1

Maria Pagasa C. Mojado

MAEd major in Social Science
GED203 History and Philisophy of Contemporary Education

Intersecting points: A position paper on Integrating Technology and Constructivism in Teaching Mathematics in Primary: A Basis for

Enhancement Program

Intended Audience: Secretary of Department of Education, Principals and Educators

Mathematics Version 2.0 is an upgraded technique on how to teach numbers on a different approach where you can add anything that is

relatively connected to the topic or can be useful to have meaningful learning.

Integrating games and videos in learning numbers and equation is engaging, fun, and easier to understand in this new version of the teaching

and learning process because is it up to the educator on how to use technology or how to add spice to the teaching process. Some of the teachers

make a song about their topic to have a jumping-off point to stimulate the learners. The instructional materials, songs, and videos can be

obtained in open educational resources that are available on the internet or the educator itself can create songs, games, and videos that

incorporate the lesson that can be more personalized to be used in educating the learners.

1
 2

As of today, educators know that a lot of people hate mathematics ( according to the exploration of K. Abdul Gafoor and Abidha Kurukkan,

only 3 (6%) students liked Mathematics and 45 (88%) of students hated mathematics among 51 students.), even though it is necessary to our

daily life. They quite find it difficult in solving math problems, most especially if is it taught in a traditional way of teaching. The learners lost

their interest in learning mathematics because they think that it is a boring subject that is why whether we like it or not nowadays the quality of

education in the Philippines is continuously deteriorating. And also most people think of it as a difficult subject because most of the lessons in

Mathematics are complex and hard to understand.

That’s why the educators integrate technology in teaching Mathematics in primary as well as implementing a constructivist approach to

fascinate the learners and catch their attention for them to learn, play, and discover also to cease the stereotyping when they heard the subject

Mathematics. And to enjoy every activity while learning.

The availability of digital resources and equipment that can be used in the teaching process is limited like PCs, a projector, and an internet

connection. The data network in some areas is poor or there is no connection at all. The facilitator of learning is a traditional educator nor skilled

enough. The age of the educator may affect how they educate the learners because some of the elderly teachers are afraid to embrace the

technology. They are scared they might commit a mistake or they do not learn how to use multimedia because is it new to them. And also most

2
 3

of the teachers are lack expertise. They might know how to integrate technology in teaching Mathematics like powerpoint presentations but the

problem is they don’t know how to explore multimedia to create a new material of learning that can be used in the 21st-century learners.

However, the lack of connection of content and goals between technology and constructivism may occur like some of the lessons may not be

suitable to use multimedia.

It is difficult to teach using the constructivist approach at grade level because there is no prior knowledge on a specific topic. The learner

may also formulate their own formula on how to solve the problem on their own, which is not reliable sometimes. The learners may differentiate

the lesson according to their percetption. Also, the primary students have an average span of attention is 10 - 15 minutes (Perhaps the only valid

use of this parameter is as a rhetorical device to encourage teachers to develop ways to maintain student interest in the classroom, according to

Wilson, Karen; Korn, James H. Teaching of Psychology, v34 n2 p85-89 2007), so it is a challenge to the educator on how to catch the attention

of the learners to provide meaningful learning. And another problem that can be encountered by the educator while implementing constructivists

with the integration of technology is the learners will actively participate in the discussion as their excitement will arouse and chaos may occur.

The digital resources and types of equipment like a laptop, PC, tablets, and projectors in most provinces in the Philippines are limited or

there is no available at all, most especially in remote areas. Department of Education and Deped Commons make sure that every school could

have digital resources and equipment but unfortunately, the budget is scarce. Moreover, there is no accessibility of electric power in the remote

3
 4

area, and if there an electricity available, the internet connection was weak nor there is no signal at all. That is why most of the educator itself is

not familiar in integrating technology in teaching mathematics mainly because there are no multimedia resources available in the school that can

be used in teaching Mathematics and also the elderly teachers are afraid or not interested to enhance their skills and knowledge in implementing

the technology in teaching and learning process. Most especially, there is no ICT coordinator or technician available that can resolve any

problem may occur while using technology.

However, the Department of Education has already made the action in making it possible with help of LGUs ( Television-Based Instruction

is one of DepEd’s learning modalities along with Radio-Based Instruction, online, and modular learning in the absence of face-to-face learning

due to Covid pandemic. https://depedroxi.ph/lfnhs-launches-tv-based-instruction/#:~:text=Television%2DBased%20Instruction%20is

%20one,learning%20due%20to%20Covid%20pandemic.). Like in this time of pandemic where the gadgets are now essential in the teaching and

learning process. The LGUs provide a lot of budget in investing in gadgets that are distributed to the teachers and learners in their district. At this

moment, most of the local governments in the Philippines donated a lot of laptops for the teachers and lend a tablet for the students that can be

used in an online class. The netizens and influencers making their way to donate tablets to needy learners. Meanwhile, the Deped build up and

expanding the use of technology in the teaching process, especially nowadays because of the pandemic, that’s why Educational Technology was

born. And there are also series of webinars and training for the teachers so that they are equipt to upgrade their teaching skills using technology.

4
 5

The DepEd also hired or appoint ICT coordinator to monitor and to secure the department management, information and planning for hardware,

software, and network infrastructure.

The Department of Education created the Educational Technology Unit ( ETU) to support the DepEd Commons to handle the emerging

technologies and blend curriculum and instruction ICT. The use of learning materials implementing the technology in teaching Mathematics

while applying the constructivist approach to upgrade the teaching style and stimulate the interest of learners and be more engaged in the

learning process. Teaching Mathematics implementing the use of technology in educating is now a trend and most of the country uses it to

deliver the learnings easily and conveniently. They also innovate the curriculum and trains the educator to use the technology in the teaching and

learning process so that the students may have efficient learning. The facilitator of learning may use adaptive learning because every child is

unique and diverse so to gain their attention and interest we need to come up with a customized learning method. As stated by King (2000), the

innovation of machinery is in the hand of the educator. “The technology itself cannot operate so if the educator uses its ability and mastery the

learning would be purposeful.” (Kirschner et al., 2006). According to Etcuban et al. (2019), “the technological insurgency is at hand. The

multimedia is an instrument where the educator can use a device for creating the lesson, mastery, and solving the problem more adequately than

the conventional practice of way teaching Mathematics.” The use of learning materials implementing the technology in teaching Mathematics

while applying the constructivist approach to upgrade the teaching style and stimulate the interest of learners and be more engaged in the

5
 6

learning process. Teaching Mathematics implementing the use of technology in educating is now a trend and most of the country uses it to

deliver the learnings easily and conveniently. They also innovate the curriculum and trains the educator to use the technology in the teaching and

learning process so that the students may have efficient learning. The facilitator of learning may use adaptive learning because every child is

unique and diverse so to gain their attention and interest we need to come up with a customized learning method. As stated by King (2000), the

innovation of machinery is in the hand of the educator. “The technology itself cannot operate so if the educator uses its ability and mastery the

learning would be purposeful.” (Kirschner et al., 2006). According to Etcuban et al. (2019), “the technological insurgency is at hand. The

multimedia is an instrument where the educator can use a device for creating the lesson, mastery, and solving the problem more adequately than

the conventional practice of way teaching Mathematics.”

Teaching Mathematics implementing the constructivist approach. In the 21st century, everything has changed including the strategies used

by the educator to educate because the learners also drastically change their learning style that's why we need to advance our curriculum to

evaluate them correctly. Nowadays, some of the facilitators used a constructivist approach to innovate their teaching style to cope up with the

needs of the learners. Educators develop the active learning approach to cultivate the prior knowledge and skills of the learners to associate with

the new understanding so that they can construct their learnings through experience. According to the National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics, 2000, p. 3 “Visualizing the homeroom, the academy or the whole district have an opportunity to a high quality of arithmetic

6
 7

instruction. The syllabus is enhanced with engaging activities where the learners learned the importance of ideas in Mathematics with deep

acknowledgment. Individual or collaborative learning, the learners can perform the task in Mathematics constructively with the use of

multimedia and with the help of educators. They appreciate mathematics and take part in the learning process.” The purpose of his research is to

be shown that the active learning or student-centered approach is to capture and stimulate the interest of the learners in resulting to increase their

learning. A Chinese proverb puts this idea into even simpler terms, "I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; l do, I understand".” (Rosenthal, 1995,

p.108). As stated by Piaget that the learners learn through assimilation and adaptation thru on how the learners experience new information.

The integration of technology as well as constructivist approach in teaching mathematics will enhance the learning process in this 21st

century in the teaching and learning process in the Philippines because learning is an active process where the students assimilate the new

learning to the prior learning to create new information, with help of technology the learners entice to study and understand the lesson and they

can foresee the new learnings. The learners will be more engage and enthusiastic in learning the new problems and equations. The class will be

more fun and exciting as well as the result of the assessment may increase. ”Educators want to enhance their capability in teaching; they start to

construct their philosophy of teaching and tried to re-evaluate it to perfectly fit in the pedagogical methods. As the outcome, the educator finds

an easy and most effective way on how to deliver the learnings to the learners.” (Keengwe, Onchwari, & Agamba, 2013).

7
 8

Integrating Technology and Constructivism in Teaching Mathematics in Primary will open a new context and environment in the

field of teaching. This strategy will be a great impact in the teaching and learning process. In different words technology is now a trend and

a big factor to stimulate the interest of the learners to learn mathematics, with the assimilation of constructivism, the teaching and learning

process takes place the environment to become more engaging and interesting rather than traditional and boring. The learners can create

their learnings and may discover a new way on how to deal with the numbers based on their lesson. The learners may see the subject Math

as an exciting and fun subject which leads them to study hard and enjoy learning. The creativity of the educator can make a huge change in

the teaching field. After going through all this, the researcher come up with a program where the educator and the department can raise

money for the insufficient of multimedia and internet connection that can be used in teaching mathematics with the integration of

technology and constructivism. And for the enhancement of skills and learning of the educator in integrating technology in teaching and

learning process.

8
 9

Table 1.

Enhancement Program in Integrating Technology and Constructivism in Teaching Mathematics in Primary

AREAS OF OBJECTIVES/ STRATEGIES SOURCE OF FUND TIME PERSON

CONCERN RATIONALE FRAME CONCERN

1. Insufficient of  To accelerate the  Request to the Division  Division office of per  First  Division
multimedia resources teaching- learning office region Quarter of Supervisor
that can be used in process  Request to the NGO’s  Fund raising project SY  Rotary Club
teaching and learning  To reinforce and  Coordination to the ( Popularity Contest  Kiwanis Club
process advance the community personel and Concert for a  LGU’s
teaching strategies  Coordination to the PTA cause)  General PTA
of the teacher/s Officers
( per school)

2. Unsystematic  To systematize  Dissemination of the  Department of  First  Division

implementation of and to utilize the program to other parties Education Quarter of Supervisor of
technology and implementation of such as parents, community SY per Division
constructivism in technology in and other stake holders
teaching teaching and  Attend different trainings  Fourth
mathematics learning process and seminars Quarter of
 To create a SY
toolbox where full
of lessons and
strategies where
constructivism is
being applied.

9
 10

AREAS OF OBJECTIVES/ STRATEGIES SOURCE OF FUND TIME PERSON

CONCERN RATIONALE FRAME CONCERN

3. Lack of elearning  To make an offline  Request to the Educational  Department of  First  Division
materials available in elearning materials Technology Unit in DepEd Education Quarter of Supervisor
certain because of no that can be used in a SY
internet connecion remote area

4. Lack of electricity in  To make possible  Request to the Electric  LGU  6months to  Division
the remote areas the integration of company and LGU 1 year Supevisor
technology in  Electric company (Connection
teahing mathematics  Request to the DepEd with the of  LGU
in the remote areas help of LGU to have an electricity)
alternative way to have  Fisrt quarter
electricity like generator of SY
(generator)

References

Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani, Lai-Mei Leong, H. N. Ismail, 2013

nd-Constructivism-Gilakjani-Leong/8f7ca51b73cfdd91e7295c2cc034c15e69ee17 a1?p2https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Teachers

%E2%80%99-Use-of-Tec hnology-adf

10
 11

Bradbury,Neil A. (2016)

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/advan.00109.2016

Capuno R. , Revalde H., Etcuban J.O., Aventuna M., Medio G., Demeterio R.A.2019)

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1227011.pdf

Grey, Audrey 1997

https://saskschoolboards.ca/wp-content/uploads/97-07.htm#What%20is%20Constructivism?

Goldenberg,E. Paul 2000

http://mcc.edc.org/pdf/iss_tech.pdf

Kurukkan Abidha and K. Abdul Gafoor

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED560266.pdf

Llego, M.A

11
 12

https://www.teacherph.com/deped-open-educational-resources-oer/

Nyikos N. and Hashimoto R. 1997

https://www.jstor.org/stable/328893?seq=1

Prideaux, Jodi B., "The Constructivist Approach to Mathematics Teaching and the Active Learning Strategies used to Enhance Student

Understanding" (2007). Mathematical and Computing Sciences Masters. Paper 29. ( https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=1028&context=mathcs_etd _masters

Vintere A. 2018

https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/plua-2018-0001

Wagner D. 2016

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/04/26/personalize-math-learning-with-adaptive-tools.aspx

Wilson A. C., Robutti O. , and Thomas M. 2020

12
 13

https://paperity.org/p/258122949/teaching-with-digital-technology

Saul McLeod, published 2019

https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html#:~:text=What%20is%20 constructivism%3F,256).

Wilson, Karen; Korn, James H. Teaching of Psychology, v34 n2 p85-89 2007

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ772424

Yasemin Allsop 2016

http://www.ictinpractice.com/does-technology-improve-learning-the-value-of-constructivist-approaches-to-technology-based-learning/

#:~:text=The%20constructivist%20approach%20works%20well,interactive%20and%20student%2Dcentered%20learning.&text=By

%20using%20technology%20in%20the,develop%20more%20complex%20thinking%20skills.

https://depedroxi.ph/lfnhs-launches-tv-based-instruction/#:~:text=Television%2DBased%20Instruction%20is%20one,learning%20due

%20to%20Covid%20pandemic.

13