International Journal of Mathematics Trends and Technology
Volume 15 | Number 1 | Year 2014 | Article Id. IJMTT-V15P506 | DOI : https://doi.org/10.14445/22315373/IJMTT-V15P506
This paper reports on an exploratory study concerning the integration of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) and Mathematics as it supports the effective implementation of outcome-based curriculum practice in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It demonstrates a commitment among undergraduate students on an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme in Emirates College of Advanced Education (ECAE), in creating progressive curricular provision in ICT /Mathematics. In particular, attention is given to the development of pedagogical approach supporting innovative transformative, self-regulated student approach in preference to more traditional transmission style teaching forms in elementary schools in Abu Dhabi. This approach to immersion activity in student-engaged learning behaviors is believed to better deliver outcome-based approaches and so is directly in keeping with the principles of Abu Dhabi’s New School Model (NSM) curriculum. As such the study outlines a consideration of how ICT may be best placed to support Math provision in forward thinking schools within the emirate and wider UAE elementary provision. Crucially, the study can also be seen to have evidenced a pragmatic style of integration of ICT and Math by offering an approach dealing with the proliferation of online Math resources that often leave students and practitioners in a quandary as to where to begin in terms of fostering self-regulated learning styles, how to monitor educational worth of websites and how to engage child learners in independent learning tasks online without losing rigor of curricular content. ECAE in Abu Dhabi has been unusual in implementing a Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) as a unique approach to operationalizing the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Mathematics in respect of helping its undergraduate students investigate the progressive pedagogical tenets inherent in the NSM curriculum. The approach was unique in two respects, firstly the VIP project operated outside that of the normal core undergraduate degree course offered at ECAE and as such afforded students with specific interests in the cognate areas of Mathematics and ICT the opportunity to work on a practical research task, both prior to and during, practicum experience in elementary schools. Secondly, the project class structure was deliberately designed to cut vertically across student year groups and to be supported by academic and research staff in a semi-formalized research team structure. This meant that individual project group constituencies ultimately consisted of groups of students and academics from a range of experiential backgrounds and as such did not mirror the traditional class environment of standard Mathematics core groups. The design of these project groups was informed by work conducted by Abler et al (2010) in the USA as to the benefits of the use of VIP to enhancement of students’ professional skills acquisition and academic research output by faculty. It was also informed by research study on communities of practice, communities of enquiry and online collaborative practice towards elaborated enhancement of professional learning detailed by Hargreaves (2000), Christie et al (2007) and Wilson et al (2007) respectively.
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Farouq Almeqdadi, Robert Collins, "Implementation Considerations of Emirate Student Teachers Regarding Online Math," International Journal of Mathematics Trends and Technology (IJMTT), vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 38-45, 2014. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/22315373/IJMTT-V15P506
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