Building numeracy through ICT

An Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme funded project at Kambala Anglican School is utilising ICT to strengthen students’numeracy skills. Project team members, James Hagen (ICT Integrator and Head of Academic Support), Katherine Mar (Head of Mathematics), Margaret Witts (Head of Student Services) and Stage 4 Mathematics teachers Deborah Liang and Gerard Puren are leading the way by incorporating innovative ICT based activities into lessons. These activities centre on the use of an interactive whiteboard, individual computers and The Le@rning Federation’s learning objects for Mathematics and Numeracy. These learning objects allow students to interact with, visualise, and make sense of complex concepts.

Gerard used a similar approach with his Year 8 class. He introduced a learning object that showed the relationship between the area of a triangle and the area of a rectangle. While scissors and paper may have been able to achieve this goal, the technology demonstrated the relationship simply, efficiently and in an engaging manner. As Gerard noted,

The students were all dead keen to get up and have a go at something that was different.

Team members report that the project is already having a positive impact on student outcomes, especially for students who are visual and kinaesthetic learners. Outcomes mentioned include:

• an increased enthusiasm for numeracy learning
• a greater inclination for self-directed learning
• motivation to practise numeracy skills independently
• raised self-esteem
• improvements in test results.

Project planning

Before attempting to use whiteboards and learning objects in the classroom, the project team allocated five weeks to investigate and test a range of Mathematics learning objects, to install them on the readily accessible school intranet platform using the Moodle course management system software. As a result, team members felt confident that the technology was sufficiently reliable and practical to introduce into lessons. Team member and Head of Student Services Support, Margaret Witts, found the professional collaboration among Mathematics subject specialists and support staff a valuable benefit of the project. As Margaret remarked,

The project helps me to be seen as someone who has a professional role in different types of classrooms.

Project funding provides some of the time for this planning and training to take occur. Planning meetings are continuing on a regular basis.

The future

The impact of the project is moving beyond the participating group. Other Mathematics teachers and ICT support staff at Kambala are working together to find, test and share suitable learning objects. The presence of the learning objects on the school intranet is proving to be a catalyst for other faculties to explore the possibilities. The technology is being introduced across the junior and senior schools as the influence of the project is felt. As Gerard commented:

It’s not the type of project that you finish and just put to bed. We are investing in the future

For more about:

The Learning Federation:
www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/

Moodle:
http://moodle.org/

N.B. The Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme in NSW has no links or association with the organisation listed above. To view the sites, copy and paste the URL into a new window/Tab to access the website home web page.

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