When you ask parents and teachers if their children should use calculators, the most common answer that you will hear is no. However, and while we believe that kids need to be taught to do calculations on their own, we also believe that there are some huge advantages to using a calculator.
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The reality is that there has always been a huge debate about whether kids should be allowed to use a calculator at school or not. And there isn’t a consensus. So, to ensure that you can give your opinion, you need to consider the pros and cons of using a calculator.
Pros And Cons Of Using A Calculator
Pros Of Using A Calculator:
#1: Calculators Can Save A Lot Of Computational Time:
One of the main advantages of using a calculator in classes is the fact that students will be able to save a lot of time on basic arithmetic calculations.
Notice that while we believe students need to understand how calculations are done and they should know how to do them by themselves, this extra time can be used to learn more important math concepts. For example, by mid-school or high-school, students should already have a good grasp of operational arithmetics. So, there’s really no point in continuing to spend so much time with these simple calculations.
#2: Calculations Are More Accurate:
There’s no question that calculations are more accurate when you use a calculator than when you do all the calculations by hand. And here we are not limiting students to all those simple operations but looking at a broader perspective, at more complicated calculations where they may need to round numbers, use fractions or exponents.
#3: Calculators Can Enhance The Technical Knowledge Of Students:
While you may think this is a joke, it really isn’t. The reality is that while a calculator seems pretty easy to use (and they are), the reality is that you need to again look at a broader perspective. As you probably know, you have the most basic calculators but you also have scientific calculators and graph calculators. And these take time and knowledge to get used to.
Cons Of Using A Calculator:
#1: May Promote Complacency In Students:
There’s no other way to put it. The truth is that when students are used to using a calculator to do their homework, they just need to hit a button to get the homework done. So, they may assume that everything in life will b instant, that they will always get a good return fast. But then, in some cases, students aren’t able to use calculators in exams. And this is where the poor results will show up.
#2: Calculators Aren’t Cheap:
While t depends on the calculator that you want to buy, the truth is that most calculators that aren’t basic aren’t actually cheap.
#3: Calculators Can Aid A Lot In Cheating:
One of the things that you may not know about calculations is that they are not only used to make calculations but also to cheat. The truth is that a wide range of scientific calculators on the market already allow you to store data. So, this means that students may simply use their calculators to cheat besides doing calculations.