Are Graphing Calculators Obsolete?

Yesterday, mashable.com posted 8 Obsolete School Supplies and the Tech That Replaced Them. #1 on their list - "Graphing calculators replaced by newer graphing calculators." Really? Why do we continue to allow Texas Instruments to monopolize the technology in our math classrooms by selling us their antiquated hardware system. Sure, the TI Nspire can do some pretty amazing calculations... once you get past the layers upon layers of menus.

Today mashable.com posted what I presume to be a follow up to yesterday's article 6 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Your Graphing Calculator. The list includes the ability to draw something, play games, write in full sentences, upload photos. Are you kidding? My phone can do more than that! So why aren't we demanding more for our classrooms?

Well some of us are. There's no reason why we can't put touchscreen technology capabilities into the hands of our students. Desmos is doing just that. Not only have they created an app with the same capabilities of the TI calculators, they've created a platform that is more user friendly, intuitive and responsive. It even includes the ability to add sliders that allow students to see what happens to a graph when one or more parameters are changed.

Check out this demo graph, try one of your own, and then tell me why this shouldn't replace every Texas Instruments calculator in our classrooms.