Abstract
We examine teachers’ reflections on incorporating digital instructional resources (DIRs) into their mathematics teaching. We analyze qualitative interviews with 39 elementary school teachers from four educational contexts: Belgium, Finland, Sweden, and the U.S., using a framework proposed by Pepin et al. (Int J Math Educ 46: 645-661, 2017) to consider opportunities for DIRs to shift elements of teaching and learning in potentially transformative ways. Teachers described three major domains of teaching practice where they used DIRs: (a) class instruction, (b) student practice, and (c) professional participation. We found that teachers readily used DIRs during class instruction and to support student practice, guided by their existing instructional goals, which were shaped in part by education structures in the context. Few teachers incorporated DIRs in ways that transformed typical learning spaces. We also found that DIRs impacted several aspects of teachers’ professional practices, including professional learning and collaboration. In particular, participation in social media and resource sharing altered the nature of and ways teachers participated in their own professional learning. We assert that efforts to use DIRs to stimulate change need to begin with an understanding of teachers’ current practices and use our findings to identify three potential levers that might support movement toward change.
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Notes
We did not use school type (public, private, free, etc.) as a selection criterion, as these types are not easily equated across contexts.
One Finnish teacher did not complete the interviews.
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This research was funded by Swedish Research Council, Grant Number 2016-04616. All opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the funder.
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Appendix A: Online student facing platforms
Appendix A: Online student facing platforms
Region | DIR | Student Guidance | Customization | Content description |
---|---|---|---|---|
FI | TT online | Textbook | Levels of difficulty | Curriculum program |
YN online | Textbook | None | Curriculum program | |
Bingel | Videos | Adaptive, Task assignment and reports | Aligned to national core curriculum | |
Ville | None | Adaptive, Task assignment and reports | Skills practice | |
10Monkeys | None | Reports | Skills practice | |
Ekapeli | Modeling | Adaptive learning path | Skills practice | |
Vektor | None | None | Cognitive development | |
FL | Bingel | Videos | Adaptive, Task assignment and reports | Aligned with NP |
Gynzy | None | Adaptive, Task assignment and reports | Skills practice | |
Ambrasoft | None | Adaptive, Task assignment and reports | Skills practice | |
SW | FM online | Textbook | Levels of difficulty | Curriculum program |
Bingel | Videos | Adaptive, Task assignment and reports | Aligned with MD | |
Edqu.se | Videos, feedback on errors | Task assignment/creation, reports (with subscription) | Aligned to national core curriculum | |
Studi.se | Videos | None | Aligned to national core curriculum | |
Nomp | None | Task assignment/creation, reports (with subscription) | Aligned to national core curriculum | |
Multi | None | Adaptive | Skills practice | |
King of Math | None | Adaptive | Skills practice | |
Elevspel | None | None | Skills practice | |
Klockgården | None | None | Skills practice | |
Gruvan | None | None | Skills practice | |
Affären | None | None | Skills practice | |
10Monkeys | None | Reports | Skills practice | |
US | EM: ConnectEd | Interactive textbook | None | Curriculum program |
Zearn | Videos, hints, scaffolded support | Reports | Aligned with EK | |
Compass Pathblazer2 | Hints, explanations | Learning path, task assignment | Aligned with CCSS | |
First in Math | Explanations | Adaptive, task assignment | Aligned with CCSS | |
IXL | Explanations | Adaptive, task assignment and reports (with subscription) | Aligned with CCSS | |
Study Island | Videos, explanations | Adaptive, task assignment and reports | Aligned with CCSS | |
Dreambox | None | Learning path, reports | Aligned with CCSS | |
SumDog | None | Reports | Skills practice | |
BigBrainz | None | Reports | Skills practice |
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Remillard, J.T., Van Steenbrugge, H., Machalow, R. et al. Elementary teachers’ reflections on their use of digital instructional resources in four educational contexts: Belgium, Finland, Sweden, and U.S.. ZDM Mathematics Education 53, 1331–1345 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01295-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01295-6