Investigating the views of three key stage two mathematics teachers in the use of information and communication technology(ICT)

RESEARCH PROPOSAL : INVESTIGATING THE VIEWS OF THREE KEY STAGE TWO MATHEMATICS TEACHERS IN THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT

1 .0 INTRODUCTION

The use of information and communications technology has permeated almost every fabric of society . The education sector and the teaching of mathematics in particular are no exception . Increasingly , information and communication technologies are being used to administer teaching materials to students . Students also benefit from these tools in their knowledge acquisition (Goodison ,2002 Hall and Higgins , 2005 Oldknow 2002 Wall , Higgins and Smith , 2005 . This development

is taking place in the developed as well as the developing world . The usage of information of communications technology has become so endemic that schools and teachers for that matter that fail to participate in this development risk increasing marginalization (Spanos , Prastacos and Poulymenakou , 2002

Information and communication technologies being used in the education sector include computers , the internet , telephone , emails , among others Other specific tools offered by information and communication technology for teaching and learning have been catalogued by Osborne and Hennessy (2007 ) as follows

tools for data capture , processing and interpretation such as data logging systems , databases and spreadsheets , graphing tools and modeling environments

multimedia software for simulation of processes and carrying out virtual experiments

Publishing and presentation tools

Digital recording equipment

Computer projection technology

These research workers added that these forms of information and communication technology can enhance both the practical and theoretical aspects of teaching . Other advantages of information and communication technology include enhancing the learning experience by offering a more personalized environment to students (Williams , 2005 , boundaryless to which teaching materials can be administered and learning received (Osborne and Hennessy , 2007 ) and its limitless capacity to reach countless pupils and students with the same teaching materials (Van Brakel and Chisenga , 2003 , Johnston-Wilder and Pimm , 2004 .It is known that many school pupils and students alike shy away from mathematics , claiming it is a difficult subject . It maybe a worthwhile undertaking to find out how information and communication technology help students overcome the problem of learning the subject and also teachers in effectively teaching it . Also , despite the widespread use of information and communication technology in the teaching of mathematics few studies have been conducted to assess its effectiveness as a teaching tool and its impact on learning . Consequently , there is paucity of information in this area of education . This study therefore was instituted to help fill the information gap . Specifically , it shall seek to answer the question of whether the use of information and communication technology enhance teaching and learning of mathematics or otherwise

2 .0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2 .1 Information and Communication Technologies for teaching mathematics

Oldknow (2004 ) has given a vivid of the information and communication technology hardwares , softwares and gadgets available for teaching and learning of mathematics . According to this author information and communication technology hardware used to support interactive whole class teaching are conventionally based on a computer (desktop or laptop ) or a projector or both . These gadgets can be...