Mobile Technologies in Teaching Mathematics

Purpose. The article discusses the use of mobile technologies in teaching mathematics to engineering students. The relevance of the paper is due to the need to introduce new methods and means of teaching in connection with the increasing integration of mobile technologies into all areas of life, the interests and characteristics of the new, networked generation of students, the limited possibilities of using innovative methods and means of teaching mathematics due to the conduct of classes outside the computer lab. Materials and methods. The peculiarity of this study is that the integration of mobile technologies into the process of teaching mathematics is considered as a system of three components: technological, informational and social. The analysis of these components made it possible to obtain answers to research questions: where and how mobile devices should be used when studying mathematics; what mobile applications will provide the most effective learning of the discipline; how to organize the educational process using mobile technologies to increase interest and motivation in learning mathematics. Results. The main reasons for the lack of interest in studying mathematics and low motivation include the high level of abstraction of the discipline and the characteristics of the modern, networked generation of students. Analysis of scientific sources and our own observations made it possible to identify such characteristics as problems with understanding complex and long text, the ability to easily read from a small screen and process information in parallel, the choice of sound and images instead of text, the desire for short-term learning and instant results, and attitude towards mobile devices as vital items. Taking into account the interests and wishes of students, and relying on the didactic capabilities of mobile technologies, the paper proposes mobile applications for studying various topics of a mathematical course, assignment options that help increase motivation, develop group work skills and digital literacy. The importance and effectiveness of using social services for visualizing mathematical concepts and calculation schemes, as well as the WhatsApp messenger for instant messaging between students and receiving timely individual and group consultation from a lecturer, is shown. An important characteristic of the messenger is the presence of video communication. Conclusion. The analysis of scientific literature, the study of the requirements of employers and the interests of the modern, networked generation of students, indicated the need to integrate mobile technologies into the process of teaching mathematics. Working with different groups in terms of both the level of mathematical knowledge and the level of proficiency in mobile technologies made it possible to identify and outline ways to solve the main issues of using mobile technologies in teaching mathematics. With limited time to study mathematics, it is difficult for a lecturer to allocate additional time to present the capabilities and effectiveness of mobile applications. A solution to this issue may be to include a section “Mobile Technologies” in a course related to the study of information and communication technologies. It is noted that group work also contributes to a more effective study of the capabilities and techniques of working with mobile applications.