Positioning All Students as Mathematical Explorers with Technology Tools
Presented by Allison McCulloch , Jennifer Lovett and Charity Cayton
In this session, we will “look back” at how we have come to bring technology tools into our mathematics classrooms, asking ourselves, “Who gets to use technology tools to engage in meaningful mathematics? Does every student get the opportunity to use technology in ways that positions them as mathematically powerful? Or are we using them in ways that perpetuate the inequities we know currently exist in many mathematics classrooms?” Then we will “look ahead” and discuss how digital technologies can be positioned to disrupt the inequities by providing ways for all students to (1) enter a mathematical problem; (2) mediate mathematical discussions—regardless of their familiarity with the language of mathematics or even the dominant language in the classroom; and (3) build personal and powerful ways of mathematical thinking. Participants will analyze video clips of students engaging with digital math tasks with an eye toward the positioning of the tool. Then strategies for adapting existing digital math tasks to meet these goals will be shared.
