It has been more than a decade since the National Council of Teach-
ers of Mathematics (1991) suggested that technology has the potential "to
enhance and extend mathematics learning and teaching" and that "the most
promising are in the areas of problem posing and problem solving in ac-
tivities that permit students to design their own explorations and create their
own mathematics" (p. 134). Nonetheless, as an extensive search of the lit-
erature indicates, the few existing papers that describe the use of technology
as a medium for problem posing are mostly concerned with the secondary
mathematics education (Abramovich & Brouwer, 2003; Abramovich & Nor-
ton, 2006; Hoyles & Sutherland, 1986; Laborde, 1995; Noss, 1986; Yerush-
almy, Chazan, & Gordon, 1993).
This article attempts to extend current research and development activi-
ties related to the use of technology in problem posing, to mathematics edu-
cation in early grades. It has been motivated by the authors' work with el-
ementary preservice teachers (referred to as teachers) toward this goal, both
at the graduate and undergraduate levels, using a resource guide (New York
State Education Department, 1998) that provides guidance to districts and
schools in New York for structuring local curricula and instruction. This cur-
riculum document focuses on using open-ended problems with young chil-
dren, something that requires special skills by the teachers. These skills may
include the ability to use computers as cognitive amplifiers in exploring the
open-ended nature of appropriate mathematical situations. In an open-ended
environment of a technology-enhanced classroom, one can expect young
children to ask unforeseen questions about familiar concepts. This, in turn,
has a potential for learning to become a reciprocal process (Confrey, 1995;
Steffe, 1991). Apparently, the implementation of such a dynamic perspective
on the learning of mathematics begins with the preparation of teachers.
It should be noted that to make technology integration into a quality
teacher education program a success, one has to make right decisions re-
garding the choice of software involved. One type of software, which for
more than two decades has gained widespread recognition as an exploratory
tool, is a spreadsheet (Baker & Sugden, 2003). Designed originally for non-
educational purposes, a spreadsheet may be conceptualized in educational
terms as a combination of an electronic blackboard and electronic chalk
(Power, 2000). Thus, it came as no surprise that the Principles and Stan-
dards for School Mathematics (National Council of Teachers of Mathemat-
ics, 2000) recommended that spreadsheets be used with children as early as
in grades 3-5. In support of such a recommendation, several authors report-
ed successful uses of spreadsheets with young children, as well as with their
future teachers in various grade-appropriate contexts (Abramovich, 2003;
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 311
Abramovich, Stanton, & Baer, 2002; Ainley, 1995; Drier, 1999, 2001). This
article introduces spreadsheet-based environments to be used both with the
teachers and their students in the context of situated addition and subtrac-
tion as a medium for both problem posing and problem solving. It focuses
on multiple issues, both practical and theoretical, associated with the use of
technology as a scaffolding device for teachers' open-ended problem posing
experiences as well as young children's ability to explore that type of prob-
lem. As will be shown, problem posing, by definition, includes a problem-
solving phase as an important part.
* Does the problem have only one correct answer? Why or why not?
* Would an answer to this question be different if Michael and Tara
were allowed to exchange coins?
* Having the same amount of money but in different coins, could Mi-
chael and Tara not find a solution to this problem?
312 Abramovich and Cho
"* Does the answer to the previous question depend on the rules of ac-
tion involved?
"* If Michael and Tara each have two coins, what are the coins that al-
low equal sharing? Does this question have one and only one answer,
both in terms of rules of action and coins involved?
"* Given the amounts of money each of them have, what is the mini-
mum number of coins that can be used to solve this money-sharing
problem?
"* For which combination of coins could Tara share money with Mi-
chael so that after sharing, Tara still has twice (three, four, five, etc.
times) as much money as Michael?
"MM~l.MMIW sx.m~ ~O
3 108 [6 60 48, EQ1LALV
Eraser
;: ,..N L, um..er
names of the coins without any clues. To solve the problems, one has to
know and identify the values, names, and images of individual coins. Thus,
MW-2 (as well as MW 3) has the potential to contribute to one's basic un-
derstanding of the values and images of coins as well as to the development
of problem solving skills.
[ý R- ýC , -r7r -,-41T
10 4 J
F. 1
Figure 4.Twelve ways to change quarter
Technology as a Medium for Elementary'Preteachers' 319
Sarah was on her way to class and decided she was thirsty.
Upon finding a soda machine, she saw that it would cost her
80 cents to buy a drink. In her pocket she has nickels, dimes,
and quarters. How many ways can she use her change to pur-
chase her soda?
The teacher goes on to explain how one can solve this problem through
a system:
First, we should see how many times we could subtract 25
from 80. Secondly, we could see how many times we could
320 Abramovich and Cho
Concluding Remarks
One of the hidden messages of teacher education is that the way teach-
ers learn affects the way that they will teach. This is especially true for
mathematics teacher education. Many efforts of mathematics education re-
form are aimed at the development of new intellectual activities in support
of classroom pedagogy enhanced by constructivist applications of educa-
tional technology. As this article has demonstrated, spreadsheet-based envi-
ronments have the potential to be used by teachers for posing and solving
grade appropriate problems. By being engaged in these activities, teachers
learn to use technology for constructing worthwhile extensions of the exist-
ing curriculum.
Although the experience in technology-enabled mathematical problem
posing is a relatively new pedagogical notion, being grounded in profes-
sional standards for teaching, it has the potential to enhance significantly
early childhood teacher preparation course work. It provides teachers with
research-like skills in the development of instructional materials for early
childhood mathematics. Such skills are critical for making intelligent deci-
sions under the demands of standards-based curricula.
Note that basic familiarity with a spreadsheet is often treated as one
of the components of computer literacy. That is why the software can be
construed as a new generation of educational technology, the utilization of
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 321
References
Yerushalmy, M., Chazan, D., & Gordon, M. (1993). Posing problems: One as-
pect of bringing inquiry into classrooms. In J. L. Schwartz, M. Yerushalmy,
& B. Wilson (Eds.), The geometric supposer: What is it a case of? (pp. 117-
142). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Note