Analysis Of Math Assistive Technology Devices

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There are many devices in the market that were designed to make education easier for both the instructor and those with a disability. I have chosen to discuss Math Assistive Technology Devices. These tools are designed to help many who struggle with organizing, computing, and writing math problems on paper. Those who do struggle benefit with help from audio and visual support, these are just a couple support ides that will allow users to set up and calculate anything from basic to advanced math problems.

There are thousands of devices that have been developed through assistive technology to help those struggling with math from early childhood to secondary level education, I’m going to focus on devices that are designed for use in the elementary level education. The devices I will focus on are Talking Calculator, The Basic Ten Blocks, and Tangrams. These tools have become most widely used primarily because of cost effectiveness, and easy assessability of the products.

• Talking Calculator – is a basic calculator that has a built in speech synthesizer that will read the numbers, symbols, and operation keys out loud during use. The auditory feedback helps the student check for mistakes and accuracy of the keys they have pressed to verify the answer before putting the work on paper. The product is designed for anyone who is having problems with math, it also can be used to create more involvement in a math assignment. The cost of a talking calculator vary in price, but average around $14.00 and can be found anywhere on the internet, I found the best deal at http://www.colonialmedical.com/talking-calculator-P15156.html&ref=shopping.google.com
• Base Ten Block – one of the most popular uses of math instruction in elementary ...

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... The ten blocks system, and tangrams comes with some additional material which includes workbooks which the pages can be copied and used as parts of the lessons. The Calculator does not come with batteries and they will need to be supplied. A long term cost effective measure could be the purchase of rechargeable batteries to help offset some of the cost. All three items are, however very cost effective low tech and very easy for everyone to use and learn from.

Addressing the some pros and cons of these tools, first the calculator it has large buttons, the obvious voice feedback, the negative for the device is its limited scientific use, the calculator has limited function beyond basic addition and subtraction. The positives for the Ten Block System is the physical reinforcement of the concept of math and place value. The student can physically manipulate the

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