Abstract:
In his State of the Nation address on 7 February 2019, the president of the
Republic of South Africa. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, stated that the government would
provide digital workbooks and textbooks to every school child in South Africa by
2025. (De Villiers, 2019). This announcement begs the question how effective the
incorporation of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) is in Education.
This study adapted the comprehensive model of educational effectiveness created
by Creemers (1994) to explore the relationship between the use of educational
technology in mathematics and mathematics achievement in South Africa. The
questionnaire responses from Grade 5 students, their mathematics teachers and
school principals, participating in TIMSS 2015 research project, have been utilised
in this study. Findings from descriptive statistics showed that almost 90% of the
students were taught by teachers who did not have computers in their mathematics
classrooms. Consequently, only 10% of students were taught by teachers who
utilised computers in the classroom. The minority of these teachers used computers
‘every, or almost every, day’ in order to explore mathematical concepts (8.37%), to
search for ideas relating to mathematics (2.14%) or to practice mathematical skills
and procedures (6.26%). Hierarchical linear modelling revealed that students that
were in mathematical classes with computers generally outperformed those who
didn’t have computers.
