The New State of Math: The Influence of Technology on Children's Education

   Even if your child is only in third grade, you'll probably soon realize that you can't help her with math homework as effortlessly as you would like. Now she can round off and be more analytical in her thinking process. It was New Math in the 1960s, and New New Math in 1989. Rote math is no longer being taught and fundamentals have given way to new thinking strategies. Gone are the days when 8 + 7=15. Now 8 + 5 = about 15.

   But many changes in education have come about in an effort to increase scores on standardized tests. Many educators believe that standardized tests put a tremendous burden on teachers to conform to state and national standards. They feel these tests do not allow for creative teaching, and hinder an instructor's ability to alter lessons at a pace that works for a particular class or an individual child. And many districts are judged solely on their math and reading scores rather than on other important criteria.

   The age of technology has forced math  to change from the way it was taught in the past. The way we did math years ago was not wrong, just different. But in the  new era, we are in  in need of new ways of learning and solving mathematical equations. Therefore, the  basics of New Math are more analytical and all the work must now be shown; it is a longer process. Many math teachers encourage students to break a problem down into smaller parts. Tackling one part at a time leads to fewer mistakes and a better understanding of the whole problem. New Math is certainly yielding positive results in many ways, however it must not be at the expense of the fundamentals of math.

   There are many groups that have tackled the current state of math in schools. One is Mathematically Correct, made up of parents whose occupations involve regular use of mathematics. They have severely criticized the current standards. Their major argument is that standards "eliminate instruction of traditional arithmetic methods, and focus more on process and explanations than upon answers."