Ipads In Mathematics

Ipads in Mathematics

Going to El Camino HS was a great experience. This was probably one of the observations I was looking forward to because this is what the future is going to represent. The traditional teaching style using whiteboards and taking notes will be revolutionized in the classroom and this observation was a clear example of the first steps into doing this. At first, when I observed I thought Ipads was just a luxury in the classroom and not a necessity. Even now, I still believe this is true, but I also see the importance of Ipads. When I talked to both teachers, I got a better understanding on how the Ipads were being used. At first,  I was confused because half of the class was showing their work on a piece of paper while the other half of the class had nothing on their desk besides their Ipad. The teacher told me students can use both methods that they prefer. Once I got to see the App evernote I realized how powerful the Ipads can be. One student showed me all her work, notes, PDFs, teacher notes, worksheets, pictures they have taken on different websites. I thought this was very useful because there are a lot of visual learners in the classroom. Being able to take a mental image can be lost, however, taking an image and putting it on your Ipad will never be lost. You can write on the picture if students have any notes they wanted to add.
During the debrief was when I realized how important Ipads can be for students. The biggest challenge in the classroom is student participation due to students being scared to participate. The Ipads will now allow students to shoot their questions from their Ipad to the projector and ask teachers questions. Just like what Dr. Lawler stated on how the doc cam improved student participation because students did not have to go in front of the classroom to either present or show their work. This allowed students to focus on the more important thing: All student participation.