The Role of Digital Tools in Math Education

Welcome back to The Word on Numbers! As a math teacher dedicated to integrating literacy into mathematics, I understand the importance of teaching our students how to communicate effectively and responsibly in both physical and digital spaces. As we integrate technology into our classrooms, we must teach students how to use digital tools responsibly and ensure students remain actively engaged in reading, writing and critical thinking. Let's explore how we can strike the right balance between leveraging these tools and maintaining academic integrity. 

The Role of Digital Tools in Math Education

Digital tools like calculators, graphing software and online math platforms (e.g. Desmos, GeoGebra, Khan Academy) have revolutionized the way we teach and learn mathematics. They provide students the ability to visualize concepts, solve complex problems, and access instant feedback. These tools must enhance learning and not replace it. Ensuring that students use the digital tools ethically and effectively requires our guidance and a focus on foundational skills. 

Promoting Ethical Use of Digital Tools

1. Understanding tool limitations: Teach students that digital tools are aids, not substitutes for understanding. Emphasize the importance of understanding the concepts. For example, a graphing calculator can immediately graph a function, but students must be able to read the graph and understand what the intercepts mean in context, what the end behavior means (again, in context) and what the shape of the function means. 

Desmos.com allows students to export images of graphs created by students. Students can also share links such as this one: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/lmr5mvyzky

2. Citing Digital Resources: When students use online tools or websites to help solve problems, it's important to acknowledge the use. The practice promotes academic honesty and helps students learn to evaluate the reliably and credibility of digital resources. As an example, Desmos allows students to export an image of graph as shown above.

Here are 3 sentence stems to use with students to help cite these digital tools: 

• I used ______________ to verify my solution to for the problem which helped me confirm my calculations were accurate. 
• To better understand the steps involved in solving this equation, I referred to _____________. The explanations provided clarified the process for me. 
• After attempting to solve the problem on my own, I checked my work using _______________. This resource helped me identify and correct my mistakes. 

 3. Active Engagement with Problems: Encourage students to engage with the mathematics before turning to digital tools. Students can come to over-rely on the digital tools but grappling with the problem and developing their own solutions makes them true masters. 

4. Encourage collaboration, not copying: Promote collaborative learning where students discuss problems and share strategies but make it clear that copying is unethical. 

5. Using digital applications ethically: Using applications like Photomath, Mathway, Snapcalc, and others have value. Students should be taught to act ethically in their use. For example, students can use them to check a solution or to understand the steps and apply them to the next problem. Students should use them to review concepts before exams and teach themselves a new method of solving a problem. However, the work of decontextualizing the math to write expressions and equations should be the focus of learners. 

How do you balance the use of digital tools with teaching foundational skills in your classroom? Share your strategies, experiences, and thoughts in the comments below. Let’s learn and grow together!