For the past few years I have done an informal analysis of the "technology" sessions at the annual NCTM meetings. I've been interested in seeing if there is any relationship between the number of sessions that include some reference to technology and the actual use of technology in the classroom. I realize that not all presenters who discuss technology in their talks make a reference to it in their titles, but I do think that the numbers indicate some relationship (whatever that is). Here's this years report:
The number of sessions that make an overt reference to some form of technology has been surprisingly consistent over the past few years and the average has been about 10%. This year I did my count while putting the titles into three categories: calculators, the Internet, and miscellaneous (which includes software, fractals, spreadsheets, multimedia, CD-ROM, etc.). This year the percentage is approximately 13% which I think reflects the program committee's effort to make technology a viable offering at the conference. Here is the breakdown:
- The most significant increase (which I expected) are sessions on the use of the Internet. Out of 1065* sessions, there were 24 sessions that referred to the Internet. This is a big jump from last year's total of 7 though the percentage of the total is only 2.3%.
- Graphing calculators continue to be the most dominate technology. There were 63 sessions (6%) that referred to calculator use. In most cases the title included the model number: TI-80, 82, 83, or 92 with the TI-92 leading with 14 references.
- A big surprise for me was that there are very few references to specific software packages. Most of the miscellaneous technology sessions (52 or 5%) seemed to focus on the "bigger picture" though Ižm sure many specific examples will be discussed and demonstrated.
- There are 10 sessions that discuss Fractals.
*In the book there are 1063 sessions. But some sessions have been cancelled and others have been added by using decimal numbers. (For those of you that like scavenger hunts, see how many of these sessions you can find.)
A Place to Learn About Technology
Last year in San Diego there was a technology conference within a conference. (See
Daryl Stermon's report). It ran concurrently
with the regular conference and was conveniently held in the Convention Center. This year's technology CWAC (conference within a conference) #672 (p 103) organized by Jon Choate is entitled
Using the World Wide Web to Improve the Teaching of Mathematics" and will be held
only on Saturday, but it is located conveniently at the Marriott. You need to sign
up for it in advance!
There will also be a technology lab (Room 202) available for hands-on software exploration
and Internet access. Room availability will be posted.
The Cost of Renting Technology: Who Makes the Decision?
Earlier this month I received my audio visual request form for my presentation at
the conference. Since I wanted to show a video I went to check off the appropriate
box. I noticed that included next to the box was the cost of renting a VCR and a
monitor for my session. It was $90. Being the "humble" person that I am, I said to myself: "Do
I really need to add to NCTM's financial burdens? I was about to say no, when I realized
that my talk would be seriously hampered by that decision. I wonder who else decided to give up a piece of technology (and hurt the quality of their presentation) for
the sake of saving NCTM some money? Though I understand what the intent is, it seems
to me that there might be better way to save money than to make presenters feel "guilty" about making "lavish" audio visual requests.
Listing of technology sessions in Minneapolis