This article describes the advantages and disadvantages of using handhelds in the mathematics classroom. The description will center on the use of different software that have been tried and tested in my classroom.
MAD MINUTES
Basic skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are constantly reinforced in the fourth and fifth grade math classes. I use the handhelds extensively to help me accomplish this.
Here, my fourth grade class students are shown rejoicing and comparing scores after a round of Math Class (a program that practices basic math skills). After several months of using Math Class, my students and I found out that the program is not always accurate in its scoring.
At right, a fifth-grade student raises her hand to indicate that she should have gotten a higher score based on her “missed” problems. We tried another free software called Math Ace. That was a little better in the scoring department, but when time runs out, the students (including myself) almost always will accidentally tap on a button that will make them lose their scores. Updating to a newer version of the program seemed to have solved the problem.
Below, some of my fifth-grade math students are seen enjoying the new version of Math Ace.
I see several advantages to using handhelds when it comes to practicing drills — it frees up the teacher in making flashcards that have only a set of questions that just gets recycled over and over again. As opposed to flashcards where students take their turns answering the questions, the student on a handheld does not need to wait his or her turn because the questions are available to him or her on the fly. The handhelds can produce a variety of problems to suit their skill levels. In Math Ace, I can set the difficulty level of questions by changing the operand to as high or as low as I deem appropriate. I can also set the kind of questions to ones where they have to use inverse operations to get the answers.
There is also instant feedback — the students immediately know whether their answers are correct or incorrect. Again this frees up the teacher from checking and grading papers. And speaking of papers, there are no papers or tests or drills to photocopy for 20 students – the handheld can make up questions and save their scores on memory.
In the beginning, the students were a little hesitant to use the handhelds because they were so used to doing it on paper (Mad Minutes). “Oh, I can write the answer so much faster,” or “I tapped on the wrong button but I really knew the right answer!” But after a few weeks of working on the handhelds, they did not seem to mind at all.
MULTIPLICATION PRACTICE
I found a shareware program on the web called BeSmart. I was teaching n-digit by n-digit multiplication to my fourth graders and I thought this would be an interesting thing to practice their skills on. Here is a picture of them playing with the software:
What I thought would be fun for them did not turn out as expected. Since BeSmart had a scratch pad for computation work, I thought the kids would enjoy doing scratch work on the handheld instead of on paper. Since these kids were in fourth grade, they tend to write a little big and did not find the scratch pad big enough for them to hold their work. Also, I was not aware that these kids did not know Graffiti — I had to explain how to input numbers using Graffiti, which added more to their frustration. Maybe we will revisit BeSmart again when the kids are more adept in their Graffiti skills.
FRACTIONS
Before using the handhelds to practice fractions on, I made sure that the kids had the foundation first in understanding what fractions really represent — so I made them have a hands-on activity involving fraction tiles and fraction circles. Here are some pictures of them doing the activity with a partner:
After making sure that they understood what fractions are, we had some activity on adding and subtracting fractions (still using their tiles and circles).
Now that I am confident they understand visually what fractions represent, we used the handhelds for some skill-building activity using the program Fractions:
As the kids practiced their skills on addition of fractions, I realize that while handhelds are very handy for a teacher to have, there are still some things that this wonderful piece of equipment cannot (as yet) do. While handhelds may have an infinite number of questions at its disposal, the teacher is the one the student relies on to explain a concept that is hard or difficult to understand (e.g., why it is important to make the denominators of a fraction the same before adding or subtracting them). I think I may have explained addition of fractions in 10 different ways (to 5 different students) just because students do not all learn the same way. Also, a student’s mistake in addition may only involve one step (e.g., not changing an answer to its simplest form) or several steps. The handheld does not differentiate between the two — the same point is taken off for giving the wrong final answer. It is up to the teacher to diagnose that the two mistakes are inherently different and help the students appropriately.
In conclusion, I can say that while handhelds have a positive impact in my mathematics classroom, there is still a lot of issues that need to be resolved. As with any technology though, the only way we may know if they are any good in the classroom is if we utilize them.
