Abstract:

A digital textbook has resources integrated within an infrastructure, including interactive and dynamic features. A digital textbook is often meant to be used for a long time, for example during entire courses, covering a coherent and complete content that is required by curriculum. A digital textbook may also consist of different combinations of digital teaching resources, as printed materials, lesson plans, teacher papers and skills development for teachers. It is a worldwide trend to shift from printed textbooks in mathematics to digital textbooks, and resources available within them contain new possibilities for teachers and students [1]. However, mathematics education is based on a strong historical tradition, both in terms of content, teaching and tools and it seems difficult to integrate digital tools in the already existing culture [2]. How teachers teach are affected by the culture they participate in [3] and how digital tools are used by teachers are crucial for potential benefits [4]. Teachers are key agents in designing classroom practices, and the integration of digital resources in this. Consequently, this study was guided by the following research question: What is teachers’ attitude and use of a digital mathematics textbook?

A survey was constructed that included 17 items and addressed following themes:
(1) teachers’ use of different features within a digital textbook,
(2) teachers’ attitudes toward different features within a digital textbook,
(3) pedagogical reasons to use different features within a digital textbook and
(4) teachers’ use of other resources than a digital textbook.

The survey was distributed to teachers in Sweden that have subscribed for a licence to a digital mathematics textbook for classes 1-9. Descriptive analysis and crosstabs were used in analysing data, consisted of answers from 159 teachers.

Our preliminary result indicates that teachers use the digital textbook a few times each week and as a supplement for a printed textbook. Purposes of using the digital textbook is for variation in teaching and to meet each student needs. Sixty percent of the teachers have a positive attitude to the adaptive learning tool, instructional videoclips for students and mathematics tasks connected to a specific topic. Less used features are: yearly plans for teaching mathematics (6 %) and problem-solving tasks or in real life-games, as copying materials (16%).

References:
[1] Usiskin, Z. (2018). Electronic vs. paper textbook presentations of the various aspects of mathematics. ZDM, 50(5), 849-861.
[2] Fuglestad, A. B., Healy, L., Kynigos, C., & Monaghan, J. (2010). Working with teachers: Context and culture. In C. Hoyles & J.-B. Lagrange (Eds.), Mathematics education and technology-Rethinking the terrain. (pp. 293-310). New York: Springer Science +Business Media.
[3] Engeström, Y. (2008). From team to knots: Activity-theoretical studies of collaboration and learning at work. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[4] Hoyles, C. (2018). Transforming the mathematical practices of learners and teachers through digital technology. Research in Mathematics Education, DOI: 10.1080/14794802.2018.1484799

Keywords:

Mathematics, Teachers, Use, Attitude, Digital textbook, E-book, Digital curriculum resources.