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More and more digital technologies are being integrated into school learning, and one strategy by policymakers to reinforce this trend is employing digital one-to-one approaches. For digital technologies to be fruitfully integrated into school-based learning scenarios, teachers and their anticipations are key. In our study, we want to explore how internal, external and technological factors affect the instructional anticipations of mathematics teachers in a digital one-to-one educational environment. Therefore, we employed a modified model of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Through our structural equation study, in which data from more than 900 mathematics teachers were analyzed, we identified that especially technological and external factors can predict mathematics teachers' instructional anticipations. Findings from our study could be particularly relevant for educational policymakers, informing them about the importance of factors or interventions related to educational technology implementation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Persona development techniques are a well-established method to create relatable descriptions of representatives of target users of digital systems. In the field of education, research on learner characteristics has yielded comprehensive results that can help advance educational approaches. Nonetheless, these results often remain abstract and distant for researchers and practitioners. Personas offer a bridge to make this knowledge more accessible and to facilitate user-centred design processes. This study focuses on creating personas of mathematics school students to ease such accessibility. These personas are constructed based on an understanding of learners' goals, needs, challenges and problems, joys, fears, feelings and emotions, and strategies. Data collection was conducted through a multifaceted approach, encompassing qualitative and quantitative data from web surveys, think-aloud protocols, and interviews. The target demographic comprised upper secondary school mathematics students in Austria. We found five distinct patterns of characteristics prevalent in this target group. The patterns of characteristics reflected by the personas complement the scientific body of knowledge obtained from traditional approaches investigating characteristics and needs of learners. In practical terms, these personas empower the development of user-centred digital systems, learning materials, and lessons, thus fostering an enriched educational experience for mathematics students., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The 21st century allows the use of e-books to substitute printed books in educational context, thereby adapt teaching and learning to the potentialities of our digital era. Several studies examined the effect of mathematics e-books compared to traditional printed books on students' mathematics achievement, however, the results are still inconclusive. Therefore, this research conducted a meta-analysis to determine the effects of mathematics e-books on students' mathematics achievement. This is a quantitative research with data collected from 17 studies with 26 effect sizes (N = 3115) published between 2010 and 2021. The collected data were used to analyze the moderating effects of publication year, sample size, level education, treatment duration and type of e-books on students' mathematics achievement. The result showed that overall using mathematics e-books has a high effect (g = 0.82) on students' mathematics achievement. Furthermore, using e-Books does not affect students' mathematics achievement in year publication and significantly affects the pre-school level, who are more proficient in using technology. Mathematics e-books are more effective when used for less than 4 weeks and also effective when the sample is less than 30 students. There is no significant difference between non-interactive and interactive mathematics e-books. Moreover, this research provided a detailed description of the findings and implications as well as highlighted some suggestions for future studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

The global spread of COVID-19 has resulted in learning and teaching being confronted with immense challenges and changes since spring 2020. Measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic had and continue to have a particularly strong impact on non-formal and informal learning, which are important features of out-of-class on-line STEM workshops combining science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We developed and carried out online STEM workshops for approximately 250 students during times of isolation in the spring and summer of 2020. To identify potential success factors and stumbling blocks for designing and implementing online STEM workshops, we conducted a qualitative interview-based study with a selection of eight experts in the summer and autumn 2020, i.e. after the STEM workshops. The experts were Austrian and German teachers who planned and implemented STEM workshops for students age 10 to 18. Our collected data was examined using techniques of grounded theory approaches. Using techniques of qualitative interview studies and grounded theory approaches, we found that removing learning barriers and creating new types of learning spaces, online socio-constructivist learning, and teachers' TPACK for STEM Workshops are important factors when considering and designing STEM workshops for online learning environments. These same factors will also be central when planning and implementing online STEM workshops in post-COVID-19 times. To facilitate student participation and to increase social interaction are critical elements for practitioners working on online STEM workshops-both during and after COVID-19. Highly trained teachers with in-depth technical, pedagogical, and content skills are essential to facilitate participation and interactions among students, teachers, and learning contents., Competing Interests: Competing interestsAuthors declare that there is no conflict of interest in this article from any of the authors., (© The Author(s) 2021.)