Integration of interactive whiteboard in Swedish preschool practices

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the roles preschool teachers give technologies in mathematics education and the ways they structure their mathematics learning activities using interactive whiteboard (IWB) as a technological artefact. Data collected from observations of three preschool teachers embedding IWB in a preschool practice in Sweden provided the primary data sources. The findings suggest that the use of IWB in preschool can be viewed as ‘Multisensory resources to engage young children's reasoning’, ‘Challenging young children to engage in problem-solving activities’ and ‘Taking the child's interest as a point of departure’. This study also highlights the importance of preschool teachers' pedagogical and technological knowledge that shape and mediate the ways they embed IWB in preschool pedagogical practices.

Keywords:

• preschool
• interactive whiteboard
• mathematics education
• preschool teacher

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Erratum

Notes on contributors

Maryam Bourbour is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research interests is focused on young children's mathematics learning. She has also become increasingly interested in the ways in which technology (ICT) is/can be integrated in young children's mathematics education, with a focus on how Interactive whiteboard is integrated in young children's mathematic Education.

Sylvi Vigmo holds a position as a senior lecturer at the University of Gothenburg. Her background and previous foci include language education, research and development in projects with an overarching interest in learning and digital media. A particular research interest concerns the potential of young people's communication in social media, and if students' digital media practices, seldom acknowledged in educational settings, can be bridged with school practices. Recent research involves focusing on open educational resources for less used languages.

Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson is professor and coordinator for early childhood education at the Department of Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research mainly deals with how children create meaning and make sense of different aspects of the surrounding world, in the context of Early Childhood Education. Another research interest is teachers' professional development. She is the past World President of OMEP (Organisation Mundiale pour l'Éducation Préscolaire). She also holds an UNESCO Chair in Early Childhood Education and Sustainable Development.