ENHANCING MATHEMATICAL POWER THROUGH THE USE OF ICT IN THE MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM

The fundamental mission of mathematics education is the development of mathematical power in all students.This paper describes recent professional development programmes for mathematics teachers in SEAMEO-RECSAM (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation-Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics), which is designed to prepare mathematics teachers in integrating ICT in enhancing students mathematical power in learning mathematics. The use of Hand-held Technology Calculators becomes the focus of the training. One of the aims of this programme is to fulfil SEAMEO member country teachers with experiences in integrating ICT especially Graphic Calculator in mathematics classroom in order to support MOE programmes intheir respective countries. This paper describes the philosophy, the programmes and the implementation, the challenges and the problems encountered in the training, and the impact of the courses. This paper also describes the participants perception toward the use of ICT in teaching and learning mathematics before and after the course. It also gives some examples of participants project work in fulfilling the goals of programmes. Some recommendations and suggestions for future professional development for mathematics teachers in integrating handheld technology in mathematics classroom are also described in this paper.