to graph equations, etc. It certainly saved me time as a math teacher to take a couple of days at the beginning of the year to explain and practice using the calculators, then use them to graph sometimes complex equations that would take much more time by hand. It only made sense to do that and get to the deeper concepts and understanding than to spend time on graphing by hand. It is the same with technology today. Engaging kids and getting them excited about learning through technology can only help improve learning overall. Because, in the end, its about the learning, and however we can get that to happen, we should.