Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis. Worldwide, preschool teachers were invited to develop the students’ learning experience in a new digital environment for mathematics. This research investigates preschool teachers’ mathematics practices during remote teaching and the use of d...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/7/459 |
| _version_ | 1797433679742500864 |
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| author | Konstantinos Lavidas Zoi Apostolou Stamatios Papadakis |
| author_facet | Konstantinos Lavidas Zoi Apostolou Stamatios Papadakis |
| author_sort | Konstantinos Lavidas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis. Worldwide, preschool teachers were invited to develop the students’ learning experience in a new digital environment for mathematics. This research investigates preschool teachers’ mathematics practices during remote teaching and the use of digital tools in teaching mathematics after their return to actual classes. Views from sixteen Greek preschool teachers were collected with semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that mathematical activities such as Numbers and Operations, Geometry, and Measurement occurred during distance learning in digital preschool classrooms. They made little reference to activities related to Algebra, while they did not refer to Data Analysis and Probability. They also seemed to prefer mathematical activities based on Connections and Representation processes in their digital classrooms. Preschool teachers reported that parents supported this process by their presence, and digital learning communities supported learning activities by providing guidelines and innovative approaches to them in digital times. However, after returning to face-to-face schooling, preschool teachers seemed to use digital tools to a lesser degree. They also mention that in face-to-face schooling, they prefer to utilize the authentic communication frameworks emphasizing problem-solving activities to enhance all mathematical processes. Implications for preschool teacher professional development are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:20:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-908615e94dc94f90bed945261146f898 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:20:27Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-908615e94dc94f90bed945261146f8982023-12-01T22:04:55ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022022-07-0112745910.3390/educsci12070459Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ ViewsKonstantinos Lavidas0Zoi Apostolou1Stamatios Papadakis2Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, GreeceDepartment of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, GreeceDepartment of Preschool Education, University of Crete, 741 00 Crete, GreeceThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis. Worldwide, preschool teachers were invited to develop the students’ learning experience in a new digital environment for mathematics. This research investigates preschool teachers’ mathematics practices during remote teaching and the use of digital tools in teaching mathematics after their return to actual classes. Views from sixteen Greek preschool teachers were collected with semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that mathematical activities such as Numbers and Operations, Geometry, and Measurement occurred during distance learning in digital preschool classrooms. They made little reference to activities related to Algebra, while they did not refer to Data Analysis and Probability. They also seemed to prefer mathematical activities based on Connections and Representation processes in their digital classrooms. Preschool teachers reported that parents supported this process by their presence, and digital learning communities supported learning activities by providing guidelines and innovative approaches to them in digital times. However, after returning to face-to-face schooling, preschool teachers seemed to use digital tools to a lesser degree. They also mention that in face-to-face schooling, they prefer to utilize the authentic communication frameworks emphasizing problem-solving activities to enhance all mathematical processes. Implications for preschool teacher professional development are discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/7/459mathematicspreschool educationCOVID-19 pandemicdistance learningcontent and process standards |
| spellingShingle | Konstantinos Lavidas Zoi Apostolou Stamatios Papadakis Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views Education Sciences mathematics preschool education COVID-19 pandemic distance learning content and process standards |
| title | Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views |
| title_full | Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views |
| title_fullStr | Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views |
| title_full_unstemmed | Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views |
| title_short | Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views |
| title_sort | challenges and opportunities of mathematics in digital times preschool teachers views |
| topic | mathematics preschool education COVID-19 pandemic distance learning content and process standards |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/7/459 |
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