Mobile technologies in the primary mathematics classroom : engaging or not?

Many schools invest in mobile technologies or actively promote their use through Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs with the expectation that the use of such devices will improve student engagement and, as a result, improve student learning outcomes. However, there is little research to date that explores teacher and student perceptions of whether and how the use of mobile technologies within mathematics classrooms does indeed improve engagement with mathematics. This chapter draws on data from a small range of research projects investigating the use of mobile technologies and associated applications in the primary mathematics classroom. It uses a multidimensional view of engagement and the Framework for Engagement with Mathematics as a lens to re-analyse existing and new data. Issues relating to engagement and the use of mobile technologies will be explored within the context of classrooms where students and many of their teachers are now considered to be ‘digital natives’, and Information and Communication Technologies are an integral and ubiquitous part of their daily lives

“If I had to pick any subject, it wouldn’t be maths”: foundations for engagement with mathematics during the middle years

This article is a report on a longitudinal case study that investigated the problem of lowered engagement with mathematics and students’ perspectives of the factors that influenced their engagement during the middle years of schooling. The article provides a synthesis of the entire study and a summary of its findings. In order to address the research question a group of 20 students from within the same school cohort participated in the study spanning three school years from their final year of primary school, to their second year of secondary school. Data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions, and classroom observations. A major finding of this study was that positive pedagogical relationships between teachers and their students must be developed as a foundation for sustained engagement