Enhancing Technology Use in Teaching Statistics

The purpose of this research is to examine the use of technology in teaching high school statistics. Research studies on various technologies were analyzed including Fathom, GeoGebra, and SMARTBoard, as well as specific activities that apply technology to explore mathematical concepts. To understand the reality of classroom integration of technology, the textbook, Elementary Statistics (Triola, 2001), was also content analyzed to examine how different technological tools were integrated in teaching statistics. Given the limitations of the applications of these tools, strategies to expand or enhance the integration of technology were explored. Analysis of data suggests technology is used as an instrument for students to develop their conceptual understanding about statistical concepts and not just an automated visual or computation tool. Previous research supports this idea, Meletiou-Mavrotheris (2004) notes that too often the technology just provides students with the practicality of statistics, and not a development of their conceptual understandings of the ideas covered in the classroom