Multi-Touch Technology and Preschoolers’ Development of Number-Sense

The technology-enhanced development of very young children’s mathematical abilities, apart from some notable exceptions, does not seem to have yet raised a lot of interest within the mathematics education community. This article focuses on the educational potential offered by certain software applications (apps) that exploit affordances of multi-touch devices for fostering preschoolers’ development of number-sense. We introduce theoretical elements derived from recent research in developmental and cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and mathematics education, that concur in defining the aspects of number sense that we will be investigating in relation to specific multi-touch interactions. Our specific research goal is to analyze the multi-touch potential of two apps for fostering preschoolers’ development of those aspects of number sense. The study is based on the analysis of children’s interactions with these apps in the context of a sequence of activities centered on the use of the iPad, carried out in a public preschool in Northern Italy. The specific issue addressed and the perspective adopted position this study at the crossroads between different research fields.