Kevin Larkin

You use! I use! We use! Questioning the Orthodoxy of One-to-One Computing in Primary Schools

Abstract The current orthodoxy regarding computer use in schools appears to be that one-to-one (1:1) computing, wherein each child owns or has sole access to a computing device, is the most efficacious way to achieve a range of desirable educational outcomes, including individualised learning, collaborative environments, or constructivist pedagogies. This article challenges this notion, suggesting instead that 1:2 computing is an appropriate means of achieving such aims in primary school. It further suggests that 1:2 computing is preferable to 1:1 computing to achieve a balance between productivity, student engagement, social activity, and individualised learning. This article draws on data collected during the 2009 school year from four Year 7 classrooms (11- to 13-year-old students) with varied patterns of access to netbook computers. The researcher collected detailed information from two pieces of software installed in each computer and analysed the data through an Activity Theory conceptual and methodological lens. Recommendations from this research will assist school leaders in making informed decisions regarding 1:1 and 1:2 computing.

“An App! An App! My Kingdom for An App”: An 18-Month Quest to Determine Whether Apps Support Mathematical Knowledge Building

In recent years, applications (apps) for iPads are increasingly being used to support learning in primary school contexts. Current estimates put the number of available educational apps at the iTunes store at approximately 500,000. Many of these apps contain mathematical content and purport to improve students’ mathematics ability. Despite their availability, overall ease of use, and low price, significant questions remain as to their appropriateness in helping students develop mathematical knowledge. Three quantitative measures, previously used in other research to investigate digital technology use and student learning, were modified to meet the specific demands of evaluating apps. This chapter reports on the findings of a long-term research project that comprehensively reviewed mathematical apps to determine their usefulness for primary school students. It found that although the majority of apps provide little more than edutainment, a core group of apps were highly effective in supporting students in their development of mathematics knowledge.

TPACK and Pre-Service Teacher Mathematics Education: Defining a Signature Pedagogy for Mathematics Education Using ICT and Based on the Metaphor “Mathematics Is a Language”

National professional standards for teachers in Australia (AITSL, 2011) expect teacher education graduates to demonstrate technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). Those standards have emerged concurrently with the development of a new Australian mathematics curriculum. Thus, the expectation is that graduates can demonstrate the use of information and communication technologies in mathematics teaching and learning. The authors argue that “signature pedagogy” (Shulman, 2005) is the use of a key metaphor which views mathematics as a language and suggests that mathematics should be taught and learned as any other language. This article provides a summary of the findings of an action research project involving two cohorts of undergraduate mathematics education students in an Australian university. Data collected was used to inform targeted changes to improve the technological pedagogical approach employed by the course team across two offers of the course to enhance student learning and align the course with the expectations for graduate teachers. The implications of this action research are provided to inform the design and implementation of pre-service teacher education courses with respect to the development of TPACK capabilities specifically in mathematics education.

Distance and devices — Potential barriers to use of wireless handheld devices

This paper reports the findings of a research project investigating the use of iPods by student nurses to enhance their interactions with content, instructors and peers while located at a distance from their university campus. Wireless handheld devices (WHD) are an important tool in nursing environments that are undergoing rapid technological change. Preferred treatments, drug dosages, postsurgical care, and preventive healthcare regimens continually change and such devices allow students to rapidly confirm information while in the clinical area, thus fostering active learning and safe practice. A case study approach was adopted with each participating student cohort comprising a case. Multiple data collection methods were used to enable rich descriptions of each case. This paper focusses on factors, relating to the use of iPods, which influenced student learning in distance courses at two regional Queensland universities. It furthermore highlights a range of creative interventions reported by students and educators in resolving issues with their devices. The study found that connectivity difficulties, technology literacy level, compatibility of study resources with the WHDs, and small screen size were all factors that impacted negatively on the use of iPods in distance courses. The paper describes the responses of students and educators to the use of iPods for learning. This study concluded that nursing students and nursing educators alike may experience problems when WHDs are introduced to courses as a platform for learning. However, both students and educators can be innovative and resourceful in managing these problems and, when access to course resources that were enabled for viewing on the WHDs were available, the learning experience of the students and the teaching experience for the educators were enhanced.

Geometry and iPads in Primary Schools: Does Their Usefulness Extend Beyond Tracing an Oblong?

Although research into the use of mathematics apps in classrooms is becoming more common, robust research into Geometry apps is still in its infancy. Such research is particularly necessary in the case of Geometry apps where accurate and dynamic representations are critical in enhancing mathematical learning. This chapter begins to address the lack of research in this domain and presents findings from a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 53 Geometry apps initially selected from a broader range of apps available at the iTunes App Store. These findings indicate that the majority of the 53 apps were limited in their ability to assist students in developing Geometrical conceptual understanding. While this is of concern to educators there are, however, a small number of Geometry apps which would be most useful in teaching Geometry to primary aged students.

Using Cluster Analysis to Enhance Student Learning When Using Geometry Mathematics Apps

Mathematical applications (apps) are becoming commonplace in educational settings. Despite their increasing use, limited quantitative research has been undertaken that might support teachers in making appropriate pedagogical decisions regarding their use, nor how teachers might go about selecting appropriate apps from the multitudes available at iTunes or Google Play. This chapter explores how cluster analysis can be used to identify homogeneity among elements within apps, thus assisting teachers to make decisions regarding which apps might be most appropriate. Based upon selection criteria and rankings generated via a number of scales, the cluster structure of 53 apps to support geometry learning in elementary mathematics classrooms is reported. The chapter concludes by exploring the homogeneity and heterogeneity of these clusters of apps and suggests how to use these apps to enhance student mathematical learning.

Transformations of teaching and learning through digital technologies

This chapter is a critical synthesis of research related to the transformations that take place when digital technologies are incorporated into teaching and learning practices. In developing this synthesis, research from all levels of education was reviewed with a focus on the opportunities digital technologies offer for cognitive, pedagogical, affective and professional change. The chapter is structured in alignment with Pierce and Stacey’s (Pierce and Stacey, Int J Comput Math Learn 15(1):1–20 2010) map of pedagogical opportunities in which three dimensions for educational transformation were identified: tasks, classroom, and subject. A discussion of future directions for research into technology enhanced mathematics education concludes the review.

What Is Unique About Junior STEM

The growth in interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education has been the catalyst for this book. There has been a worldwide trend to focus on the teaching of STEM across all sectors of schooling, and this is evidenced by the geographical spread of the authors in this book. The initial intent of STEM education was to build strengths in science, technology, engineering and mathematics due to the declining number of students undertaking these courses of study in high school or at university, a perceived decline in the quality of teaching, and an increased recognition that STEM is a key driver in advancing societies (see Han et al. 2015). Most societies have taken the urgency to develop STEM in schools and in the labour market very seriously, with many nations developing productive strategies to boost STEM in schools and in the workplace. While increased emphasis has occurred overall, within the four STEM elements, there is a disparity in the amount of attention each element receives, with science and mathematics remaining the main focus. Daugherty et al. (2014), for example, argue that technology and engineering education continue to struggle to maintain a foothold in secondary education and that, despite some curriculum initiatives in the USA (e.g. Project Lead the Way, Engineering by Design), the “influence of technology and engineering education curriculum at junior high and high schools across America is clearly less than it was just 20 years ago” (p. 45).

Mathematics Apps—Stormy with the Weather Clearing: Using Cluster Analysis to Enhance App Use in Mathematics Classrooms

Mathematical apps are now used in many school settings. To support teachers in making appropriate pedagogical decisions regarding their increased use, empirical, quantitative analyses of apps are required. This chapter initially explores how cluster analysis can be used to identify elements within individual apps so that similar apps may be grouped together. This will assist teachers to make decisions regarding which apps might be most appropriate, either singularly or in groups, for various elements of their practice. Based upon selection criteria and ranking via four criterion-based scales, the cluster structure of 57 apps, primarily supporting number and algebraic thinking in elementary mathematics classrooms, is reported. The chapter then explores the homogeneity and heterogeneity of these clusters of apps and indicates when and how these apps may be used to enhance student mathematical learning. The chapter therefore makes both methodological and pedagogical contributions to the broader discussion of the use of apps in primary mathematics classrooms.

Mobile Technologies: How Might Using Mobile Technologies Reshape the Learning and Teaching of Mathematics?

As our attention moves to the opportunities and constraints that mobile technologies (MT) might afford, app developers, teachers and researchers have become more adept at identifying and enacting opportunities for enhancing mathematical thinking. These opportunities emerge through the various environments, both hardware (i.e., tablets) and software (i.e., applications), and the mathematical activity that these facilitate. The features of MT, for instance the ability to use in-built video and audio tools, allows users to capture authentic data in their everyday world and use the data for modelling, or statistical inference.