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Malaysian Online Journal of Instructional Technology (MOJIT) Vol. 2, No. 3, pp 43-51

December 2005

ISSN: 1823- 1144

A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

Chong Chee Keong, Sharaf Horani & Jacob Daniel

Faculty of Information Technology

Multimedia University, 63100 Cyberjaya

Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

*****.****.*****@***.***.**

Abstract

The introduction of laptops in the teaching of mathematics and science in English under the

Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English Programme (Pengajaran dan

Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris, PPSMI) has been implemented by the Ministry

of Education since 2003. The preliminary observations found that teachers are not fully utilising

these facilities in their teaching. A survey was conducted to study the barriers preventing the

integration and adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching

mathematics. Six major barriers were identified: lack of time in the school schedule for projects

involving ICT, insufficient teacher training opportunities for ICT projects, inadequate technical

support for these projects, lack of knowledge about ways to integrate ICT to enhance the

curriculum, difficulty in integrating and using different ICT tools in a single lesson and unavailability

of resources at home for the students to access the necessary educational materials. To overcome

some of these barriers, this paper proposes an e-portal for teaching mathematics. The e-portal

consists of two modules: a resource repository and a lesson planner. The resource repository is a

collection of mathematical tools, a question bank and other resources in digital form that can be

used for teaching and learning mathematics. The lesson planner is a user friendly tool that can

integrate resources from the repository for lesson planning.

INTRODUCTION

During the 2003 budget speech, the then 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).

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. 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, wherein students use

technology to explore and reach an understanding of mathematical concepts. This approach

promotes higher order thinking and better problem solving strategies which are in line with the

recommendations forwarded by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM);

students would then use technology to concentrate on problem-solving processes rather than on

calculations related to the problems (Ittigson & Zewe, 2003).

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

For a successful integration of ICT into the mathematics curriculum, it is essential to have

knowledge of the existing software that is used by mathematics teachers. A survey carried out by

Forgasz & Prince (2002) found that 61% of the respondents (teachers) used spreadsheets, 45% used

word processing and 30% used Internet browsers. In the same survey, it was found that 19% used

Geometer s sketchpads, 19% used CD-ROMs that accompanied mathematics textbooks, 18% used

Graphmatica, 14% used Maths Blaster and 8% used other mathematics-specific software. Knowledge

of the use of software on the part of the teachers is not the only criterion for integrating ICT into

mathematics lessons; a sound pedagogical knowledge on how to integrate it is another critical

success factor. In a separate study, Jones (2004) found that seven barriers existed while integrating

ICT into lessons. These barriers were (i) lack of confidence among teachers during integration

(21.2% responses), (ii) lack of access to resources (20.8%), (iii) lack of time for the integration

(16.4%), (iv) lack of effective training (15.0%), (v) facing technical problems while the software is in

use (13.3%), (vi) lack of personal access during lesson preparation (4.9%) and (vii) the age of the

teachers (1.8%).

An analysis of the preventive maintenance record in one of the rural secondary schools revealed that

the use of ICT equipment was too low, despite a large sum of public funds being used for the

purchase. It was found that although nine LCD projectors were procured by the school, only six

were available at the time of inspection. The total number of operation hours recorded by the

machines was 174 hours for a period of two years. On average, each projector was then only used

for about 29 hours in the two year duration which is considered to be very low (MHS, 2005).

The main objective of this study was to help mathematics teachers in the integration of ICT into

their teaching. The study aimed at identifying the most common ICT applications used by these

teachers and how ICT was used in the class. It also aimed at understanding how the Internet was

used by teachers, analysed their training needs and further assessed the level of ICT usage in

instructional programmes. The barriers faced by teachers during the integration of ICT into

mathematics lessons and their perception of the usefulness of an e-portal were also investigated.

METHODOLOGY

This research deployed a survey method to investigate the use of ICT and the barriers of integrating

ICT into the teaching of mathematics. The survey was carried out during a mathematics in-service

course conducted by the State Education Department. Before the commencement of the survey,

the respondents were given a briefing on the purpose of the survey. A total of 111 responses was

received and they were analysed using the SPSS statistical package. A questionnaire was adapted

from the Teacher Technology Survey by the American Institute for Research (AIR, 1998). The

questionnaire was divided into seven areas, i.e., (A) the teacher s profile, (B) how teachers use ICT,

ICT, (F) the barriers faced by teachers and (G) the proposed solution.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

ICT applications in general

In general, a total of 71.1% of the respondents used computers on a regular basis. Table 1 depicts

the percentage of usage by teachers in the various ICT applications: word processing packages

(71.1%), spreadsheets (51.2%), Internet activity (44.1%), search engines (44.1%), presentation

software (36.9%), drill and practice (24.3%), hypermedia/multimedia (22.5%), databases (21.6%),

graphical applications (19.8%), simulation programmes (17.1%), desktop publishing (12.6%), Flash

presentations (11.7%) and Java applets (6.3%). These percentages show that the computer literacy

rate among secondary school mathematics teachers has been high.

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

Table 1: Common ICT Applications by Teachers

Application Daily Weekly Monthly 1 or 2 times Never NA NR a year Computers in general 25.2 22.5 23.4 17.1 2.7 3.6 5.4

Word processing packages 21.6 27.0 22.5 9.9 5.4 3.6 9.9

Spreadsheets 9.8 22.5 18.9 22.5 11.7 3.6 10.8

Databases 2.7 5.4 13.5 18.0 30.6 11.7 18.0

Graphical applications 1.8 6.3 11.7 20.7 27.9 9.9 21.6

Presentation software 2.7 12.6 21.6 28.8 18.9 6.3 9.0

Desktop publishing 1.8 3.6 7.2 18.9 38.7 8.1 21.6

Any Internet activity 12.6 13.5 18.0 20.7 18.9 5.4 10.8

Search engines for Internet 12.6 14.4 17.1 20.7 18.0 6.3 10.8

Hypermedia / Multimedia 3.6 8.1 10.8 18.9 32.4 8.1 18.0

Simulation programmes 0.9 3.6 12.6 12.6 38.7 10.8 20.7

Drill / Practice tutorials 1.8 6.3 16.2 16.2 34.2 9.0 16.2

Java applets 1.8 0.0 4.5 9.9 50.5 17.1 16.2

Flash presentations 1.8 0.9 9.0 17.1 45.0 12.6 13.5

NA Not Available NR No Response

ICT applications in class

49.5% of the respondents used courseware in the class, 40.5% used ICT as presentation tools, 8.1%

used ICT as a graphical visualising tool, 6.3% used ICT as an online demonstration tool and 3.6%

used it for other purposes in class. About 29.7% of the respondents did not use ICT in the

classroom. Table 2 shows the percentage distribution of ICT uses in the class

Table 2: ICT Uses in the Class

Application Using presentation Using Using graphical Online Others None

tools courseware visualising tools demos

Response 40.5 49.5 8.1 6.3 3.6 29.7

Uses of Internet

The Internet was used for various purposes. 68.5% respondents used it for browsing, 44.1% used

the e-mail facility, 10.8% used chat rooms, 9.9% used IRC, 7.2% used it in discussion forums and

1.8% for other purposes. 17.1% respondents did not use the Internet. Table 3 depicts the details.

Table 3: Use of Internet by Teachers

Activity Browsing e-mail IRC Discussion forums Chat rooms Others None

Response 68.5 44.1 9.9 7.2 10.8 1.8 17.1

Professional development and training needs

A total of 42.3% respondents indicated that they had received ICT training during 2002-2004.

71.2% of the respondents demonstrated that they had found the training to be generally useful

while 64.9% said that they had not received training on how to integrate ICT into mathematics

teaching. According to 33.3% of the respondents, mathematics teachers require training on how to

integrate ICT into their teaching while 59.5% of them stated that they needed a combination of

various types of training. Table 4 depicts their responses.

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

Table 4: ICT Training Needs

Integrate ICT into

ICT training needs General use Use of Internet Combination of needs

teaching

Response 9.9 33.3 4.5 59.5

Level of ICT use in instructional programmes

The level of use of ICT in instruction was still low with 39.6% respondents stating they had not used

ICT at all and 32.1% of them stating that they used ICT infrequently. On the other hand, 22.6% of

them responded that they had integrated ICT into specific areas of instructional units and 5.7%

stated that they had fully integrated it into their instructional programmes. Table 5 depicts the levels

of ICT use in teaching.

Table 5: Levels of Use in ICT

Valid Cumulative

Frequency Percent

Percent Percent

ICT is fully integrated into my

6 5.4 5.7 5.7

instructional programme

I have integrated ICT into specific

24 21.6 22.6 28.3

instructional units

Valid

I use ICT infrequently with

34 30.6 32.1 60.4

students

I have not used ICT at all 42 37.8 39.6 100.0

Total 106 95.5 100.0

Missing System 5 4.5

Total 111 100.0

Barriers faced by teachers during integration

The six major barriers identified were lack of time in the school schedule for projects involving ICT

(54.6%), inadequate teacher training opportunities for ICT projects (40.8%), lack of adequate

technical support for ICT projects (39.2%), lack of knowledge about ways to integrate ICT to

enhance the curriculum (38.8%), integrating and using different ICT tools in a single lesson (36.8%)

and the absence of access to the necessary technology at the homes of students (33.0%). Table 6

shows the percentage responses on the various barriers.

Perception of mathematics teachers toward the proposed solution

There is a very strong positive response to the proposed solution (to develop a mathematics portal

for teaching mathematics, wherein a collection of resources and a lesson planner are incorporated to

relieve the teacher from routine tasks. 72.0% of the respondents considered it to be very useful and

helpful and 27.0% viewed it as useful and helpful. Only 1.0% of the respondents considered that

the portal would not be very useful and helpful. Table 7 gives the percentages of the responses.

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

Table 6: Barriers Faced by Teachers

% Response as

Barriers

not a barrier minor major

Not enough or limited access to computer hardware 31.3 49.5 19.2

Availability of computer software 22.7 55.7 21.6

Lack of time in school schedule for projects

8.2 37.1 54.6*

involving ICT

Lack of adequate technical support for ICT projects 14.4 46.4 39.2*

Not enough teacher training opportunities for ICT

18.4 40.8 40.8*

projects

Lack of knowledge about ways to integrate ICT to

10.2 51.0 38.8*

enhance curriculum

ICT integration is not a school priority 30.9 51.1 18.1

Difficult finding substitutes in order for teachers to

17.7 64.6 17.7

attend training

Students do not have access to the necessary

21.6 45.4 33.0*

technology at home

Teachers do not have access to the necessary

23.7 58.8 17.5

technology at home

Integrating and using different ICT tools in a single

15.8 47.4 36.8*

lesson

* major barrier

Table 7: Perceptions towards the proposed solution

% response as % response as % response as not % response as

very useful and useful and so useful and not at all

helpful helpful helpful

Proposed solution to

develop a mathematics

72.0 27.0 1.0 0.0

portal for teaching

mathematics

From the survey, the following findings were found:

(i) The five most popular application packages used by mathematics teachers were word

processing packages (71.1%), spreadsheets (51.2%), search engines (44.1%), presentation

software (36.9%) and drill and practice software (24.3%). However, it must be noted that

the packages that have not been positively considered by the respondents may not be

necessarily useless. . Mathematics teachers need more time to learn to use them

programmes like specific Java applets, Flash presentations, graphical applications and

simulation programmes have great potential for the teaching of mathematics because

they encourage explorations and higher order thinking.

(ii) Courseware (49.5%) and presentation tools (40.5%) were used widely for teaching

mathematics. Graphical visualisation tools and online demonstrations have educational

values as well. It is time for educators to encourage mathematics teachers to use them in

the class. Functions and graphs are abstract concepts in mathematics and through the

use of graphical visualising tools, many ideas can be easily shown to the students.

Students should have more time to discuss the results rather than merely the graphs per

se.

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

(iii) It is encouraging to learn that 68.5% of the respondents used the browser to gather

information. It is timely that educators encourage mathematics teachers to use the

Internet for online demonstrations like using Java applets on mathematics that are only

available online.

(iv) More than half of the respondents (56.8%) did not receive any professional training in

ICT during 2002-2004. A large proportion (64.9%) did not have any training on how to

integrate ICT into mathematics teaching. Such training should be an integral part of

professional training. Moreover, 33.3% of the respondents requested to have training on

how to integrate ICT into teaching.

(v) 71.7% of the respondents said that they use ICT infrequently or had not used ICT at all

in the class. This is in keeping with the finding in the preliminary study that teachers in s

particular school used the LCD projector for only 29 hours over the duration of two

years. School administrators should encourage teachers to use them if they can enhance

teaching and learning.

(vi) Some major barriers hindering the implementation of ICT in mathematics teaching were

found to be the lack of time in school schedules for projects involving ICT, the lack of

adequate technical support for ICT projects, inadequate teacher training opportunities

for ICT projects, the lack of knowledge about ways to integrate ICT to enhance the

curriculum and to integrate and use different ICT tools in a single lesson. It is also

recommended that the contents of the subject be reduced so as to integrate ICT.

teachers consider that inadequate time is a factor against teaching and learning

effectiveness.

The Malaysian Ministry of Education has spent a large sum of money for the PPSMI project which

uses ICT as an enabler. It should not only view using ICT as a mere tool for teaching and learning

as mathematics educators and teachers alike can derive more value from it. Therefore to encourage

more teachers to integrate ICT into mathematics lessons, the devised programme must be user

friendly. The e-portal proposed for this purpose is geared towards fulfilling such needs.

The proposed e-portal for teaching mathematics consists of two modules, i.e., a resource repository

and a lesson planner. Teachers need to plan their lessons daily and in order to do the planning, they

need resources; hence, this portal will not only relieve them from their daily routine tasks, it provides

them with some useful resources during teaching. Flash presentations and Java applets are the two

least used programmes deployed by mathematics teachers. However, this does not mean that they

are useless as both are useful applications in mathematics education. There are many Flash

presentations and Java applets found in the Internet which can be readily and effectively used in

mathematics lessons. They are of high educational value and enhance exploratory and constructivist

teaching approaches. Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the proposed e-portal for

teaching mathematics.

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

Figure 1: The Conceptual Framework of the e-Portal

The repository of the e-portal consists of the syllabus, curriculum specifications, mathematical tools

(Java applets and Flash presentations), the question bank, research articles and sample lesson plans.

The lesson planner is structured according to the Malaysian School Inspectorate s specifications.

Apart from lesson planning, it also functions as a test and exercise generator. The e-portal also

provides a forum for teachers to collaborate and discuss professional issues with colleagues. Figure

2 shows a main page of the e-portal with all its functions. Figure 3 gives a view of the lesson planner

and Figure 4 shows the lesson plan generated by the lesson planner.

Figure 2: The Main Page of the e-Portal

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

Figure 3: The Lesson Planner

Figure 4: The Lesson Plan Generated by the Planner.

CONCLUSION

The use of ICT in teaching mathematics can make the teaching process more effective as well as

enhance the students capabilities in understanding basic concepts. Nevertheless, implementing its

use in teaching is not without problems as numerous barriers may arise. The types of barriers have

been identified in the study. A proposed e-portal to overcome some of these barriers was introduced

as part of the on-going research project.

MOJIT A Study on the Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching

REFERENCES

AIR. (1998). Teacher Technology Survey. US: American Institutes for Research.

Becta. (2003). What the Research Says about Using ICT in Maths. UK: Becta ICT Research.

Forgasz, H.J. & Prince, N. (2002). Software used for mathematics learning reporting on a survey.

Vinculum, 39(1), 18-19.

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%20(English).pdf

MHS Resources Sdn Bhd. (2005). Preventive Maintenance Report (PM01) dated 17 Feb. 2005.

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