Pre-service mathematics teachers’ social media usage and its perceived impact on their personal, academic and teaching careers

Resumen

Social media technologies have reshaped our lives today and Zambian teachers do a massive use of smart phones, tablets and other portable tools. In addition, they are continually searching for forefront innovations. Frequently, the utilization of these gadgets is not in manners foreseen by innovation advocates. This study focuses on exploring the use and the impact of such social media technologies in the teaching and learning of mathematics by Zambian pre-service (student) teachers. Globally, many studies have been conducted on the integration and benefits of social media in and out of the classrooms (see e.g. Tess, 2013). However, the global studies cannot be straightforward applied to the Zambian context and this is why we see the need of focusing on Mathematics Education. This study endeavoured to lessen the knowledge gap. Therefore, this study focuses on providing a deep insight into the way social media technologies are influencing the teaching and learning of mathematics at the Copperbelt University (CBU) as well as to identify which paths are open (or closed) to take into account in the future to improve both processes. Thus, a first target of this study is to explore the role social media is playing (and might play) in Mathematics Education via social networking among student teachers. A second target of the research is to explore aspects of university pre-service teachers’ related online activities that might motivate them to participate in learning. Lastly, the author wish to open a discussion on the question of whether and how the use of social media tools may have an impression on the set of 21st century skills by both learners and teachers. To explore student teachers’ use of social media in their teaching and learning experiences, the author administered an adapted and validated research instrument via a mixed-methods survey system to a sample of 102 pre-service teachers from the Copperbelt University. Analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis were used to test the inter-play of relationships between pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards the use of social media based on year of study and gender, social media use and classroom integration, social media use and mathematics pedagogy. Further, a statistical test was run to show whether positive correlations existed or not. K-means cluster analysis was used to organize data into clusters. The goal was to find out how many groups the data will be clustered into and explore the patterns in the data. Results disclosed that respondents showed average use of social media tools in mathematics and provide a prediction model for pre-service teachers’ future integration of social media in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Cluster analysis results revealed that online learning mathematics activities have significant mean differences in clustering. Cluster 2 recorded the best performance, implying that students in this cluster exhibited excellent online learning skills for mathematics in technology-rich environments in which they will be forced to study and work in the future. Furthermore, results revealed that participants’ scores for digital learning in mathematics in cluster 2 were higher than those in both cluster 1 and 3. Qualitative findings elaborates that this is a clear indication that prospective teachers in clusters with low scores are more likely to exhibit low skill levels in the use of mobile technology and the adoption of social media in relation to mathematics pedagogy. This study has provided further evidence that mathematics prospective teachers can also learn and teach via online mode. In a nutshell, this study recognises that virtual learning in mathematics can offer personalised education for all, maximising the potential of every learner. However, the author wishes to recommend to the university management that a comprehensive and advanced pedagogic design should be implemented to render lessons through virtual classrooms.