NumberNet: Using Multi-Touch Technology to Support Within and Between-Group Mathematics Learning

In this paper we present a new tool, NumberNet, designed to promote within and between group collaboration in a mathematics classroom. The activity builds on a standard individual mathematics activity (Explode-A-Number; Atkinson, 1992), to create a three-stage collaborative activity that promotes flexibility with numbers, operators and calculations. This tool uses a network of multi-touch tabletop computers in a classroom environment, taking students through a small group production activity, rotation of the activity between groups, and finally a sorting and structuring activity. Pilot results from 32 students indicate significant gains in the number of calculations that students produce from pre to post test. Further work and implications are described.

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