Interactive mathematics online for school and home

A paper by Bryan Dye. This has been submitted to the International Conference ICME-9 in Tokyo on July 31st to August 6th 2000. The section on dynamic geometry forms the basis of a presentation at the conference "Good Practice in the Use of ICT in Schools" at the RSA, London on March 6th 2000.

Abstract
1. A vision for future online materials
2. Current examplars: A Techologies, B Websites
3. Issues affecting the success of Online education
4. Conclusion

3 Issues affecting the success of Online education
Assuming the technology is available and readily accessible for both school and home use, and that our four criteria are met, the way it is organised and presented needs to bear in mind issues about the way children learn. There are many issues affecting attainment detrimentally that are neatly avoided through an Online home service, namely class size, attendance, punctuality, conflicts with teacher, behaviour and peer group pressure. With these set aside, it would appear that a level playing field stretches ahead for any student wishing to raise their own attainment at home. The School service has more problems to solve.

3.1 Boys and girls
Boys and girls learn in different ways. Teacher training courses (Raising Boys' Achievement ) and literature produced in the UK by Geoff Hannon (a consultant on the TV program "Why Men Don't Iron") make this starkly clear. To summarise very briefly: in the majority of cases, boys require short and clearly structured tasks, clear goals and incentives. They are good at problem solving but poor at planning. They have a short attention span and have poor listening skills. They don't like reading, are easily bored and are more easily influenced by their peer-group. The UK English National Curriculum is more girl-friendly than boy-friendly. In many subjects at GCSE, boys do worse than girls do. This is true though not to the same extent in mathematics. Learning Online would seem to suit the typical boy. In fact it could be that this medium is ideal for tackling the problem of underachieving boys, since the duration and content of tasks can be strictly controlled, and could even be made customisable (by the teacher) to cater specifically for these problems.

3.2 Ability range
Is it possible for online materials to cater for all abilities? Unless care is taken, online approaches may only be suitable for the middle and higher ability students, particularly if reading age is ignored. Differing social backgrounds are difficult to cater for too. How can we reach disadvantaged children at home? In the case of the home service, how do we cater for uneducated parents when trying to reach uneducated children? Recent articles in The Guardian have highlighted the social reasons for so-called chaos in UK city schools. It is unlikely that some inner city homes will contain books, let alone a computer and Internet access. There has to be a way for poorer and disadvantaged students, including those with special needs, to gain access. The key to solving this problem lies with the development of the "viewer": currently this is the relatively esoteric web browser but soon it will be the TV and mobile phone and thus available to a huge percentage of the general public.

3.3 Cultural range
Can online materials cater for the multi-cultural aspects of our various societies? There is potential to publish materials in languages other than English, or else supply the means to translate English text. One positive aim of such a service could be to link different cultures together. Using video conferencing or the like, schools in differing ethnic communities can meet.

3.4 Timings
There is a strong feeling that mathematics is best studied in the morning. Primary schools will do their regulation Numeracy hour in the morning. Can Online take this into account? Would it make sense for mathematics materials to be available on the Internet only in the mornings? Availability could be restricted in other time-based ways too to cater for short attention spans or lack of focus.

3.5 Technological issues
Despite the emphasis in this paper being on the content rather than the technology, the latter issue will still arise. Some exemplars considered above require plugins; others use Java.
3.5.1 Plugins
LiveMath, Flash and Shockwave all require plugins to be installed on the user's computer before the interactivity can function. Plugins such as these are usually freely available on the Internet. The latest versions of the popular browsers come with Flash already installed. Most others require downloading and installing, and though neither of these actions is difficult, they still need to be done. A proliferation of plugins on any site would make the site effectively unusable - particularly as teachers do not have much time to set up technological equipment. The great advantage of installing a plugin is that the pages using it will load very quickly from then on.
3.5.2 Java
Many sites use Java and some appear to assume that users will have suitable browsers in that they use Java programming on their home page. All recent browsers will run such programs automatically though there may be an initial delay whilst the necessary files are downloaded.
3.5.3 Access
The web browser, though fairly easy to use, is still essentially programming technology. It is not dissimilar to other familiar software such as Microsoft Word or Excel or other Windows programs and there are a small number of versions battling it out in the Internet marketplace. However, once access to Online materials has moved towards digital TV and consequently the home sitting room, then this association will fade. Online education will be accessible in the same way as a TV program or video.