with and without digital technology

one-to-one laptops in mathematics classrooms

nordin zuber

two short stories

1 something different for class 9M1

Hey ... did you see? Is this real maths?

Most of the time, my class is just using the laptops for the textbook, edmodo and Excel (rarely)

tutoring session with Paul*, a Year 10 5.3 student

$650 in 2009
$350 today! I instinctively brought my laptop with me to my first session with my tutee.. I knew GeoGebra was going to help.

We played race me games Paul did the graphs by hand I did it in GeoGebra he has 5 min head start..

What about tan?

Predict : What do you think will happen?

What the ???

3 2

2=0

1 + 4 + = 0

Congruent???

But I (the teacher) was controlling the mouse the whole time! Finally Paul got hold of it

Paul gets the mouse!

Similar! Thats my theorem now!

At Pauls school: no maths software on the laptop, no laptop in the maths classroom.

limited use of the laptops role of colleagues and PLN was it really serious maths? ability to make quick decisions to use technology for lessons bringing the outside world into maths class

personal use of GeoGebra effect on the maths conversation and maths exploration
focus on the maths, not the technology but the teacher still wanted to hold the mouse!

a math classroom closed to laptops

amazing resources available

overview
what is one-to-one? what does the new syllabus say? what are maths teachers doing with laptops? bag of tricks at the cutting edge making choices : with and without some strategies

one-to-one

2007: The Digital Education Revolution Policy 1,000,000 laptops 4 year program, rolled out to Year 9 Managed by state governments $2,200,000,000

one-to-one
access & equity no longer limit access to digital resources not reliant on access to computer labs possibilities to extend physical classroom to the online space students can do things with digital tools

There is no silver bullet

one-to-one refers to access to technology, by definition it says nothing about actual education practices
(Bebell & O'Dwyer, 2010, p. 6).

You absolutely have to read the article free online!

24 specific references in the mathematics content descriptions:

Explore/learn .. [insert content here] with or without digital technology

ICT general capability personal and social competence capability

Digital technologies, such as spreadsheets,

dynamic geometry software and computer algebra software, can engage students and promote understanding of key concepts. However, there will be occasions where teachers will ask students to undertake tasks without using technology.

What are maths teachers doing?

Bebell & Kay, 2010 Dawson, Cavanaugh, & Ritzhaupt, 2008 Grimes & Warschauer, 2008 Zucker & McGhee, 2005

Significantly lower levels of use of the laptops in mathematics classrooms as compared to other subjects Teachers, students and parents report time spent using the laptops for mathematics at half the rate of other subjects.

Is there something different about mathematics?

Research background

5 comprehensive secondary schools mixed SES groups 24 mathematics teachers, teaching ~600 students with laptops Mixed method study 4 hours of interviews, 1,800 questionnaire item responses Data collected mid-2010 Masters project at USyd, supervised by Judy Anderson

A wide variation in the teacher response

Distribution of Adopter Scores
8
7 6

Count

5 4 3 2 1 0 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 35+

1 2
3

Non Adopter Cautious Adopter Early Adopter

Adopter Score

Early Adopters (~25%) Students use laptops once a week

Main student use of laptops

Excel, text book on the laptop, drill-and-practice, homework

Very few mathematics teachers had reliable access to a data projector and many teachers with skill/confidence challenges .. but this doesnt explain the 50% difference in levels of laptop use.

Maths teachers belief + Maths teachers practices a powerful combination

Maths is something you do on paper

Real maths learning is done with pen-and-paper Learning outcomes are only tangible when seen on paper
Need to show your working out

Teacher belief

Maths is something you do on paper

+
Mathematics teaching practice Primacy of the exercise book

High barrier to using laptops in mathematics classrooms

Laptops arent good for lower ability students

Lower ability students cant cope with complexity

Lower ability students use the laptops for off-task activities

Reduces mathematics outcomes for lower ability student

Teacher belief

Laptops are not for low ability students

+
Mathematics teaching practice Ability streaming

High barrier to using laptops in entire mathematics classrooms

Teacher belief

Teacher leads, student follows

+
Mathematics teaching practice Teacher leads, student follows

Narrower view of laptop use

So what can you do with the laptops?

tools : GeoGebra

Dynamic interaction of algebra and geometry

A day without GeoGebra is like a meal without cheese

The PREDICT PRINCIPLE Ask the question Predict Observe Ask why?

What do you expect to happen?

tools : GeoGebra
Suggestions: start out using for teacher demo : model using it try dynamic worksheets load into your edmodo or moodle allow time for students to learn goal is to make GeoGebra use unobtrusive advise students to purchase a mouse think about how to capture learning artifacts

tools: Google SketchUp

tools: office

Load the Data Analysis addon

the world outside

Graphs available!

Internet issues Filter issues Inappropriate content Inappropriate advertising Inappropriate comments

Copyright issues should be considered

the world outside : megastars

Vi Hart has a collection of staggeringly good videos Suitable for all ages, all levels kids LOVE it and the maths is fantastic

Vi Hart

Dont miss his great TED presentation on the role of the washing machine

Hans Rosling

mathslinks.net

Simon Jobs indispensable, syllabus linked resource

learning environments

Visit the Edmodo Teacher Hub wiki at edmodoteacherhub.wikispaces.com

personal and social competence capability

linking laptops with SRN

Connect your class laptops together for live interactive quiz responses

studentresponsenetwork.com

new approaches to learning online learning and practice:

Maths Online Hot Maths Mathletics Manga High

online textbook student created content - wikis

weve only just begun

The flipped classroom

screencasting

making choices
How do I find the time? What skills do students have so far? Are students constructing? Concrete sometimes is best done concrete

working mathematically

When evaluating tasks ask the following questions:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Does the task engage the students? Does the task involve the application of important mathematical ideas? Is there a range of skills and concepts involved? Does the student have the opportunity to show their full understanding of the content? Is the task open-ended or closed? Can all students access the task? Does the task require higher-order thinking? Is there enough challenge for all students? Can the task be completed using a range of strategies? Does the task facilitate communication? Does the task provide opportunities for students to work mathematically
Source: Judy Anderson

closing suggestions

Dont kill yourself this is a not a sprint

7 6

4
Challenge your beliefs

3
Hook into a learning network

2 1
mathslinks.net