How might multi-touch technology be a powerful aid for preschoolers’ development of numerical abilities?.

Recent developments of educational technology that allow multi-touch interactions have opened new frontiers in the field of education, and in particular of mathematics education. Literature from the fields of neuroscience, developmental psychology, and mathematics education indicate that using fingers for counting and representing numbers, but also using them in more basic ways, can have a positive effect on the development of numerical abilities. The objective of this pilot study was to create and qualitatively test a 30 hour protocol for 4-5 year old children, that might foster effective use of their fingers. Preliminary results indicate that the protocol is well designed and that throughout the intervention children improved their performances with the apps and developed more mature representations of their hands and fingers.