By APCNews GOA, India,
Published onPage last updated on
Community Education Computer Society has been working on a project for an ICT training course for ‘computer literate’ high-school mathematics teachers, in Gauteng, South Africa. APC member CECS is itself an ICT training organisation, established in 1985.
A pilot workshop took place on May 13, 2006. "I learned about techniques in drawing question papers, techniques I never knew existed," said one teacher participating.
ICT for math? How does it work?
It is meant to equip mathematics teachers with the skills and knowledge to use a word-processing programme to develop resources, like test and exam papers or assignments which incorporate formulae and complex diagrams such as hyperbolas, quadratic/cubic functions.
Ten senior secondary or high school teachers who took part had to be comfortable with using a text-processing programme, full-time teachers, and willing to train other math teachers.
CECS, whose website is at www.cecs.org.za and which has a motto of ‘ICT Literacy For All’ worked to train math teachers to use computers to assist them in their teaching.
To do so, it focused on developing a user-friendly software manual geared toward maths teachers for OpenOffice Writer (an open source word processing programme). It provided hands-on software training for maths teachers in a workshop setting.
Likewise, it also sought to collect materials written by and for maths teachers to be disseminated via websites for inter-collegial sharing. These may include lesson plans, course notes, tests, and other maths teaching materials.
"This program is the only one of its kind in South Africa," organisers said. This is because it is unique it seeking to enhance computer literacy among teachers in disadvantaged areas.
They argued that its effects are "both direct and indirect, and can be far-reaching". They added, "In addition, it can serve as a pilot for other teachers in the sciences. We would like to provide similar programmes in which we develop materials, test them with teachers, train additional teachers, and place the materials on a website or CD for the benefit of others."
The need was there
Established two decades ago by teachers in the Western Cape, CECS says it learnt during its activities that "many mathematics teachers in specific areas are not computer literate and must rely upon outdated modes to write tests, papers, and other course-enhancing materials."
Said CECS executive director Arnold Pietersen: "They are forced to handwrite their own examinations and papers, often cutting and pasting, for the students. Sometimes, they must rely on other people to type their materials."
This means that teachers are required to spend inordinate amounts of time preparing materials for class, thus reducing time that could be better spent on lesson planning.
Improvements emerged
But what was achieved in an indirect way was as important: enhanced computer use in the classroom, more time for lesson planning, an enticement for students to enter the field of mathematics due to enhanced lesson planning by teachers.
Said one teacher, after the training: "Yes, I am now able to type, draw geometrical figures and sketch graphs by using (the computer)." Another added, "I learned about techniques in drawing question papers, techniques I never knew existed."
Participants, like aspects of this course, ranged from the hands-on practical training, to the patient and "user-friendly" teachers. Said another participant: "The hands on session were brilliant, as you practice and correct mistakes without delays or assumptions."
Teachers appreciated they had picked up a number of skills at this training: typing of math equations, drawing geometric and algebraic diagrams, shortcuts, how to set a geometry paper, or even very practical tasks like how to resize a circle inside a rectangle or draw the grid.
The development of the CECS training materials were funded by OSISA (The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa). “We have also submitted a proposal for the development of an open source version," said Arnold Pietersen.
