The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has brought another dimension to teaching and learning across the levels of education. The lockdown imposed in many countries to curtail the pandemic forced many institutions of learning to shift to the online mode of teaching and learning. Using a descriptive survey research design, this study explored the online learning experiences of pre-service teachers at a Ghanaian university during the COVID-19 lockdown. The study focused on the pre-service teachers’ preparedness for online learning in terms of their digital literacy and technological devices used for online learning, their positive online learning experiences, and the challenges they encountered learning online. The findings suggested that the pre-service teachers were digitally literate and mostly accessed online learning using smartphones. Besides, online learning enabled them to communicate and collaborate actively with their course mates and lecturers. It was found that the flexibility of online learning increased the students’ motivation to learn. However, poor internet connectivity, the high cost of data, erratic power supply, lack of appropriate devices, inability to effectively manage their time, and family interruptions were some of the challenges experienced by the pre-service teachers.

In this conceptual paper, we provide some ways to think about sustainability and a social justice approach to teaching of mathematics in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) classrooms. We imagine the mathematics classrooms in 4IR not only to provide sustainable education, but also to promote core values and qualities of social justice. The teaching of mathematics for social justice is a pedagogy that seeks to expose students to issues concerning power between social groups. It is an approach to teaching that seeks to enable students not only to maintain the status quo, but also to acquire the necessary skills to challenge current practices and offer alternatives. While there is an increasing emphasis on incorporating technology into the teaching and learning of mathematics to produce educated citizenry that will be able to function in 4IR, it is equally important that one guards against unintended consequences brought about by 4IR and not deny access to learners from a low socio-economic environment. Using critical discourse analysis, the paper argues that, as we usher 4IR into the mathematics classroom, one should also be mindful of the social skills that constitute humankind. Social skills and human capital are good foundations for understanding mathematical concepts, and critical skills need to operate effectively and productively in 4IR. Moreover, social skills such as persuasion and emotional intelligence are in higher demand across industries and in education sectors than narrow technical skills, which include, among others, programming or equipment operation and control.

This paper explores the value of indigenous games in the teaching and learning of word problems in Grade 4 mathematics. In particular, the paper explains how the moves of *kgati (skipping rope) can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics word problems. Participatory action research (PAR) methodology was used to generate data so as to enable participants to work collaboratively, freely and with confidence. Participants of this study were Grade 4 learners, a head of department, two Grade 4 mathematics teachers, a life skills teacher, a mathematics subject advisor, four parents and three members of the local royal family. The study seeks to answer the question: To what extent can learners use knowledge of the kgati (skipping rope) game to enhance the learning of mathematics word problems? Community cultural wealth (CCW) theory was employed as a lens that acknowledges the huge wealth of knowledge that participants bring from their homes into the classroom. These forms of capitals include aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial and resistant capital which relate to the knowledge learners bring from home and use to tap into word problems. Critical discourse analysis was used to analyse the words of the research team to reach their deeper meanings. The results of the study indicate that learners can interpret, convert and link their indigenous knowledge with mathematics and improve their understanding of mathematics concepts when indigenous knowledge is incorporated. Incorporating kgati moves to learn word problems significantly improved learners’ creativity and imagination. The study further suggests that learners work better when given opportunities for interactive and collaborative activities that relate to their daily practices.