Preschool Children's Learning Progressions While Interacting With Touch Screen Mathematics Apps and How Affordance Access Matters

• In Event: Application of Innovative Learning Technologies Within STEM Instruction

Abstract

This study sought to understand the role that affordances played in preschoolers’ learning progressions during their interactions with a variety of mathematics apps on touch-screen devices. The study used a convergent parallel mixed methods design, in which 35 children, ages 3–4, interacted with four touch-screen mathematics apps on iPad devices during one-on one clinical interviews while learning seriation and counting. Data were analyzed to examine children’s learning progressions, access of affordances, and patterns of behavior while interacting with the mathematics apps. The results suggest that different affordances of the individual apps were perceived in different ways, depending on the age of the child, and that these perceptions were observable in young children’s patterns of behavior. Implications are discussed.

Authors

• Emma P. Bullock, Sam Houston State University

• Jessica F. Shumway, Utah State University

• Christina Watts Lommatsch, Utah State University

• Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Utah State University