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Digital Making in Elementary Mathematics Education

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Abstract

There is currently an increased focus on technology and on making, pointing to new opportunities for engaging learners in constructionist practices with digital technology. In this context, we share our investigations of elementary school mathematics applications of Arduino and Chibitronics, two popular environments for making digital circuits and controlling them with code. We are especially interested in affordances typically associated with coding and more generally with computational thinking--low floor, high ceiling, abstraction, automation and dynamic modelling (Papert 1980; Wing (Commun ACM 49(3);33-35, 2006), (Philos Trans R Soc A 366(1881):3717-3725, 2008))--and how these affordances manifest themselves in making experiences with digital tangibles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, ON, Canada, L1H 7L7

    Janette Hughes

  2. Faculty of Education, Western University, 1137 Western Road, London, ON, Canada, N6G1G7

    George Gadanidis

  3. Department of Computer Science, Western University, Middlesex College Room 355, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, Canada, N6A 5B7

    Chris Yiu

Authors
  1. Janette Hughes
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  2. George Gadanidis
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  3. Chris Yiu
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Correspondence to Janette Hughes.

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Hughes, J., Gadanidis, G. & Yiu, C. Digital Making in Elementary Mathematics Education. Digit Exp Math Educ 3, 139–153 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40751-016-0020-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40751-016-0020-x

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