Aprendizagem móvel: Explorando a Matemática por meio de aplicativos educacionais em smartphones

Abstract

The present research results from the learner's own need to make use of smartphone apps in the classroom, in favor of learning. In this perspective, a study was presented that seeks to identify the limits and the potentialities of mobile educational apps or smartphones for mathematics teaching and learning in the classroom. In all this research, the idea of mobile learning was developed through apps on smartphones, reflecting both the limits and the new possibilities of teaching and learning Mathematics. Believing that research actions would be better understood when they were observed in their natural environment, the research was carried out in the classroom itself, in the teacher research profile approach. The research actions were organized into three stages. In Stage I - Approach of the research through the fieldwork, an exploratory study was conducted outside of the own researcher’s classroom, in order to approach the research theme through the use of the Digital Geoplane app. In Stage II - Exploring Apps and Developing Activities, the play stores were visited initially in search of apps that subsidized the research activities. After selecting them, it was necessary to categorize them based on analysis criteria established by the researcher. Afterwards, research begins to occupy more space in the classroom performance of the teacher researcher. Activities were developed both in middle and high schools in order to explore the apps: Math Flash Cards Free; Theorem of Tales; Protractor; Math Jump; Math Parking; Elementary Mathematics Mobile; Desmos. At the end of Stage II, there was great disquiet, once we realized greater potentialities in the Desmos app, which was highlighted among other apps, giving rise to Stage III - The Desmos app and the teaching of Quadratic Function. The activities developed in the final stage of the research provided the students with the study of the Quadratic Function, in parallel with the exploration of the Desmos app, allowing students to develop ideas related to the mathematics content studied. The questionings approached in the activities demanded of the students the ability to move between the multiple representations (numerical, algebraic, verbal and graphical) in the teaching of Algebra. In general, it concludes that the educational apps deserve insertion and highlight in the school environment, not only to motivate the students, but also to assist in the teaching and learning process through careful pedagogical planning. Concerning the Desmos app, the way in which it was conducted through its mobility, interactivity and pluralism of tools, promoted a favorable learning space for knowledge acquisition, where students were able to develop mathematical ideas, becoming protagonists of their own learning.