Another problem with integrating calculators into the math curriculum is not all teachers are secure with their own knowledge of this technology and how to best use it so it fosters growth in their students. This leads to the machine being misused by teachers in classroom activities. One exercise that hinders student’s ideas about the use of calculators is when instructors show how to spell out various words upside down on the machine. The teacher is demonstrating through this activity that the calculator is more of a toy than a tool that can help facilitate growth in their student’s math ability. Another activity that misleads students is when instructors only allow pupils to use the machine to check their answers that they all ready wrote down on paper. This exercise demonstrates to students that the calculator is a tool that is used to correct your answers, but this is not how to properly use a calculator (Lambdin et al, …show more content…
By using the calculator at a young age it enables the student to become more comfortable with it. Groves (1997) states that this can lead students to use the calculator as a tool "to explore number in a way which is not possible with the use of concrete materials alone" (p. 2).
Another benefit according to Susie Groves (1997) is to use the calculator in the classroom so it can be used as a tool of "discovery" (p. 3). Many children …show more content…
One class was intrigued that solar powered calculators turn off by themselves. This class decided to do an experiment to find how long it took the calculator to turn off by itself. The class decided how many experiments had to be done so the results would be precise. This one experiment involving a tool of mathematics integrated science and math. This is just one way that the calculators can be used to benefit elementary students.
If the calculator is used properly in the classroom, it can be a great tool that benefits students and teachers. This machine allows teachers to focus on other school subjects that they would have spent on teaching aspects of mathematics that are no longer used today. The tool is beneficial to the pupil because if it is used properly, it allows the student to spend time on how they came to answer instead of reaching the answer and leaving class because time ran out. As teachers and students use the calculator on regular basis, more people will see that in fact it is a tool that is necessary for the student to grow and not a