Saturday, November 14, 2009
Technology for a Math Classroom
The most used form of technology in a math classroom is a calculator. In recent years, Texas Instruments has become the premier calculator for mathematics. Many classes require that students purchase some type of Texas Instruments calculator. I have a class set of Texas Instruments TI-30X IIS scientific calculators. I believe that these are great calculators for 9th and 10th grade students. However, this year one of my students asked me if I could show him how to use his calculator because it was not a Texas Instruments model. It was a Casio fx-115es. As I began playing with his calculator, I discovered that it had many more capabilities than does its Texas Instruments counterpart. Therefore, I went and purchased one for myself so that I could familiarize myself with its capabilities. The more I have played with this calculator, the more I have discovered that this calculator is a much better model than the Texas Instruments. It simplifies equations, rationalizes denominators, solves quadratic equations, and it even can solve basic integrals. Since learning of this model, the teachers at my school have decided to try and get classroom sets of the Casio as opposed to the Texas Instruments.
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It is great to know that someone actually uses all those functions. Thank you for letting us know about the best calculator. I have a daughter that starts ninth grade and I know that this is a requirement. Now, maybe I will be a more informed shopper.
ReplyDeleteBoth my kids have TI calculators and I've always been in awe of them. I never recall that being an option when I was in high school (of course that was a LONG time ago). Once I visited a math classroom and saw a computerized version of a graphing calculator that the teacher used with her ActiveBoard. Very cool!
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