Math Issues and Trends in Curriculum Development.
Reaction Paper to Course Objective #4, Math Issues and Trends in Curriculum Development.
James Horton
My grandmother, Elizabeth Warren, used to talk about her experiences when she was a teacher in a one room school house in a small town in North Carolina in the 1930’s and 1940’s. I think she said she had about twenty to thirty students in the classroom and she was responsible for determining what was taught and how the students learned. She said that many students learned by using small sheets of slate and chalk. The majority of the students came from families that were farmers and many of the students completed 6th or 7th grade before they stopped completely to work on the farm with their family. It is amazing to me how much technology has changed; now students are learning 21st Century skills, teachers in the classroom are using smart boards, and many of the students have smart phones that have instant access to the internet. In fact, according Marc Prensky, “Students today are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach.” (Prensky, 2001). This reaction paper will discuss the issues and trends in math. Although many of the concepts in math are still the same, the way students are learning and the way they apply math are very different. Unlike the era when my grandmother taught, school districts now use curriculums that address state and national core curriculum standards and technology is being used extensively in the classroom. Many of the tools that were available to teachers in the early and mid 20th Century supported the traditional teacher-led models. Today learning is student-centered. Unlike the equipment and tools of the first and middle part of the 20th Century that supported teacher-led media, the tools today are interactive. Technology and learning the skills needed for the 21st Century has had a tremendous impact on how educators teach math and how students learn. It is critical that administrators
James Horton
My grandmother, Elizabeth Warren, used to talk about her experiences when she was a teacher in a one room school house in a small town in North Carolina in the 1930’s and 1940’s. I think she said she had about twenty to thirty students in the classroom and she was responsible for determining what was taught and how the students learned. She said that many students learned by using small sheets of slate and chalk. The majority of the students came from families that were farmers and many of the students completed 6th or 7th grade before they stopped completely to work on the farm with their family. It is amazing to me how much technology has changed; now students are learning 21st Century skills, teachers in the classroom are using smart boards, and many of the students have smart phones that have instant access to the internet. In fact, according Marc Prensky, “Students today are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach.” (Prensky, 2001). This reaction paper will discuss the issues and trends in math. Although many of the concepts in math are still the same, the way students are learning and the way they apply math are very different. Unlike the era when my grandmother taught, school districts now use curriculums that address state and national core curriculum standards and technology is being used extensively in the classroom. Many of the tools that were available to teachers in the early and mid 20th Century supported the traditional teacher-led models. Today learning is student-centered. Unlike the equipment and tools of the first and middle part of the 20th Century that supported teacher-led media, the tools today are interactive. Technology and learning the skills needed for the 21st Century has had a tremendous impact on how educators teach math and how students learn. It is critical that administrators
References: Barseghian, T., (2011, February 5), Three Trends That Define Future of Teaching and Learning, Math 21st Century Brainstorming, retrieved from http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/02/three-trends-that-define-the-future-of-teaching-and-learning/ Dr Lang, A., (2008, December 17). New Jersey Joins National Coalition to Bring 21st Century Skills to Education, Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=561&Itemid=64 McNeil, J Prensky, M., (2001, October 5) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, On the Horizon, retrieved from http://www.albertomattiacci.it/docs/did/Digital_Natives_Digital_Immigrants.pdf Sanders, M VanSlyke, T. (2003, June). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants; Some thoughts from the Generation Gap. The Technology Source, retrieved from http://depd.wisc.edu/html/TSarticles/Digital%20Natives.htm Wei, J