Communicating Professional Noticing through Animations as a Transformational Approximation of Practice.

This paper explores the use of animations as an approximation of practice to provide a transformational technology experience for elementary mathematics preservice teachers. Preservice teachers in mathematics methods courses at six universities (n=126) engaged in a practice of decomposing and approximating components of a fraction lesson. Data analysis focused on the extent to which preservice teachers were specific or general with respect to mathematics in written and animated accounts of noticing. Findings illuminate preservice teachers’ degrees of specificity, with most preservice teachers being more specific about mathematics in their animations, showing promise for animation as a tool for communicating what is noticed. Further, preservice teachers perceived the use of animations a transformational experience, meaning the technological medium provided learning and access beyond what could have been accomplished without the technological support.