War on Calculators

[JimP]

(10-06-2015 10:09 PM)Howard Owen Wrote:  This article bashes TI, but it's really about relegating handheld graphing calculators to the scrap heap of history. The author asks why expensive calculators are the standard in schools when there are free or nearly free alternatives. One company providing educationally focussed apps is highlighted, indeed promoted, Desmos. This company has apparently been making some headway getting their app accepted on a trial basis for a Texas standardized test. The app is available for free on Android and iOS and looks to be a capable grapher.

I know the discussion of mobile apps vs real calculators has been a perennial here. What do you think about the article and app?

I would prefer to see kids using calculators in class than using mobile phone applications (kicking and screaming, futilely, against that abbreviation "app" !!!) because of the potential distractions of the phone. Plus, there is something satisfying about a key click! But calculators are for people who understand how to do math already. Just like spelling checkers are for people who CAN spell, not for those who cannot -- relying on technology rather than one's brain is a bit of a cop-out. As far as when to introduce them -- four-bangers only until the principles of +-*/ have been mastered. Scientific -- when understanding of trig etc. is solid. Now -- if any of these TI machines, or bless their hearts, Casio, Sharp, dare we hope, HP, can be set so that only specific functions can be used until the student has "passed" a standard, that would be one way of introducing the technology at an appropriate time. Let's face it, one would not be allowed to use more advanced apparatus in a laboratory, say, for instance, a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrophotometer, without knowing how to prepare a sample, what the scan would deliver, and how to interpret a spectrum. So -- do the same for calculators!