Touches on Screen as New Signs in Blended Ways to Think Mathematically

This study demonstrates how manipulations on the screen can play an important role in students’ cognitive development. Specifically, it analyzes Brazilian high school students solving a task concerning isometry in an environment designed to improve mathematics learning with touchscreen mobile devices. The data include videotapes, written answers, icon sheets, and screen recordings. Results suggest including touches on screen as a resource in the semiotic bundle. With the advancement of mobile technologies and the increase of online courses, a contribution of this study to the blended learning literature is investigating the design of learning environments that take touchscreen in task design and other instruction processes into account.