Mathematics through ICT:
ICT based teaching and learning is one of the most important
aspects of teaching-learning process particularly in this era of fast and
technically advancing technology. Teaching and learning without the use of ICT
can be very redundant since it’s the need of the generation. The learners will
become inactive and un-participatory without the integration of ICT in the
lessons apart from many more.
To make the class interactive and students’ centered,
insisting students to browse the net on their own to relate the information of
the text to that of the internet for better and realistic learning and
understanding comes as solution. Through the process, students were empowered
with a series of skills and attitudes about ICT that are essential tool of
knowledge for success in this era as they
learn to browse net and you tubes for educational purposes.
On 22nd October, I taught a lesson on ‘MEAN,
MEDIAN and MODE’ to class VI using ICT. The facilities used were laptop,
projector, internet and smart phones. During the lesson, I used video tutorial. Alongside, I
made students to have hand on experience to use ICT facilities; children were
involved in surfing Google
search for the solution and used WeChat app to discuss (for two days).
I found that through student-centered
ICT integrated teaching-learning process; students were very active and
energetic throughout the lesson. They were excited and felt that they were
doing small research in their own way while they were doing Google search using
smart phones. It also made them to have extensive discussion on a problem as
they found lots of related responses by different authors. Further, while using
WeChat app for discussion, students were very enthusiastic to discuss and
comment which helped them to learn better. The classroom was very lively as
students were completely engaged in exploring information for the lesson
concept. The introduction of the lesson, made trough video tutorial, let
students realize that learning can happen even in absence of teacher. They also
realized that it will certainly support them to use the period effectively that
ultimately will reduce the challenges of syllabus coverage. Surfing search
engines in smart phones helped them to find meaning for difficult words;
pronounce the words appropriately; find synonyms and antonyms with examples and
many more, which surely added excitement to learn and explore further. Children
realized that smart phones were not just to call or chat, but can be used for
educational purpose. Usually, I use video clips as energizer in between the
lesson to break boredom to increase the learning efficiency, but for this lesson learners were already enthusiastic and
curious to learn which greatly helped to
reduce my workload.
On the other hand, having uncountable
benefits of ICT in teaching learning process is not without challenges. Owing
to limited ICT resources in Computer labs, transportation of electronic gadgets
from one class to another location were seen as nuisance and waste of time. Lack of IT expertise is another hiccup. High
internet price also does not motivate us to integrate ICT on a daily basis. The
handiest gadget that students and teachers can be used was found as smart
phones but the policy of not letting students to use smart phones in schools
comes as a big obstruction. Therefore, it is my earnest opinion that the policy
has to be amended to help the digital natives, the 21st century
students, to learn in the way that suits them.
To conclude, ICT plays a pivotal role in transforming
educational practices. ICT not only helps
to translate
theory to pragmatic experience, but also makes learning
more fun and creative. It has helped both the teacher and the learner to carry
out their tasks conveniently and efficiently which finally results learning more independently through
ICT as they take more responsibility of learning process.
