Informatics in Education

This article presents an experience report regarding the application of an Inclusive Model of Development of Accessible Learning Objects, in the Mathematics discipline, to help 8th year Elementary School children, to perform calculations with natural numbers. The Learning Object was developed using Scratch and accessibility guidelines to include students with disabilities. The model evaluated the learning, teaching, usability, and accessibility of objects. The results demonstrate the efficiency, interaction and improvement in students' performance in Mathematics, through the use of objects in the teaching and learning process.

The paper focuses on the parallels, which are rooted in the simultaneous development of mathematics and informatics. Both mathematics and informatics are based on problem-solving. However, the approaches to determining problems, solution techniques and interpretation of results are different. The paper shows different approaches of mathematics and informatics for solving a simple problem from the informatics competition. It was presented for students, who would be future informatics teachers, and it has become the beginning of the discovery of unexpected relationships and rules' chain, the source of successive tasks, and various methods of their solution. The paper brings the results of the constructivist teaching of students in the form of a fictional interview of mathematician and informatician. Fictional cooperation of a mathematician and an informatician in analysing and solving problems will allow for a detailed analysis and comparison of both fields, which will lead to determining both common and different elements.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education provide a new learning environment where the student builds his own knowledge, allowing his visualization and experimentation. This study evaluated the Geogebra software in the learning process of Calculus. It was observed that the proposed activities helped in the graphical interpretation of the covered content.

With the advance of information and communications technologies, new teaching tools are becoming more pervasive. These tools can be utilized in a variety of ways to improve and enhance math teaching. Considering the integration of technology in teaching mathematics, it is clear that the replacement of board and chalk with digital presentation material does not cover all the aspects of the mathematic subjects. One of the important prerequisites for quality of integration technology into mathematics teaching is the teacher's personality, i.e. knowledge, willingness and desire to improve his/her lessons bringing mathematics closer to the present generations of pupils.

Two years ago the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Sofia University makes a decision to design a new series of Logo-based courses which make use of the modern technology. The pedagogical component of the challenge is to design a multidisciplinary course suitable for students with different skills and interests. From a development perspective the challenge is to build an entirely new one. And finally the course must be attractive regardless of the seriousness and complexity of the topics included in it.