Self-Assessment of Tech-Savviness

On a tech-savviness scale I would probably rate myself a 7 out of 10.  I can usually figure out how a specific gadget or program works if you give me enough time.  Going into this class I have had a fair amount of experience with the ti84 calculator, very limited exposure to Desmos, Geogebra, Geometer’s Sketchpad, and have not even heard of the Nspire CX CAS.  I have been using my TI84 calculator since 2011.  I know most of the basics a student would need for a math class such as algebra, calculus, or statistics.  One thing I have yet to do with the TI84 is program with it.  Some of my friends were into programming their calculators in high school, but it looked too tedious from what they showed me.  Kurt Salisbury came in last semester and showed the middle grades math TA’s what was possible on Desmos.  He showed us the math lessons he created on Desmos themed around retro arcade games.  We did not get to create anything ourselves on Desmos, but we were able to explore most of the functionalities of the application.  In Dr. Bryan’s class my second semester, our class used Geogebra to rotate, translate, dilate, and reflect polygons and compared them to the original to see if they preserved congruence.  In that same class, we used Geometer’s Sketchpad to confirm geometric proofs.  I have never heard of the Nspire CX CAS before this blog post, but from what I could see it is the newest graphing calculator on the block.  It has color, a CAS (Computer Algebra System), and a rechargeable battery.  By the end of this class, I hope to become more familiar with these 5 apps/devices so that I can use technology to provide more creative lessons for my future classes.