Maths is cool when you MXit

The sound of school bells echoing through the air tomorrow morning will officially mark the start of the 2008 academic year as well as the second year of Maths on MXit; the innovative instant messaging maths tutoring programme.

The programme was developed by Laurie Butgereit of the Meraka Institute; the Centre for Social and Industrial Research’s information technology and communication arm.

Maths on MXit uses South Africa’s most popular cellphone-based instant messaging tool MXit, to provide school learners with an affordable and instant tutor.

Scholars simply send a message to the Maths on MXit cell phone number with their mathematical query and “Dr. Math” or “Dr. Wiskunde” will reply.

Butgereit started the programme at her son’s high school in an effort to provide extra maths assistance through an easily accessible manner. Butgereit took advantage of the fact that most high school children have cell phones and regularly use MXit as a communication tool.

MXit is a South African innovation that was developed in 2004. The mobile instant messaging tool is the biggest in the world with 5.8 million users in South Africa and a further 750 000 worldwide. The messaging tool has achieved great popularity among SA teens since its launch. "If you want to reach teenagers and children, you have to reach them using their own medium and MXit does that," says Butgereit.

“[Maths on MXit] started at one school but the programme has since mushroomed and we now have 1000 students from all over the country,” says Butgereit. “Our users are boys and girls from private and public schools and range anywhere from Grade 3 to Grade 12”.

Maths on MXit tutors (known as Dr. Math) are students from the University of Pretoria’s Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology Department who are required to complete 40 hours of community service as part of their course.  Meraka employs roughly 20 students over the course of a year with tutors on duty between 14:00 – 20:00 from Sunday to Thursday, covering all aspects of the South African maths syllabus.

The programme’s popularity grew tremendously over the course of 2007, primarily through word of mouth. Meraka believes that they have opened the platform for similar programs in other academic fields such as accounting and science as well as opportunities for counselling services.

 

For teachers and parents interested in finding out more about Maths on MXit, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Students can access Maths on MXit via MXit on 079 992 3960.