Representing the one left over: a social semiotic perspective of students’ use of screen casting

This paper examines the potential of using screen casting with an iPad to enhance learning in mathematics. Data are presented from two seven-year-old students as they use the Explain Everything app to solve a division with remainder problem (DWR). A social semiotic perspective was used to interpret students’ use of multiple modes as they represented the mathematical ideas within the context of the problem. We consider how a social semiotic perspective has the potential to draw attention to the students’ interests and emerging expressions in representing mathematical relationships. We further consider how the use of representations in the app might relate to student learning.