Abstract:

Compulsory Education in Spain is tackling a new trend related with the learning of “LifeLong learning competences”. This new trend does not only imply a change about what to learn, but also about how to learn and the tools and resources to use during the teaching and learning process. The consideration of “digital competence” as a transversal element in Spanish curriculum means a new view of how to integrate Information and Communication Technologies in class. We present a paper related to a research about whether participating in a e-forum is an authentic learning activity that promotes the developing of the key competence of communication in, with and about mathematics.
In order to try to answer this question, we present the first results about a research of using e-forum services of a MOODLE platform with students of 4th grade of Compulsory Secondary Education (K10 students). The qualitative methodology of research is the content analysis of the contributions to the forum of 29 students along six moths of class.
Content analysis, as a strategy of research, needs of a theoretical framework that it lets to analyse what underlies in the text. This theoretical framework is based in KOM (Model of competences) and principles of the Scientific Model of Investigation. These two models give information about what does it means key competence of communication in, with and about mathematics, and it lets to establish a system of categories related to the different capacities that each student uses when participating in the e-forum. These three levels are reproduction, connexion and reflection about the information that students read about others contributions to e-forum, and what they answer and how these answers let to improve the construction of mathematical knowledge. From a sociocultural point of view, the construction of the mathematical knowledge surpasses the walls of the school, and it enters in any of the situations that there is a social interaction. Previous investigations inform that e-forums are a good chance for that social interaction, and creating communities of practice. Students, from an educational point of view, are integrated at school in communities of practice. E-forum lets that this community of practice continues at home sharing a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a problem. But, the set of problems should not be disconnected to those that they are working in class. So, the proposal of problems that open the e-forum are related to the units of content that students where learning at school. Five different e-forum where created, that were:
• How does scouts use trigonometry?
• What relationship exists between analytical Geometry and Physics?
• What conic section does planets describe?
• What relationship exists between the calculus of ph and mathematics?
• Has polynomial an application to real life?
In this paper we present the results of the content analysis about how these open bad defined problems let or difficult students developing the competence of communication in, with and about mathematics. The results are related with students reproduction and use of names, basic properties of mathematical objects, mathematical language. And, also the juices that other students do about the thematic of e-forum. The content analysis about others juices refers to the capacity of reflection, about its meaning, connecting with mathematical knowledge, critic it and questioning or presenting a new complex juice.

Keywords:

online discussions, competences, problem based learning, mathematics.