Ict and the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

8/6/2019 Ict and the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

1/12

1

ICT AND THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS IN

MALAWI: EXPERIENCES AND PROSPECTS

Mercy Kazima and Mark Winter

Abstract

Use of ICT in Malawi schools is very limited because of a number of factors

including lack of availability, lack of or poor infrastructure, large class sizes

and lack of teacher knowledge and skills in ICT. However, efforts are being

made to improve the situation and there are some prospects, such as,

governments commitment to ICT and non-governmental organisations support

towards provision and use of ICT in Malawi schools. Despite the limitations,

some schools have and make use of ICT in their teaching of mathematics.

However, the use is often limited to computations. In this paper we discuss these

issues and focus particularly on teacher knowledge and support. We also make

some suggestions on how best to utilise the ICT available in Malawi schools for

effective teaching and learning of mathematics.

INTRODUCTION

The shift from traditional teaching to use of ICT in mathematics classrooms has

been a major concern for many countries for the past two decades. Efforts frommany developed and developing countries in ICT use in Mathematics have been

documented. ICT policies have been developed to suggest that there is

commitment to this endeavor. A comparative study done by Idris (2005), has

revealed that countries such as Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia,

and Philippines had developed their policies on ICT with the objective to

upgrading mathematics teacher competencies to improving the quality of

teaching and learning of mathematics. The South African government made a

similar commitment as evident in their e-Education policy whose ultimate goal

was the realization of ICT-capable managers, educators and learners by 2013.The policy states that:

Every South African manager, teacher and learner in the general and

further education and training bands will be ICT capable (that is, use

ICTs confidently and creatively to help develop the skills and knowledge

they need as lifelong learners to achieve personal goals and to be full

participants in the global community) by 2013.

(Department of Education South Africa, 2004: 17)

As a response to this policy, Community Education Computer Society (CECS)trained more than eleven senior secondary or high school teachers based in


2/12

2

Gauteng Province in 2006 and 2007. Mathematics teachers were equipped with

skills and knowledge to use a word-processing program to develop resources,

like test and exam papers or assignments which incorporate formulae and

complex diagrams such as hyperbolas, quadratic and cubic functions (CECS,

2007).

Malawi however, adopted its ICT policy in 2009. Though it does not

specifically suggest the integration of technology in mathematics instruction, it

makes commitment to use of ICTs across the Malawi education system. It

states:

Academic institutions at all levels will play a very strategic role in the

implementation of the ICT Policy. In particular, they will be involved in

all educational matters related to teaching, research and development,

facilitated by and facilitating ICT in all relevant fields.

Ministry ofInformation and Civic Education (2009 : 21)

To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies to suggest whether teachers

in Malawi have been trained or oriented to prepare them for its implementation.

The issue of technology, in particular use of computers, in mathematics

classrooms is relatively a new approach as evident in many ICT policies.

Literature has shown that the ICT integration in mathematics instruction can be

used to create an effective learning environment because it is interactive and can

help students visualize abstract concepts, for example, graph shifts and threedimensional figures. Studies done in Malawi (Isaacs, 2007), in Botswana

(Kaino, 2002) and in Malaysia (Rahman, Ghazali and Ismail, 2003) support this

claim.

Furthermore, studies have shown the important role teachers play in

implementing education policies. This information is very important because it

makes us realize that teacher knowledge and support is crucial in making use of

technology in teaching mathematics. For instance, in an attempt to encourageteachers of mathematics in Malaysia to integrate ICT in teaching and learning

mathematics, Rahman et al, (2003) found that student teachers perception

about problem solving in mathematics actually changed with the use of ICT.

Most importantly, it changed the way the teachers seethe problems and devise

ways of teaching mathematical problem solving using technology in order to

offer new and powerful learning environment for future generations. However,

it is imperative to evaluate whether ICTs do achieve desired outcomes and to

what degree perception and reality align. As Tolani-Brown, McCormac and

Zimmermann (2009) argue; the perception of ICT impacts among stakeholders


3/12

3

is mostly positive and whether ICTs can meet these expectations is dependent

upon how such programmes are implemented.

However, as reported by Jaffer, Ngambi and Czerniewicz (2007) smooth

implementation of ICT policies in many countries was faced with a myriad ofchallenges due to unpreparedness, multilingualism, and large class sizes among

others. The study which was conducted in South Africa where there are eleven

official languages, observed that students from disadvantaged educational

backgrounds were ill-prepared compared to their counterparts from privileged

backgrounds. Furthermore, students that were subjected to a switch from local

language use at home to English language use as a medium of instruction in

schools were disadvantaged. A study by Czerniewicz, Ravjee and Mlitwa

(2005) on higher education access to, and use of, computers in five South

African universities found that 39% of respondents, students and academic staff,

spoke English as a home language while 61% spoke other languages. The

situation in Malawi could be worse than this since 80% of Malawi population

live in the rural areas where use of local languages as a medium of

communication is dominant (NSO, 2009).

A World Bank report (Ottevange et al, 2007), drawn from a study in Sub-

Sahara African countries also revealed a number of huge challenges in Science,

Mathematics and ICT education including poorly resourced schools; large

classes; curricula not really relevant to the daily lives of students; lack of

qualified teachers; and inadequate teacher education programmes. Unless thesechallenges are fully addressed, successful implementation of the well

intentioned ICT policies would be a farfetched dream.

In this paper we present the situation in Malawi regarding the use of technology

in school mathematics classrooms. We discuss the limitations that schools face

in making use of technology, and the prospects that are there for Malawi

schools. We also discuss the type of use that is common in mathematics

classrooms where the technology is available. We argue for enrichment of

teachers skills of the technology, teachers knowledge of the potential oftechnology, and support for teachers as they use it in school mathematics

classrooms. We emphasize the crucial role that teacher education, both pre-

service and in-service, can play to equip and support mathematics teachers.

ICT AND THE SCHOOL MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

The Malawi primary school mathematics curriculum has no specific mention of

any type of ICT in teaching and learning any of the mathematics topics, let

alone use of calculators during national examinations at the end of primaryschooling. However, this does not mean that where available ICT cannot be


4/12

4

used to support teaching and learning of mathematics. The infiltration of a

variety of technologies in many families in the form of toys, video games,

calculators, cell phones and television provides a platform for technology-aided

learning among children. With experience drawn from such basic technologies,

children at primary school may not find it difficult to use ICTs in mathematicsclassrooms.

The secondary school mathematics curriculum on the other hand specifically

mentions the hand held calculator as a tool to support the teaching and learning

of mathematics. The scientific calculator is particularly encouraged to be used

for topics such as trigonometry and logarithms. The national examinations in

mathematics at junior certificate level and Malawi schools certificate level, both

allow calculators to be used by candidates. This encourages schools to make use

of calculators in their teaching of mathematics where possible. Unlike the

calculator, there is no specific mention of computer as a tool in teaching and

learning mathematics or for solving mathematical problems. With the ICT

policy in place, we recommend that mathematics curricula be updated to

incorporate use of ICTs in classrooms where possible. ICT use needs to be

clearly spelt out so that teachers are encouraged to use in their teaching. It

should also be clear to teachers how to use the technology in the classroom, for

example, technology used in mathematics classrooms must be user-friendly to

all learners including those with special needs. Technology needs to be gender

sensitive, both males and females must have equal access to technology used.

ICT AND SCHOOL MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS

The mathematics classroom

The teaching of mathematics in most primary schools does not make use of any

kind of ICT in the classroom. The relatively few schools that might use ICT in

teaching mathematics would be private schools. Most of government or

government aided primary schools have serious limitations such that use of ICT

is not possible. The limitations will be discussed later in the section. Secondaryschools on the other hand seem to see ICT as a necessary tool to support the

teaching and learning mathematics. However, the ICT is mostly limited to

scientific and ordinary calculators. The relatively wider use of calculators in

secondary schools has been a result of the mathematics national examinations

allowing calculators. While this was a positive development, it has also resulted

in the use of calculators in mathematics classrooms to be limited to

computations only. For example, using the calculator for basic arithmetic

operations that would otherwise take a long time to do with paper and pencil

such as 3.176 x 673.918 or converting experimental probability in fraction formto decimal or percentage form, using scientific calculator to find the


5/12

5

trigonometric ratios of given angles such as sine 67o, tan 39

o, cosine 132

oor

finding the natural logarithms of numbers such as log 57 and log 935. Our

observation of mathematics lessons in secondary schools has noticed only this

use of calculatorsas a calculating tool where manual paper and pencil would

take too much time, or as a faster way of obtaining mathematical values thanusing tables such as trig tables and log tables. We have not observed use of

calculators to teach a concept. For example, using the simple ordinary calculator

to teach number patterns and sequences. This we believe is due to the teachers

ideas of what the calculators are for in the mathematics classroom.

Computers in schools are very limited. The majority of primary schools do not

have computers. For secondary schools, many of those that do have computers

have limited numbers, insufficient for both and teachers. In such cases the

computers are kept in the staff room and never really used for teaching and

learning directly in the classroom. The use could be that of teachers preparing

worksheets before lessons or producing some teaching aid which would have

been difficult to do without the aid of a computer. We conducted a small scale

survey at selected secondary schools in Blantyre and Zomba, the two cities

closest to us, and found the following.

Table 1: Availability and use of ICT in selected secondary schools

School No. of

students

No. of

calculatorsowned byschool

No. of

computersowned byschool

Usage Training on

ICT use inmath

Ratio of

computertostudents

1 650 0 26 Not used in

math teaching

No training

1:25


math teaching

No training 1:83

3 918 20 16 Not used in

math teaching

2 trained

1:57


math teaching

Not oriented

1:25

5 1200 0 12 Not used in

math teaching

Not oriented

1:100


math teaching

2 Oriented

1:14


math teaching

No training

1:188 360 30 9 Not used in 1 oriented 1:40


6/12

6

math teaching

This survey has shown that almost all the schools visited do not have calculators

for learners, and those that have calculators indicated that they were forteachers use only. This means that students must buy their own calculators for

use during mathematics lessons as well as doing their homework. The survey

also revealed that only about three-quarters of the students were able to afford a

calculator. This implies that about one-quarter relies on borrowing or sharing

with friends. From table 1, it is clear that out of eight schools, four (representing

50%) do not have calculators, even for teacher use. Teachers who were

interviewed from these schools revealed that they borrow calculators from their

friends and/or relatives. This might have a negative impact on teacher

preparation and practice.

The situation in terms of computer availability is very alarming. From the

schools visited, it is clear that the best scenario is where a school had 25

computers against 350 students representing a ratio of 1 computer to 14

students. The worst scenario is where a school had 12 computers against 1200

students representing a ratio of 1 computer to 100 students. Thus on average,

the ratio of computers to students is approximately 1:36. Even though schools

have computers, none of the computers are used in mathematics teaching and

learning. We have also observed in this survey that only three out of eight

schools visited had teachers who were trained or oriented in ICT use in

mathematics instruction. The training or orientation was limited to excel and

internet only. However, their knowledge and skills are not put into practice due

to the following reasons: (i) school administrators do not allow mathematics

teachers to access computers except in situations where they want to prepare a

test or examination, (ii) teachers felt that ICT use in mathematics instruction

needs a lot of time which is not provided for in the curricula and (iii) teachers

are compelled to teach only those skills that are examined in national

mathematics examinations.

Limitations

There are a number of limitations that cause this limited use of ICT in

mathematics classrooms both in primary and secondary schools; these include

unavailability, infrastructure, class sizes and teacher knowledge. Unavailability

is a major problem. Government schools cannot afford to purchase computers

or calculators, let alone connecting computers to the internet due to the limited

funding that they get every year. The schools priority is often in the basic

resources such as books and chalk, and which they do not seem to afford much.

There is need therefore for Government to increase funding allocation to this


7/12

7

effort so that schools are able to meet their demands in terms of hardware,

software and stationery.

Infrastructure is another major limitation because even if the technology were

available, for some schools they would not be able to utilize them. This isbecause many schools, especially those in rural areas, do not have electricity

and so computers cannot be used. For schools which have electricity, many

classrooms have no power sockets on any of its walls because the electricity

was designed only for lighting purposes. In such schools therefore they require

either a special computer room where sockets are installed, and the computers

can be used or to install power sockets in all classrooms. The danger with the

later is vandalism which seems to be common because most classrooms are

dilapidated and so cannot be securely locked outside teaching hours. The idea of

having a computer room is possible for secondary schools but would be difficult

for primary schools which often do not have enough space for all its classes. It

is common to find some of the classes in schools without a classroom and using

open space under trees as classrooms.

Large class sizes, is yet another limitation. The average class size in Malawi

primary school is 101 learners for urban and 114 learners for rural schools

(Ministry of Education, 2008). However, we have observed classes of up to 180

learners in one class and with one teacher. Teaching such large class sizes using

computers where available would require other resources such as a data

projector so that all learners might see what is on the computer screen. Manysecondary schools also have large classes of 60 learners and more. In such cases

a data projector would also be necessary if only one computer is used in the

classroom for demonstration by the teacher. If a computer room is available at

the school then the teacher would have to split the class to fit into the computer

room. This would be advisable but teachers might find it too demanding since

they would have to teach two or more times and also make arrangements for the

other group of learners while one group is in the computer room.

Probably the most severe limitation is lack of teacher knowledge. We say thisbecause even if all the above limitations were not experienced, lack of teacher

knowledge on how to use the ICT in teaching mathematics would limit their

use. In order for teachers to be able to use calculators, computers and other ICT

available to them for teaching mathematics, they need to know how these can be

used. Unfortunately the situation for many mathematics teachers in primary

school is that they do not have the basic knowledge about computers or

scientific and graphic calculators. Secondary school teachers are not that better

equipped either, many mathematics teachers have knowledge of scientific

calculators but not the graphic calculator. Knowledge of computer is oftenlimited to basic computer literacy and use of word processing programmes.


8/12

8

Teacher knowledge on possible use of ICT in teaching and learning

mathematical concepts other than only as tools for calculations is important. For

example where available, use for computer spreadsheets such as Excel to

simulate probability experiments of random outcomes such as tossing coins or

rolling dice, makes it possible to generate thousands of trials within a fewminutes which is not possible to do manually in the limited lesson time.

From the survey carried out in the eight secondary schools, we noted that only

five teachers were qualified to use ICT in mathematics classrooms. Since the

study was done in the urban setting, we expect the situation to be worse among

schools in the rural areas. In view of this, more teachers (both pre-service and

in-service) need to be trained on how to handle technologically oriented

mathematics classrooms to meet the high demand in schools across the country.

PROVISION FOR TEACHER SUPPORT ON ICT USE IN

MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION

Integration of ICT in mathematical instruction can hardly be achieved without

teacher support on ICT. This support starts with teacher training/orientation to

provision of teaching and learning resources in the schools. Many countries

have developed deliberate policies that support integration of ICT in

mathematics instruction. They have also invested a lot of financial and material

resources in the same. For instance the government of Malaysia spent 978.7

million Ringgit in the year 2003 to purchase notebook computers, data

projectors and other related equipment to implement ICT use in mathematics

instruction (Keong et al., 2005). However successful integration of ICT into the

mathematics curriculum depends on knowledge of the existing hardware and

software used by mathematics teachers. The commonly used hardware in

mathematical instruction are hand-held calculators, graphic calculators and

computers.

Though hand-held calculators have been used in mathematical instruction for along time in Malawi in almost all secondary schools, most students are still

struggling to fully utilise the scientific calculator technology. Many students

enrolled in science programmes at university of Malawi, for instance, have

displayed some deficiencies in the use of calculators, thereby under-using the

resource.

Mathematics is often communicated through symbols, and mathematical

symbols are quite abstract for many pupils. Hence, it is necessary to teach

mathematics using multiple modes of representation, e.g., words, numbers,diagrams, graphs, and concrete manipulatives. As observed by Clements and


9/12

9

McMillen (1999), manipulatives on computers help pupils to develop

visualization of abstract concepts. Mathematics teachers therefore need to

intervene frequently as part of the instruction process to help students focus on

the underlying mathematical ideas and to help build bridges from the students

work with the computers to their corresponding work with mathematicalsymbols or actions.

Mathematics teachers in Malawi get their professional support from teacher

education colleges, their work places (schools) and private sector. The ICT

support that teachers get is outlined below.

Teacher Education College Support

Almost all teacher education institutions in Malawi have computer laboratories

for the students. The computers are often used for word processing of

assignments, emails, internet and other general use but not really for teaching

and learning in classrooms. A random survey conducted at University of

Malawi and Domasi College of Education, which are main training institutions

of secondary school mathematics teachers, revealed that student teachers are not

officially oriented on how they can use computers as well as hand-held

calculators as an aid in mathematics teaching and learning during their training.

However, Heads of departments that were interviewed in the colleges all agreed

that integration of ICT in mathematics instruction would be a move towards the

right direction. Some suggested a review of their teacher education curricula to

accommodate use of ICT.

In an interview with final year mathematics education students at the University

of Malawi, it was observed that orientation on ICT was very crucial in their

career since mathematics instruction and use of technology could not be

separated. They cited a number of mathematical problems that require very long

algorithms to solve which computers could do in seconds thereby saving time,

e.g. trigonometry and matrices. They expressed concern that resisting to

embracing ICT in mathematics teacher education programs defeats the whole

purpose of producing highly qualified mathematics teachers that become anessential resource in the implementation of mathematics and science programs.

Interestingly the examples of use of ICT that the students gave were all

calculations. This emphasizes the point we made earlier that teacher knowledge

is crucial to realizing the wide potential of ICT in mathematics classrooms.

School support

For a long time, secondary schools in Malawi have been provided with hand-

held calculators to be used by students in mathematics and science. However,

some of these gadgets have been misused and stolen by delinquent studentsthereby forcing school administrators to stop issuing the calculators to students.


10/12

10

The situation for many schools now is that students buy their own calculators

for use.

Though inadequate, computers are available in many secondary schools with

the assistance from the private sector that donate the machines to students insecondary schools. Schools that do not have power (electricity or solar) are

disadvantaged in the sense that even if they received the computer donation,

they would not be able to use them.

Private Sector

In-service training and orientation on ICT in most cases is initiated by the

private sector. So far, many secondary school teachers have been oriented

and/or trained through such programs. Most of the teachers that have benefited

from these programmes are mathematics teachers. This therefore is one of the

opportunities for ICT application in mathematics instruction. In addition to

provision of in-service teacher training, the private sector has been at the

forefront donating computers to secondary schools.

PROSPECTS

Despite the constraints discussed in the previous sections, which in our opinion

are very serious limitations, there are some opportunities that present some

prospects to the incorporation of ICT in schools and therefore opportunities for

ICT use in mathematics classrooms. The prospects can be classified into two

main categories; first is governments commitment to ICT in education, andsecond is non-governmental organizations support for ICT in education. The

government of Malawi has shown commitment to ICT in education though the

ICT policy. As the policy stipulates, the governments desire is to have

computer literacy for all learners in future (Ministry of Information and Civic

Education, 2009). This suggests that the government is working towards making

computers available to schools in Malawi. This would encourage use of

computers in teaching school subjects including mathematics. The policy also

proposes ICT literacy to be part of teacher education for pre-service teachers.

This commitment by government is a positive prospect.

Some non-governmental organizations have shown interest and support for use

of ICT in schools through a number of initiatives. For example SchoolNet

Malawi and Computer for Africa schools. School Net Malawi is a project that

aims at facilitating access to computers in Malawi schools. It is part of a wider

project, SchoolNet Africa, which has the same aim for African countries

(Isaacs, 2007). One of the objectives of SchoolNet Malawi is to develop a

functional, sustainable technical distribution and support centre capable of

providing services to the whole nation (p.10). Towards achievement of this


11/12

11

objective, the SchoolNet Malawi project sources used computers from agencies

such as Computer aid International and World Computer Exchange.

Computer for Africa Schools Malawi project is administered by the British

Council in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and the SchoolNetMalawi. The project aims at providing computers to Malawi schools, especially

secondary schools (Isaacs, 2007). Each eligible school, after facility and

security checks at the school, receive 10-15 computers. The computers are

sourced by the British Council and are set up at each recipient school by

SchoolNet Malawi for free. Furthermore, some of the teachers at the school are

offered some computer training by the British Council. The projects target is to

distribute computers to all schools with electricity. A specific target was to have

distributed computers to all secondary schools with electricity by the end of the

year 2008 (Isaacs, 2007). This has not yet happened. However, the project has

done a very good job of providing to fifty secondary schools (Computer of

Africa Schools, 2009), although this is less than 5% of all the secondary schools

in the country.

CONCLUSION

We have discussed the status of ICT in Malawi schools. As observed there is

limited use of technology in general and in mathematics teaching and learning

in particular. Use of technology in primary schools is almost non-existent;

calculators and computers are not available in the majority of the schools. Forsecondary schools, calculators are available in many mathematics classrooms

although mostly owned by student but computers are available to only a few

schools and in limited numbers. We have also discussed the limited use of

calculators and computers, where available, in mathematics classrooms. We

highlight teacher knowledge as one of the important limitations to use of

technology in mathematics teaching. We suggest teacher education that

addresses use of ICT for both pre-service and in-service programmes.

REFERENCES

CECS, (2007). ICT Training for Mathematics Teachers,www.cecs.org.za

Clements, D. H., & McMillen, S. (1999). Rethinking concrete manipulatives.

In A. R. Teppo (Ed.), Reflecting on practice in elementary school

mathematics: Readings from NCTMs school-based journals and other

publications (pp. 140-149). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics.
http://www.cecs.org.za/http://www.cecs.org.za/http://www.cecs.org.za/http://www.cecs.org.za/


12/12

12

Computer of Africa Schools (2009). Computer of Africa Schools Malawi

www.cfas.com

Czerniewicz, L., Ravjee, N. & Mlitwa, N. (2005) Information and

Communication Technologies(ICTs) and South African Higher

Education: Mapping the Landscape. A report for the Council for HigherEducation.

Department of Education (DoE). (2004) Draft white paper on e-Education.

Transforming learning and teaching through Information and

Communication Technologies (ICTs) Government Gazette. No. 26734.

Idris, N., (2005). Comparative Studies on ICT among Australia, Vietnam, India,

Indonesia, and Malaysia. Proceeding of icmi-earcome.

Isaacs, S. (2007). ICT for Education in Malawi. Survey of ICT and Education in

Africa: Malawi Country Report.www.infodev.org.

Jaffer, S., Ngambi, D. & Czerniewicz, L. (2007) The role of ICTs in higher

education in South Africa: One strategy for addressing teaching and

learning challenges,International Journal of Education and Development

using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT )Vol. 3,

Issue 4, pp. 131-142.

Kaino, L.M. (2002). Gender attitudes towards the study of mathematics in

Botswana Junior Secondary Schools. Proceedings of the 10th Conference

of the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science

and Technology Education (SAARMSTE), pp.154-159.

Keong, C., Horani, S. & Daniel, J. (2005). A Study on the Use of ICT in

Mathematics Teaching, Malaysian Online Journal of InstructionalTechnology (MOJIT) Vol. 2, No. 3, pp 43-51.

Ministry of Education (2008). Education Statistics. Education Management

Information Systems, Lilongwe, Department of Education Planning.

Ministry of Information and Civic Education (2009). National ICT Policy.

Lilongwe: Government of Malawi

National statistical Office, (2009). Malawi National Census. Lilongwe:

Government of Malawi.

Ottevanger, W., Akker van den, J. and Feiter de, L. (2009). Developing Science,

Mathematics, and ICT Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Patterns andPromising Practices. World Bank Working paper 101, Washington

Rahman, S.A., Ghazali, M & Ismail, Z., (2003). Integrating ICT in

Mathematics teaching methods Course: How has ICT Changed Student

Teachers Perception about Problem Solving, Proceedings of the

International Conference: The Decidable and the Undecidable in

Mathematics Education, Brno, Czech Republic.

Tolani-Brown, N., McCormac, M. & Zimmermann, R. (2009). An Analysis of

the Research and Impact of ICT in Education in Developing Country

Contexts,Journal of Education for International Development 4:2
http://www.cfas.com/http://www.cfas.com/http://www.infodev.org/http://www.infodev.org/http://www.infodev.org/http://www.infodev.org/http://www.cfas.com/

Documents

Ict and the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics