By Kipkemboi Toroitich
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and CASIO Middle East have partnered to foster the use of technology in Mathematics so as to improve learner competency.
The collaboration will support education by providing free educational resources and suggesting ways to solve mathematical problems using scientific calculators.
The announcement was made when Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and CASIO Middle East (CME) launched the product aimed at motivating students to learn Mathematics and the use of technological tools to improve their performance, thus boosting their chances of pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers.
The resources are aligned with KICDs Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), and they consist of tutorials that show simplified and interactive operations of the scientific calculator.
The materials are accessible on the KICD website in the Open Educational Resources section under the Introduction To CASIO fx-82EX calculator [2].
The CASIO fx-82EX calculator or ‘ClassWiz’ is an upgraded version of the fx-82MS model, which is popular among secondary school students.
The newer version is approved by KICD for use in secondary and higher education levels, and it displays input and results as seen in textbooks to make operations easier.
Prof Charles O. Ong’ondo, Director and Chief Executive Officer of KICD, said: “CBC focuses majorly on the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. It also focuses on the acquisition of knowledge and skills in solving real-life problems. The CASIO Scientific Calculators (fx-82EX) are user-friendly and can help learners to a great extent, especially at the tertiary level of education. They can contribute a lot in facilitating teachers and learners who handle the STEM subjects.”
Materials are developed to include a digital emulator that demonstrates how the calculator can be used to solve mathematical problems, infractions, powers, algorithms, mathematical formulas, among others, with ease.
The emulator integrates technology into the classroom and promotes interactive learning.
“CASIO believes in the importance of learning Mathematics. We actively support teachers and students so that they can achieve better mathematical education using a scientific calculator. By integrating technology like scientific calculators in learning the subject, students spend more time understanding concepts that can then be applied in different scenarios and improve their mathematics abilities,” Mr Takashi Seimiya, Managing Director CASIO Middle East, said.
Collaborative support is being provided to educators and learners through availing educational materials for Math, which can also be accessed on the KICD open resource platform.
“We are delighted to partner with CASIO in Kenya to make available these scientific calculators to learners. It comes with a high-resolution LCD technology and visualized formulas that make calculations faster,” said Mr Pratik Shah, Director Sangyug Enterprises Limited said.
Learn more about this development by visiting http://www.casio-intl.com/mea/en
