Supporting Teachers in the Creation of Animations and Applets through Leveraging Content Knowledge

The integration of animations and applets in mathematics education has been widely recognized for its potential to enhance learning. Despite the growing number of free resources such as Desmos and GeoGebra, instructors often find that these tools do not fully meet their specific pedagogical needs. This manuscript explores the benefits of implementing a short unit focused on training teachers to create their own animations and applets. In particular, this study emphasizes the importance of Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) and the reciprocal relationship between an individual’s content understanding and the capabilities of existing technology, namely Desmos Graphing Calculator. This study’s findings demonstrate how engaging teachers with graphing technologies through their mathematical understandings can both deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts and enhance their ability to leverage technology in the classroom.