Abstract
There is a high degree of expectancy for an educationist working in an open distance e-learning (ODeL) environment to be digitally inclusive and anything short of this expectation is an abnormality that needs to be treated with all levels of seriousness. Pre-service mathematics teachers’ external supervisors too are not left out of this expectation. Hence, this study, aimed at determining the digital inclusion status of external supervisors of pre-service mathematics teachers in an ODeL environment. The study adopted a survey design with a self-structured questionnaire. A sample size of 44 pre-service mathematics teachers’ external supervisors randomly selected from 6 provinces out of 9 provinces in South Africa who were supervising preservice teachers from the University of South Africa (UNISA). The results of the study revealed that the respondents have devices that they can access the internet (¯X=3.20), there is strong internet network in their locations (¯X=3.14) but the internet data is not affordable (¯X=2.16), they have not undertaken a digital literacy programme (¯X=1.93), hence, not digitally literate (¯X=2.86). The study further revealed that mathematics pre-service teachers’ external supervisors cannot sufficiently apply internet usage skills online (¯X=2.23) and they are not satisfied with their internet usage outcome (¯X=2.02), thus, need to improve on their internet usage skills (¯X=3.7). It was concluded that the external supervisors are not digitally inclusive, therefore subsidized internet data and periodic digital literacy training programme were recommended so as to enable the supervisors to be digitally inclusive for optimal performance.
Presenters
Terungwa James AgePostdoctoral Research Fellow, Mathematics Education, University of South Africa, Gauteng, South Africa France Machaba
Lecturer, Mathematics Education, University of South Africa, Gauteng, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Science, Mathematics and Technology Learning
KEYWORDS
MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, DIGITAL INCLUSION, ODeL, PRESERVICE TEACHERS, SUPERVISOR
