The document discusses interactive e-books for mathematics education that were developed as part of an EU project. Teachers piloted the e-books in their classrooms and provided feedback. The e-books allow for structured derivations, interactive tools, individual feedback between teachers and students, and presentation tools. Teachers found benefits like increased flexibility and opportunities for individualization but also challenges with technical problems and time consumption. Future work will involve analyzing further pilot data and developing additional e-books.

1. The Seventh Nordic Conference
on Mathematics Education,
NORMA 14
Esbjörn Hägerstedt, MS
Department of Information Technologies
Åbo Akademi
03/06/2014 1Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

2. Interactive E-Books in
Mathematics Education
3.6.2014 2Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

3. Topics
 Background
 The E-Math Project
 Structured Derivations
 The E-Book
 Pilot Study
 Future Developments
 Discussion
03/06/2014 3Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

4. The availability of
computers and tablets
has increased in schools
Teachers experience a
lack of pedagogically
viable material to use
together with the
technology

5. Finnish upper-secondary
schools
 Digitalisation of the matriculation
examination 2016-2019
 Lack of clear vision for mathematics
 Matriculation Examination Board in
Finland publishes guidelines (February
2014)
3.6.2014 5Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

6. Suggested list of suitable tools
 Libre Office (text processing etc.)
 GIMP (drawing tool)
 Pinta (drawing tool)
 InkScape (vector graphics)
 Dia (vector graphics)
 wxMaxima (symbolic calculator)
 Texas Instruments N-spire (symbolic calculator)
 Casio ClassPad Manager (symbolic calculator)
 Geogebra (graphs)
 LoggerPro (graphs)
 ChemSketch (formulas for chemistry)
3.6.2014 6Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

7. EU project
• Central Baltic Interreg IV A Programme, May 2011 – Dec 2013
Partners:
• Turku, Stockholm, Tallinn, Mariehamn, Åbo Akademi, Turun Yliopisto
Goal:
• Improve high school students’ competence in mathematics
• Build interactive teaching materials, where the use of ICT has a pedagogical value
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

8. Tailored to support teaching and learning mathematics
New educational books for first year of mathematics Ed at secondary
level
• Three languages, all in all 14 books
• Corresponds to the Swedish, Finnish and Estonian curriculums
• Piloted two times by over 1000 students in 15 schools, in three countries
• Published under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-ND)
Result: a new interactive e-
book platform
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 8

9. New method for presenting
mathematical arguments
Requires that every
derivation step is explicitly
justified
Makes it easier for students
to
• understand examples
presented by the teacher
• find errors in their own
solutions
• understand how to organize
and present their solutions to
Structured derivations
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 9

10. Example derivation
Each step is justified
Explicit relation
Use of logical symbols
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 10

11.  A new e-book platform
 Embedded interactive tools
to support teaching and
learning
 Integrated editor for writing
structured derivations
 Tools for drawing figures,
plotting graphs, a
calculator, etc.
 Quizzes provide an easy
mean for formative and
quick assessment of
students’ understanding
(answers
checked automatically)
Interactive and easy to modify e-
books
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 11

12. Teachers can
 directly publish material to
students’ books, e.g. new
theory, examples,
assignments
 assign home assignments
 add model solutions to
selected assignments
 give feedback to individual
students
Infrastructure for class
communication
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 12

13. Individual feedback
Student submits own
solution to teacher by
the click of a button
Student
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 13

14. Student
Teacher
Teacher reviews the
solution in own book
and writes feedback
Individual feedback
Student submits own
solution to teacher by
the click of a button
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 14

15. Student
Teacher
Student reads the
feedback in own
book
Student
Individual feedback
Student submits own
solution to teacher by
the click of a button Teacher reviews the
solution in own book
and writes feedback
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 15

16.  Teachers can create
PowerPoint-like
presentations using
material in the e-book for
direct use in class
 Example solutions can be
shown step-by-step,
making them easy to
follow
 Interactive manipulation of
graphs and geometric
figures
Presentation tools
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 16

17. E-books in a class are
connected to each other
• Communicate via a cloud server
• Server keeps a backup of each e-
book
• Same e-book can be used on
different computers
E-books can be used
both online and offline
E-books with cloud service
Teacher’s
book
Students’ books
Server
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 17

18. Pilot study
What are the perceived benefits and
challenges (related to ICT) experienced by
the teachers introducing the E-Math book in
their classroom for the first time?
3.6.2014 18Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

19. Study setting
 18 teachers in 15 different schools
 3 countries (Estonia, Finland and
Sweden)
 All students were equipped with
personal laptops and the E-Math books
3.6.2014 19Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

20. Teachers’ experience using the e-book
 New instructional methods for
mathematics
 Supportive functionality and
tools
 Increased flexibility and
interactivity
 Possibilities to influence the
study material
 Opportunities for
individualisation
 Technical problems
 Initial learning curve
(both for the teacher
and the student)
 Increased time
consumption
 Practical problems
 Motivating students
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 20

21. Experienced benefits
3.6.2014 21
“A big change is the ability to give
feedback outside lecture hours.
That way it is possible to give more
personal feedback, as others are
not listening from the side.”
”The e-book got an add-on so you can
show step- by-step. Now it is suitable for
showing examples.”
“...topics that had interactive content,
e.g. graphs that you could easily
change, they motivated the students
and they understood better.”
”When the e-book feels like your own
making it is much more pleasant to
teach with”
"A huge benefit has been that I now
notice much sooner if someone
falls behind or misses something.
Thanks to the fact that it is so easy
to go through exercises that have
been handed in.”
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

22. Teachers’ experience using the e-book
 New instructional methods for
mathematics
 Supportive functionality and
tools
 Increased flexibility and
interactivity
 Possibilities to influence the
study material
 Opportunities for
individualisation
 Technical problems
 Initial learning curve
(both for the teacher
and the student)
 Increased time
consumption
 Practical problems
 Motivating students
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 3.6.2014 22

23. Experienced drawbacks
3.6.2014 23
"... dealing with all those computers
and computer problems.”
“It is always tough the first time you
use them [a new book], the second
and third time it gets easier and I
think it is the same thing here.”
“It [giving individual feedback] is time
consuming for the teacher, but from the
student’s viewpoint it is good.”
“Of course it is a little dangerous
when the computer is there on
the table and we know that it has
Internet and the Facebook
profile could be updated”
“Those who are comfortable with
using computers, and most of
them are very positive. Those who
have less interest in computers,
are a bit inefficient, they are
negative.”
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

24. Conclusions
 Teachers appreciate the opportunity to
use new, flexible and interactive
instructional methods for teaching and
coaching students
 Ability to add material highly
appreciated
 Computer problems are challenging
and more time is needed for teaching
3.6.2014 24Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

25. Future developments
 Data from second pilot to be analysed
 The complete set of e-books for upper-
secondary mathematics in Finland (high
level) will be written and evaluated
 Teachers and students are given free
access to the e-books (CC-BY-ND)
3.6.2014 25Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku

26. Discussion
Thank You!
Esbjörn Hägerstedt
esbjorn.hagerstedt@abo.fi
http://www.slideshare.net/
esbjornhagerstedt
Åbo Akademi University | Joukahaisenkatu 3-5 | 20520 Turku 263.6.2014