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PRE-MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT
OF CHILDREN BASED ON COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES
IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFELONG EDUCATION
G. E. Djanpeisova
This article reveals the content of a computer program and the methods of its use in children's mathematical development.
Key words: mathematics education, computer software, pre-school children, continuous education.
One of the tasks of modern education is to form children’s cognitive skills and abilities. The content and methods of preparing the thinking of preschool children for studying at school, and in particular pre-mathematical training, are focused on solving this task. Pre-mathematical preparation of children can be represented by two closely interrelated educational blocks: (a) preparation of children's thinking for methods of reasoning used in mathematics - actually, premathematical preparation, consisting in the formation of elementary mathematical concepts; (b) preparation of children beyond the scope of preparation for the study of mathematics by developing their cognitive abilities, particularly, their thinking and speech. New content of the process of studying the elements of mathematics by preschoolers suggests new methods and techniques for their training. This entails a significant expansion of the educational means by which the formation of elementary mathematical concepts is made, as well as development of children’s necessary practical skills. Computer software is one of the efficient means of training and development. Research aimed at studying the features of computer technology used in preschool didactics proves conclusively not only the possibility and desirability of this, but also the special role of the computer in the development of a child’s intellect and personality as a whole.
In Uzbekistan, within the framework of the project “Education focused on the child's personality”, joint work is carried out between the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, in order to improve the training of children and their preparation for school, and introducing advanced training methods and modern information and communication technologies into this process.
Considering the requirements for the development of software tools designed for preschool children (design of screen tools, methods of their transformation, means of interaction of preschool children with a computer, etc.), as well as taking into account the program materials in the context of mathematical education of the preschool children, software named “Introduction to geometry” was developed (ages: 4-7 years old). This software consists of a number of subprograms: (a) the sub-program "Getting to know figures” (gives the names of geometric figures and shapes, their properties, and develops the ability to correctly find the desired figure in the group of figures, the ability to distinguish it from other figures, and to group figures; and the ability to explain one’s actions); (b) the subprogram “Paint over the figures” (its purpose is to consolidate knowledge about the properties and attributes of geometric figures; to develop spatial concepts; to
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develop the ability to make figural representations of geometric shapes according to the proposed sample); (c) the sub-program “Find the missing piece” (its purpose is to teach visually and mentally how to analyze a series of figures or objects, to see the mathematical regularity in their construction; to find the missing piece of the several proposed pieces; to develop logical thinking) and other subprograms. A test-game for the examination and consolidation of the studied materials completes each subprogram.
The contents of the subprograms are combined by the game situations and characters; their presentation is based on the following stages of interaction between a teacher and children: (1) developing elements of information culture for the development of a game situation; (2) mathematical development at the reproductive level; (3) mathematical development at the partial search level (correlation of visual images of the geometrical figure or body with its name; independent correlation of the shape of objects with the geometrical standard, etc.); (4) mathematical development at the creative level (independent choice of the object of study and its location in space, preparation of a story based on a certain picture). Each lesson with the use of training subprograms includes several types of activities, changing each other (a chat, a computer game, individual game tasks, design).
“Introduction to geometry” computer software, being a means of children’s mathematical development, becomes more important because of the following features: first of all, its focus on the formation of adequate self-esteem of children, mediated by the presence of prospects of development and its relation to the actual existing state of a human being in the micro society; secondly, the virtual reality of the computer environment, created for interactive logical-mathematical training of preschool children, not only sets a pedagogically sound prospect for a child’s development, but also enhances the child’s social status in the real social environment; thirdly, the formation of ideas about computers as a means of exploring the world of mathematics.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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