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Digital Storytelling in Early Mathematics Education

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STEM, Robotics, Mobile Apps in Early Childhood and Primary Education

Abstract

In recent years, technology has been widely used in teaching mathematics to support students’ thinking skills in early childhood. Although there are many online games and applications with mathematical content, the fact is that most of them are limited to particular concepts or acquisitions. Digital storytelling provides a gateway to math concepts and mathematics skills by engaging children in both mathematics and technology. Strengthening the knowledge and experience of teachers according to the latest technological developments will enable them to integrate their digital stories into mathematics education. The purpose of this study was to conduct Digital Mathematics Stories Training with early childhood teachers and examine their experiences with this training. At the end of the week-long theoretical and practical training with 30 teachers, it was determined that the teachers experienced increased self-confidence, were motivated toward creativity and production, and demonstrated an enhanced ability to integrate mathematics and technology. During the study, teachers were amazed at the extent to which they advanced their limited digital competencies. Their anxieties transformed into productivity and self-confidence.

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Funding

This study was carried out within the framework of TUBITAK 4005 Science and Society: Innovative Educational Practices and supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics

The research was carried out in accordance with the guidelines published by American Psychology Association’s following the general Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct principles (2002). The ethical approval from the Ethical Commission of Gazi University was provided before the research. Teachers were informed with the details of the study and that participation was voluntary at their consent.

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Correspondence to Ilkay Ulutas .

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Ulutas, I. et al. (2022). Digital Storytelling in Early Mathematics Education. In: Papadakis, S., Kalogiannakis, M. (eds) STEM, Robotics, Mobile Apps in Early Childhood and Primary Education. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0568-1_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0568-1_17

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