Ilga Jegere is maths and ICT teacher, for 40 years she has been working in Tukums E. Birznieka – Upītis 1st elementary school. She has observed that during those 40 years the school’s environment has changed a lot. Nowadays all the classrooms are provided with basic ICT tools such as document cameras, video projectors and interactive whiteboards. There is internet access everywhere.

As internet and computer usage habits change, is is also necessary to change some teaching methods and tools to improve teaching/learning process and to achieve better results.

During the maths lesson 6th graders are studying the topic “Circle diagram”. They have to learn how to construct a circle diagram on paper. To be able to do it, they need skills how to use the conveyor, circular, ruler, and pencil. After all the measurements students have to calculate the percentage of each unit and the size of each angle which has to be represented in the circle.

The aim of the lesson is to show how by using different digital devices (such as a tablet) and Excel 2016 it is possible to do this job a lot faster and easier.

To make the lesson more successful, the students were divided in pairs with different levels of knowledge and motivation. When working in pairs, the students used different types of ICT tools such as tablet and smart phone. This method strengthened the students’ ability to plan and share the work responsibilities and to obtain and process information.

During the lesson students used different mobile apps – Classkick.com and LearningApps.org.

Students created a sequence of pie charting steps with help of Classkick.com. Afterwards by using the QR code they logged in LearningApps.org and watched a video recipe, from which they had to write down some data and fill them in Excel 2016 table. Last step was to use those data to create a pie chart.

If earlier the students who have low achievement in maths had some difficulties to draw a circle diagram with hand then now all the pupils were successful in doing this with a tablet. It is important for the student to be satisfied with a job well done, to raise their interest in maths.

The teacher got the feedback for the lesson through the app Classkick.com, which helped to verify each student’s performance in class.

It is important for the teacher to show the students the benefits of using IT in task solving as it helps to diversify the learning process, engage students in maths learning, get instant feedback and get the satisfaction for well done job.

Questions for reflection:

1. How does the use of different IT tools promote students’ interest in maths?
2. How can work in pairs help the low motivated students?
3. How can a teacher support low-motivated students and get immediate feedback?