I saw a game for learning factoring, called Divisor Miser, at the Colorado NCTM conference in ’82, I think. Someone had programmed it on a Vic-20 or TRS-80, or something like that. But I don’t remember computers being used to solve math problems in the computer course I taught in the mid-8o’s.

I taught junior high for a bit, and one of the math teachers wanted me to help him write a program to solve a probability problem. But he had the calculations all wrong, and the right calculations were simple enough that a computer program would have been silly. I was shocked at his bad understanding of math. He was our department chair. I knew almost no probability at the time, but I learned enough from the student materials (extra credit stuff) to figure out that problem. Yikes!

And yet, I love how technology can help us see. Check this post out: http://mathrecreation.blogspot.com/2009/08/hypocycloid-scrambler.html And, I used the matrix solution capabilities of my TI-83 when I was solving the regions in a circle problem. (Put n points on a circle, connect each to each with a straight line, how many regions in the circle?)

Hmm, I think I’ll move this conversation to a blog post if that’s ok with you. I’m seeing that i have a lot to say about pros and cons of technology.

Thanks for getting me thinking.

For me, it goes beyond Google and Wolfram Alpha — it’s the availability of computers in general. I often find myself slapping together a small program or script or spreadsheet before I sit down and think about a calculation first. Sometimes this leads to serendipitous discoveries; other times it leads to more “Well, Duh!” moments .