Integrating Interactive Software in the Classroom; a Useful Tool or a Dangerous Crutch?

            I remember back in the days of my elementary education occasionally using computers that had a cathode ray tube monitor to play educational math games. There were games that involved representing fractions and identifying geometric shapes. We were allowed to play these fun games during recess if we would like, or occasionally they were part of an assignment. Throughout current classrooms, whether it be an elementary classroom, an 8^th grade intro to algebra class, geometry, or even Calculus classrooms, these games and interactive applications are becoming a more popular tool. This has several students, teachers, and parents posing the following question. Are these games and applications a useful learning tool, or are they a dangerous crutch with the false perception of educational value? A strong argument can be made for both sides, but the fact of the matter is there are far too many variables to consider for a blanket case of both. To answer the question, one must examine these variables.

            First, the quality of the application must be examined by those who plan to use it. This also ties in with another variable, the effort that a teacher is willing to commit to incorporating an application in their classroom. Teachers must be willing to learn the program they are planning to use in depth, before they can successfully integrate it in their classroom. Sometimes these applications can become a crutch because a teacher sees something they think might be fun to use, but they don’t do enough research themselves. This can result in a couple of problems. Primarily, the quality of the application, and its usefulness might not be as good as intended or believed. Second, if a teacher doesn’t research the software enough they may not be able to answer any questions their students have, which halts learning and turns what could have been a productive lesson into an hour of fiddling around.

            Additionally, teachers must implement the application into their classroom in a manor that supports and fosters learning, rather than using it simply to fill an hour. This isn’t to say that using technology for an entire hour isn’t a good thing, but if a teacher just does this for the sake of killing a class period, then the lesson is a waste. The key component is finding ways to tie it into relevant curriculum. For instance, there is a game on Desmos in which students must plot two points that form a line, in a way that allows a set of balls to travel through a course and eventually reach a hole. This game could certainly take up an entire hour but at some point, it becomes repetitive and depending on how it is integrated, it might not be entirely useful. To maximize its effectiveness, consider the case of using it as a supplementary tool in an introduction to Algebra I classroom. In this particular case, the students might have just finished working with plotting points to form a line or creating a slope. If a teacher were to have students play this game after a lesson involving something like that, the learning becomes more enhanced and students benefit for a few reasons. The first is that students get to explore hands on, how their plotting of points to form a line manipulates objects. In other words, they get a hands-on experience of a real application to material they just learned. Activities like these also involve critical thinking, which is an incredibly useful thing for students to learn and practice. Lastly, it makes learning fun, which is something that can be taken for granted in a math classroom. This might be one of the most important aspects, because when something is fun, or relevant it becomes a great incentive to learn or practice more.

            The success of integrating games and software in a classroom is dependent on several variables. The most important variable however, is the teacher. A teacher’s willingness to research and practice with an application, find a way to incorporate it in their classroom that enhances learning rather than distracts from it, and make learning fun and applicable is the primary determinant of whether an activity can be beneficial or detrimental. So, is the use of interactive software and games a useful tool or is it a dangerous crutch?