Inclusive maths lessons: digital practice for children with SEN
How children with special educational needs can practise maths digitally in inclusive classes, with adapted difficulty and the same content as the class.
In short: In inclusive maths lessons, children with special educational needs work on the same topic as the class wherever possible, with their own goal, their own number range and suitable materials. Digital practice can help here if the difficulty adapts to the child and little reading and writing is required. In Mazio Math, the difficulty adapts to each child’s previous work, even when the whole class is working on the same unit. If the gap is very large, the child also needs their own materials.
This article is for teachers in inclusive classes who want to include children with special educational needs in maths. It shows what learning towards different goals on a shared topic can look like and where digital practice fits.
Different goals, shared topic
The project Mathematik inklusiv mit PIKAS describes the aim of learning maths together as the participation of all children in lessons. What matters is a balance between individualisation and shared learning situations. So wherever it can be avoided, children with special educational needs should not work on entirely different content alongside the class.
An example from the PIKAS module “Zieldifferent lernen im gemeinsamen Mathematikunterricht” (learning towards different goals in shared maths lessons) shows how this can work. A grade 3 class is practising column addition. Using digit cards, the children look for addition calculations with a total of 1000, as cleverly as possible. One child with special educational needs in the area of learning is not yet secure with numbers up to 20. This child is asked to find all addition calculations with a total of 10, using a twenty frame and two-colour counters. The demand is similar, namely finding all solutions systematically, in a different number range. In the closing round, the child can present their results like everyone else.
Building blocks for lessons
| Building block | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Shared topic | Everyone works on the same content | Partitioning, finding complements, patterns |
| Own number range | The child calculates in the range they have mastered | Total of 10 instead of total of 1000 |
| Materials | Hands-on work before calculating | Twenty frame, rekenrek, counters |
| Changing representations | Connecting action, picture and number | Laying out counters, drawing, writing as a calculation |
| Little reading | Instructions with pictures and short sentences | Symbol cards for “lay out”, “draw”, “calculate” |
| Sharing | Presenting results to the class | Maths conference, closing round |
| Support plan | Agreeing goals with the special needs teacher | Termly goal “secure with number bonds to 10” |
Where digital practice helps and where it does not
Digital practice can help children with special educational needs when a child needs a lot of repetition, the feedback comes immediately and the difficulty suits the child. It reaches its limits when there is a lot of text to read, when a child needs to act with real materials, or when the gap to the class’s content is very large. When choosing, look at these questions:
- Does the difficulty adapt, and can I set it myself if needed?
- How much does the child have to read and write?
- Can the child work on the same topic as the class?
- Are results presented in a way that does not invite comparison with other children?
How Mazio Math helps
Mazio Math is a learning platform for primary maths lessons. You put content on your class board, and all the children work on it. The difficulty adapts to each child’s previous work. What counts is more than whether an answer is correct. Mazio Math also takes into account which errors a child makes, for example the first-attempt success rate and recurring error types. Even when all the children have the same unit, as a rule no two children work on exactly the same tasks.
Grade 2 content in grades 3 and 4: On the shelf, you choose the grade under “Grade”, including grade 2. You decide which content you use in which class. Bear in mind that content on the board applies to the whole class. For most children in a grade 3 class, a Basiscamp sub-world on bridging ten is revision. Children who are confident get through it quickly, and the Basiscamp remembers for each child which task types they have already mastered.
Setting the difficulty per child: In the class settings, under “Difficulty level”, you choose between “Pupils choose”, “Adaptive (automatic)” and “Individual (set by teacher)”. With “Individual”, you give each child a fixed difficulty. Under “Task types”, you switch off individual types in the Knobelbox.
Tapping instead of writing: The tasks are interactive. Children reflect shapes, find rectangles or read diagrams directly on the tablet. If a child makes a mistake, the learning assistant Mazio helps directly in the task, with a question, with markings in the picture and, if needed, with a given partial step. Mazio does not give the solution. Tasks and questions contain text. Children who can barely read yet need support with this.
Accessibility: Mazio Math follows the EN 301 549 standard and the WCAG web guidelines at level AA and tests against them internally. This does not involve certification.
Results without comparing children: Children only see their own learning progress, never that of other children. Mazio Math has no leaderboards. The class picture, which places the class on expectation bands, is switched off by default. If you switch it on, you can exclude individual children beforehand, for example children who are learning towards different goals. The evaluations are not intended for grading.
Example from grade 3: The class is practising the times tables. On the board is a Basiscamp sub-world from the world “Multiplying and Dividing”, set to grade 3. A child with special educational needs in the area of learning first works with the special needs teacher on equal groups using a dot array. The child then works on the same sub-world on the tablet, and the difficulty adapts to their previous work. In the closing round, the child presents a multiplication they have laid out with counters.
Next step: The article how tasks in learning software adapt to the child explains how adaptation in learning software works. The content available for grades 1 and 2 is listed under Maths in grades 1 and 2 (in German). Mazio Math for teachers shows what Mazio Math offers teachers, and Mazio Math in the classroom shows routines for the lesson.
Frequently asked questions
How do children with special educational needs in the area of learning practise maths digitally?
On the same topic as the class wherever possible, in a number range they have mastered, and after a phase with materials. Digital practice is suitable for repetition with immediate feedback. What matters is adapted difficulty and little reading.
Can I give a child with special educational needs easier tasks in Mazio Math?
In the Mazio Math app, yes. Under “Difficulty level”, choose “Individual (set by teacher)” and give each child a fixed difficulty. On the web platform, you cannot set a fixed difficulty per child; there, the difficulty adapts to the child’s previous work.
What does learning towards different goals mean in maths lessons?
It means that a child works on a shared topic with their own learning goal, which is set out in their support plan. For example, the class looks for calculations with a total of 1000, and the child looks for calculations with a total of 10.