Contextualizing Algebraic Word Problems through Story Using Technology

Using stories in mathematics helps students situate mathematics within a context. This chapter presents an activity for the integration of stories and word problems into an algebra course designed for pre-service teachers. The pre-service teachers designed and created stories using technology (digital cameras and PowerPoint) to support algebraic explorations at the elementary and secondary levels based on the Common Core Standards. A balance of technology, language arts, and mathematics content is possible with these stories. The activity can be extended beyond the university classroom by guiding secondary students in creating their own algebraic stories in the classroom.

Mathematics Gaming in Early Childhood

Use of technology and video games are highlighted as important mathematical practices as part of the Common Core State Standards (2010). However, research around technology use in early childhood classrooms, particularly the use of video games that target specific content, is sparse. This chapter briefly reviews the existing literature around these topics. Moreover, it describes the moves an expert teacher incorporates into her practice to effectively and appropriately integrate instructional video games as a tool for learning mathematics in a kindergarten classroom. Results of this case study indicate that when integrated appropriately, video games and the use of Interactive White Boards (IWB) can lead to an increase in children's motivation and engagement with learning mathematics.

Leveraging Interactive Clickers as a Tool for Formative Assessment

This chapter provides an overview of interactive remote clickers and how they can be used in an elementary school classroom as a tool for formative assessment in mathematics. The authors share the perspective of a university professor, two teachers, and an elementary school student about the benefits of these types of devices in mathematics classrooms. To this end, they present two vignettes from two fourth grade classrooms and findings from an exploratory study that examined the influence of clickers on teaching and learning in classrooms. Implications and recommendations for using these devices in elementary mathematics classrooms are also provided.

Interactive Whiteboards

This chapter examines the literature on the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) in secondary mathematics instruction and notes barriers and achievements. The chapter links the use of IWBs to models for teaching Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Specifically, it proposes ways in which pre-service secondary mathematics teachers can be prepared to use IWBs to help their students develop understanding of critical mathematics ideas while engaging with worthwhile mathematical tasks and engaging in meaningful discourse.

Teaching Fundamental Math Concepts

The use of mobile devices such as iPads to improve mathematics teaching and learning is on the rise. Parents are using them to informally teach their children (Franklin, 2011), teachers are using them for drill and practice (Murray & Olcese, 2011), and even politicians and administrators are pushing for more use of mobile technologies in classrooms (Murray & Olcese, 2011). With the increased prominence of iPads in the classroom—by 2013 Apple had sold 8 million iPads directly to educational institutions (Etherington, 2013)—the need for well-designed apps has never been greater. In this chapter, the authors explore what makes a good app, what to do when you cannot find the app that you need, and discuss how to successfully deploy apps in the elementary school classroom.

Integrating Multimedia Animations to Support Common Core State Standards in Mathematics Classrooms

Multimedia animations offer students the context required to apply mathematical concepts to support their understanding. This chapter shares information about the NSF-funded Math Snacks, short animations designed to target specific math concepts that students may find difficult, including ratio and proportion. Additionally, the authors offer research-based guidelines for integrating these animations in the math classroom in a way that supports the Standards for Mathematical Practice. The chapter concludes with an introduction to the support materials available at www.mathsnacks.org for teachers who wish to use animations to support the Common Core State Standard for Mathematics in the middle grades.

Using Dynamic Geometry Software to Engage Students in the Standards for Mathematical Practice

This case provides readers with an opportunity to consider issues pertaining to the use of instructional technologies in the mathematics classroom. As a narrative case based on a lesson observed in a real classroom, the case reflects the complexities of this context, yet was written to highlight certain themes relevant to teaching mathematics with technology. In particular, how students use dynamic geometry software to explore mathematical relationships, how they engage with the Standards for Mathematical Practice, and the important role of the teacher in this process are prominent themes in the lesson.

Bringing Dynamic Geometry to Three Dimensions

Contemporary technologies have impacted the teaching and learning of mathematics in significant ways, particularly through the incorporation of dynamic software and applets. Interactive geometry software such as Geometers Sketchpad (GSP) and GeoGebra has transformed students' ability to interact with the geometry of plane figures, helping visualize and verify conjectures. Similar to what GSP and GeoGebra have done for two-dimensional geometry in mathematics education, SketchUp™ has the potential to do for aspects of three-dimensional geometry. This chapter provides example cases, aligned with the Common Core State Standards in mathematics, for how the dynamic and unique features of SketchUp™ can be integrated into the K-12 mathematics classroom to support and aid students' spatial reasoning and knowledge of three-dimensional figures.

Young Children, Mathematics, and Coding

In recent years, there have been renewed calls for young children to learn to code, using computer programming environments that offer low floor, high ceiling, wide walls coding experiences. That is, students engage with coding with minimal prerequisite knowledge, have opportunities to explore more complex coding concepts and problems, and can pursue many different interests and for a wide audience. This chapter considers how a low floor, high ceiling, wide walls learning environment may be used to couple coding with mathematics, so as to provide young children both a meaningful context for coding and a rich mathematics learning experience. Using cases from classroom-based research and math and coding apps currently under development, the discussion is organized around two questions: (1) How might we design low floor, high ceiling, wide walls mathematics experiences for young children? and (2) How might coding be used to model mathematics concepts and relationships?

Utilizing Technology to Engage in Statistical Inquiry in Light of the Standards for Mathematical Practice

This chapter presents vignettes taken from a Probability and Statistics content course for elementary and middle school pre-service teachers. The vignettes are used to highlight issues when engaging students in statistical inquiry through technology use. Specifically, the authors address how particular Standards for Mathematical Practice should be understood differently from a perspective of statistical inquiry and how certain technological tools provide strong affordances for addressing these differences. The vignettes provide examples of what this could look like in a classroom by illustrating ways of attending to these practices in a statistical way through the use of technologies such as TinkerPlots®, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Interactive White Boards.