Exploring low-tech opportunities for higher education mathematics lecturers in an emergency techno-response pedagogy

Abstract

The education sector, among others, was severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Because mathematics has always been singled out as a subject that needs more verbal communication and interaction, rapid adjustments had to be made by mathematics lecturers in higher education institutions to try and facilitate normal teaching and learning remotely through emergency open distance methods. Lecturers were forced to examine prevailing practices with a view to creating innovative and workable solutions to the emergency challenges without compromising the quality previously experienced during face-to-face classroom interactions. The article developed through a simple technology a conceptual framework for emergency remote teaching (ERT) in an emergency techno-response pedagogy (ETRP). The key was to demonstrate an innovative instructional strategy for teaching mathematics using a simple technology instead of an advanced or complicated mathematics software in the move from face-to-face to fully online teaching during a crisis. A development qualitative virtual case study was conducted that involved observing live and recorded mathematics lectures and interviewing an innovative lecturer of mathematics in the delivery of complex numbers at a graduate school in South Africa. The facilitation of the lesson through a simple and inexpensive technology (Microsoft OneNote) guided the development of a conceptual framework for ERT within an ETRP. The Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) evaluation model was used as a theoretical framework to guide the analysis and conceptualisation of the lessons. Results provided guidelines through a conceptual framework for ERT that included a unique model of a lesson plan and advantages of using a simple technology in ERT instead of advanced mathematical software. The article contributes to the knowledge base in planning future ERT interventions.