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How schools are using software to add to students' understanding of mathematics

From eSchool News staff reports
April 1, 2005

Back in December, U.S. schools learned the results of the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a test that focuses on 15-year-olds' capabilities in reading, math, and science literacy. The results echoed a familiar refrain in recent years: U.S. students performed lower on average than their counterparts in the participating countries in both math literacy and problem solving.

Worse still, the PISA results highlighted an achievement gap that continues to plague U.S. students, with white and Asian students outperforming Hispanic and black students. The United States also demonstrated the strongest relationship of any country between socioeconomic status and student performance. Less affluent U.S. students were outperformed by their wealthier peers, especially in problem solving.

"The PISA report is a clarion call for U.S. policy makers and educators to marshal forces to provide an equitable education for all students," said Cathy Seeley, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). "These results demonstrate the urgent need to look at what kinds of math programs we are offering to children in less affluent schools. Are we limiting the math experiences of our children most in need?"

The recent PISA assessment concentrated on the math literacy and problem-solving skills of 15-year-olds to measure their knowledge in the context of everyday situations. The information gathered from PISA 2003 supports the idea that students who are literate in mathematics and who understand how it can be applied are better able to solve problems they have not encountered previously but will face in real-life situations outside the classroom. The PISA results clearly point to the need for better math fluency in U.S. schools and a stronger connection between problem solving and real-life situations, NCTM said.

Despite the disappointing results on a national scale, there are many schools where students are learning math in the context of real-world situations and succeeding. And technology is playing a role in this success in a number of locations. In this Special Feature, we'll examine some of the ways that software providers and school systems are stepping up to meet the need for greater math literacy and higher achievement.

Learning on the go

Recognizing that some students will need all the practice time they can squeeze into their busy schedules to attain math fluency, Valiant Technology has answered the call for anytime, anywhere learning for students with its MathAmigo PDA-enabled program. MathAmigo supports the teaching of mathematics from counting to pre-algebra and can be used anywhere a student goes. From the classroom to the bus, or from the playground to the home, students can use one of three kinds of handheld devices to practice math skills at their own pace, whenever they have a spare minute or two for study.

The software offers individualized activities to meet the needs of each student. It provides students with instant feedback on their work and tutorials to help develop an understanding of mathematical concepts and methods. It also tracks student mastery of concepts and adjusts the difficulty of practice questions on the fly, as appropriate. Besides giving students more opportunity to practice their skills, this handheld-powered software also could help close the socioeconomic gap highlighted by the PISA results, as it runs on lower-cost devices and therefore offers a potentially more affordable solution for schools.

For teachers, MathAmigo automatically grades students' work to save valuable planning time. When the system is used on a network, it can be set up to send Teacher Alerts drawing attention to those students who need help. Analysis features also help teachers decide how best to help at-risk students, Valiant says. The program's desktop management application helps teachers keep track of students and assignments, and it aids in lesson planning. A report production feature lets teachers generate formative assessment reports that are color-coded to allow educators to spot weaknesses among students at a glance; teachers can quickly create reports for individual students or groups, the company says, and the software also has a feature that permits teachers to export summative assessment data into other reporting systems.

MathAmigo is available for three different hardware designs. The classic version of the software comes installed on a proprietary hardware device that is designed with younger children in mind. The rugged design is made from thick plastic. MathAmigo also is available for any Palm OS device running version 4 or better, or it can be purchased for use with AlphaSmart's Dana handheld device. The Dana has both a keyboard and a touch-sensitive screen. Its wide-screen display increases the size of MathAmigo activities.

Tracy Rich, K-12 technology coordinator for the Hart Independent School District in Hart, Texas, said his district uses the MathAmigo program on Palm PDAs for students in grades 3-6. Because the handheld devices are similar to the size of a Nintendo Gameboy, Rich said, the kids "think they're playing."

"The MathAmigo program is versatile enough to cover [several grade levels]," he said. "Teachers have the opportunity to pick the [skill] level." Rich said his district's use of the software doesn't replace any of the district's regular curriculum. "Instead of handing out worksheets and asking [students] to practice math that way, they are doing the math in a more entertaining way," he said.

Rich added that Valiant Technology actively works with teachers to develop the MathAmigo content.

"I really feel like the software ... is in its infancy right now," he said. "[The company is] really interested in what the teachers and tech coordinators have to say, and they'll build additional things into the program."

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