Chapters 12 and 14- Simulations and Data Analysis and Producing and Presenting Presentations

Data analysis and simulations are excellent ways to incorporate technology in math lessons. Students can keep track of numbers such as money, time, and whatever else they may need to keep records of. Simulations allow students to mix school with their real life experiences. Children do things at home like sell lemonade and have yard sales, which all require keeping track of sales and money. Keeping records will teach them how to be responsible and as adults they will need to keep track of their finances. Everything students learn in school can be applied to real life and data analysis and simulations let them bring the two together. They will no longer need their parents to keep track of the money they made at their lemonade stand because they will be able to do it on their own. I was never a fan of math but I enjoyed doing assignments that required me keeping count of something I did. That helped me learn how to solve equations without realizing I was doing it.
Multimedia presentations were always fun and interesting to me. I like to see who has the most creative pictures or text. Students have fun creating these because they get to use their imaginations and think of how they want to present, as opposed to the teacher telling them what pictures to use or what to write. Drawing pictures and using different colors and images allows students to be creative and think on their own. While they are learning about a subject, they are also learning how to utilize different aspects of technology. Sometimes when they don’t understand something they try it out until they get it. There have been plenty of times a student knows how to use the computer or set something up that the teacher has no clue about.
I never used it before but I like the idea of recording my voice and using it in my presentation. I think this will help students who have trouble speaking in front of a group of people feel relaxed because they won’t have to say much. Children will enjoy this because their whole presentation can represent them and not what the teacher or their parents wanted them to say.
As always, teachers must be aware of all of the different problems that can occur. We must first learn about it on our own to the best of our abilities so we can teach the students and so our lessons will be effective. Another thing to keep in mind is the kind of presentation you want the students to present and which forms of technology you want them to use. I wouldn’t want my students to forget what the original lesson is so I may set restrictions on what they can use. Overall, presentations, data analysis and simulations keep students’ interest and are good ways to assess the students knowledge of the lesson learned.