Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
IMPLEMENTATION OF MOBILE GAMES FOR MATHEMATICS
LEARNING: A CASE OF NAMIBIAN SCHOOLS
1
MR ADMIRE KACHEPA, 2DR NOBERT JERE
Department of Informatics, Polytechnic of Namibia, transforming into Namibia University of Science &
Technology
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Mobile phones have become an important technological device used in many instances. The power of
mobile phones can improve service delivery in many instances. It may not be appropriate to explain all the
areas which the mobile phones have been used. We targeted the education sector. The motivation for this
sector was that in many countries in Africa, science subjects like Mathematics have very low pass rates. We
were interested in understanding how the mobile phone could be used to improve Mathematics learning.
Again we focused on one feature of the mobile phones i.e games. We wanted to investigate if mobile users
learn Mathematics when playing games. This study was encouraged by the young generation who mainly
uses mobile phones to play games. Besides the popularity of mobile games, it is not clear whether people
really learn when playing games. We carried out a study to identify the relationship between the mobile
games and Mathematics learning. We carried out two different studies. The first one was targeting the
Namibia High Schools learners Grade 9 and 10 and their teachers. The purpose of this was to determine
the feasibility of mobile usage in teaching and learning at schools in Namibia. The second study involved
first year students at Polytechnic of Namibia. Questionnaires were distributed to the participants to get
their views on mobile usage, games and Mathematics learning. Game demonstrations were also done using
Samsung Android phones. Results show that the Namibia High School community i.e learners and teachers
own mobile phones, but do not prefer the use of mobile phones in teaching and learning. Tertiary students
at Polytechnic of Namibia play mobile games. However, majority of the students do not learn any
Mathematics in playing mobile games. The paper looks at the current mobile applications and games for
learning Mathematics. In this paper we propose an implementation plan that could be used at Namibian
schools to improve learning Mathematics by playing mobile games.
Keywords: Culture, Games, Mathematics, Mobile Applications, Mobile Phone.
studies that have been conducted on Mobile
learning in various countries have been both
academic and non-academic in nature.
1. INTRODUCTION
Mathematics is known to be a challenging subject
for learners in secondary schools across the world.
Some countries, particularly developed nations,
have adopted different methods and approaches of
trying to address the challenge. Within the field of
Computer
Science
and
Information
and
Communication Technology (ICT), mathematics
plays a significant role. Unfortunately, the
challenge is still a huge concern in many
developing countries, such as Namibia. As a result
there is need for new learning solutions to help
students improve their performance and attitude
towards Mathematics. In this particular work, the
researchers are interested in mobile learning as a
tool to improve mathematics learning. The research
Researchers have reported success in the attempts
to use mobile learning in different areas of learning.
According to research by the Learning and Skills
Development Agency (LSDA) from the UK, young
people could soon be using mobile telephones as a
learning tool to help improve their English and
Mathematics. Mobile learning assisted students in
building their self-esteem and self-confidence with
technology [1]. The paper is part of the main
research on Mobile Framework for Mathematics
Learning in Namibia. Therefore, some of the results
are still in progress and more game demonstrations
and experiments are underway. We are motivated
6
Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
by the results available so far and these have been
used to produce this paper
1.1 RESEARCH APPROACH
2. MOBILE GAMES VS MATHEMATICS
Mathematics is a very important subject to learners
in secondary schools and is a key subject to
progress to University education or employment.
According to Vani Kalloo and Permanand Mohan
of the Department of Computing and Information
Technology, The University of the West Indies, St.
Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, in their research
titled MobileMath: An innovative solution to the
problem of poor Mathematics performance in the
Caribbean, found out that some of the factors which
contribute to Students’ Poor Performances in
Mathematics in the Caribbean include under
staffing, inadequate teaching and learning
materials, and retrogressive practices [2]. Also,
learners’ geographical location is seen as another
contributing factor. In Africa, a study carried out by
Maliki, it was found out that rural school learners
performed better than urban school learners and
that male students obtained higher mean score than
female students [3]. They said that urban schools
shared common features of learning impediments
such as reading retardation, high absenteeism, drug
abuse,
students
vandalism,
apathy
and
overcrowding which have manifested in their poor
performance. Allan Wigfield and Judith L. Meece
claim that in the US math anxiety has affected
students’ achievement in Mathematics [4]. In their
research titled Math Anxiety in Elementary and
Secondary School Students, they showed that
cognitive and affective components of math anxiety
can be identified. They also showed how these
components related to students’ perceptions of
math ability, valuing of math, and math
performance. There have been some efforts to
improve Mathematics scores in secondary schools.
The introduction of extra lessons in Mathematics is
a common method parents use to help their children
improve their performance [4]. There are also
technology tools which can be used to help students
improve their Mathematics scores but these
technologies can be very costly. Parents have
numerous expenses such as text books, school fees
and extra lessons, and most of them may not be
able to afford the extra expense of technological
learning tools [4].
Two different studies were conducted to get
feedback for this paper. The first study involved
Namibian High Schools targeting learners and
teachers. Three rural schools were targeted and 36
learners at each school in Grade 9-10 were
engaged. 17 teachers from the three schools
participated in the study. The schools which
participated in this study were Eambahu Combined
School in Ohangwena region, Oshuungu Combined
School and Oshikuyu Combined School in Omusati
region. In the same study urban schools around
Windhoek were selected. These were Khomas High
School and Shipena Secondary School all in the
Khomas region. From these two schools a total of
36 learners were engaged and 17 teachers. The aim
of the first study was to determine the feasibility of
mobile usage within the teaching and learning at
Namibian schools. We wanted to understand how
the mobile phones are currently been used at the
engaged schools. The second study included first
year students at Polytechnic of Namibia from the
School of Computing and Informatics. A total of 72
students participated. We wanted to find out the
students’ perception on the usage of mobile phone
and the types of games they played and ascertain
whether that helped them in learning mathematics.
The focus on the second study was more on the
games played on the mobile phones.
The quantitative research methodology was applied
in this research. In both studies a questionnaire was
distributed. It took the participants about 15 – 20
minutes to complete the questionnaire. It should be
noted that this paper reports the findings from
urban schools only from the first study. Results
obtained from the rural schools were not considered
for this paper. Therefore, from the first study a total
of 53 questionnaires were completed by both
learners and teachers. Seventy-two questionnaires
were completed and returned during the second
study. Game demonstrations were also done with
High School participants and observations were
done to determine if the participants were learning
Mathematics
from
the
games.
Game
demonstrations were done using Samsung Galaxy
S4 with Android mobile games.
2.1 Success Stories Of Mobile Usage In Learning
Mathematics
A research done in Malaysia revealed that most of
the surveyed students had access to mobile phones.
The main research question to be answered in this
paper is: How can mobile games be used and
successfully implemented to improve Mathematics
teaching and learning in Namibian schools.
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Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
Most of them played mobile games, and female
students played games too. The finding also
disclosed that, in order to make the mobile game
based learning successful in a learning
environment, it should embrace both entertainment
and education purposes [9].
From the paper, “The interplay of Culture and
Mathematics: The Rural Shona Classroom” it was
found out that learners can benefit in their learning
of mathematics from approaches that involved their
environment [12]. The paper further explored how
various Shona cultural activities and games could
be of help in rural Shona mathematics class. The
researchers argued that there is wisdom in injecting
cultural and relevant environmental issues into the
methods of teaching mathematics in rural Shona
and that this would make the subject relevant to
teach learners’ everyday experiences and therefore
worthwhile learning [12].
For most learners Mathematics is an endless
sequence of memorizing and forgetting facts and
procedures that make little or no sense to them.
Though the same topics are taught and re-taught
year after year, some learners do not learn. Battista
points out that numerous scientific studies have
shown that traditional methods of teaching
Mathematics not only are ineffective, but also
seriously stunt the growth of learners’
Mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills
[5]. Traditional methods ignore recommendations
by professional organizations in Mathematics
education, and ignore modern scientific research on
how children learn Mathematics [5]. According to
the author the traditional teaching in Mathematics
continues in Namibia and takes its toll on
individuals and on the nation.
The report of the National Institute for Educational
Development (NIED): Professional and Resource
development
From the paper, entitled “Integrating culture into
digital learning environments: studies using cultural
educational games”, it was found out that culture
was rapidly becoming an important consideration in
the design of eLearning software firstly because of
the increase in the number of users accessing
software over the Internet, and secondly because of
the sheer diversity in the cultural backgrounds of
these users [5]. In this research an investigation of
how culturally-oriented learning environments
impact upon student learning experiences was
carried out. The study revealed that undergraduate
programming students were receptive and
interested in the use of culturally – oriented games
for practicing and gaining skill in programming.
The students appreciated the use of culture and
were especially engaged when humour was
involved [5].
2010 Report No: 3 on performance of learners in
mathematics at upper primary phase in Namibia
found that the performance according to the 2007
promotion schedules (CASS) of all the three Grades
in all the 13 regions in this study was not
impressive. The majority of the learners in all
Grades cored ‘D’ and ‘E’ symbols. Some regions
performed better than others [14]. It was observed
that in Grade 5, learners in Tjozondjupa, Oshana,
Oshikoto, and Omusati regions did not do well.
Similarly, Grade 6 learners in Caprivi, Omaheke,
Oshikoto, and Otjozondjupa regions did not do
well. The situation was not that different for Grade
7 learners. Poor performance was
noted in
Kavango,
Omusati,
Hardap,
Oshikoto,
Otjozondjupa, and Caprivi Regions.
The outcome of the 2007 Grade 7 external
examination showed that among 13 regions, only
Erongo
Region
demonstrated
satisfactory
performance and minor differences in performance
between Paper 1 and 2 compared to the remaining
regions. It was observed that there were no
significant differences in learners’ performance
between Paper 1 and 2 in all the regions although
the overall performance on Paper 1 was slightly
higher than Paper 2 indicating an urgent need for
intervention on the assessment of the contents of
the two papers and the teaching of the tested
competencies in schools.
The results of the achievement test were not
satisfactory across all three Grades. The majority of
the regions performed poorly on a number of topics
and competencies. The worst performance in Grade
5 was recorded on Data Handling, Geometry,
2.2 Mathematics in Namibia
Mathematics is widely regarded as one of the most
important subjects in the Namibian school
curriculum. In 2012, the Namibian Government’s
Ministry of Education, Directorate of National
Examinations and Assessment (DNEA) expressed
concern and fear that, learners’ performance in
Mathematics in Namibian schools is rather getting
worse. Many students confess that they do not
understand mathematics taught in the classroom,
they do not see the significance of learning
mathematics, and they do not like the subject.
8
Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
Common Fractions and Measurement. Other major
topics of concern were Money and Finance,
Measurement: Length, Mass and Capacity,
Geometry, Whole Numbers, Decimal Fractions,
and Common Fractions, Measurement: Length,
Mass and Capacity, Geometry, Measurement: Time
and fractions in general. Grade 6 learners
performed poorly in most of the tested
competencies
especially
on
Geometry,
Measurement: Length, Mass and Capacity,
Measurement: Time and Whole Numbers [6]. A
similar pattern repeated in Grade7, learners faced
serious problems in Measurement: Length, Mass
and Capacity Common and Decimal Fractions,
Money and Finance, Common Fractions and
Decimal Fractions. It was most probably that the
differences in teaching and learning style, teacher
qualification, field of study, the regions, school
culture and learners’ differences attributed to these
differences.
girls and women, persons with disabilities, and the
elderly, as well as all others who for reasons of cost
or because of time constraints are unable to enroll
on campus [7]. A research on “An innovative
solution to the problem of poor Mathematics
performance in the Caribbean” revealed that there
was an increase in performance after the learners
used a mobile learning system they created. Not
only was the new technology mobile but also the
participants [2]. Participants functioned as mobile
learners in the sense that they used the
mathematical application anytime and anywhere, in
informal settings, in the course of their everyday
activities [8]. In the research, “M-Learning: A new
paradigm for learning mathematics in Malaysia it
was shown that mobile phones could be useful in
learning mathematics [7]. They concluded that
mathematics teachers should start implementing the
M-learning to allow learners to independently
explore the lesson taught with flexible access to the
content and construct the affective teaching
environment. Students were motivated and
improved their self-esteem after successfully using
mobile learning [9]. The project identified
advantages of using mobile learning.
There seemed to be a consistent pattern between the
teachers’ gender on topics which were difficult to
learners. More female teachers (Grade 6 and 7)
conceived that learners encountered problems in
learning and understanding Mathematics concepts
and skills compared to male teachers. It might
perhaps be logical arguing that female teachers
were more careful and patient in observing learners
performance while teaching and assessing them in
different competencies compared to the male
teachers. There were slight differences between
male and female teachers on learners’
understanding and learning the Mathematics
competencies.
In the article, “Students perceptions of learning
mathematics with cellular phones and applets”, it
was concluded that middle school students were
ready to learn mathematics with new technologies
like the cellular phones and web applets, and from
the other side, these devices possess the
potentialities that make them efficient devices for
learning mathematics in the classroom and outside
it [10]. It was also concluded that although these
devices may need improvements or additions, but
starting teaching and learning with them would
benefit students’ learning, from one side, and from
the other side, would encourage improving them.
Although the report was for the primary school
level, the trend continues up to the secondary
schools. This shows how dire the mathematics
situation is in Namibia. With the current passed Bill
which allows learners to learn Mathematics in their
local languages up to Grade 5, the researchers
anticipate a big chance of low or poor Mathematics
understanding [6].
A model that emphasized key issues with regard to
m-learning, as well as the critical success factors
that are essential in ensuring adoption was proposed
[2]. This model gave a broad, slightly user-centric,
overview of all the elements that need to be in place
in an m-learning environment, including the
necessary stakeholders and key elements
(communication infrastructure, mobile devices,
learners and teachers), to ensure a seamless
adoption of m-learning by the educational
institution. The researchers also said that using
wireless technologies in education impacts
motivation, collaboration and portability, as well as
resulting in benefits for students, parents and
teachers. They said that a few problems may be
3. TECHNOLOGIES FOR MATHEMATICS
Due to the need to improve performance in
mathematics and learning in general, ICTs such as
computers, and the Internet technologies has been
explored. ICT artefacts are a potentially powerful
tool for extending educational opportunities, both
formal and non-formal, to previously underserved
constituencies- scattered and rural populations,
groups traditionally excluded from education due to
cultural or social reasons such as ethnic minorities,
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Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
encountered (such as small screens, low bandwidth,
processing capabilities and lake of teacher control)
when integrating wireless technology in education
but these can be overcome and are therefore not
critical in ensuring the success of wireless
technology as the benefits clearly outnumber the
perceived difficulties. A look at the mobile devices
on the market show that such features have
improved significantly. These studies suggest that
mobile learning can assist learners to improve their
performance in mathematics.
learning materials. Some of the learners have even
become additive to the use of their Mobile devices
for other activities such as games. We are aware
that we are not the first researchers to study on
mobile applications and mobile games for teaching
and learning. We therefore, acknowledged the
existing mobile applications which are currently
available. The important idea in this paper is to
borrow some concepts of already existing
applications and see if these could be useful in
implementing applications for the Namibian
context. We explain some examples of mobile
games that could be useful in coming up with the
Namibia ones.
In the document ICT for education, the Namibian
government recognises the importance of ICT as a
tool for development of the country. The document
states that ICT has a role to play in education both
directly as a subject and indirectly as a tool to assist
in education delivery and management. It was
argued that not only the technology is mobile but
also the participants [8]. Participants functioned as
mobile learners in the sense that they used the
mathematical application anytime and anywhere.
3.2 Examples Of Mobile Applications For
Learning Mathematics
Go Math!- This mobile application was designed to
support collaborative activity and encourage
mathematical talk and activity among family
members. For example, in Go Play Ball children
and parents use mobile devices to calculate
youngsters’ statistics after each game, such as their
on-base percentage, and to use graphs to track
progress over time for comparison to major league
players.
3.1 Mobile Computing
The learners’ performance in Mathematics subject
does require attention in many developed and
developing countries, Namibia included. As a
result, Mobile computing (through its devices) was
explored, which triggered the development of
Mobile Interactive System (MIS) for learning
Mathematics. Mobile computing was explored
primarily because many of the learners spend more
time with their Mobile devices than any other toy or
learning materials. Some of the learners have even
become additive to the use of their Mobile devices
for other activities such as games and social
activities.
Figure 1. Batting Average Representation
Unfortunately, the new (Mobile Interactive System)
innovation does not seem to have solved the
problem, as neither throughput in Mathematics has
improved nor has learners’ utilisation or
exploration of the system (MIS) increased. In
Namibia, mobile learning utilization in schools is
almost non-existent. The lack of utilisation of
mobile learning and games to improve learning of
Mathematics could be attributed to lack of
applicability of mobile learning at schools in
Namibia. One of the advantages of mobile learning
is its affordability since the mobile application is
expected to work on the phones the students
already own. Also, mobile computing is explored
primarily because many of the learners spend more
time with their Mobile devices than any other toy or
Go Play Ball
Go Play Ball allows players to enter information
about their little league performances. The players
first enter general information about the game such
as date and opponent. Then, they are taken through
a screen that prompts them for the information for
Batting Average and On-Base Percentage while
being shown the process for the resulting
computations. Finally, the players enter runs
scored, how many hits they made and whether they
won or lost the game. At any time, the players can
track their progress by viewing graphs or charts
about the individual statistics. This was developed
for families who play games together.
10
Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
Figure 2: Average vs. On Base Percentage
Go Road Trip – this provides an infrastructure for
mathematizing traditional family car activities, such
as guessing the time of arrival at a destination,
playing math/road games, and maintaining records
of family road trip activities. Go Route Planner is a
tool to help families record data about different
routes between common destinations, such as
school to the soccer field. Plotting the time data
collected over multiple trips helps the family decide
the best route at a given time of day. The mobile
platform was chosen because family members
carried mobile phones with them in daily activity,
making use of them anytime, anywhere [13].
Figure 4: Allowing multiple players to guess
4. FINDINGS FROM NAMIBIAN
PARTICIPANTS
For the presentation of our results, we focused more
on the findings from study two as they show both
mobile usage and games played. We give a
summary of the findings from study one in this
section.
4.1 Views On Mobile Usage From Namibian
Schools
From the first study involving Khomas High School
and Shipena Secondary School all in the Khomas
region it was clear that both learners and teachers at
Namibian High Schools are not willing to use
mobile phones for teaching and learning. From the
learners who participated in study one, 36
participants were engaged. 61% of the participants
have own mobile phones. None of the learners
would like to use mobile phones at school. They
felt mobile phones should not be allowed at High
School. This means that they do not believe that
mobile phones could assist in teaching and
learning.
of them anytime, anywhere [13].
On the mobile usage and common features used,
67% mainly use the mobile phones for messages.
Only one participant play games on the mobile
phones and about 10% use phones for internet.
Figure 3: Graphing Batting Average
Go Road Trip is a mobile application designed to
promote math awareness and fun with math during
long road trips for families. The application is
meant to help solve the often asked questions by the
children of "are we there yet? Initially designed as a
trip estimator tool, Go Road Trip has evolved into
an application that families can play constantly
throughout a trip.
89% of the leaners prefer books when studying.
None of the learners would prefer the mobile to
study.
The main mobile problem faced by the learners was
the issue of batteries. 44% indicated battery
problems as the main challenge. There were other
challenges such as network problems, failure to use
11
Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
the mobile features, but these were not a major
challenge.
4.2 Views on Mathematics at the Polytechnic of
Namibia
Data from the questionnaires was extracted. The
following were the responses from the students on
different questions.
Despite not willing to use the mobile to learn, the
participating learners would prefer to receive news
via the mobile. This was shown by a 55% of the
learners who prefer to receive latest news on their
mobile phones. The other options were newsletters,
word of mouth and emails.
What is your gender?, It was found that 82% of the
respondents were males while 18% were females.
Asked whether they played games on their mobile
phones, it was found out that 11 females said yes
whilst 2 said no. With the males 51 said yes and 8
said no. This translated to 82% of the students
playing games on their mobile phones whilst only
18% do not play games on their mobile phones.
The participants also preferred the use of
computers and power point presentation as
the teaching and learning technology. The
use of the chalkboard was not chosen at
all. At the same time none preferred the
mobile learning.
Which games do you play? The results are shown
in the table below.
On the other hand, urban teachers who participated
in study one, gave slightly different views on many
questions. Out of the 17 teachers from both schools
who participated, 58% of them do not support the
idea of having mobile phones allowed at schools.
This of course means almost half of the teachers
would prefer mobile phones to be used at schools.
On mobile usage, about 29.4% teachers play mobile
games, 41.2% mainly use text messages. A couple
of about 11% use cell phone banking. The majority
of the teachers prefer studying using the books, this
had 70% of the participants. On the other hand
about 20% of the teachers prefer to use the laptops
to study. About 47% of the teachers prefer to
receive news via the mobile phones while others
prefer facebook, radios and word of mouth. For
teaching about 80% prefer to use the chalk board.
It is shown in the graph above that, 6.9% of the
students play the game called Cute Math, 25% play
the game Find Difference, 15.3% play the game
Puzzle 8 for Kids, 18.1% play the game Maze,
2.8% play the game Maths for Kids and 31.9% play
other games which were not mentioned in the
questionnaire.
Why do you play the games? The responses are
depicted by the graph below.
The main problem with the current mobile phones
was the battery problems and using the mobile
features
These results clearly show that there is more
technophobia among the learners engaged as
compared to the teachers. This could be an
important
finding
which
could
enable
implementation of the mobile applications for
teaching and learning, as teachers will be in the
fore- front. In most cases as indicated in current
literature, most teachers are the ones who are
technophobia, making it difficult to implement
mobile learning in schools.
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Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
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As shown by the graph, 48.6% play games for Fun,
26.4% play the games for Learning Purposes,
13.9% do it To Kill Time, and 11.1% play games
for other reasons other than the ones that were
mentioned in the questionnaire.
Do you learn any mathematics concepts from the
games? 77.8% said that they do learn some
mathematics concepts from the games they play
whilst 22.2% said that they do not learn any
mathematics concepts from the games. From the
question, What concepts do you learn? The graph
below shows the responses obtained from the
students.
Learners Learn Mathematics when they play games
from their Mobile phones.
As seen from the graph, 63.9% learn problem
solving techniques, 18% learn addition techniques,
5.6% learn subtraction techniques, 4.2% learn
division techniques, 2.7% learn multiplication
techniques and 5.6% learn other techniques which
were not mentioned in the questionnaire.
Learners learn Mathematics better from Cultural
games.
From the graphs it is seen that for part a) 6.9%
strongly agree that learners learn mathematics when
they play games on their mobile phones, 37.5%
agree, 41.7% were neutral, 6.9% disagreed and
5.6% strongly disagreed.
For part b) it was found out that 11.1% strongly
agreed that learners learn mathematics better from
cultural games, 18.1% agreed, 41.7% were neutral,
25% disagreed and 4.2% strongly disagreed with
the suggestion that learners learn mathematics
better from cultural games.
Which cultural background do you come from? It
was found that 62.5% come from the Vambo
culture, 9.7% from Damara cultural background,
4.2% from Herero cultural back ground and 23.6%
are from other cultural backgrounds which were not
mentioned in the questionnaire.
Do you think the games you play in your culture
teach you mathematics concepts? 63.9% said yes,
33.3% said no and 2.8% were not sure whether the
cultural games they play teach them any
mathematics concepts.
The last question the students were asked was to
comment on a 5 point Likert scale the following:
Learners learn mathematics when they play games
from their mobile phones
Learners learn mathematics better from cultural
games.
The responses from both questions are shown in the
respective graphs below
5. INTEPRETATION AND EVALUATION
The capabilities of mobile phones have been
evolving quite quickly. During the past few years,
mobile phones have gone from a simple
communication tool to include a calculator, a clock
with alarm, games, a video function, a calendar, an
FM radio, a music player, a picture ID, streaming
multimedia, a speaker phone, a hard drive, and a
camera with flash. If mobile phones mimic other
technologies, these features will only increase.
Namibian schools could be asked to consider
mobile usage in their everyday activities including
Mathematics learning.
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Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
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www.ijsk.org/ijsk
It is not surprising that most of the students play
games on their mobile phones but the majority of
the games played are not necessarily related to
mathematics as indicated in the questionnaires. This
is because the questionnaires concentrated on
games on android phones. Students do play other
games but as shown by the graph students also play
mathematics games and they do learn from the
games, as shown by the second graph. It is
encouraging that students play games for learning
purposes and as shown by the third graph, they
learn problem solving skills.
We combined the results from the two studies
carried in Namibia and considered current literature
on existing mobile applications. The important
factor in utilizing the mobile usage for Mathematics
is to engage all stakeholders including parents.
Borrowing the concepts of Go Math, Go Road Trip
and Go Play Ball explained earlier in the paper
could ease Mobile learning implantation in
Namibia. Already children and their family
members would experiment and play mobile games
which help in Mathematics. Low interest among the
Namibia learners on mobile usage at schools could
be as a result of current usage of the phones at
schools. Possibly learners feel that mobile phones
could create division among learners as there are
some who may have better phones than others. This
can create tension among the learners and
encourage mobile phone type competition. We are
yet to develop localised Namibia Mobile games for
learning Mathematics, but we have again borrowed
some existing mobile application as shown here.
We suggest the inclusion of the concepts that were
used to develop the given mobile games to be used
for the Namibian context.
Figure 6. Examples feature – extracted from [2]
Figure 7. Fun Fact feature - extracted from [2]
The Fun Fact feature is a text-based activity created
to highlight interesting examples of the uses of
Mathematics. Figure 5 shows four screenshots of
some of the Fun Facts feature of MobileMath. The
application was designed with several learning
activities to give the learner alternative methods of
learning such as Lessons, Examples and Games.
Consequently, if a learner did not understand the
topic after using one feature, he or she had
alternative methods to choose from. The multiple
features provided were also able to address some of
the different learning styles, for example visual and
tactile styles. The features were designed based on
strategies derived from teaching mathematics
traditionally in the classroom in Trinidad and
Tobago. For instance the Examples feature was
based on the fact that studying examples of
mathematical problems was a successful method of
learning mathematics. The Games feature was
Figure 5. Games feature - extracted from [2]
14
Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
based on practicing mathematical skills learned;
this is another strategy employed in the classroom
by many teachers.
7. RECOMMENDATION
For the successful implementation of mobile games
for Mathematics learning, we recommend the
following:
 There is need to engage key stakeholders
to improve Mathematics learning. These
include parents, teachers, learners, mobile
application
developers
and
the
Government.
 Come up with a Namibian National
Mobile for teaching and learning
awareness campaign. This should engage
all schools and be facilitated by the
government departments.
 Consider existing mobile applications and
current mobile games and develop
localized Namibian mobile games to
enhance Mathematics learning.
 Come up with a couple of mobile games to
be used as prototypes at different schools.
 There is need to have an ICT policy to
encourage mobile usage.
6. MOBILE GAMES FOR MATHEMATICS –
IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH IN
NAMIBIA
Having considered the current Namibia mobile
usage at schools which were engaged in this study,
it is clear that schools are not yet sure how mobile
learning can be used to enhance teaching and
learning. We observed the interest shown by
learners and teachers during the simple
Mathematics game demonstrations. This has
motivated us in proposing an implementation
approach which could assist various stakeholders
who have interest in improving Mathematics
learning through mobile games. The main
considerations for successful mobile games
implementation within the Namibian schools based
on the feedback from the participants engaged are:
Need to create mobile learning awareness
Engage all the stakeholders i.e parents, learners,
teachers and all Namibian educational departments
Come up with localised mobile games for
Mathematics addressing the Namibia needs
Test mobile games and prototypes with more
learners and teachers.
We also consider the use of third space in coming
up with the mobile games for the Namibian
schools. This is a synergistic place for imagining
new ideas and solutions—a place for vision that
comes from multiple perspectives and places, and
dominant and non-dominant factors or positions all
have equal sway, making hybrid solutions possible.
We deduced that the mobile environments needed
to be:
 Situation-driven
 Promoting enjoyment of mathematics
 Demonstrating the value of mathematizing
experience by helping parents and kids
discover the math in everyday situations
and contexts
 Driven by values (if people do not see it as
an important problem, they will not
engage it)
 Reinforcing the family as a social unit of
mathematical activity and learning
 A complement to school: math activities in
the applications are complementary and
supportive of school math up to first year
algebra
These recommendations could be achieved by:
(1) overcoming teachers’ and learners
technophobia;
(2) extending teacher and learner training and
development to remote areas;
(3) supporting teaching and learning in
classrooms;
(4) improving educational management and
administration;
(5) enhancing professional mobile game
development; and
(6) strengthening teachers’ competencies in relation
to ICT.
To come up with a model of developing games that
can assist students to learn Mathematical concepts
included in games and cultural games.
8. CONCLUSION
There is no doubt that Mathematics teaching and
learning in developing nations is a crisis. This is a
problem in improving performance in Mathematics.
We believe that by properly engaging with all
stakeholders and creating a localized mobile
applications with Namibian selected games can
assist. We propose implementation of mobile
games that are based on the Namibian participants’
needs. The proposed implementation plan should
enable teaching and learning of Mathematics based
on mobile games. We are confident that proper
implementation plan can enable mobile games
15
Sept. 2014. Vol. 5, No.5
ISSN 2305-1493
International Journal of Scientific Knowledge
Computing and Information Technology
© 2012 - 2014 IJSK & K.A.J. All rights reserved
www.ijsk.org/ijsk
development. This can improve teaching and
learning of mathematics.
International Conference on Cognition and
Exploratory Learning in Digital Age.
9. Mohamad, M. and Woollard, J. Bringing
Change in Secondary Schools: Can Mobile
Learning via Mobile Phones be Implemented
in Malaysia?
10. Daher, W. 2009. Students’ perception of
learning mathematics with cellular phones
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12. Chikodzi, I., and Nyota, S. 2010 The
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To unlock the learning value of wireless
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Hoppe, U., Minrad, M., & Kinshuk, H.
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In this paper we argue that successful
implementation of the mobile games for Namibian
Schools, a couple of considerations have to be
made. For example, the cultural diverse in the
country, the availability of ICT infrastructure, the
social impacts of mobile usage for teaching and
learning are some considerations. The paper does
not provide details on this but alerts mobile
application developers and other stakeholders on
the current state of mobile usage on Namibian
schools.
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