VIDEO: iPad Program Makes Algebra Learning Fun and Easy for Students

Education and technology continue to go hand in hand. Advances such as Ereaders and iPads are already being used to help students with reading and now a new program called FUSE which works with the iPad is making math fun and easy to learn for students.

Hasbrouck Heights will pilot the program this fall in Joseph Mastropietro’s eighth grade Algebra class. Students use the program with iPads which enables them to work out problems, take notes and even record their teacher’s lesson all with a few swipes of the screen with their finger.

Over the past week, Mastriopietro has begun testing the program in his Algebra prep class  in the summer enrichment program with students who are going into the sixth grade in the fall. Algebra 1 will now be taught in the sixth grade as of the new school year.

The program engages students and makes them excited to learn Algebra. It’s basically an all iPad based textbook as the entire lesson is accessible right there on the screen. Students are able to scroll through the lesson along with their instructor and work out problems right on the iPad.

It just about eliminates the need for notebooks, Mastropietro said, as students can even take notes on the iPad, or even record notes from the lesson in their own voice. Students can even access instructional videos within the program for added assistance.

Dr. Mark Porto, superintendent of schools and Linda Simmons, middle school principal, learned of the program during a recent workshop. According to Porto, Heights is among only a handful of districts that are using the FUSE program.

Simmons said she is excited about the program and students have been coming to her office to tell her how much they love the program.

Students Sal Xheraj and Giana Dilascio both love the program.

“You don’t get bored using the iPad. You can work out the problems with your finger and put notes in. I really like that,” said Giana.

“It’s even better than the Smart Board,” Sal commented about the touch screen versions of black boards, another new form of technology which is used in many of the school classrooms.

He added that one won’t have to worry about forgetting certain things from class while studying because it can all be recorded on the iPad and one doesn’t have to use sticky notes anymore as one can easily record his or her notes instead.

Porto told the audience at the board of education meeting last Thursday that he is already hearing feedback from students that they enjoy learning Algebra I thanks to the program.

He added that these technological advances are not intended to change instruction as that will always comes from teachers however these tools enable the school’s already excellent staff to find ways to use such technology to make learning even better for students.