Tauranga schools have been the focus of a four year research project showing children are better at maths because of digital technologies.
The way primary school children pick up mathematical concepts is changing because of digital technologies and it is the subject of a book launched this week.

Written by Waikato University's partnership and liaison manager in Tauranga, and a specialist in mathematics education, Dr Nigel Calder, ‘Processing Mathematics Through Digital Technologies' looks at the way children's understanding develops because of learning alternatives offered through digital technologies.
'Digital technologies open up a wealth of possibilities in mathematics learning, and as children work in that environment their learning develops,” says Nigel.

'Often they learn concepts that are normally well beyond their age because they are exposed to them regularly and in different ways.”
Digital media offers opportunities to dynamically explore a number of patterns, creating and manipulating shapes, or looking at data visually with the use of graphs.
'Using spreadsheets and graphs to show patterns and being able to manipulate the data with instant results is a really powerful learning tool,” says Nigel.

'Often students will see a surprising result and then question how the result was reached. It stimulates mathematical thinking.”
Students who have been uncomfortable with mathematical concepts in the past have also found it motivating to learn maths in a new environment, says Nigel.
'The research shows that complementing traditional mathematics learning with digital technologies increases children's motivation and risk taking.

'They are motivated to explore mathematical problems in new and challenging ways.”
The book also offers a range of tasks involving such tools as Google Maps and digital cameras, and considers the ways the nature of classrooms and learning might evolve in the future.
Nigel's research is one of several research projects being conducted in the Bay of Plenty by University of Waikato education lecturers based in Tauranga.