About CT4ME

Read about education and technology news, including No Child Left Behind, and research on topics in math education, implementing standards, and standardized testing.  Educators will appreciate the resources on technology integration, multimedia in projects, web design, national math initiatives, math methodology, and professional development.  See Education Associations and Planning for grant resources to fund technology. Resources for teaching mathematics to learners with special needs are provided, including help for struggling readers.  Accessibility resources are addressed. 

Major Objectives

CT4ME's major objectives are:

• to identify mathematics resources, and resources for integrating technology into instruction and for professional development,
• to assist K-12 teachers to select mathematics software appropriate for the standards movement,
• to identify and evaluate mathematics software, designed to help students master mathematical concepts and to prepare for state standardized tests, and
• to share other research interests, which include online learning and distance education.

Why?

Dr. Laurence Peters (2000) stated that a Third Millennial Challenge is to harness the power of educational technology to advance the standards movement. We should be assisting the entire nation's teachers to identify and use high quality materials on behalf of the standards-based reform. A more systemic approach to technology selection, such as found in the U.K., helps save time and effort in ensuring quality control, and frees teachers to spend more time teaching. CT4ME strives to provide this assistance to teachers.

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2000), "The latest research and evaluation studies demonstrate that school improvement programs that employ technology for teaching and learning yield positive results for students and teachers" (Executive Summary, para. 3).  Two of the five National Technology Education Goals stand out.  These are:

• Goal 2: All teachers will use technology effectively to help students achieve high academic standards.
• Goal 5: Digital content and networked applications will transform teaching and learning.

To reach goal 2, teachers need professional development as one key element.  Goal 5 requires that high quality digital materials that motivate and inspire students be easy to find and use, and be accessible to individuals with disabilities.  

Accepting the Challenge

In a 1999 national survey by Education Week (Fatemi, 1999) of how teachers used digital content in their instruction, only 12% of teachers reported that their state or district provided lists of software titles that match curriculum standards. It appears that software selection is placed upon teachers. Many do not know where to turn to find out which digital content is aligned with their curricula, nor do they have time or the expertise to do so. The situation seems unacceptable in an age where technology use and national standards testing are at the forefront of education.

As of 2001, 49 states required public schools to administer standardized tests, and 39 had plans to use test results to inform decisions for promotion, graduation, or teacher salaries (Salpeter, 2002). Unfortunately, when standardized tests are given, particularly those that students must pass as part of high school graduation requirements, research has shown that mathematics has often been the one area in which students have the most difficulty. My experience as an educator for over 30 years confirms that point.

Education Week's (2001) survey revealed that:

• Fewer than half the teachers surveyed said they had "plenty" of access to curriculum guides or textbooks and other materials that match state standards.
• Fewer than half also reported having "plenty" of access to training in the use of state standards or assessments.

CT4ME has accepted the challenge to help educators locate and use the best resources associated with the standards movement, professional development, technology integration, and with excellence in mathematics education.

More About Our Resources

Technology use has the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning of mathematics.  CT4ME is a work in progress. We hope to provide resources, which might be grouped as follows:

• Stand-alone software, or integrated learning systems 
• Internet sites for basic skills mastery, ranging from homework assistance sites to commercial sites.
• Collaborative mathematical events in which students interact with experts via email, take field trips online, or participate in projects designed by others or themselves.
• Mathematical problem solving in which students collect and analyze real time data with technology tools.  Some web sites are designed to teach students critical thinking and problem solving skills and provide projects using authentic data.
• Internet tools for doing mathematics, including calculators, spreadsheets, graphing utilities, and virtual manipulatives.
• Internet sites with games and simulations.
• Internet sites for linking mathematics to other subject areas and virtual field trips to explore mathematics in other subjects.
• Internet tools for sustaining technology integration and professional growth, including online courses and online self-paced learning modules, journals/magazines, discussion groups, listservs.
• Supplementary resources for assisting struggling readers.

Credit

CT4ME acknowledges that some clip art used at this site is licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com: http://school.discovery.com/clipart/   The United States map on the Standards page is from GraphicMaps.com: http://www.graphicmaps.com/clipart.htm Permission was received from the Stock.XCHNG for use of their photos: http://sxc.hu/browse.phtml.

References

Education Week (2001). Quality counts 2001: A better balance. Available in Quality Counts Archive: http://www.edweek.org/rc/articles/2004/10/15/qc-archive.html  Last accessed July 21, 2007.

Fatemi, E. (1999, September 23). Building the digital curriculum: Summary. Available in Education Week Technology Counts Archive: http://www.edweek.org/rc/articles/2004/10/15/tc-archive.html   Last accessed January 25, 2008.

Peters, L. (2000, September). A third millennial challenge: Harness the power of educational technology to advance the standards movement. T.H.E. Journal, 28(2), 95-102.

Salpeter, J. (2002). Accountability: Meeting the challenge with technology. Technology & Learning, 22(6), 20-33.  Available: http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2002/01/account.php   Last accessed July 21, 2007.

U.S. Department of Education (2000). e-learning: Putting a world class education at the fingertips of all children. Office of Educational Technology. Available:  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/reports/e-learning.html Last accessed July 21, 2007.

Note: All essays included at CT4ME are written by Dr. Patricia Deubel.  Each page has a last revised date at the bottom of the page and the page URL. To cite any page from this Web site in your academic work, use the following format:

Deubel, P. (Year from last update). [Page title in italics]. Retrieved [Month, Day, Year] from Computing Technology for Math Excellence, [page URL].

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