I Prefer Paper

I have a few posts that have been lingering in draft form, I'm going to publish them today, even if they don't end up fully polished, and be done!

I polled my geometry classes after doing an investigation using GeoGebra (I think it was on parallel lines and a transversal but this one has been in draft so long I forget!). I asked "would you rather do an investigation on paper or on the computer?" Not everyone remembered to respond to the question, but the results I got were:

17 paper
6 computer
1 no preference

I'm not going to pretend I have a random sample, but I am going to say:

Stop claiming that technology is inherently engaging. 

It wasn't a bad lesson, it was a good intro to GeoGebra, because there are later lesson when technology will make the lesson much more effective, but kids aren't tricked by technology. In fact, they're fully aware of when you're trying to spice up a boring lesson by having them do it on the iPads. If the question is interesting they're happy to do it on paper, and might even prefer it if they find unfamiliar drop down menus and finicky trackpads (old laptops) more hinderance than help.