Curriculum connections

Description of how the concept is addressed, and how it progresses throughout each level.

Content descriptor

Select one content descriptor to focus on in each level that directly correlates to your concept and shows a clear progression.

Resource

Include the name of the resource, evidence of the resource and a brief description.

Please note: two out of the three resources must be ICT resources.

Rationale

Justification for your resource selection. This must be supported by academic literature.

In some Australian schools located in states like victoria, the teachers employ the use of computer software and mobile applications to educate kids on mathematics and numeracy (Joyce, 2014). For Instance, the iPad and iPhone application Numberlys is educative motion picture software with video game properties, The overall concept of the application is that in a colourless world, five protagonists 1,2,3,4, and 5 set off on a journey to change the status quo by discovering alphabets. The game intends to engrave the forms, shape, and pronunciation of the five numbers and the letters of the alphabets (Brooker & Siraj-Blatchford, 2002).

Under the year one curriculum observed in the Northern Territory of Australia; the education of numbers and algebra to children is considered essential. As such, with regard to the learning tool Numberlys, a child is taught on how to solve elementary addition and subtraction problems by employing different strategies. For instance, a child is offered the task of arranging all numbers between 1 and 20 in a vertical manner and they are expected to draw an image or write a word of what they would wish for if they could have that many of it. Beside the number 7 a student can draw a mango; indicating that he would like to have seven of these fruits. This is expected for all numbers all the way to number twenty.  However, if the pupil is unable to complete this task on his/her own, a guardian could assist by writing down what the child would like to wish for. Nevertheless, the adult should ensure that the child clearly express their own opinion and rationalizes their decision (Byron, 2008).

The Numberlys app was adapted from a short story written by William Joyce. The idea or inspiration was taken form an Academy Award-nominated animated film made by William and Moonbot Studio. The film pays homage to all individuals whose life beyond the black and white (Joyce, 2014).                                                                                                                                                                                               

Moonbots Books, 2014; A teacher’s guide to the Numberlys.

Description: The book teaches children on how to view numbers and letters using elements in their immediate environment both at home and at school. For instance, by having kids memorize the telephone numbers, street address, and number of classes in school.

Another ICT based learning tool that is normally used by teachers to educate year one pupil is the Scholastic Study Jams. This free online learning platform allows students to tackle different mathematical modules from an interactive and explorative perceptive (Clements, 2002). Each learning module is centred on a creatively designed video that uses student discussions and educators knowledge to educate on given areas of interest in numeracy. The process offers real-life situations to elaborate on the step-by-step procedures to solving a problem like 2+3-5. In addition, the online platform tries to educate students by allowing them to define mathematical terminologies and difficult words.

This tool is especially effective in the education of measurement and geometry to year one pupils. For instance, the used of units of measurements and durations; pupils learn about inches, centimetres, pounds, days weeks, months, and years. Moreover, Study Jam employs the use of songs, music, dance, and videos as effective strategies in the education of young and enthusiast minds. As such, a year one child learners how to differentiate between minutes and hours through the use of a song.  Moreover, the kids are presented with quizzes to assess their ability to recall and retained areas already covered.  In early childhood education an understanding of line is availed to pupils by showing them different lines and explaining to them why each of the lines has a unique name and value in the world of geometry.  For instance, a kid learns the difference between straight line, curved line, parallel lines, and intersecting lines.  Moreover, the use of games like skipping ropes in videos allows pupils to count and keep scores; in order to determine the winner (Nastasia & Clements, 1993).

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The resource is referred to as Scholastic Study Jams. Study Jams uses media based technology to educate mathematics and numeracy through interactive slideshow, karaoke videos, and comprehensive quizzes. In addition, Study Jams provides teaching guidelines meant to aid educators in the development of teaching strategies. The most endearing feature of study jams is that is a free platform that allows children to have fun while learning about important topics (Cohen R. , 1994).

Study Jams resources are considered to be well targeted and class level appropriate. As such, the platform supports the learning needs of students as young as 4 years old who have already been introduced to numeracy during their infancy. The platform has more than two hundred resources to help year one pupils comprehend mathematical concepts (Cohen, 1988). Furthermore, the online platform employs the use multiple teaching techniques that are tailored to the learning needs of different pupils. For instance, some students may be more responsive to a video based learning approach while others may prefer a game centric technique to education. Lastly, study jam strives to ensure that they keep their teaching content engaging and fun. Research into child psychology and behavior has shown that children are better able to remember difficult concepts; if the learning process is made interactive and engaging (Confrey, Cobb, diSessa, Lehrer, & Schaube, 2003).

An eBook that have proved indispensible in the education of numeracy skills in children relates to Rosie’s Walk. This interesting piece of literature for children that was written by Pat Hutchin is a great way to help children learn about language and its application with difference settings in school and at home (Staff, 2003). The eBook also references or provides links to other essential leaning material like mathematics debates amongst pupils and the understanding of mathematics from a basic level.

The basic foundation to answering a mathematical question stems from one’s ability to clearly understand and comprehend the question. As such, a firm command over the examination language allows the student to clearly comprehend, assess, and resolve a mathematical problem. Therefore, using an eBook like Rosie’s Walk, a teacher can ask the pupils to enact the events of the books and take snapshots of the students’ performance to provide reference and guidance on their comprehension skills (Feurzeig, 2007). The teacher can then ask the pupils to simply the story in their own words to assess how well each individual understood the story book. The effectiveness of teaching mathematics will be influences 80% by the child’s ability to clearly workout the required information. For instance, Mike has three apples, he sells one to Ann; how many apples does Ann have? The solution is quite simple. However, a student with poor command of English will have trouble differentiating been the number of apples held by Ann and Mike after the trade (Papert, Bloom, Grant, Solomon, & Feurzeig, 1969).

The resource employed here an academic article “The Role of Mathematical Fiction in the Learning of Mathematics in Primary school” it is written by Janice Padula. The resource and be retrieve from Padula’s Article The article centers on the teaching of mathematical concept using practical and engaging pictures. Moreover, the article provides information on how parents can make the learning process engaging and wholesome for their children.

Few people let alone teachers know about the existence of mathematical fiction. A series of storybooks that use pictures to educate on mathematics concepts and their application. The origin of mathematical storybooks can be traced back to the 1700s with books like “Gulliver’s Travel” and in the 1890s with “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland”. These books introduce children to mathematical concepts (Hayes, 2006).

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Learning through the use of games is not a new concept; educators have used games to educate children because of the emissive nature of games (Kalas, 2010). Simple and non-violent games are normally used by teachers to educate and develop the mental capability of the pupils. Games like Pacman & Ms Pacman is a classic video game that is used by teachers to educate young children on positional language with regard to the directions used to make moves throughout the game i.e. up, down, left, and right

When teaching children on matters of location and transformation is appropriate to utilize visual elements that will allow them to successful understand the issue of movement and shift in geometry. Moreover, pupils can be assigned to groups to discuss locations by giving directions to each other regarding where their homes are situated.  In addition, when playing the game a teacher can play blindfolded and depend on the directions given by a student to effectively move Pacman or Ms Pacman across the game platform. The playing of such a game is a great way to get pupils talking and interacting quickly to analysis maters of motion (Skodackova & Kalas, 2012). Moreover, a teacher can allow the student to place the game will other children watch from the sidelines describing the movement of Pacman. 

The resource used is titled “Reinforcement Learning to Train Ms Pacman Using Higher-Order Action-Relative Inputs” which was written by three people Marco Wiering, Ruud Henken, and Luuk Bom. The writers are respectively members of one of the following institutions University of Groningen in Netherlands, faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, and lastly the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Engineering.

The playability of the game and its intricate working information is supported by the. By educating the overall working of a game to pupils a teacher is able to influence the interactions of the students within a controlled environment. As such, the teacher is able to elevate the level of understand held by students by bettering their perception directions (Wiering, Henken, & Bom, 2013).

In 1982, the arcade video game Pac-man was released and instantly became a popular game amongst the youth. Since, then the popularity of the game has grown over the years. The simplicity of the Pac-man game rules makes its suitable for all ages. However, the game requires a lot of complexity in movement to master. Nevertheless, the easy controls ensure that any person can learn how to play the game with very little training. Research has shown that Pac-man & Ms Pac-man meets the necessary criteria of a proper reinforcement learning tool. 

In some cases teachers make life-size model mazes and have kids dress up as Pac-man and the ghost. The kids are then asked to simulate the game activities in Pac-man will depending on their own understanding of direction and critical thinking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).