Hello, my name is Robin Kay, and I'm a professor in the Faculty of Education
at UOIT in Oshawa, Canada, that's just outside of Toronto.
And, this presentation is going to focus on an evidence-based framework for
selecting and evaluating mathematics apps.
Here's the agenda.
I'm going to go over the app selection problem, and then one solution that we came up with
which focuses on identifying math app types and math characteristics.
And finally, I'm going to look at the role of teacher,
which is critical if this framework is going to be effective.
So the app selection problem.
I think we can agree that if tablets are going to work in the classroom
that the proper selection of math apps is critical.
The tablets will do nothing unless we select correct apps.
However, as of 2017, there are an estimated 750,000 educational mobile apps available.
Not all of the focus on mathematics, but thousands do.
So how do teachers select the best math apps?
Well here's one solution,
look at the literature on evaluating mathematics apps in the classroom.
And that's exactly what we did. And we came up with five types of math apps,
and then eight characteristics.
So once you select the type of math app,
you can evaluate it through the eight characteristics.
Here are the five math app types that are going to talk about: instructive,
practice-based, constructive, productive and game-based apps.
Instructive apps involve one-way communication. It's direct instruction,
like a video presenting information the student is acquiring information.
It's generally a self directed app, it's a step by step progression.
Think of it as personal tutoring.
Here are two examples of an instructive map: Math 42 and Math A Tube.
Practice-based apps are sort of those drill and practice activities
you could be actually presenting in from a initially like an instructive app.
But there's a test taking component to it. There's quizzes, the focus is for practicing
factual or skill based knowledge.
I-XL and Quick Math are two examples of practice-based apps.
Constructive apps involve the construction of one's knowledge and understanding.
So here are words that are associated with constructive apps, a long list.
But they apply, and of course one app
doesn't necessarily have all these activities,
so it could involve exploration elements of ambiguity, posing a conjecture or problem,
developing an argument, categorizing information, interpreting results, estimating,
comparing and contrasting, testing and evaluating solutions,
making sense of new information, questioning and reflecting.
Desmos and Gizmos are two examples of constructive apps.
Productive apps involve demonstrating knowledge,
you're producing artifacts, are creating representations.
So you might be creating a graph, developing a mind map,
or creating a video demonstrating your knowledge of a mathematical concept.
Coggle is a mind mapping tool,
and Snagit is a video screencasting tool, there are examples of productive apps.
Game-based apps aren't simply the presentation of questions
like a practice-based app and getting points and perhaps getting top scores
on a particular app. It's much more than that.
A true game based app has a background story,
it's aesthetically engaging, there's a progressive challenge,
an increasing challenge, an element of fantasy and curiosity.
It's active,
there's interactive participation, there's a continuous feedback loop.
Prodigy and Mystery Math Town are good examples of game-based apps.
So there's a quick explanation of the five math app types that we discovered
through our literature review.
Again, instructive, practice-based, constructive, productive, and game-based.
Now, once you've selected an app for your particular purpose,
you need to evaluate that app to see if it's a high quality app.
And we've found eight characteristics to help you do that.
Now here are the 8 math app characteristics
identified in a literature review as being important.
The first one's learning value, what does the app add in terms of learning?
So, is it focusing on remembering,
understanding, applying? Are you trying to achieve fluency?
For example, in terms of mathematics multiplication tables
academic improvement,
the teacher has to determine this learning value of the app.
The second thing is the quality of the content. So is the content accurate,
and is it faithful to the underlying math principles that you teach?
The third characteristic is learning goals, and really what you're looking for is
whether clear objectives or learning goals are stated within the app.
The fourth characteristic is usability, and you're looking for user-friendliness,
appropriate language, clear instructions, whether it's intuitive and easy to follow,
and whether the navigation is relatively easy.
The fifth characteristic is engagement, and you want to look at three factors here:
whether it's emotionally engaging, so fun or exciting, entertaining
whether it's behaviorally engaging, or whether it has rich interactions.
And the third aspect is cognitive engagement. Are the students cognitively engaged
in what's going on? Can they control the
pacing and some of the settings? And do they want to participate
and persevere through this app? So are they cognitively engaged?
The sixth characteristic is challenge level. If an app is too easy students will get bored,
if an app is too hard students will give up.
So you want to have the appropriate challenge level.
Some apps have adaptability, so they change the questions
based on the responses of the students and their ability level.
The sixth characteristic is Challenge level. if an app is too easy, students will get bored.
If an app is too difficult, students will give up.
So you want to look at the challenge level of an app.
Some apps are adaptable to student ability, so they adjust the type of questions
in the level of questions based on the responses of the student.
Other apps allow a student to select levels,
so they could select a beginning, and intermediate or advanced level.
And some apps allow you to select the content you're covering.
The seventh characteristic is feedback.
So you want to know if there's sufficient scaffolding,
hints, corrective feedback, formative feedback,
or there could be tracking of the long-term progress of students.
And you might want to look at whether there's text and visual feedback.
And the final characteristic is collaboration.
Social interaction is important, and you want to look at whether an app
allows for that social interaction, and perhaps sharing responsibility and answers.
So what's the role of the teacher in this framework?
Well, let's go back to the math app types and characteristics to identify
where the teacher's role is critical in the effectiveness of this framework.
When selecting a math app type, the teacher has to consider
what the purpose is of the lesson that they're conducting.
So if they're just introducing a new concept, they might use an instructor.
Then, if they've already introduced the concept, then they might use a practice-based app
to see whether the students are able to remember facts or apply the skills.
If the students have established some fundamental knowledge,
it might be time to use a constructive app
to explore and investigate, and expand one's knowledge.
Once students have a clearer understanding of the concepts within a lesson,
the teacher might want to select a productive app.
And that app allows students to consolidate their knowledge
and produce an artifact a representation that demonstrates their understanding.
A teacher might also want to use a game-based app as a consolidation tool,
and a way of practicing concepts already learned, and preparing for a test.
For example, so the rule the teacher is critical here
in selecting a proper app for the intended purpose of the lesson.
The teacher is the evaluator of the app,
and so their role is critical when interacting with the math app characteristics.
However, typically, one app doesn't rate highly
on all of these characteristics, and may not even include some of them.
So the teacher can also augment the math app characteristics.
Ultimately the teacher has to select the math app type and thereby determines
the learning value of the app.
In terms of learning goals, most apps do not state
the learning goals explicitly, so there's nothing preventing the teacher
from stating those learning outcomes before students actually use the learning app.
In terms of usability, an app may be relatively easy to use,
but a teacher can point out particular trouble spots
in one or two minutes before students actually start using the app
and therefore enabling them to focus on the content, they're learning,
not using the app.
For challenge level,
teachers can select a variety of apps or apps focusing on a different content level
and thereby address the needs of different students.
Ideally, you want excellent feedback from an app and you don't want to compromise on that,
but you can supplement that as a teacher by circulating around the class
and making sure that the students are interacting effectively with the app.
And finally, respect for collaboration. Most math apps are meant to be used individually,
however, a teacher can establish a remote collaboration
by having students work in pairs
and thereby enabling that social interaction to enhance the learning process.
To review, I looked at the app selection problem. There are thousands of mathematics apps available
and teachers need a systematic way to evaluate those apps.
So my solution was to conduct an extensive literature review
focusing on math app types and characteristics, identified five math app types
and eight characteristics types that are used to select the math apps
for specific purposes.
And characteristics are used to evaluate those apps.
And finally, I looked at the role of the teacher,
which is critical in making this framework meaningful and efficient.
My name is Robin Kay, and if you need to contact me,
my information is listed on this slide.