VISUALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Technology is the future of our educational system and it can play a major role in the teaching and learning process. In the South African context, the curriculum reformation in CAPS is preparing the teachers to use technology effectively in teaching and learning as it can immensely enhance the classroom environment (Department of Basic Education, 2014). Much of the modern generation are very much knowledgeable technologically having taught themselves digital literacy through using the internet and social media platforms. They consider

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technology to be part of their lives and there is no sense depriving them of using technology at school. The result of the advancement of technology is that it has now impacted greatly as a means of communication for teaching and learning in schools and higher education institutions as it bridges the gap between the classroom and the outside world.

The strategic use of technology is important in teaching and learning. The focus on technology and its association with mathematics has great ramifications for teaching and learning. Kuzle (2012:8) stated that “taking into consideration the influence of an increasingly global and technological society on teaching practices, teachers need to become aware of the pedagogical and implications of technology and be able to take advantage of technology as a powerful and engaging teaching tool”. Teaching problem solving methodology has become a central focus of instructional activity via technology education. It is presumed that technology permits topics to be studied in greater intensity through more collaborative ways through the use of simulations and descriptions. According to the White Paper on e-Education (Department of Education, 2004) teaching using technology will enhance the quality of learning. It allows mathematical situations and concepts to be brought to life. Since it stimulates the learner‟s interest, the pre- service teachers should maximise the use of technology to create visual means to teach problem strategies and skills in the classroom. Technology, besides being a powerful tool to hold the learners attention span, has the capacity of opening learners to new frontiers of learning by allowing them to acquire skills that can be used when solving problems. Technology in the mathematics classroom supports learning as it allows the learners an opportunity to adapt visualization by working collaboratively with the material. Engaging interactively with concepts and technology simplifies many mathematical aspects thus making learning fun and easy as the learners have a visual medium to effectively support their understanding. This will help create an authentic learning experience for the learners. Such a learning experience allows them to use their creativity, analytical skills to develop and construct their own understanding. In this way they can determine what is needed before making an informed decision on the strategy to be used to solve the problem. This kind of learning in the mathematics classroom is supported by the Department of Education where the learners need to use their order thinking skills to deliver higher order performance.

Investigation in teaching and learning and developments in technology have prompted significant changes in how mathematics is taught. The role of technology via the use of visual resources has shown that visualization in mathematics has grown immensely during the last decade and the teachers and learners are now using technology and visualization more regularly. The immense changes in the technological field and the manner in which information is communicated to the masses has seen an increase to using 2D, 3D, animations

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and representative models as visual material without difficulty in the classroom. The teachers are now being encouraged to focus on important mathematics through the use of visualization, appropriate use of representations supported by communication technologies (Luneta, 2013:14).

Figure 8 Framework for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

The above model (Figure 8) was developed by Mishra and Koehler. The letters CK denotes Content, PK denotes Pedagogical and TK denotes Technology. The circles overlap creating new categories of knowledge. Why create another knowledge category when the pre-service teachers need common content knowledge (CCK), specialized content knowledge (SCK); knowledge of content and students (KCS) and knowledge of content and teaching (KCT) to teach the subject efficiently. Several issues linked to pedagogical content knowledge necessitate the need to add technology knowledge. This model as a new category is justified by Mishra and Koehler on the basis that the present changes in technology impacts on both content and pedagogy. They are of the view that the intertwining of the three sources of knowledge, namely, content, pedagogy and technology “is the basis of all good teaching” (Hyde and Edwards, 2011:85). An interesting area to explore is how the pre-service teachers are able to make didactic uses of technology to teach content knowledge. It is necessary for them to know how to manage technological advancements into their teaching and also assist their learners to use technology effectively in their learning.

In Figure 9 the diagram indicates the relationship of the student (learners), teachers and the teaching facility (classroom). The central route to learning is the learner.

In Figure 10 the learner is still the focus of teaching and learning. The pre-service teachers now need to focus on how information technology can make their lessons more dynamic. Hence

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they need to become proficient in using this in the classroom in order to put across content material more informatively as it lends itself to experiential learning and it brings real life situations into the classroom. This kind of approach will allow learners to learn more because when they visualize they retain more of the knowledge as it allows for concepts to be vividly explained.

Figure 9 Didactic Triangle (Pavlekovic, Kolar-Begovic and Kolar-Super, 2013:132)

Figure 10 Didactic Triangle (Pavlekovic, Kolar-Begovic and Kolar-Super, 2013:133)

Teachers and the pre-service teachers, whilst exposed to the advancements in technology, do not have the necessary capacity to use it successfully in the classroom a s teaching resources or are not prepared to foster its implementation to improve pedagogical practices. Hyde and Edwards (2011) found in their studies that the pre-service teachers found it difficult to transfer

STUDENT TEACHER TEACHING FACILITY STUDENT Information Technology TEACHER TEACHING FACILITY STUDENT

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technological skills to the classroom. According to Abbitt and Klett (2007) it has become the responsibility of the teacher training programs at higher education institutions to train the pre- service teachers effectively to use technology in the practice of teaching. With the advent of technology explosion internationally, schools will expect technologically literate teachers to model teaching differently to cater for the differing learning style of a new generation of learners. Schools and institutions, as a cost cutting strategy, have resorted to putting all teaching and learning material on educational programs accessible via tablets, word processors and smart phones. By using technologies, recognizable by learners, the teachers will be able to stimulate their lessons in an experiential and authentic way. By doing so the teachers will be able to engage the learners as active learners and also boost creative thinking and learning. Worldwide there has been a rapid development in information technology. This is influencing and reshaping the learning styles of learners in schools. By training the pre-service teachers to engage with technology correctly in conjunction with the relevant content material, higher education institutions will strengthen the use of technology in teaching and learning. Technology is currently a predestined component of the 21st century and if used to support visualization in a variety of contexts, it can assist learners in becoming prolific problem solvers. Therefore, it crucial that the higher education institutions take cognizance of modern technology and the impact it has on mathematics teaching and learning and teach the pre- service teachers pedagogical content simultaneously with technological pedagogical content knowledge in a way that encourages and optimizes learning.