The Uses of ICT in Mathematics

Group Members:
Wilter Jaipin(807154)
Ben Wong Vun Thung(807080)
Liew Yet Foh(807107)

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 Table of content
Topic Page
INTRODUCTION 3
BENEFITS OF LEARNING MATHEMATICS WITH ICT 4
MALAYSIAN CONTEXT 5
BARRIERS IN IMPLEMENTATION 6
ICT APPLICATIONS 7 ,8
WHY SHOULD TEACHER USE ICT? 9
WHICH AREAS OF MATHEMATICS CAN BENEFIT? 10
WHICH ICT SHOLUD TEACHER USE? 11
HOW DO TEACHER ORGANISES THE USE OF ICT? 12,13
HOW DO I TEACH USING ICT? 14
GOOD DIRECT TEACHING 15
AWARE! 16
REFERENCES 17
Q&A 18
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 Introduction
Ittigson & Zewe (2003) cited that technology
is essential in teaching and learning
mathematics. ICT improves the way
mathematics should be taught and enhances
student understanding of basic concepts.
Many researchers have carried out studies to
evaluate the benefits of using ICT in
mathematics.

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Benefits of learning Mathematics with ICT

Becta (2003) summarised the key benefits:

• ICT promotes greater collaboration among students and encourages

communication and the sharing of knowledge.
• ICT gives rapid and accurate feedbacks to students and this contributes
towards positive motivation.
• It also allows them to focus on strategies and interpretations of
answers rather than spend time on tedious computational calculations.
• ICT also supports constructivist pedagogy, where students use
technology to explore and reach an understanding of mathematical
concepts. This approach promotes higher order thinking and better
problem solving strategies

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 Malaysian Context
• During the 2003 budget speech, the Prime Minister of
Malaysia, YAB Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, announced
that the government had decided to implement the
teaching of science and mathematics using the
English language as the medium of instruction in
school. The government allocated about 5 billion Ringgit
from 2002 to 2008 for the above project. This allocation was
to be used for teacher training, providing launching grants for
schools as well as for educational aids which would include
ICT equipment. In order to implement the project smoothly,
the sum of 978.7 million Ringgit was spent in the year 2003
to purchase notebook computers, LCD projectors and other
related equipment (Mahathir, 2002).
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 Barriers in Implementation
A survey was conducted to study the barriers preventing the
integration and adoption of information and communication
technology (ICT) in teaching mathematics. (Jones, 2004)

A) lack of time in the school schedule for projects involving ICT

B) Insufficient teacher training opportunities for ICT projects
C) Inadequate technical support for these projects, lack of
knowledge about ways to integrate ICT to enhance the curriculum
D) Difficulty in integrating and using different ICT tools in a
single lesson
E) Unavailability of resources at home for the students to access
the necessary educational materials.
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 ICT applications
• word processing packages
• spreadsheets
• Internet activity
• search engines
• Presentation software
• drill and practice
• hypermedia/multimedia
• databases
• graphical applications
• simulation programmes
• desktop publishing
• Flash presentations
• Java applets
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 Continue..
The five most popular application packages used
by mathematics teachers in Malaysia were:
• Word processing packages (71.1%)
• spreadsheets (51.2%)
• search engines (44.1%)
• presentation software (36.9%)
• drill and practice software (24.3%).
(Chong Chee Keong, Sharaf Horani & Jacob
Daniel, 2005)
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 Why should teacher use ICT?
• allow pupils to investigate or be creative in ways not possible
• give them access to information not otherwise readily
available;
• engage them in the selection and interpretation of
information;
• help them to think through and understand important ideas;
• enable them to see patterns or behaviours more clearly;
• add reliability or accuracy to measurements;
• enhance the quality of their presentations;
• save time, for example, spent on measuring, recording or
writing
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 Which areas of mathematics can benefit?

• Applying mathematics and solving problems

• Place value, ordering and rounding
• Equations, formulae and identities
• Sequences, functions and graphs
• Geometrical reasoning: lines, angles and shapes
• Transformations
• Coordinates
• Construction
• Handling data
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 Which ICT should teacher use?

• Generic software: spreadsheets (and databases)

• Content-free, mathematics-specific software: graph
plotters, dynamic geometry, computer algebra
systems
• Programming languages: Logo (and Basic)
• Content-specific software: usually aimed at particular
mathematics content
• Graphical calculators
• Information resources: Internet, CD-ROMs, data files

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 How do teacher organises the use of ICT?
Working with the whole class
A graphical calculator or computer can be projected on to a
whiteboard to support interactive teaching. This may be useful to:

a) introduce, review or demonstrate a new mathematical fact, skill or

concept
b) practise or consolidate previously learned mathematical facts
c) introduce a question, puzzle or problem which pupils then
work on either with or without access to ICT;
d) observe a simulation or discuss some data that have been collected;
e) share pupils’ work.

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 Continue..
Working with small groups, pairs, individuals
Small groups of pupils may particularly benefit from using
ICT to:
• investigate and explore a mathematical problem or situation;
• practise or consolidate previously learned mathematical facts;
• research and find information;
• collect and analyse data;
• use a simulation;
• solve a problem;
• organise and present their work.

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 How do I teach using ICT?
Teaching with ICT is no different from teaching
without ICT. A high proportion of each lesson
where ICT is being used should be direct
teaching, often of the whole class, but also of
groups and individuals.
(Ittigson, R.J. & Zewe, J.G. ,2003).

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 Good direct teaching is achieved by balancing
different teaching strategies (Becta, 2003):
• Directing and telling …
• Demonstrating and modelling …
• Explaining and illustrating …
• Questioning and discussing …
• Exploring and investigating …
• Consolidating and embedding …
• Reflecting and evaluating …
• Summarising and reminding …
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 If pupils are to gain maximum benefits from using ICT in
mathematics, teachers need to be AWARE of the following:

 Practical activities and work with pencil and paper usually need to
take place alongside the work on the computer or graphical calculator.
 Pupils can use ICT to generate large amounts of data. They need to be
taught to find, organise and use the information that is fit for a clearly
defined purpose.
 Pupils can use ICT unthinkingly, pressing button after button to move
rapidly from one screen to the next. They need to be encouraged to
focus on what they see and to ask questions such as ‘Why did that
happen?’ or ‘What would happen if…?’.
 Feedback provided by ICT can lead pupils to make generalisations
based on experimental evidence. It is important that pupils are
encouraged to reflect on what they see, evaluate the evidence, make
predictions and explain their conclusions. Teaching with ICT should
focus on observation, explanation and proof. (Jones, 2004)
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 References
• Becta. (2003). What the Research Says about Using ICT in Maths. UK:
Becta ICT Research.
• Chong Chee Keong, Sharaf Horani & Jacob Daniel (2005). Malaysian
Educational Technological Journal. A Study on the Use of ICT in
Mathematics Teaching. 2(3), pp 43-51
• Ittigson, R.J. & Zewe, J.G. (2003). Technology in the mathematics
classroom. In Tomei, L.A. (Ed.).Challenges of Teaching with Technology
Across the Curriculum: Issues and Solutions. Hershey: Information
Science Publishing,114-133.
• Jones, A. (2004). A Review of the Research Literature on Barriers to the
Uptake of ICT by Teachers. UK:Becta.
• Mahathir, Mohamad. (2002). The 2003 Budget Speech. http://
www.portsworld.com/budget/Budget%20Speech%202003%2
0(English).pdf

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 Q&A

http://yuliang85.blogspot.com

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