The use of calculators is usually frowned upon by most teachers and parents in general. They think they hamper the progress of their child on the whole.
Now that’s not exactly true.
Yes, they do come with their fair share of downsides, but the upsides are also there for the taking. Let’s go through the different pros and cons of using a calculator in classes in more precise details.
Pros
Using a calculator in classes can help students save a whole lot of computational time on basic arithmetical calculations.
This makes it easier for them to stress more on important math concepts rather than stressing more on basic arithmetical calculations.
By mid-school or high-school, students are already expected to know the basics of operational arithmetic. It’s also expected of them to know how to do computations on their own. After all, they had learned to do the very same thing in their immediate previous classes.
So the use of calculators in middle school or high schools will do them more good than harm, to be honest. Hence, it can be said the use of calculators in middle/high schools for computations is a definite upside in itself.
No; we aren’t kidding.
Calculators might look too simple on the hindsight, but if you come closer, you will see that you do require a little bit of technical knowledge to operate them properly, especially when the calculator in question is a scientific calculator of all.
Hence, it’s perfect for students to know the different ways of operating a calculator from the middle schools itself.
This is a no-brainer.
Using calculators can significantly improve the level of accuracy in calculations. Along with that, there’s also the factor of speed. A calculator can come up with the answer in the blink of an eye. If this is not a benefit, we don’t know what is.
Cons
The downsides of using calculators in lower classes are a bit too many. The cartoon below can explain this better.
Anyway, let’s take a peek at a few of the major cons of using a calculator without further ado.
Yes, this might sound a bit too ridiculous at first glance, but this is undoubtedly a fact that has become quite prevalent in modern day education.
Calculators can really promote complacency in kids.
That’s because they are now able to complete their homework way before schedule; thanks to the magic of using a calculator.
The answers are right there at the click of a button. Why would s/he even think of calculating them on his/her own? The calculator will do the job on his/her behalf. As a result, their performance suffers badly in exams where they aren’t allowed the luxury of using a calculator. This is a definite con in itself.
Gone are the days when calculators were used only for calculations.
Today, we have advanced scientific calculators where a certain amount of data can be stored as well depending on the requirements of the user. So naturally, it becomes a cheater’s paradise.
Price is always a factor. The same should be applicable in the case of a calculator.
Calculators don’t come in dimes a dozen.
And some of those advanced scientific ones are more than capable of burning a huge hole in your pocket. Then, comes the question of batteries and all.
So, in a nutshell, we can easily say that the expensive price tag of a calculator is its biggest downside of all.
A few more downsides:
Calculators result in dependence. Students may find themselves in situations where they won’t be able to perform even the easiest calculations of all without the aid of a calculator.
Calculators encourage students to randomly try out a variety of arithmetical operations without understanding the reasons behind their usage.
They give students a false sense of confidence about their math ability (see the “complacency” point again that’s mentioned up above).
Lastly, we would like to say that the use of calculators should be limited within higher and middle school math students. Anything below will result in doing more harm than good on the whole. With that, we’ll bring this article to a close for now. Hope you had a good and useful read.