1.15 Summary of chapter
2.6.7 With what are they teaching? (Resources)
Moreover, a critical action research conducted by Khoza (2016) on three curriculum managers who used Moodle (free and open –source learning management system) to manage their school curriculum at a Durban, South Africa. In addition to the above, the purpose of the study was to explore the managers’ reflections on their use of visions of Moodle for curriculum management. Moreover, one-on-one semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion were used for data generation. In addition to the above, purposive and convenience samplings were used to select the three most easily accessible participants. Consequently, the study reveals that managers’ reflections on curriculum through Moodle suggest new strategies for curriculum management (habitual, opinion, and factual). Furthermore, the study concluded that the managers understood/learned new strategies of managing curriculum through their use of visions for the Moodle. Finally, this article recommends the effective use of new strategies only when there is availability of resources. This further suggests that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase may employ new strategies so that they are able to use a variety of resources that will enhance the achievement of curriculum goals.
Furthermore, resources are defined as objects and people that communicate learning (Khoza (2012); Irvin and Trimble (2003). Further to this, Khoza (2012) defined resources as anything that facilitates/initiates learning or any person or thing that communicates learning. Further to this, the study by Khoza (2014) further reveals the three levels of resources namely; hard-ware (machine that drive Moodle soft-ware such as computers, laptop, smartphones, and other digital machines), soft-ware (soft-ware that displays information from the hard-ware) and ideological- ware (education/curriculum approaches/theories or visions). This further, suggests that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase should be knowledgeable and understand the levels of resources that will be effective for the implementation of the intended curriculum and also employ the skill experience in each available level of soft-ware and hard- ware resources at school, because teaching is not only about technology but it is also about
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understanding the knowledge experiences. Furthermore, a case study conducted by Shabiralyani, Hasan, Hamad, and Iqbal (2015) using a closed ended questionnaire to collect the required data from the staff and students of the private and public educational institutions of District Dera Ghazi through the SPSS soft-ware, the study revealed that teachers’ use of teaching resources of diverse kinds in a classroom make the teaching and learning process more productive. According to McKenney, Nieveen, and van den Akker (2006), during Meso planning (school), teachers make their own collection from the range of accessible educational resources which support day-to-day teaching, like textbooks. In line with this, Joke Voogt, Tilya, and van den Akker (2009) assert that learning resources can be viewed as the carries of the curriculum. Thus, this suggests that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase should use their skill experience to have ideas of using any available soft-ware, hard- ware, and ideological-ware resources at school.
Moreover, soft-ware resources are defined as those resources that assist hard-ware resources to display information (Khoza, 2013); (Mpungose, 2016). According Fargher (2017) soft-ware resources can be programs written in particular programming languages. The study further asserts that soft-ware resources serve many purposes other than teaching. Instructional soft- ware packages are developed for the sole purpose of supporting instruction and learning. For example, they allow learners to work mathematical problems or answer questions and gain feedback on correctness. This assertion suggests that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase should apply skill experiences when teaching Mathematics content through soft-ware resources so that they allow learners to use user-friendly tools when learning Mathematics. For instance, PowerPoint slides, calculators, overhead projectors as well as laptops to teach and record tasks. Recording is a process in which the teachers document the level of a learner’s competence in specific learning or assessment tasks of Mathematics (Motshekga, 2009). In addition to the above, hard-ware resources may assist teachers to achieve intended curriculum goals when they are used accordingly.
In addition to the above, hard-ware resources are any tools or machines/objects used in education (Khoza, 2013). Howe and Abedin (2013) concur with Kuhn (2015), and Snow (2010) as well as Perry, VandeKamp, Mercer, and Nordby (2002) that learners who are taught skills using hard-ware resources perform better in critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving
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and reading comprehension. In line with this, there is robust evidence that demonstrates that the quality of classroom teaching using hard-ware resources has a measurable impact on standards of attainment in Mathematics (Perry et al., 2002). Further to this, the quality of using hard-ware resources in classroom teaching is an important predictor of learners’ success (Murphy, 2009). This suggests that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase should be driven by knowledge experience when using hard-ware resources to teach some Mathematics content. In addition, Mathematics teachers for the Intermediate Phase should be aware that ideological-ware resources should drive any lesson/curriculum in education, because learning is not about technology, but is instead about the ideology behind the learning (ideological-ware) (Amory, 2010).
Furthermore, ideological resources are defined by Mpungose (2015) as the resources that we cannot see and touch in education but still controls our teaching, such as teaching methods (approaches) (teacher-centred, content-centred, and learner-centred). Further to this, ideological-ware resources should be understood as the teachers’ internal ideologies that tell the teachers’ what to do or not to do in their teaching (Khoza, 2016); (Amory, 2010). This indicates that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase should be driven by knowledge experience when planning and teaching their lessons in order to accommodate all learners.
In addition to the above, Motshekga (2009) is vocal on the CAPS document about the resources to be used during the Mathematics learning and teaching process. Further to this, Motshekga (2009) states that every learner must have his/her own textbook and schools must make every effort to ensure that the essential equipment is provided such as calculators. In addition to the above, “teachers should ensure that a system is in place for recovering textbooks at the end of every year” (Motshekga, 2009). This suggests that teachers teaching Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase should be driven by knowledge experience to procure and manage the resources for teaching and learning Mathematics, such as resources used to teach measurement (content) and weight, numbers (counting) like 5-6 measuring tapes and good examples of a sphere (ball), rectangular prism (box), cube, core, pyramid and cylinder (Motshekga, 2009).
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Furthermore, teachers may make sure that the teaching and learning for Mathematics is accessible to all learners in the Intermediate Phase.