Emerging Social Engineering in the Wireless Classroom

Code It! fosters mathematics learning environments where pre-algebra students use handheld technologies to confidently and enjoyably explore and learn about functions. The resources we developed—server-based and handheld software and paper-based student and teacher texts—were packaged as a 20-session unit on code making and breaking and designed to boost students’ understanding of mathematical functions and their facility with the multiple representations of tables, graphs and symbols. We field tested the wireless system with two teachers and 120 middle school students during a five week summer school, and conducted studies on the features and function of the technology as a learning and teaching resource. We report on project development and research, focusing on what we learned about the strengths and difficulties of wireless handheld technology in the mathematic classroom, and the emerging social engineering that helped students overcome the technological constraints.