USE OF ICT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS IN UMUAHIA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

Mathematics is a useful tool in the society, more so in the present technology ugy, the ability to strengthen abstract thinking, mathematics is important because it plays a role in the development of all areas of knowledge and the modernization of society. The study examined use of ICT in teaching and learning of mathematics. The objectives of the study is to identify the kind of technology used more in teaching and learning of mathematics, know the teachers and students reaction towards the use of ICT in mathematics, whether the use of ICT tools motivates and makes students interested in learning mathematics and whether the use of ICT tools enhance teaching and learning of mathematics and improves students problem-solving skills. Four (4) research questions and two (2) hypothesis guided the study. The research design for this study is a descriptive survey. The area of the study is Umuchia South Local Government Area of Abia State. The population for the study is 1,948 comprising of $52 in Umuahia South LGA students studying Mathematics and teachers hoth in public and private secondary schools in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State. The sample for the study comprises 170 respondents consisting of 150 Mathematics students and 29 Mathematics teachers. The multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to dras the sample for the study. The study developed questionnaire for data collection and the instrument was subjected to face and content validation in order to ascertain its relevance for the study. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha and the responses was recorded, scored and subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation to establish the stability of the instrument. All the research questions was analysed using the mean and standard deviation and the null hypotheses was tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test Based on the findings from the study, it shows that Internet promotes fast communication across geographical barriers and therefore gives students an opportunity to communicate early in life. ICT is an essential tool in the modern class room which can engage the students on a number of levels. It also revealed that integrating media/CT in teaching can make a real difference in how teachers teach. It enables the teacher to spend more time with individual students, less time teaching to the whole class and allows student to carry out more independent work. It further revealed that students can explore and make discoveries with games simulation and digital tools and technology which have a positive impact on studentsvaCCES and their attitudes towards learning mathematics. Based on the findings the study recommended that teacher's training colleges and universities should rest only incorporate and strengthen ICT integration training in their teacher education programs bat should to ensure that such training are based on equipping the student teachers with skills on un teil ostegration of ICT in their respective disciplines