norma14: interactive e-books

The Seventh Nordic Conference

on Mathematics Education,

NORMA 14

Esbjörn Hägerstedt, MS

Department of Information Technologies

Åbo Akademi

03/06/2014 1Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

Interactive E-Books in

Mathematics Education

3.6.2014 2Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

Topics

Background

The E-Math Project

Structured Derivations

The E-Book

Pilot Study

Future Developments

Discussion

03/06/2014 3Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

The availability of

computers and tablets

has increased in schools

Teachers experience a

lack of pedagogically

viable material to use

together with the

technology

Finnish upper-secondary

schools Digitalisation of the matriculation

examination 2016-2019

Lack of clear vision for mathematics

Matriculation Examination Board in

Finland publishes guidelines (February

2014)


Suggested list of suitable tools

Libre Office (text processing etc.)

GIMP (drawing tool)

Pinta (drawing tool)

InkScape (vector graphics)

Dia (vector graphics)

wxMaxima (symbolic calculator)

Texas Instruments N-spire (symbolic calculator)

Casio ClassPad Manager (symbolic calculator)

Geogebra (graphs)

LoggerPro (graphs)

ChemSketch (formulas for chemistry)


EU project

• Central Baltic Interreg IV A Programme, May 2011 – Dec 2013

Partners:

• Turku, Stockholm, Tallinn, Mariehamn, Åbo Akademi, Turun Yliopisto

Goal:

• Improve high school students’ competence in mathematics

• Build interactive teaching materials, where the use of ICT has a pedagogical value

Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

Tailored to support teaching and learning mathematics

New educational books for first year of mathematics Ed at secondary

level

• Three languages, all in all 14 books

• Corresponds to the Swedish, Finnish and Estonian curriculums

• Piloted two times by over 1000 students in 15 schools, in three countries

• Published under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-ND)

Result: a new interactive e-

book platform

Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 8

New method for presenting mathematical arguments

Requires that every derivation step is explicitly justified

Makes it easier for students to

• understand examples presented by the teacher

• find errors in their own solutions

• understand how to organize and present their solutions to mathematical problems

Structured derivations


Example derivation

Each step is justified

Explicit relation

Use of logical symbols


A new e-book platform

Embedded interactive tools to support teaching and learning

Integrated editor for writing structured derivations

Tools for drawing figures, plotting graphs, a calculator, etc.

Quizzes provide an easy mean for formative and quick assessment of students’ understanding (answers checked automatically)

Interactive and easy to modify e-

books


Teachers can

directly publish material to

students’ books, e.g. new

theory, examples,

assignments

assign home assignments

add model solutions to

selected assignments

give feedback to individual

students

Infrastructure for class

communication


Individual feedback

Student submits own

solution to teacher by

the click of a button

Student


Student

Teacher

Teacher reviews the

solution in own book

and writes feedback

Individual feedback

Student submits own


the click of a button


Student

Teacher

Student reads the

feedback in own

book

Student

Individual feedback

Student submits own


the click of a button Teacher reviews the

solution in own book

and writes feedback


Teachers can create

PowerPoint-like

presentations using

material in the e-book for

direct use in class

Example solutions can be

shown step-by-step,

making them easy to

follow

Interactive manipulation of

graphs and geometric

figures

Presentation tools


E-books in a class are

connected to each other• Communicate via a cloud server

• Server keeps a backup of each e-

book

• Same e-book can be used on

different computers

E-books can be used

both online and offline

E-books with cloud service

Teacher’s

book

Students’ books

Server


Pilot study

What are the perceived benefits and

challenges (related to ICT) experienced by

the teachers introducing the E-Math book in

their classroom for the first time?


Study setting

18 teachers in 15 different schools

3 countries (Estonia, Finland and

Sweden)

All students were equipped with

personal laptops and the E-Math books


Teachers’ experience using the e-book

New instructional methods for

mathematics

Supportive functionality and

tools

Increased flexibility and

interactivity

Possibilities to influence the

study material

Opportunities for

individualisation

Technical problems

Initial learning curve

(both for the teacher

and the student)

Increased time

consumption

Practical problems

Motivating students


Experienced benefits

3.6.2014 21

“A big change is the ability to give

feedback outside lecture hours.

That way it is possible to give more

personal feedback, as others are

not listening from the side.”

”The e-book got an add-on so you can

show step- by-step. Now it is suitable for

showing examples.”

“...topics that had interactive content,

e.g. graphs that you could easily

change, they motivated the students

and they understood better.”

”When the e-book feels like your own

making it is much more pleasant to

teach with”

"A huge benefit has been that I now

notice much sooner if someone

falls behind or misses something.

Thanks to the fact that it is so easy

to go through exercises that have

been handed in.”


Teachers’ experience using the e-book

New instructional methods for

mathematics

Supportive functionality and

tools

Increased flexibility and

interactivity

Possibilities to influence the

study material

Opportunities for

individualisation

Technical problems

Initial learning curve

(both for the teacher

and the student)

Increased time

consumption

Practical problems

Motivating students


Experienced drawbacks

3.6.2014 23

"... dealing with all those computers

and computer problems.”

“It is always tough the first time you

use them [a new book], the second

and third time it gets easier and I

think it is the same thing here.”

“It [giving individual feedback] is time

consuming for the teacher, but from the

student’s viewpoint it is good.”

“Of course it is a little dangerous

when the computer is there on

the table and we know that it has

Internet and the Facebook

profile could be updated”

“Those who are comfortable with

using computers, and most of

them are very positive. Those who

have less interest in computers,

are a bit inefficient, they are

negative.”


Conclusions

Teachers appreciate the opportunity to

use new, flexible and interactive

instructional methods for teaching and

coaching students

Ability to add material highly

appreciated

Computer problems are challenging

and more time is needed for teaching


Future developments

Data from second pilot to be analysed

The complete set of e-books for upper-

secondary mathematics in Finland (high

level) will be written and evaluated

Teachers and students are given free

access to the e-books (CC-BY-ND)


Discussion

Thank You!

Esbjörn Hägerstedt

[email protected]

http://www.slideshare.net/

esbjornhagerstedt

Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 263.6.2014

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.slideshare.net/