Postgraduate mathematics education students’ experiences of using digital platforms for learning within the COVID-19 pandemic era

Abstract

Within the digital era, as global society embraces the fourth industrial revolution, technology is being integrated swiftly within teaching and learning. Within the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic era, education institutions are preparing robustly for digital pedagogy. This article reports on a study focusing on 31 postgraduate mathematics education students’ experiences of using digital platforms for learning during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The study was located at one teacher education institution in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research process encompassed three interactive online workshops and two online discussion forums, which were conducted via different digital platforms (Zoom, Moodle and WhatsApp). The study was framed using the theory of Communities of Practice, which denotes a group of people who share an interest which is enhanced as group members support and interact with each other. Qualitative data generated during the interactive online workshops and discussion forums were analysed thematically. The results exhibit challenges and strengths of using digital platforms as experienced by the participants. The results of this study suggest that before using digital platforms for mathematics learning, it is important for students to be encouraged to practise and engage collaboratively within digital platforms. The study adds to the developing knowledge in the field concerning using digital platforms for learning mathematics within the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Students’ Responses to Multi-Modal Emergency Remote Learning During COVID-19 in a South African Higher Institution

“…The major encounter of respondents during remote learning was insufficient data for engagements with learning. This finding was expected as most respondents are from disadvantaged families, do not have internet access at home and cannot afford to buy data, which is considered to be expensive in South Africa (Naidoo, 2020;Rossouw, 2018). Inadequacy of data makes engagement with learning content, lecturers and peers a challenging exercise.…”

“…Many students confessed that remote learning required a lot of data, which does not come cheaply (Shim & Lee, 2020). The cost of data in South Africa is very high (Naidoo, 2020;Rossouw, 2018), thus inhibiting the poor students' access to learning and reducing their chances of success.…”

“…The use of videos and recordings was highly appreciated by students (Naidoo, 2020) who were keen to utilise recordings for learning (Yuan, 2021) and as a result, reported enhanced learning experiences (Benito et al, 2021;Vale et al, 2020). Recordings have been reported to improve students' interaction with the course content as they paid more attention to synchronous engagements instead of focusing on note-taking (Nkomo & Daniel, 2021).…”

“…This study identified and described the undergraduate students' encounters during ERTL, perceptions and preferences for ERTL, in a selected HEI. Whilst several authors such as Naidoo (2020), Sokhulu (2020), Obuaku-Igwe (2020) and Songca et al (2021) carried similar studies in South Africa, a common characteristic of their studies is that they focused on experiences on limited aspects of ERTL. Naidoo and Sokhulu's studies focused on experiences of digital platforms; Obuaku-Igwe considered social isolation experiences whilst Songca et al, considered access to study materials and participation efficacy.…”

Challenges and Opportunities: Experiences of Mathematics Lecturers Engaged in Emergency Remote Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Reports on mathematics support during the initial university closures detail the greatly reduced numbers of students availing of services of this kind [6,7], which is an issue of concern. Others have focused on preservice mathematics teachers, looking at how they made the transition to using digital resources for mathematics [8,9], while more considered the teaching of specific subject areas [10,11] or age-groups [12,13]. More generally, some have researched specifically what mathematics educators in institutes of higher education can learn from their experience of these times [14].…”