Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Teaching and Learning (ICTL 2009) .... Unleash the Full Potential of
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Teaching and Learning (ICTL 2009) INTI University College, Malaysia
TEACHING PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ MATHEMATICS USING NETMEETING Ling Siew-Eng1, Lai Kim-Leong2 and Ling Siew-Ching3 1,3
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak, Malaysia (
[email protected];
[email protected]) 2 Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia (Batu Lintang Campus) Malaysia (
[email protected]) 1
ABSTRACT Most of the higher education institutions in Malaysia provide technology facilities such as wireless connection, computer lab and liquid crystal display for their students and staff. NetMeeting is among the communication softwares which may be used for teaching and learning and are available for free download. The study was conducted to determine the pre-service teachers’ perception on using NetMeeting and to explore the strengths and weaknesses of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics utilizing the explanatory design of mixed method. Two groups of 36 pre-service teachers were involved in the study. Census was used in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected at the middle of April 2009. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS whilst the qualitative data was analyzed using NVivo software. Results showed that respondents perceived positively using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. The participants also highlighted some strengths and weaknesses using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics.
KEYWORDS NetMeeting, Preservice teacher, Mathematics
INTRODUCTION In this new millinium, the traditional lectures using chalk and whiteboard are still widely used. The traditional mode of lectures started to evolve with the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Most of the schools and higher learning institutions have already make use of this technology in teaching and learning process, among which the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is one of the commonly used technologies in Malaysia education system. Most of the higher learning institutions in Malaysia provide technological facilities for their preservice teachers and staff. Currently, internet and wireless connection are available in most of the institutions. Educators today have wider range of ICT tools to choose from. In addition, there are communication softwares which may be used for teaching and learning and are available for free downloading such as Windows Messenger, Skype, Yahoo Messenger and NetMeeting (Legutko, 2007). One of these technologies is the NetMeeting which is available in Microsoft Window and is very convenient to download (Parcell & Giddens, 2002).
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NetMeeting was reported as an effective delivery tool, user friendly, convenient to download, ease to use and install (Legutko, 2007; Parcell & Giddens, 2002; Wang, 2006). It is part of the Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP operating systems and is also compatible with Windows Vista. There are several features such as audio and video conferencing, interactive whiteboard, file transfer, program and application sharing, the self-view window, text chat, remote desktop sharing, user control and save document tool (Farren, 2002; Parcell, 2002; Wang, 2006). The availability of wireless connection in Malaysia Teachers’ Institute, Batu Lintang Campus provides an opportunity for lecturers to utilize NetMeeting in teaching preservice teachers’ mathematics. With the advent of technology at Malaysia Teachers’ Institute, Batu Lintang Campus, teaching mathematics using NetMeeting to replace the traditional whiteboard/ blackboard is being explored.
TEACHING AND LEARNING MATHEMATICS USING NETMEETING There were two groups of preservice teacher selected in the initial program of ‘Teaching and learning mathematics using NetMeeting’. The first group of preservice teacher was 20 preservice teachers from Program Ijazaj Sarjana Muda Pendidikan (PISMP). There were two mathematics courses conducted under this program. The first mathematics course was Basic Calculus which was conducted in semester June-November 2008 whilst the second mathematics course, Linear Algebra was conducted in semester January – May 2009. Both of the two courses met two times per week with 2 hours per meeting. The second group of preservice teacher was 16 preservice teachers from Foundation of Bachelor of Education (BEd.), Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) Link Programme. This course met once a week for two hours. There was only one mathematics course (Numerical literacy II) conducted using NetMeeting for this group of preservice teachers. This course was conducted in semester January – May 2009. The lectures were conducted in the lecture room where NetMeeting was used to replace the traditional whiteboard/blackboard. The courses were also conducted where lecturer and preservice teachers were at different locations. Preservice teachers would dial to lecturer IP address to start the NetMeeting. Lecturer would only start the lecture via NetMeeting after all preservice teachers were connected through NetMeeting. All participates were be able to see each other through the feature of video conferencing or self-view window. Interactive whiteboard was used as a discussion board. Preservice teachers were also encouraged to write on the same interactive whiteboard for discussion purpose. Others software such as Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Powerpoint and fastStone Capture were used when needed. File transfer feature was used to transfer notes to preservice teachers. Preservice teachers were able to save all discussion files to their personal computer. Preservice teachers were also encouraged to discuss to each other through chat feature.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The study was aimed to determine the preservice teachers’ perception of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics and to explore its strengths and weaknesses.
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METHODOLOGY The explanatory design of mixed method was utilized in this study. Two groups with total of 36 preservice teachers were involved in the study. There were three different mathematics courses conducted using NetMeeting from June 2008 to April 2009. The instrument used for collecting quantitative data was adapted from Levy (2002). The instrument consisted of 20 items with 5-point Likert scale which was categorized into 5 components to measure participants’ perception on using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. The second instrument comprised of structured questions where respondents were asked to give their opinions on strengths and weaknesses of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. Census was used in both quantitative and qualitative study. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS whilst the qualitative data was analyzed using NVivo software.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results were divided into two parts: perception on using NetMeeting and strengths and weaknesses of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. Perception on using NetMeeting in Teaching and Learning Mathematics The quantitative instrument collected preservice teachers’ perception on using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics consisted of five components. Table 1 shows the first component was ‘facilitating classroom interaction and activities’. Most of the respondents (61.1%) strongly agreed that NetMeeting supported classroom interaction and activities. 36.1% of the respondents agreed and 2.8% of the respondents disagreed that NetMeeting could support classroom interaction and activities. The grand mean of this component was 4.42 with the standard deviation of .66. This indicated that respondent perceived positively in this component. The second component was ‘educational impact’. According to Levy (2002), the ‘education impact’ component included elements such as enjoy, interesting, motivation, grasp ideas and concepts easily, better explanations, more vivid illustrations using NetMeeting, able to pay more attention, save time in presenting information and enables lessons to move more quickly. Most of the respondents strongly agreed (61.1%) that NetMeeting had a positive education impact on their learning. 36.1% of the respondents agreed while 2.8% of the respondents were undecided on whether NetMeeting had education impact. The mean for this component was 4.48 with the standard deviation of .48. This showed that participants were positive about the educational impact of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. The third component was ‘usefulness of NetMeeting to present information and learning resources’. Most of the respondents (52.8%) strongly agreed that NetMeeting was useful to present information and learning resources. Meanwhile, among the respondents, 36.1% of them agreed and 11.1% of them were undecided on whether NetMeeting could support classroom interaction and activities. The mean of this component was 4.44, with the standard deviation of .56. This means that preservice teachers were positive about the overall usefulness of NetMeeting for present information and learning resources.
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‘Participating in the classroom interaction and activities’ was the fourth component. There were two items measuring this component. Among the respondents, 52.8% of them strongly agreed, 38.9% of them agreed and 8.3% of them were undecided on whether NetMeeting allowed them to participate in the classroom interaction and activities. The mean for this component was 4.24 with the standard deviation of .65. This showed that respondent agreed that they were participating in the classroom interaction and activities. The last component was ‘technical aspect’. From this aspect, 30.6% of the respondents strongly agreed that the use of NetMeeting in teaching and learning did not encounter many technical problems. 36.1% of the respondents agreed while 33.3% of the respondents were undecided on whether the use of NetMeeting encountered many technical problems. The mean for this component was 3.72 with the standard deviation of .69. This showed that respondents agreed that the use of NetMeeting in teaching and learning did not encounter many technical problems. Table 1. Perception on using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics Component Interaction and activities Educational impact Usefulness of NetMeeting to present information and learning resources Participating in the classroom interaction and activities Technical aspect Grand Mean
Standard Strongly Strongly Mean Disagreed Undecided Agreed deviation agreed disagreed 0%
0%
2.8%
. 36.1
61.1%
4.42
.66
0%
0%
2.8%
. 36.1
61.1%
4.48
.48
0%
0%
11.1%
36.1%
52.8%
4.44
.56.
0%
0%
8.3%
38.9%
52.8%
4.24
.65
0%
0%
33.3%
36.1%
30.6%
3.72 4.25
.69. .48
Overall Grand mean of the five components was 4.25 with the standard deviation of .48. This showed that respondents perceived positively using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. This supported the finding Legutko (2007), Parcell and Giddens (2002) and Wang (2006) Strengths and Weaknesses of using NetMeeting in Teaching and Learning Mathematics Participants reported few strengths of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. They revealed that the NetMeeting classes were more interesting compared to traditional classroom lecture. They were motivated to learn with colourful fonts, writing and highlighting. They said that the font size was clear and sufficiently large. They also revealed that the diagrams, illustrations and graphs could be easily drawn on the NetMeeting
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interactive whiteboard. Respondents also said that the use of NetMeeting helped in organizing the teaching and learning materials in a neat and systematic way. Most of respondents expressed that they enjoyed the lecture. Respondents also reported that the use of NetMeeting could save time and cost. This was because all information and discussion on NetMeeting interactive whiteboard could be saved and reused. Respondents said that this saved time in rewriting the notes in the next lecture. Respondents also indicated that the use of NetMeeting reduced cost in buying marker pens, papers, duster and chalks. Respondents were happy with the flexible feature in NetMeeting. They revealed that NetMeeting allowed programs to be shared with other computers simultaneously. They could write and highlight the required information with ease. Respondents also said that they could review their discussions as often as needed. Respondents also reported that the use of NetMeeting made their learning more efficient. This was consistent with Parcell and Giddens (2002). The saved file can be reused again and any correction on the previous file could be done easily. Respondents also agreed that complicated mathematical equations that were difficult to type could be written easily using this software. By using NetMeeting, users could easily cut and paste any materials from other sources into NetMeeting interactive whiteboard. This facility allowed them to carry out editing and reorganization of the teaching materials. The ease of use features found in the study was consistent with Farren (2002) and Winhousem Research (2006). Respondents revealed that NetMeeting was easy to be used and the software was very user friendly. This finding was consistent with research finding of Wang (2006) and Winhousem (2006). Respondents said that NetMeeting facilitates active interaction between lecturer and learners. They were able to carry out interactions with their lecturer and their peers through discussions, chat and sharing of information on the NetMeeting’s interactive whiteboard. This method of communication enhanced interaction and respondents felt free to give their opinions and share their knowledge with their peers. Respondents also revealed that NetMeeting was environmental friendly because it has chalk dust free. Preservice teachers pointed out some weaknesses of using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. They consensusly said that one of the weaknesses of NetMeeting was internet connectivity. NetMeeting required wireless or Internet connection and also electricity supply. Lectures could not be carried out if one of these requirements encountered a problem. Respondents also pointed out that there were technical and maintenance problems. They reported that when too many participants were involved in the teaching and learning processes at the same time, the software would encounter some problems and need to be restarted. Respondents also complained that some of the participants’ handwriting was not clear and difficult to read. The respondents also raised the issue of the size of the NetMeeting interactive whiteboard. They said that the size of the interactive whiteboard was still limited as some of the mathematics solutions needed a longer page.
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CONCLUSION The study found that NetMeeting was accepted by two groups of preservice teachers. They perceived positively on using NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics. There were few strengths and weaknesses of using NetMeeting found in the study. The study suggested to use NetMeeting in teaching and learning mathematics by improving the weaknesses. The study also suggested to dupicate this type of study in other subjects.
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