Challenging pupils with Maths in eTwinning

Budapest eTwinning Conference 2011

Maria Teresa Asprella Rosanna Russo Irina Vasilescu

4/1/2011

`And you do Addition?' the White Queen asked. `What's one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?' `I don't know,' said Alice. `I lost count.' `She can't do Addition,' the Red Queen interrupted. `Can you do Subtraction? Take nine from eight.' `Nine from eight I can't, you know,' Alice replied very readily: `but -- ' `She can't do Subtraction,' said the White Queen. (Lewis Carrol - Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There)
4/1/2011 eTwinning Conference, Budapest

How eTwinning can help us motivate students in the study of Mathematics

Enhances collaborative learning and learning communities, i.e. PEER EDUCATION Promotes a multiple-intellingences approach to teaching, involving students different skills Uses ICT naturally
4/1/2011 eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Why do students find the study of Maths boring?

Because it is taught as: Static Far from everyday life Mechanic Repetitive

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Maths, instead, can be very INTERESTING

It Is creative Makes difficult situations simple Is dynamic/ever changing Is flexible Can surprise us Is fun Is intriguing Makes us curious Is part of the world cultural heritage
4/1/2011 eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning? CREATIVITY Carrolls story seemed to us a good starting point, because it exalts fantasy with its numerous Maths allusions.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

CURIOSITY
In the sections Strange Maths and Alices Maths of Maths in Wonderl@nd students have enjoyed looking for and solving strange Maths riddles and they have played with paradoxes, special numbers, odd coincidences

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

EVERY DAY MATHS For example, Maths has been applied to biology studies and daily situations.
http://magazinefactory.edu.fi/magazines/mathsinw onderland/?str=40&artCat=1&artID=77

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

PERSONAL/DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS Maths games are a wonderful resource. Two or more teams can solve riddles using different/original/personal ways/methods/ strategies/ideas/reasoning. After, they can compare the solutions and learn DIVERGENCE.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

CHALLENGING EACH OTHER
Mutual challenges can make the collaboration more active and enhance the students motivation and competition spirit. Their teamwork skills will also be stimulated. Our students challenged each other both in the blog and in the audioblog.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

GENDER
Gender mainstreaming is a EU priority! The project has made students aware of stereotypes in the scientific field (are girls worse than boys at Maths??). Biographies of women Mathematicians have helped students see that the history of Maths has also been made by intelligent and bright women!
4/1/2011 eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

EMOTIONAL FOCUS Maths can be made emotional if teachers show it has been created by persons and has changed in time, if students read about personal stories of men and women mathematicians, their difficulties ... In the section History of Maths students have found about the history of PI, they have studied about Phythagorass ideas and have performed the crisis of his science.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

PERFORMING MATHS
Making videos has made learning more effective and active. Conventional teaching asks students to STUDY topics. Maths in Wonderl@nd has asked students to DRAMATIZE learning, to put themselves in scientists shoes, to make Maths experiences, experiments, personal tragedies live...

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

CLIL AND EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP
Studying Maths in a second language is not so common in our schools. Etwinning promotes L2 empowerment by offering students and teachers occasions to use it in communicative and real contexts. Communication is understanding and dialogue.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

ICT ROLE
ICT has made students and teachers from distant countries collaborate and work together by creating cooperative learning environments. It has empowered different forms of communication: audiofiles, videos, images, magazines, animations.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Which alternative approaches with eTwinning?

NEW TOOLS AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES
By using the tools they are familiar with, students involvement can be enhanced Mobile technologies allow them to study anywhere, anytime, at their own pace. This is what we tried to do with our iPod Maths.

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest

Conclusions
Due to the specific features of Math projects and to the arid nature of the subject, they should have an incentive aspect, that can be achieved though the types of activities that are planned, the degree of collaboration and the tools that are used. Mathematics can thus become a vehicle for learning about the partners and for the mutual understanding of their cultural environment. Moreover, it will no longer be just a rubric in the timetable, but a learner-friendly school subject.
4/1/2011 eTwinning Conference, Budapest

THANK YOU!

4/1/2011

eTwinning Conference, Budapest