Dialogical interactions mediated by technology in mathematics education

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of a research[1] that integrates Digital Interactive Storytelling (DIST), competence-oriented mathematical activities, and argumentation called DIST-M. The general aim is to support a reflective knowledge of mathematical concepts by implementing a digital educational device based on collaborative and dialogical activities proposed by researchers. Within a dialogical dimension of interactions (Bakhtin, 1981), argumentative practice is considered a social activity, where the acquisition and elaboration of new knowledge take place within a social space with multiple interlocutors in a dynamic process. The participants are engaged in constructing and negotiating mathematical meanings within a specific context. This dialogical approach to argumentation tends to create an authentic argumentative culture that is a system of implicit and explicit rules where the exchanges and interactions among participants require a joint elaboration of new meanings, within a given mathematical context, through a dialogical exchange. Learning and development result from a dialogical negotiation process during which new knowledge is developed and those already possessed are re-organized and systematized (Bakhtin, 1981; Vygotskij, 1978). In the current pandemic circumstances, technologies are the main tools to uphold the educational processes. Despite the fact that the DIST-M was implemented and tested before the Covid-19 era, its epistemic bases of dialogism mediated by technology could significantly keep alive the dialogic interaction in educational settings that have been heavily affected by the social distancing and promote mathematical thinking. The articles focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal n. 4,” Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
 
 [1] The research is funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research under the National Project “Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics: a competence-based social approach”, PRIN 2015, Prot. 20155NPRA5.