In an age of fidget spinners, instant message apps and incessant social media stories, teachers need tools that help their students stay focused, not distract them. Teachers tell me all the time that smartphones are nearly impossible to control in the classroom. Students who are supposed to be learning important math concepts are instead watching YouTube videos or texting their friends. Jennifer Mueller, an AP** Statistics teacher from St. Louis, said it best when we spoke with her at a recent conference: “Phones disrupt my classroom. If I could throw out every phone that a kid brought in, I would be very excited. It’s a battle.”

Connected devices also raise cheating risks. The concern isn’t just students “Googling” for the correct answer, it’s also about them taking pictures of test questions or sharing answers via text. Studies show teachers aren’t comfortable letting students use their mobile devices on an exam, citing test security as their number one concern. Internet access on personal devices that school districts have no way to lock down makes it far too tempting to take an online tool and turn it into a cheating method.

What students need is a graphing calculator that was designed specifically for the classroom – without the distractions of Internet-enabled devices – that they can use at school, at home and on more than 60 standardized tests around the world, including the SAT®, ACT®, AP** and IB® exams.

Our calculators have developed over many years to include features that support the full math and science curriculum from middle grades through college – from geometry and statistics to physics and chemistry. Students also use our calculators to learn the basics of coding, a skill most experts agree is essential for tomorrow’s workforce.

As the education landscape changes, we are evolving with new products, lessons and training to support teachers. That is precisely why, amid a glut of free learning tools, TI graphing calculators remain the key to understanding the advanced math and science concepts students must learn. Many “free” online tools do a couple of things nicely on the surface, but when you look closer, it ends there. These tools often don’t offer a complete package of features, lessons, customer service and training needed to fully support students and teachers in the classroom.

Unlike smartphones and tablets, handheld graphing calculators in class and on test day add up. More than ever, teachers need the best, distraction-free tools to properly educate their students. And their students – our future – deserve reliable, safe and secure graphing calculators to catapult them to higher degrees of STEM learning and comprehension.