Universal design for Learning as a context for embedding technology in Primary School mathematics

In this cross-border comparative study, 29 Postgraduate Certificate in Education students in Northern Ireland and 28 final year Bachelor of Education students in the Republic of Ireland were given a questionnaire to assess their baseline Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge for teaching mathematics (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). A teaching intervention followed in which students engaged in modules on mathematics education, digital learning and assessment, as part of their compulsory studies in Initial Teacher Education. What was novel with the approach taken, was that the students were introduced to the educational framework, Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2000) in order to successfully integrate all three modules and to embed technology in planning mathematics lessons. The students undertook school placement where technology was an integral part of planning to support children’s mathematical understanding through providing multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement (CAST, n.d.). After this, the students retook the questionnaire. Findings show that by embedding the three key principles of Universal Design in Initial Teacher Education modules; multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement; an ideal context is provided for which to develop students’ Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge for teaching mathematics in the primary school classroom.