With our growing dependence on technology, it comes as no surprise that it is continually being added into school curriculum. In Orange County, California some elementary schools are testing out a new computer program to teach math skills. While this article boasts of great student improvement on standardized tests, I am led to question what type of learning is occurring through this computer program. Is it teaching students basic math formulas or is it helping students gain number sense to better understand math concepts? I would be interested to see how this program works to teach students the math they are required to learn. Number sense is a very important part of learning math because having better number sense makes it easier for students to comprehend more difficult math concepts later on. While this program might be showing immediate improvements on standardized tests, I think the real success will show in these students’ scores in middle and high school. If they have truly mastered these elementary concepts, they should be able to do well on upper level tests as well. I am skeptical of the sole use of this program to teach math to these students, but I hope that future results of the success of this program will prove me wrong and be a great tool for teachers to help teach the math skills and number sense necessary for elementary students.
Mehta, S. (2009, September 16). Innovative math program boosts scores at o.c. schools. Los Angeles Times.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/16/local/me-santa-ana16
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