1.

0 Definition of ICT

ICT, also known as Information and Communications Technology, sums up any electronic means
to collect, store, process and present information to end-users. This includes computer systems,
office systems and consumer electronics, as well as networked information infrastructure, the
components of which include the telephone system, the Internet, fax machines and computers
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet)

Generally, there are four components of ICT, namely telephone services, public mobile
phone services, broadcast and cable TV services and the internet services (Murugappan P., 2000)

2.0 What is meant by Internet?

The Internet can be defined as a global system of interconnected computer networks that
interchange data by packet switching using the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). It
is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business,
and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic
cables, wireless connections, and other technologies (Murugappan, P., 2000).

Usually, the Internet carries a variety of information resources and services, such as
electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and file sharing, online gaming, and the inter-linked
hypertext documents and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW).

The terms "Internet" are often used in every-day dialogue without much distinction. It is a
global data communications system whereby it provides connectivity between computers.

According to (Murugappan, P., 2000), there are six components of the Internet, namely
World Wide Web, Electronic Mail (e-mail), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Telnet, Usenet News,
and Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

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 The World Wide Web is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access
several Internet protocols in a single interface (which is also known as Web, WWW, or W3). It is
based on linked multimedia documents, referred to as web pages. It has its own protocol called
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

The Electronic Mail (e-mail) allows users to exchange electronic messages instantaneously.
Each e-mail user has a mailbox address to which messages are sent where messages arrive to its
intended recipient within a matter of seconds upon sending.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is both a program and the method used to transfer files or
software between computers on the Internet to the user’s computer.

Telnet is a program that allows you to leave your host computer and connect directly to a
remote system. Its address is needed in order to log onto a computer using Telnet. If accepted,
you would be logged on like any user who used this computer every day.

Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computers
users exchange information on a wide range of topics.

Lastly, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a new technology that allows users on the Internet to
communicate with other users instantly.

In addition to the above components of the internet, a high speed internet access known as
broadband is also broadly used nowadays in many distance learning opportunities like online
college or university courses, and continuing or senior education programs. It provides higher
speed of data transmission as well as access to the highest quality Internet services-streaming
media, VoIP (Internet phone), gaming, and interactive services.
(http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/broadband.html). There were several types of broadband connection
such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Cable Modem, Fiber, Wireless, Satellite, and Broadband
over Powerlines (BPL).

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 3.0 What does a teacher need to prepare for
Roles of the Teacher before conducting lessons?
A teacher needs to
prepare…
1. A learning broker
1.
2. a
A lesson plan system
knowledge A teacher cannot just barge into the classroom, start her lesson
expert and expect the students to be doing very well to meet her
2. materials such as
concrete objects
3. A learning (dienes
strategist. objectives. Maybe a few teachers are able to do so, but these
block, puzzle pieces,
counting beads, teachers must be really really good. Unfortunately, many
measuring apparatus,
A learning broker: teachers are not going to end up successfully in the classroom
charts, videos, audio
“to locate and without some kinds of preparations. A teacher needs to plan
tapes)
negotiate appropriate every step in the lesson so that she has an overall picture of
3. worksheets (drill and
learning resources in how the lesson would carry on. Materials, handouts,
practice, puzzles,
mixed modes of
practical worksheet, worksheets; all these need planning and preparations too. As
online, CD Rom, print
homework)
based materials and the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
4. handouts (notes,
resource kits”
project instructions, There are many ways of preparing these resources. The
marking criteria)
teacher can create his/her own lesson plan by creating one
from square one or edit previous lesson plans. Materials such
as charts can be hand-made by the teacher, videos and tapes
can be obtained from the curriculum and the library and so on.
Worksheets can be extracted from workbooks and puzzles can
be photocopied from numerous puzzle books available in
bookshops. Handouts are usually created by the teacher either
by hand-writing, word-processing or photocopying them.

An alternative avenue of finding and producing these

resources is through ICT which includes the Internet.

4.0 Roles of the Teacher

3
Why is there an emphasis on the use of the ICT and the
Internet in lesson preparations? In this era of striving growth
Most popular
of ICTs and the increasing awareness of the value of ICT in application packages
education, the roles of a teacher have changed. Teachers no are:

longer wear the same old hat. New demands are being made 1. Word processing
packages
on teachers to use the technology creatively (Teeler & Gray,
2. Spreadsheets
2000). Bowes (n.d.) wrote that teachers of the future carry
with them the roles of a learning broker, a knowledge system 3. Search engines

expert and a learning strategist. What does this mean in 4. Presentation software

reality? 5. Drill and practice

software
The teacher acts as a learning facilitator in the
classroom. Individual differences and needs are well catered
for, which is hardly evident in the traditional classroom. To
say that a teacher has a role of a learning broker means that
the teacher will use her skills “to locate and negotiate
appropriate learning resources in mixed modes of online, CD
Rom, print based materials and resource kits” (Bowes, n.d.).
Among other things, the role of the teacher as a knowledge
system expert would be to enable herself as well as the
students to assess their learning, capabilities and
competencies. Consequently, this information will be used by
the “learning strategist” to fine-tune her teaching and
learning strategies.

The first role, the role of a learning broker, is wished to

be highlighted here.

5.0 Most popular application packages used by

Mathematics teachers

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A research has been made regarding the common use of ICT application packages among
Mathematics teachers. There were 111 responses altogether and were analyzed using the SPSS
statistical package. The results were as follows:

(i) Word processing packages (71.1%),

(ii) Spreadsheets (51.2%),
(iii) Search engines (44.1%),
(iv) Presentation software (36.9%), and
(v) Drill and practice software (24.3%).
(Chong Chee Keong, Sharaf Horani, Jacob Daniel: 2005. A survey on the use of ICT
in Mathematics teaching. Malaysia)

5
 Table 1

From the survey, it was found that the five most popular application packages are the word
processing packages with 71.10% responses, followed by the spreadsheets with 51.20%
responses, search engines with 44.10% responses, presentation software with 36.90% responses,
and lastly drill and practice software which carries 24.30% responses (shown in Table 1). This
shows that the word processing packages might be used the Mathematics teacher mainly for
creating daily lesson plans, hand-made worksheets and notes to be delivered during the lesson,
making the Mathematics scheme of work, and also students’ attendance sheet.

In addition, Mathematics teacher also make use of ICT in class. From the survey, it was also
found out that 49.5% of the respondents used courseware in the class, 40.5% used ICT as
presentation tool, 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. However, about 29.7% of the
respondents did not use ICT in the classroom.

Apart from that, Mathematics teachers also use the Internet for various purposes such as for
browsing with 68.5% respondents, 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. However, 17.1% of
the respondents did not use the Internet.

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 6.0 Uses of ICT in Education
What are the uses of
ICT in education?
According to Jager and Lokman (1999), there are four main
1. As object
functions of the use of ICT (including the Internet) in
education. They are: 2. As an ‘assisting tool’

3. As a medium for
1. ICT as object. It refers to learning about ICT. (The learning) teaching and learning
is mostly organized in a specific course. What is being 4. As a tool and
learned depends on the type of education and the level of organization and
management in school
the students. Education prepares students for the use of ICT
in education, future occupation and social life.

ICT is viewed as a subject matter to be studied. ICT as a

subject is included in the curriculum under names such as
Computer Studies, ICT and others. Students learn about the
components of ICTs, parts of a computer, how to use the
Internet and so on.

2. ICT as an ‘assisting tool’. ICT is used as a tool, for example

while making assignments, collecting data and
documentation, communicating and conducting research.
Typically, ICT is used independently from the subject
matter.

ICT is used for communications and to access the desired

information. For examples, finding relevant information to
be included in essays and searching for alternative
strategies to teach multiplication.

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3. ICT as a medium for teaching and learning. This refers to ICT as a tool for teaching and
learning itself, the medium through which teachers can teach and learners can learn. It
appears in many different forms, such as drill and practice exercises, in simulations and
educational networks.

ICT is used inside the classroom. For instance, the teacher may use computers to show
PowerPoint presentations or the students may play educational games on the computers.

4. ICT as a tool for organization and management in school. There are many ways of using ICT
as a tool for organization and management in schools. For instance, teachers may make use
of the internet/intranet to set up forums or create student profiles that are accessible to all
teachers in the school.

Of these four uses, uses 2 and 3 are of great relevance to this essay and they will be
discussed further in subsequent chapters.

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 Roles of ICT as a
medium in teaching:

1. To improve
Mathematics
7.0 Roles of ICT as a medium in teaching learning

2. Give accurate
feedbacks
There are a number of roles of ICT as a medium in teaching
3. Saves time and energy
Mathematics such as:
4. More student-centered
1. Ittigson & Zewe (2003) cited that technology is essential in teaching approach
teaching and learning mathematics. ICT improves the way 5. Helps to develop
mathematics should be taught (Keong, C. C., Horani, S., teaching professionals.

Daniel, J.: 2005). This is in line with His Majesty’s decree at 6. Shorter teaching time.
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on 16th 7. Helps to address
November 2000 that accelerated the integration of ICT in master students’ different
intelligences and
plan 2000.
ability
“To prepare our young people for challenges ahead, 8. Allows for variation in
information technology is essential for learning and pacing

teaching, and we believe that closer cooperation in

education is required”.
(www.geocities.com/brulongman/intro1.htm).

2. ICT gives rapid and accurate feedbacks to students and this

contributes towards positive motivation (Becta as cited by
Keong, C. C., Horani, S., Daniel, J.: 2005).

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3. It eases as well as saves teachers’ time and energy during teaching (teacher can concentrate
on helping the low ability students while the high ability continue with computer-based
learning).

4. Teachers’ teaching will be more student-centered approach (where students are given
freedom to work at their own pace).

5. Also it helps to develop teaching professionals which offers a chance to adopt fresh
approaches to familiar material, and to develop new skills to expand teachers’ potential
(www.curriculumonline.gov.uk, 2002).

6. Teaching takes a short time compared to traditional teaching-learning style (teaching which
requires students to be silent most of the time). This could be due to the modern technology
being used is much easier and user-friendly (Ali, K., Uworwabayeho, A.: 2007).

7. Different intelligences and ability including the special needs students can be catered to and
stimulated. For example, by using ICT ease the teacher to give the same worksheets but with
different ability level i.e. low ability, medium and high ability students so that success are
achieved by all students.

8. It allows for variation in pacing (teacher can teach at a slow pace to the low ability students
while the high ability students can learn at their own pace)

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 Roles of ICT as a
medium in learning:

1. Enhances students’
understanding.

2. Promote greater
collaboration,
encourage
communication, and
sharing of knowledge.

3. Students receive
instant feedback from
computer programs.

4. Students are highly

motivated due to
interactive nature of
multimedia software.

5. Provide students with

advanced
8.0 Roles of ICT as a medium in learning communication
capability.

6. Helps to develop
Students are also gained the benefits on the roles of ICT as a students’ high-order
skills.
medium in learning Mathematics as listed below:

1. It enhances students’ understanding of basic concepts.

(Ittigson & Zewe, 2003 as cited by Keong, C. C., Horani, S.,
Daniel, J.: 2005). For e.g. Teacher use pie chart to teach the
concept of ‘half’ for students’ better understanding.

2. ICT-based tasks promote greater collaboration among

students and encourage communication and the sharing of
knowledge. For e.g. interaction with peers and experts from
outside the city or country. (Becta: 2003)

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3. Students also receive instant feedback from computer programs when trying out ideas,
encourages pupils to use conjecture and to keep exploring (Clements, 2000 as cited by Becta,
2003)

4. The interactive nature of multimedia software motivates students and leads to improved
performance (Moseley et al., 1999 as cited by Becta, 2003). They are also curious and eager
to manipulate things.

5. ICT-based tools provide students with an advanced communication capability, allowing them
to use graphics, images and text together, to demonstrate their understanding of mathematical
concepts (Jarrett, 1998 as cited by Becta, 2003). For e.g. students can learn on their own
using Maths CD-ROM equipped with the text, images, graphics and sound effect for teaching
related maths topic.

6. It helps to develop students’ high-order skills. For example, with the use of tools such as a
calculator, students can concentrate on higher-order skills, while the calculator does the
lower-order thinking for them.

7. Through the use of ICT students develop skills that assist learning in other subject areas (e.g.
problem solving, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration).

9.0 Issues in using ICT as a medium

ICT is not yet well integrated into the curriculum. According to Chung (2005), “many teachers
still use ICT to support or supplement traditional mode of teaching or as a remedial tool to
reinforce basic skills”. Instead of using the blackboard or whiteboard, the teacher uses
PowerPoint slides. The teacher might also use overhead transparencies instead of the whiteboard.
For example, rather than drawing shapes on the whiteboard, the teacher shows them pictures of
the shapes from her laptop. The teachers simply use old methods with new tools. There is no

12
major pedagogical change. This practice does not deliver the true potential of using ICT in the
classroom. It may capture students’ attention for a while because it is different from the usual
practice. But how long will that attention and curiosity last?

In a much worse scenario, ICT is used to cover up poor lesson preparations. The teacher
might just dump the content into a PowerPoint slideshow, add flashy animations here and there,
and then the show begins! An ignorant person observing the lesson would think that the teacher
is computer-literate, has done some ‘serious’ work on the lesson using ICT and hence, the lesson
is a good one. It does not necessarily be a good lesson. It is merely the issue of using ICT to help
disguise bad teaching practice and poor preparations. Chung (2005) calls this practice as “putting
lipstick on a bulldog”.

10.0 Roles of ICT (including the Internet) as an assisting tool

As been discussed previously, one of the main tasks of ICT as an assisting tool is to locate and
prepare relevant resources for the teaching and learning of mathematics. ICT as an assisting tool
has many roles. According to the 2003 ICT in School survey (cited in
www.curriculumonline.gov.uk, 2002), the majority of Government-funded schools report that
ICT 'helps reduce teacher workload in terms of lesson preparation, planning and assessment'.

Its first role is to save the teacher’s time. As most people are aware of, a teacher’s job is not
limited to teaching only. They need to do other work such as marking, attending seminars and
workshops and many other administrative tasks. Moreover, mathematics is one of the subjects
that is being taught two periods a day, every day. In some schools, mathematics periods may be
more. Towards the end of the year, as examinations are approaching, mathematics periods are
usually increased by taking other subjects’ slots.

In addition to massive workload of mathematics teachers, there is an increasing pressure on

the teachers to do well and help students achieve good results. Parents and headmasters expect a
lot from these teachers and this exert enormous pressure on mathematics teachers.

13
 One of the ways teachers use to cope with this pressure is by giving students a lot of drill
and practice exercise. Sometimes, the practice provided in the prescribed workbooks is not
enough. Teachers need to get their hands on more practice worksheets. This is where ICT assists
the teacher by saving her time. Drill and practice worksheets are just a click away. If you were to
type “mathematics worksheets” in any search engines available on the internet, it will produce
8,770,000 hits (or more)! It is impossible not to find one that does not fit your criteria for a
worksheet. Many of these worksheets also provide answer keys so that teacher or students can
easily mark their work.

As a class is usually made up of mixed ability students, teachers also need to prepare
different kinds of worksheets. Worksheets that are suitable for the high ability, the average and
the low ability students are easily available on the internet. Moreover, the internet gives quick
access to a lot of information. Therefore preparation of the lesson takes short period since teacher
can find numerous kinds of good quality teaching resources on the internet. Not only that, quality
materials suitable to the student’s ability can be easily accessed despite geographical location.
For instance, handouts are ready to be printed, and pictures, diagrams and any illustration can be
easily obtained.

The second role is to provide teachers with a variety and diverse content relevant to
mathematics teaching and learning. Again, a good example would be the internet. One may
wonder how big the internet is. The answer is “huge”! With some effort, one can find almost
anything on the internet. The lesson content that are retrieved from the internet is more detailed
and varied that suit the students. So, the teacher does not have to depend upon using the familiar
textbook consistently. This helps to stimulate students’ interest towards mathematics. In addition,
teachers can also get added information of the topics to be taught. Thus, it boosts students
understanding of certain concept much better during teaching processes. For example,

14
Why Turn the Fraction Upside Down?
Simply because division is the "inverse" or opposite of multiplying.

• Multiplying by 5 makes something 5 times bigger.

• Dividing by 5 makes something 5 times smaller.

A fraction has both multiply and divide in it ... you multiply by the top number and
divide by the bottom number.

Example: 3/4
That means to cut into 4 pieces, and then take 3 of those.
So you divide by 4 then multiply by 3.
So 100 × 3/4 is 100 divided by 4 (=25) then multiplied by 3 (=75).

NOW if you have to DIVIDE by a fraction, you are asked to do the opposite of
multiply ... so

• multiply becomes divide, and

• divide becomes multiply,

SO 3/4 becomes 4/3

Example: 75 / (3/4) is also 75 × (4/3), which is 75 divided by 3 (=25) then

multiplied by 4 (=100)

Note: 100 × (3/4) = 75, and if we then DIVIDE 75 by (3/4), which is the same as
multipling 75 by (4/3), you get back to 100 again. 15
 The internet also helps teacher’s preparation in doing assessment and evaluation of
learning as well as behaviour. Shown below is an assessment table ready to be printed by the
teacher. Resources like this are easily found on the internet. Teachers do not have to start from
scratch and produce assessment tables, performance record, behaviour point chart and so on.

16
(http://www.teachervision.fen.com/assessment/resource/5815.html?detoured=1)

17
 ICT’s third role is to make a teacher’s life easier. Computers allow editing of work to be
relatively easy. The teacher may use word processor, scanning facilities, picture editors, movie
creators and so on. Previous worksheets can be edited by changing the numbers only. On the
internet, a teacher can just type the mathematics topic to be taught and she can find a complete
resource of teaching materials, ideas and even the lesson plan that goes along with the teaching
ideas. How easy is that? Although the resources are not a hundred percent perfect, teachers can
easily edit them.

18
 11.0 Teacher’s skills in using ICT as an assisting tool

There are numerous skills that a teacher needs to possess when dealing with ICT. To list a few:

1. Opening word document.

2. Editing and formatting word document.

3. Saving images and files.

4. Do basic searches.

5. Navigate through websites.

6. Organise favourites or bookmarks.

7. Downloading and installing softwares.

8. Use help files.

9. Create slideshows.

10. Create and send emails.

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 12.0 Barriers in using ICT as a medium and as an assisting tool in

Mathematics teaching and learning

Keong, C. C., Horani, S., Daniel, J. (2005) identify that there are six major barriers hindering the
implementation of ICT in mathematics teaching which are found to be:

1. lack of time in the school schedule for projects involving ICT (54.6%),
2. inadequate teacher training opportunities for ICT projects (40.8%),
3. lack of adequate technical support for ICT projects (39.2%),
4. lack of knowledge about ways to integrate ICT to enhance the curriculum (38.8%),
5. integrating and using different ICT tools in a single lesson (36.8%), and
6. the absence of access to the necessary technology at the homes of students (33.0%).

From the survey, teachers consider that inadequate time is the main factor against teaching
and learning effectiveness, followed by insufficient teacher training for ICT projects, short of
adequate technical support for ICT projects, lack of knowledge about ways to integrate ICT,
integrating and using different ICT tools in a single lesson, and lastly the absence of access to the
necessary technology at the homes of students.

Similarly in other study done by Jones (2004) as cited by Keong, C. C., Horani, S., Daniel, J.
(2005), it was 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%),

20
 (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%).

From the two separate studies, it clearly shows the results from both are almost the same
where lack of time, lack of effective teacher training, lack of personal access and lack of
adequate technical support are appeared common. In addition, lack of time in the school schedule
for projects involving ICT tend to be the greatest barriers compared to others where the age of
the teachers slightly affects the integration of ICT into the teaching and learning of Mathematics.

13.0 Overcoming the barriers

1. Make request to allocate specific fund for teachers’ ICT training and participation in
computer conference. With this, teacher can learn computer skills and have personal access
both at home and school. Teachers, like students, should never stop learning.
(http://www.smartschools.ph/SmartSchools/SmartTools/ImproveICTLiteracy.htm)

2. Reduce the content of the lesson so that the teacher can use the maximum amount of teaching
time available for the integration of ICT in the classroom.

3. Make a new education system where the learning of computer studies should be as important
as learning Mathematics and English language subject. Therefore, parents and teachers are
aware of the importance of computer skills in education. This can be implemented by making
computer studies as compulsory subject in primary school as well as secondary school and it
should be added to the PSR exams.

21
4. Request all out school support. Recommend and push for the school to update and upgrade
the school’s ICT tools by getting more hardware and software, and installing a
communications network for some, and if possible all, the school computers (classrooms,
library, etc). (http://www.smartschools.ph/SmartSchools/SmartTools/ImproveICTLiteracy.htm)

5. From the ‘survey on the use of ICT in Mathematics teaching’ (2005), it is proposed to use an
e-portal which consists of two modules:

1. A resource repository; collection of mathematical tools, a question bank and other

resources in digital form that can be used for teaching and learning mathematics.
2. A lesson planner; a user friendly tool that can integrate resources from the repository
for lesson planning.

14.0 Examples of resources offered by the Internet

Practical Support Pack- Learning and teaching using ICT

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/supportpack/index.aspx

Quoting from the homepage:

Here are all the materials you will need to teach a wide range of subject topics using
ICT, from planning and preparation to evaluation.

Whether you are new to ICT or more experienced, these materials can be used by all
teaching professionals.

22
23
1.

Teacher Resource Exchange

http://tre.ngfl.gov.uk/

Quoting from the homepage:

The Teacher Resource Exchange (TRE) is a moderated database of resources and activities
created by teachers. All resources on the TRE are checked by subject specialists to ensure
they are of the highest possible quality. Resources are free to use and you can also add your
own resources to share with other teachers.

24
2.

WebQuest resources
http://webquest.org/findlinks/

Quoting from the website:

…Fortunately there are many pages out there that focus on this problem and many people
working to assemble and organize kid-friendly resources.

3.

Teacher Vision

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/

Quoting from the website:

TeacherVision® is dedicated to helping teachers save time. Find 17,500 pages of classroom-
ready lesson plans, printables, and resources.

4.

HotChalk’s Lesson Plans Page

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

25
 Quoting from the website:

Home to over 2000 Free lesson plans for teachers in science, social studies, art, language
arts, PE and math lesson plans! Activities, Lessons, Thematic Units…

5.

Teaching Ideas for Primary Teachers

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/index.shtml

Quoting from the website:

This site contains lesson ideas, activities and resources, and they're all FREE for you to use
in your classrooms! You can find ideas and resources in lots of different ways...

When teaching multiplying and dividing decimals by 10, 100 or 1000 etc...

I made some hats which had the name of each place value on the front, for example Tens,
Units, tenths, hundredths and one had the decimal point on. I then gave the children a
number card which they held and I gave them the sum they had to solve. for e.g the
children had the number 32.94 and I asked them to x by 10.

Because they have the hats on they know that it's not the columns or decimal point that
moves but the numbers themselves. So it ends up with the children passing their numbers
to their left or right, depending upon the sum.

This really helped my lower ability group because it is so visual. Hope you find this
useful.

26
 15.0 Examples of lessons

As a teacher develops a lesson plan, it is vital for the teacher to have knowledge and skills
needed to teach the lesson fluently and effectively. Before teaching a lesson, teacher needs to do
a self-assessment to determine whether they are well prepared to teach the lesson or do they have
the needed mathematics content knowledge, the general pedagogical knowledge, and the
mathematics pedagogical knowledge (Moursund & Ricketts, 2008). If a teacher happens to
detect any weaknesses during the preparation of the lesson plan, it is wise for the teacher to
spend more time thinking about what is best for learners’ better understanding of the lesson that
is going to be delivered.

Keep in mind Marshall McLuhan's statement (as cited in Moursund & Ricketts, 2008),
"The medium is the message." If you want students to learn to be mathematically proficient in an
adult world where calculators, computers, and other ICT are ubiquitous, strive to create such a
teaching, learning, and assessment environment in your classroom.

27
 Lesson Plan #1

Primary: 4A

No. of pupils: 30

Duration: 1 hour

Subject: Mathematics

Topic: Fractions

Sub-topic: Understanding fraction

Previous knowledge: Pupils have heard various examples of fraction words in everyday life.
For example, pizza and cakes are cut into 8, 16 bars of chocolates, or my
sister ate half of the apple.

Lesson objectives

At the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:

i. read and write the correct fraction based on the shaded region

ii. write the numerator first before the denominator

iii. respond to teacher’s question correctly

Teaching methods

- Questioning skills

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 - Explanation skills

- Demonstration skills

- Cooperative skills

Teaching aids

- Chocolates

- Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT1, fraction, part of a whole)

- Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT2, fraction finder)

29
 Time Teacher activity Pupil activity

Set Teacher shows chocolates bars to pupils and ask Pupils pay attention and
induction “how many bars this chocolate have?” answer teacher’s questions.
(5 minutes)
Teacher ate 2 bars of the chocolates and asks
“how many have I eaten?”

Then teacher tells to the pupils that “I have

eaten 2 out of 8 bars of chocolates. Teacher
introduces the lesson by saying “today we are
going to learn a new topic that is fraction.”

Step 1 Teacher begins the lesson using Microsoft Pupils listen carefully and
(30 minutes) PowerPoint slide show (PPT 1; fraction, parts show interest to teacher’s
of a whole). explanation.

Step 2 Teacher quizzes pupils to check their level of Pupils respond to teacher’s
(20 minutes) understanding about the concept of fraction question attentively and spoke
using Microsoft PowerPoint slide show (PPT2; clearly.
fraction finder).

Pupils will be grouped into 8 and each group

will need to select a leader. During the session,
teacher will have to finish reading the question
first and then any leaders who first raise their
hand are allowed to answer the question where
each question will carry two marks. If any
groups answer the question incorrectly, the
question will be opened to other groups.
Remind them that they need to cooperate and
discuss the answer among their group members.

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Teacher provides worksheet to pupils as Pupils answer the worksheet

individual work to assess pupils’ mastery of the and ask teacher when they
Screenshots from PowerPoint slides

PPT 1; fraction, parts of a whole (Retrieved from http://teachable.net/res.asp?r=800)

PPT2; fraction finder (Retrieved from http://teachable.net/res.asp?r=929)

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Both PowerPoint presentations (which are available on the CD) can be downloaded easily from
the internet to ease the teacher in their preparation before teaching the topic on fractions. The
worksheet (Worksheet 1) is also available on the internet where the teacher can just download the
file and print it straight away! It is faster, easier and simpler rather than doing it manually.

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 Lesson Plan #2

Primary: 5R

No. of pupils: 30

Duration: 1 hour

Subject: Mathematics

Topic: Order of Operations

Sub-topic: Addition and Subtraction without brackets

Previous knowledge: Pupils have done addition and subtraction separately. They also practiced
mental addition and subtraction.

Lesson objectives

At the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:

1. answer addition and subtraction questions quickly during the set induction,

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 2. work cooperatively in pairs to complete the puzzle,

3. follow the game rules during the activity in conclusion.

Teaching aids

1. “Hidden Picture” game

2. Puzzle 1 for pair work

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 Time Teacher activity Pupil activity

Set The teacher uses the “Hidden Picture” game to Pupils quickly answer the
induction do quick revision on addition and subtraction questions in the “Hidden
(5 minutes) facts. Picture” game according to
their turn.

Step 1 Teacher puts a question on the board and writes Pupils try to guess the answer
(5 minutes) a big question mark next to it. The pupils are to the teacher’s question.
given 2 minutes to try and guess the answer.

The question:
3+5-2

Step 2 If the pupils can give a correct answer, ask one Pupils will try to come up with
(15 minutes) of them how they got the correct answer. If not, explanations on how the
the teacher will explain by using examples. question should be answered.

The rule is to “work from left to right”

3+5-2 Do 3+5 first, which is 8

Then minus 2 from 8. So the answer is
6.

Step 3 The teacher will provide a puzzle (Puzzle 1) for Pupils will work in pairs to
(30 minutes) pupils to do in pairs. complete the puzzle.

Conclusion Pupils are asked to stand. The teacher will show Pupils follow the rules of the
(5 minutes) big flashcards containing questions on addition game to answer the teacher’s
and subtraction such as: questions.

7-2+5 35
15+2-5
6+1-4
Screenshots from the “Hidden Picture” game

Retrieved from
http://www.aplusmath.com/Games/HiddenPicture/HiddenPicture.php

Explanation on how to carry out the “Nominate or Answer” Activity

To ensure all children are focused and involved in answering questions, play Nominate or
Answer.

After you've asked a general question, children then put their hands up. You then select a child
and give them the option to nominate someone else or answer themselves.

This keeps everyone on their toes and ensures all have a go.

Retrieved from http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maths/nominateoranswer.htm

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For this lesson, ICT is mainly used in the preparation stage. The teacher can obtain a lot of
materials from the internet. For instance, the game, puzzles and teaching ideas (Answer or
Nominate) were obtained from the internet. During the lesson, the “Hidden Picture” game is
shown to the whole class during set induction. If computers are available for each pupil to use,
the game can be played individually.

For both examples of lessons, ICT is used in both preparation and in teaching. ICT has proved to
be beneficial to the teacher. That is why using ICT to teach mathematics nowadays have been a
great emphasis especially in teaching primary school children so that they will not develop
negative feelings about mathematics like ‘boring’, ‘difficult’, or ‘lack of understanding’. The
teacher would also feel less stress due to the reduction in workload.

16.0 Conclusion

In sum, ICT which includes the Internet can be used in a lot of different ways. Not only can they
be used during lessons, they are also very helpful in the preparation stage of a lesson. With
increasing trends in the usage of ICT, some people might believe that they no longer need
teachers. They can learn anything through ICT and the Internet. However, to quote Fullan (1998),

"The more powerful technology becomes,

the more indispensable good teachers are.”

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