Initial teacher education students’ reasons for using digital learning objects when teaching mathematics

Abstract

A current issue in initial teacher education (ITE) in Aotearoa, New Zealand is how students can best be supported to use digital technologies for mathematics teaching. While many ITE students are familiar with digital technologies for personal use, they are less likely to know how to incorporate them into the mathematics learning process. Supporting ITE students to become more critical, knowledgeable, skilled, and confident about using digital technologies was the main aim of the study. Forty second-year ITE students were surveyed about the Digital Learning Objects promoted by the Ministry of Education that they would choose to use to teach area measurement. Several different reasons were reported.