Zambian students explain their GeoGebra activity to the class after laptop use

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Zambian students explain their GeoGebra activity to the class after laptop use's image

Description:	In this 1-minute clip a group of Grade 9 boys in a rural Zambian school explain to their peers what coordinates are. This followed groupwork using GeoGebra software (www.geogebra.org/wiki) on Lenovo S10-3t tablet-laptops. The objectives of the lesson were to learn about coordinates in the plane A=(5,3), x=5 and y=3, i.e. the relation between points and their (x,y) coordinates, and to learn that the point (a,b) is the intersection of x=a and y=b. The majority of students appeared to improve their understanding.

Description:

In this 1-minute clip a group of Grade 9 boys in a rural Zambian school explain to their peers what coordinates are. This followed groupwork using GeoGebra software (www.geogebra.org/wiki) on Lenovo S10-3t tablet-laptops. The objectives of the lesson were to learn about coordinates in the plane A=(5,3), x=5 and y=3, i.e. the relation between points and their (x,y) coordinates, and to learn that the point (a,b) is the intersection of x=a and y=b. The majority of students appeared to improve their understanding.


Created:	2011-04-06 23:15
Collection:	Interactive teaching with digital open educational resources in sub-Saharan Africa Random media from the Faculty of Education
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	Sara Hennessy
Language:	eng (English)
Keywords:	Zambia; mathematics; GeoGebra; mobile technology; group work; coordinates;


Abstract:	GeoGebra (www.geogebra.org) is a very powerful multi-platform dynamic mathematics software for all levels of education that joins geometry, algebra, tables, graphing, statistics and calculus in one easy-to-use package. It now offers dynamically linked multiple representations for mathematical objects through its graphical, algebraic, and spreadsheet views. It is available in 45 languages and has received several educational software awards in Europe and the USA. GeoGebra has hundreds of thousands of users worldwide, and they have shared thousands of free applets and worksheets via the GeoGebraWiki (www.geogebra.org/wiki) website. The objectives of the lesson depicted were to learn about coordinates in the plane A=(5,3), x=5 and y=3, i.e. the relation between points and their (x,y) coordinates, and to learn that the point (a,b) is the intersection of x=a and y=b. Students worked in groups of 4 to a machine, using Lenovo S10-3t tablet-laptops, mainly in laptop mode. A summary of the lesson is as follows. Students were initially asked to show the coordinates of a point on their mini (wipe-clean) whiteboards. Only about half got it right. They then spent quite a bit of time on an exercise in GeoGebra. There were no particular GeoGebra file loads; students just placed points and lines in the XY plane, trying to relate numerical coordinates to location of points. Students were asked to answer the question "What is the relation between the point A on the plan, and the numbers 5 and 3?" [Answer: (5,3) are the x-y-coordinates of the point A.] Some diagrams and answers began to emerge as they explored the software. One group of students had the answer written on their mini whiteboard, but they had not drawn any points. Another group’s tablet showed lots of points; for another group questioning revealed that they had figured out that the point in relation to the numbers 5,3 was something to do with lines (i.e. x=5, y=3), but they could not quite work out which line, and kept drawing lines from the origin to point A. Finally a reasonable proportion of students managed to draw the right lines and to explain their answer. One student, Richard, seem to have understood this best, and he and another student were was asked to circulate to help peers. Other groups later managed to find additional points on the line. ‏The majority of students appeared to improve their understanding and some were ultimately able to articulate to their peers what coordinates were, as illustrated in this clip. Although students had been exposed to (x,y) coordinates the previous year, Sydney was very surprised that the students managed to answer the question correctly. Despite teacher expectations, then, the students managed to use the software successfully, and the lesson content fitted well into the curriculum.

Abstract:

GeoGebra (www.geogebra.org) is a very powerful multi-platform dynamic mathematics software for all levels of education that joins geometry, algebra, tables, graphing, statistics and calculus in one easy-to-use package. It now offers dynamically linked multiple representations for mathematical objects through its graphical, algebraic, and spreadsheet views. It is available in 45 languages and has received several educational software awards in Europe and the USA. GeoGebra has hundreds of thousands of users worldwide, and they have shared thousands of free applets and worksheets
via the GeoGebraWiki (www.geogebra.org/wiki) website.

The objectives of the lesson depicted were to learn about coordinates in the plane A=(5,3), x=5 and y=3, i.e. the relation between points and their (x,y) coordinates, and to learn that the point (a,b) is the intersection of x=a and y=b. Students worked in groups of 4 to a machine, using Lenovo S10-3t tablet-laptops, mainly in laptop mode.

A summary of the lesson is as follows.
Students were initially asked to show the coordinates of a point on their mini (wipe-clean) whiteboards. Only about half got it right. They then spent quite a bit of time on an exercise in GeoGebra. There were no particular GeoGebra file loads; students just placed points and lines in the XY plane, trying to relate numerical coordinates to location of points.

Students were asked to answer the question "What is the relation between the point A on the plan, and the numbers 5 and 3?" [Answer: (5,3) are the x-y-coordinates of the point A.] Some diagrams and answers began to emerge as they explored the software. One group of students had the answer written on their mini whiteboard, but they had not drawn any points. Another group’s tablet showed lots of points; for another group questioning revealed that they had figured out that the point in relation to the numbers 5,3 was something to do with lines (i.e. x=5, y=3), but they could not quite work out which line, and kept drawing lines from the origin to point A. Finally a reasonable proportion of students managed to draw the right lines and to explain their answer. One student, Richard, seem to have understood this best, and he and another student were was asked to circulate to help peers. Other groups later managed to find additional points on the line.

‏The majority of students appeared to improve their understanding and some were ultimately able to articulate to their peers what coordinates were, as illustrated in this clip. Although students had been exposed to (x,y) coordinates the previous year, Sydney was very surprised that the students managed to answer the question correctly. Despite teacher expectations, then, the students managed to use the software successfully, and the lesson content fitted well into the curriculum.

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