Story = MXit, the popular mobile social networking and chat service, which has been the source of many grey hairs for teachers and parents alike, is now helping learners to prepare for mid-year exams.
The service has added a tutoring and quiz portal, called QuizMax, for maths, physical science and life sciences learners.
A group of South African teachers from QuizMax teamed up with MXit to develop a suite of free mobile learning tools, including exam-level quizzes that are compliant with the National Examination Guidelines for Grade 12s.
“Maths, physical science and life sciences are some of the most difficult subjects for matric learners to grasp,” says MXit.
“Not only are they difficult in principle, but there are often external challenges like the availability of books or the large number of learners per class that detract from a successful learning environment.”
Ian McDougall, business manager of Learning to the Max, the company that created QuizMax, says over 90 000 quizzes were completed by learners on MXit in March and April alone.
Captivating learners
“We believe that QuizMax helps to captivate learners and makes practising model questions in these subjects more fun, especially when coupled with the fact that it's featured on a platform that is being used by a great proportion of South African youth,” says McDougall.
“They like technology, and they love using MXit - a win-win combination for us.”
McDougall adds that maths, physical science and life sciences were chosen as the starting subjects for the QuizMax service due to their “critical value” and the contribution they make to the development of the economy. Currently, Grade 12 is available, but other grades will be introduced soon.
Lack of learning material is a key concern in rural areas, and cellphones are being seen increasingly as a viable means of disseminating much-needed resources.
“QuizMax has a real potential to assist the Department of Basic Education to encourage learners that are struggling with science and maths to change their perception of the subjects, and this is where we see the most value,” says head of MXit Cares Laura Hallam.
“Our partnership with QuizMax fits into our overall vision of creating features and platforms that add real value to the lives of users, and what is more valuable than education?”
Key resource
Besides the more serious objective of the programme, QuizMax also aims to make learning interactive and accessible.
“Our challenge initially was deciding on how to make subjects like maths, physical science and life sciences exciting enough for learners to want to engage with, while still being able to help the national education system achieve its mandates,” explains McDougall.
According to a statement, most of the activity on the QuizMax service comes from government schools and their learners.
The highest number of quizzes completed in a recent school-based trial was by learners at Simanyene Secondary School, in the Western Cape.
The QuizMax service allows for teachers to track quizzes completed by their students in order to monitor their progress.
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