OVERCOMING THE LIMITED INTERACTIVITY IN TELEMATIC SESSIONS FOR IN-SERVICE SECONDARY MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS

In rapidly expanding possibilities for harnessing digital technologies for blended learning purposes worldwide, this paper explores the challenges of overcoming the limited interactivity of telematic sessions, face-to-face contact sessions and distance from campus for in-service teachers in remotely located schools. The Centre for Pedagogy at Stellenbosch University in South Africa entered was contracted by the Department of Education to deliver in-service programmes through contact sessions and telematic sessions in an attempt to up skill their mathematics and science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and subject matter knowledge (SMK) according to their needs. A major limitation of the telematic sessions is their lack of interactivity. What are the instructional design imperatives that should accompany such blended learning delivery modes to make them more effective? More importantly, how can the one-way lectures be made more interactive so that the needs and understandings of the audience are catered for? Can the advent of social media such as the WhatsApp instant messaging service applications be of any value? Using a case study design coupled with discourse and content analyses of WhatsApp conversations, feedback from 73 teachers has been positive.