SMART education technologies in mathematics teacher education - ways to integrate and progress that follows integration

ABSTRACT

SMART Education Technologies (SET) are already in place to provide teachers with different software packages and technologies to facilitate their teaching. However, when it comes to mathematics teaching in Russia, the situation here is different as the articulation of such SET in the Russian context is inadequate. This study redefines mathematics teacher education with smart technologies and identifies IT competencies that are needed to cope with the redefined curriculum. The designed course programme was implemented in the Elabuga Pedagogical Institute, involving 7 teachers from the Institute, 123 students (trainee teachers) and 5 schoolteachers (experts) to keep a professional eye on the learning experience. To evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum, a survey was carried out among teachers and experts. The survey questionnaire captured the progress made in competence development alongside three modules. The progress that students were making throughout the course was evaluated at the ‘mock teaching’ lesson, where students presented their individually prepared parts of a lesson on a given topic using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The way the learning process was organised encouraged students to use various software packages to handle maths-related problems. The research results showed that the SET learning path was flexible and allowed modification of the instructional strategy to better meet the needs of individual learners.

KEYWORDS:

• SMART education
• initial teacher training
• IT competence
• web-portfolio
• mock lesson

Acknowledgments

The work is performed according to the Russian Government Programme of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Modules are used in Russia as a way of organising a flexible learning curriculum. A ‘module’ is a relatively autonomous portion that is not limited to the ‘core’ syllabus. It is based on a limited number of objectives and can involve several subjects. Do not confuse with units. Units often remain a sub-division of modules, while modules focus on spheres of experience, competencies, etc.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elvira Galimullina

Elvira Galimullina graduated from the Elabuga State Pedagogical University, Russia, in 2007 with a degree in computer science and mathematics. After graduation, she worked as a teaching assistant at the Department of Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics at the aforementioned university until 2013. Since 2013 she has been working as a senior lecturer at the Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University (KFU), Mathematics and Applied Computer Science Department. As a scientist, Elvira Galimullina began to study the capabilities of expert systems to improve the quality of education. Her most recent interests embrace the use of e-learning tools, as she found a link between the quality of education and these means. Elvira Galimullina conducts research in the field of e-learning, child safeguarding in an open information society, as well as university-level smart learning. She is an e-learning expert and has skills in classroom digitalisation formed within the framework of distance education in the KFU. Currently, she focuses on the new capabilities of LMS, cloud technologies, and mobile devices used to create smart spaces for teacher training.

Elena Ljubimova

Elena Ljubimova graduated from the Elabuga State Pedagogical Institute, Russia, in 1993 with a degree in mathematics and computer science. After graduation, she worked as a teaching assistant at the Department of Computational Mathematics at the above-mentioned institute until December 2000. Since 2000 she has been working as a senior lecturer at the Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University (KFU), Mathematics and Applied Computer Science Department. The range of her research interests is broad: since 2000, she has been focused on the use of information and communication technologies in education. Her main areas of research include e-learning, the use of electronic textbooks in a school setting, and university level smart learning. She is an e-learning expert and has skills in classroom digitalisation formed within the framework of distance education in the KFU. Currently, she is exploring the new features of LMS, open online courses, cloud technologies, and mobile devices used to create smart spaces for teacher training.

Rinat Ibatullin

Rinat Ibatullin graduated from the Elabuga State Pedagogical Institute, Russia, in 1997 with a degree in mathematics, computer science and computer engineering. In 2002, he defended his PhD thesis in Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Since 2002, he has been working as a senior lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics, Elabuga State Pedagogical University. From 2004, he has been the Head of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law. Since 2010, he has occupied the position of the Deputy Head of Curriculum and Achievement at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law. From 2012, he has been acting as Head of the Educational and Methodological Department at the Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University (EI KFU). From 2017, he has been working as the Deputy Head of Science at the EI KFU. His main areas of research include methods of mathematical modelling, e-learning, and university level smart learning. He is responsible for the introduction of e-learning at the Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University.