Mathematics Learning Community Flourishes in the Cellular Phone Environment

Abstract

Researchers point at the importance of nourishing learning communities, which do not merely represent congeniality but rather dig deeply into learning. These learning communities are needed in mobile learning environments. In this article, the author examines the building of a community of middle school students who learned mathematics outside the classroom by carrying out real life activities using their cellular phones. The building of the learning community was led by three 3rd year pre-service teachers majoring in mathematics and computers at Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education. The pre-service teachers worked for 12 weeks with 30 8th grade students who then learned mathematics with their cellular phones and were part of a learning community. The research shows that the use of the cellular phone for learning contributed to their learning, their identity, and their sense of community.