Tracking Professional Development of Novice Teachers when Integrating Technology in Teaching Mathematics

ABSTRACT

This research traced changes in choices of technological tools and attitudes toward technology use among novice mathematics teachers at three stages of their professional development: as pre-service teachers, a year later, and in their work as novice teachers. At each stage, the participants were required to evaluate the benefits of technology use in their learning/teaching.

We found that the novice mathematics teachers used a variety of technological tools, while as students they preferred to use digital presentations or dynamic software. Moreover, the novice teachers used two additional tools: the school platform and the WhatsApp instant messaging application. The novice teachers placed significantly higher value on the benefits of using technology in teaching in terms of improvement in learning, enhancement of pupils' motivation and increased effectiveness of the lesson. These results indicated that only as practical teachers were the participants able to see the benefits of technology.

KEYWORDS:

• Integrating technological tools
• mathematics education
• student teachers
• novice teachers

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irina Gurevich

Irina Gurevich, Ph. D. in Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science. Teaching courses in the Mathematics department, School of Education, Achva College.

Hana Stein

Hana Stein, Ph. D. in Physics Teaching, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ). Teaching courses in Mathematics and Science departments, School of Education, Achva College.

Dvora Gorev

Dvora Gorev, Ph. D. in Mathematics Education, Haifa University. Teaching courses in the Mathematics and Mathematics Education, School of Education, Achva College.