Math 371 Technology for STEM Educators

Gamification has a place in math education. I believe that making learning interactive and engaging can absolutely benefit students, especially in a subject that many already feel intimidated by. However, there is a clear line between using gamification as a tool and letting it take over the learning itself. After exploring platforms like Prodigy, I began to see how easily that line can blur. When I tried Prodigy myself, I expected to understand why it is so widely used in classrooms. At first, it feels engaging. The graphics are bright, the pace is quick, and there is always something happening. But after spending more time on it, I started to notice that the most motivating part of the experience was not the math. It was the rewards. Leveling up, earning coins, unlocking pets, and customizing characters quickly became the main focus. The math questions felt like short interruptions between rounds of gameplay rather than the purpose of the activity. That is where my frustration comes ...

There is no question that technology has transformed math classrooms for every grade level. Elementary through college, this change has been prevalent. But where is the line to draw? How much do we need to learn if technology can just do it for us? As a future math educator, these are questions I have been asking myself. How can I balance the use of technology to enhance learning and teach traditional skills? In math, technology isn’t necessarily good or bad. It all depends on situational awareness and how it is being used. On the positive side, technology can deepen understanding, especially with graphing and visual aids. This can help students see what they are solving and grow deeper conceptual understanding. For example, students can explore the relationship between a quadratic equation and its graph. They can observe transformations and their equations in real time instead of memorizing the quadratic equation. This can be good for them because it prioritizes understanding instea...

I have not always been the biggest fan of math. One of my first negative experiences was in my first-grade classroom. We had been instructed to complete 100 multiplication problems and if we could not do it in the 50-minute timeframe, we would forfeit recess and PE class that day. That made me and quite a few peers feel awful about math. It got better in second grade though! We had been using Rocket Math, and that competition really amped me up to get better at my quick math facts. However, heading into third grade we had to learn how to use a calculator. I was not a fan. I spent so much time mastering my math facts that the idea of using a calculator seemed ridiculous. I moved past this quickly though as we started working with some numbers that were much larger or more complex. Finally, in the fourth grade, I finally met my match, long division. I was sent home with an assignment of 1-50 odds, all of them being long division practice problems. The next day, I showed up and turned in ...

       A lot of people grow up thinking that math and art skills are things you are either born with or you are bad at forever. Phrases like “I’m not a math person” or “I can’t draw” are said so often that they rarely get questioned. This kind of fixed mindset turns struggle into failure instead of seeing it as a normal part of learning, and it affects how students engage in classrooms that increasingly rely on digital tools to teach complex ideas.      In math, confusion is often treated as a sign that someone is just not smart enough rather than proof that the material is challenging. Once students decide they are bad at math, they tend to avoid it, participate less, or rely on shortcuts. Tools like calculators, equation solvers, and AI can be helpful, but when they are used only to get quick answers, students miss the reasoning behind the math. This can reinforce the belief that real understanding is reserved for certain people rather than something...

          Flipped classrooms are starting to become more popular and advancements in technology are playing a factor in helping these stats continue to grow. Flipped classrooms are based on the idea of reordering or “flipping” the in-class and out-of-class activities students complete. Effective flipped classrooms utilize some form of lecture for students to do outside of class to better prepare them for what will be covered or demonstrated in class. Teachers can choose to create videos, assign readings, or combine both, and create some sort of comprehension check. With new ideas of technology constantly being introduced, the concept of flipped classrooms can become very beneficial for students, if used effectively. When students complete short videos or readings outside of class, it can allow for more collaborative learning inside the classroom. Students can work in groups and discuss what they learned from the assignment, complete problems from the mate...

     Productive struggle is often framed as something that happens away from technology, as if meaningful thinking only occurs when students are working with pencil and paper. In reality, struggle does not disappear in a technology-rich classroom. Instead, it changes shape. When digital tools are used thoughtfully, they can create conditions where students wrestle with ideas rather than bypass them.      Technology like Desmos, GeoGebra, and several others, have the potential to slow students down in productive ways. Instead of immediately confirming whether an answer is correct, dynamic visuals and interactive elements invite students to notice patterns, test assumptions, and reconsider their reasoning. They can help students work towards the correct answer on their own, rather than being only correct or incorrect. Students may adjust a slider, observe an unexpected change, and then pause to ask why the graph, shape, or simulation behaves the way it does. ...