Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic tested teachers’ and learners’ resilience to continue teaching and learning with the limited use of traditional classrooms. What became apparent was the need to find alternative ways to maintain the interactions between the teachers and the learners. This study explored the tea...

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Main Authors: Lillias Hamufari Natsai Mutambara, Maria Tsakeni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Noyam Journals 2022-10-01
Series:E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://noyam.org/ehass2022sp31121/
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author Lillias Hamufari Natsai Mutambara
Maria Tsakeni
author_facet Lillias Hamufari Natsai Mutambara
Maria Tsakeni
author_sort Lillias Hamufari Natsai Mutambara
collection DOAJ
description The COVID-19 pandemic tested teachers’ and learners’ resilience to continue teaching and learning with the limited use of traditional classrooms. What became apparent was the need to find alternative ways to maintain the interactions between the teachers and the learners. This study explored the teaching and learning of secondary mathematics during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the community of inquiry framework. An explorative single case study design with forty learners and seven teachers from a rural school in Zimbabwe as participants was used. The purposive selection of the participants was based on their experiences of emergency remote learning and classes where COVID-19 protocols were observed. Data were collected through open-ended and closed questionnaires given to learners and structured and semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers. The qualitative data were analysed through thematic content analysis techniques. The findings show that in the wake of limited access to sufficient educational technologies and internet connectivity, teachers had to find alternative ways to teach mathematical problems by using already worked-out examples and voice notes, thereby reducing the teaching presence and teacher-learner interactions. However, the reduction of the teaching presence was compensated by increased self-regulated learning as learners tried to make sense of the examples shared through social media tools. The study recommends building teachers’ technological and pedagogical knowledge to teach mathematics using cheap social media applications to improve the teaching, social and cognitive presence.
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spelling doaj.art-b45ddc485166432c8f6a451779f7c7a12023-09-02T23:47:22ZengNoyam JournalsE-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences2720-77222022-10-01311261276https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022sp31121Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 PandemicLillias Hamufari Natsai Mutambara0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6135-8036Maria Tsakeni1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3208-1362Department of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology Education, University of the Free State, South AfricaDepartment of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology Education, University of the Free State, South Africa.The COVID-19 pandemic tested teachers’ and learners’ resilience to continue teaching and learning with the limited use of traditional classrooms. What became apparent was the need to find alternative ways to maintain the interactions between the teachers and the learners. This study explored the teaching and learning of secondary mathematics during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the community of inquiry framework. An explorative single case study design with forty learners and seven teachers from a rural school in Zimbabwe as participants was used. The purposive selection of the participants was based on their experiences of emergency remote learning and classes where COVID-19 protocols were observed. Data were collected through open-ended and closed questionnaires given to learners and structured and semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers. The qualitative data were analysed through thematic content analysis techniques. The findings show that in the wake of limited access to sufficient educational technologies and internet connectivity, teachers had to find alternative ways to teach mathematical problems by using already worked-out examples and voice notes, thereby reducing the teaching presence and teacher-learner interactions. However, the reduction of the teaching presence was compensated by increased self-regulated learning as learners tried to make sense of the examples shared through social media tools. The study recommends building teachers’ technological and pedagogical knowledge to teach mathematics using cheap social media applications to improve the teaching, social and cognitive presence.https://noyam.org/ehass2022sp31121/covid-19 pandemiceducational technologiesschool mathematicssocial media pedagogies
spellingShingle Lillias Hamufari Natsai Mutambara
Maria Tsakeni
Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
covid-19 pandemic
educational technologies
school mathematics
social media pedagogies
title Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Using Social Media Pedagogies to teach School Mathematics in a selected Zimbabwean school during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort using social media pedagogies to teach school mathematics in a selected zimbabwean school during the covid 19 pandemic
topic covid-19 pandemic
educational technologies
school mathematics
social media pedagogies
url https://noyam.org/ehass2022sp31121/
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