David Wees posted “Fix Math Education” which stated possible solutions to help improve education. It starts by saying that there are problems with math education and that grades have stayed the same for a long time so why should we bother fixing anything now. There is no use for math, that people aren't using algebra everyday so why not eliminate math completely. Well this is not an option. Math needs to be adjusted so that students can stay interested in the subject. There are everyday examples where math is being used. There may be a need for a reverse teaching approach where students access instructional materials for homework. Another good tool is the way Khan Acadamey works where students can work at there own pace, the master on section before being pushed to the next, and software can track the students progress.
In agreement I said that students to lose interest in math and that we need to start working with students at early age to spark their interest and continue to do so from then on. It is common for people to say they are not good at math and for a young person to hear this it makes it seem ok. It raises the question that if an adult does not do well at math then why would they need to. Giving real life examples of the use of math is essential. We need to let students know how they can benefit from being knowledgeable about mathematics. Having a math class and then homework or another part where a student can go online to work at their on pace would be beneficial so that everyone could be caught up by the next class.
C4T Comment 2 on David Wee's Blog, 21st Century Educator
In another post from David Wees there is an article written by Matt Richtel from the New York Times. Richtel is concerned about the amount of money spent on technology to be put in schools. He claims that money is being spent on technology that has not been proven to make a difference in test scores. Wees argues that although technology may not be proven helpful yet, you can not base such a decision off a single school district. Richtel used a school district in Maine to base his decision off of. Along with Wees I agree that in order to know how helpful technology can be we will have to get it into our school systems before we can find out. Another point is that even though test scores are important, they are not the only important factor when measuring a student’s knowledge.
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