The TI-84 graphing calculator is a very expensive calculator that most high school students are required to have. This calculator on average is around 100$ which is very high price for a tool almost every high school student is required to have. This calculator may not be an option for some students because of the high cost, therefore they may not be able to advance in areas in school that require it. New digital graphing calculators that function the same as the TI-84 have come out and are quickly taking over the market. The company Smarter Balanced, which created Desmos, is leading the market with these calculators. These calculators will allow anyone with internet access to have a graphing calculator for free. The digital calculators can also be very helpful for exams. The CEO of Smarter Balanced Eli Luberoff said, "If our goal is to measure students' ability to compute algebraic functions, to actually engage in math, then we don't necessarily want them to use a calculator," Luberoff said. "If we're asking students to engage in data analysis and problem solving -- where we're testing more of their process skills and not their content knowledge -- then we absolutely encourage the use of a calculator." This is referring to having the graphing calculators show up on the screen of an exam, but on the next page they can be taken away. I think this is a really good idea because everyone will be able to have access to graphing calculators and won't have to pay 100$ to have one, also I think it is interesting how we had to buy the TI-84 graphing calculator and this directly relates to us. I hope the digital graphing calculators do end up replacing the TI-84 because then everyone with internet access will be able to have one, and people won't have to spend 100$ to buy one.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/12/technology/ti-84-graphing-calculator/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/12/technology/ti-84-graphing-calculator/index.html