making sense of new technologies

Adrian

In general I have learnt from my study that the effective use of laptops can be a valuable aid in the teaching of a visual and dynamic subject like Geography. I have found that students enjoy using the technology as part of a planned programme of lessons. However, if misused laptops can lead to time wasting and other types of disengagement in lessons.

I have found from teacher questionnaires a wide range of viewpoints between my colleagues in the Humanities department on the value of laptop technology with some describing it as a valuable resource and others hardly using the technology in lessons.

My research also shows there are important issues for the school in terms of student access to laptops, the cost of the maintenance of the technology, and the provision of staff training to use the technology effectively.

I have found that undertaking action research in the classroom is a complicated process as there are many variables that can influence student learning from one lesson to another. It is also a very time consuming process which is a major problem when trying to observe lessons, interview staff and transcribe and evaluate the results. However, my results do indicate that the large amount of money that has been invested in computer technology in schools has had a positive effect on student engagement and learning. It would be possible to broaden this study by investigating laptop use by other departments in school and looking more specifically at the use of different types of software such as G.I.S.

In September 2011 I intend to produce a summary report of my main findings that can be disseminated to members of my departmental team and other interested staff which can then be discussed at one of the regular team meetings.

Alistair

Due to problems with the technology, this essay will now focus on the adjustments that will need to take place in order to successfully carry out action research into ActivExpression devices. It will also address issues that have become apparent as the initial implementation took place, that we not so apparent at the outset of this project. My hope is, that this essay will outline how one would set about researching the uses of ActivExpression devices, if they intended to do so.

 

Jessica

The primary aim of this research project is to improve assessment in particular, assessment for learning and formative assessment. The term ‘formative assessment’ in its widest sense refers to how students are made aware of how they can improve. For teachers, it also means changing their teaching to meet the learning needs of the student. Studies have shown that strengthening formative assessment produces significant and often substantial learning gains (Black and Wiliam 1998). Further clarification of the distinction between AfL and formative assessment is discussed in my prior paper.

Alex

The following paper considers how a small-scale investigation into the use of an iPod Touch during GCSE coursework provided students with an option of using mobile technology to record their learning journey. In doing so addressing if such technology has the potential to enhance the learning of students by developing their knowledge and understanding of the tools they have access to? And does the Art of ‘learning to learn’ play a part in all areas of learning including evidencing coursework.

Peter

Moving forward from my reconnaissance I had three key research areas that I wanted to further investigate. To help manage and structure my trials and research in this next phase I created three research questions. These are:

A. Does the use of video and audio recording help students progress from a basic pass to higher grades?

B. How can the use of technology support students with specific learning needs in completing coursework?

C. How can technology support pupil learning more intrinsically in the Business Studies department?

Karla

I decided to carry out action research based around how pupils can benefit from the use of technology in the classroom in order to aid their evidence and assessment based around APP criteria. Assessing Pupils Progress is a relatively new approach to gathering evidence in order to inform teacher’s judgements about pupil’s progress. I have been involved in meetings across Leeds education authority in which myself and my colleagues have discussed and tried out many different methods and approaches to APP. I decided to focus my research around my year 9 high ability class which is a class I have taught for three years, who are comfortable with my teaching methods and approaches.

Ruth

My class action research project centres on a small cohort of DAHIT (Deaf and Hearing Impaired) students who are currently not using ICT particularly comprehensively within their DAHIT lessons. Some of the DAHIT teachers are not very confident about using ICT and therefore rarely use PowerPoint’s or ICT of any kind. It was suggested by SLT (Senior Leadership Team) that centring the project around this small cohort, within my large culturally diverse inner city comprehensive school , would enhance not only their learning by providing greater enjoyment of learning activities by introducing a more tangible kinaesthetic learning element into their lessons, it would also mean that DAHIT students experienced ICT within their DAHIT lessons as they would throughout the rest of the school therefore increasing consistency and continuity in their learning journey. The long term aim is to obviously strengthen their learning and improve their enjoyment of their educational experience as well as providing them with more cross curricular links and enhance their enjoyment of learning and hopefully their employment opportunities. DAHIT students generally have poor English and general literacy and numeracy skills due to their hearing impairment. DAHIT teachers face a real challenge in tailoring activities that are suitable for their learning needs, whilst avoiding activities becoming repetitive and boring. I have already done some reconnaissance prior to the start of the action research in that I had done questionnaires with students assessing what they thought of the use of ICT in their lessons currently and what they enjoyed most about their lessons, both ICT and non-ICT related.

Gareth

The overall goal of this research task is to look at using technology to replace and enhance current practices in the classroom; either as a means to consolidate learning resources into one piece of technology or to improve the range of options available to teachers and students alike. It sets out what is needed to be done to evaluate the potential for implementation of a completely integrated set of touch screen tablet computers (namely the RM Slate 100) into a classroom and monitor the effect it has upon the learning and efficiency of students across the curriculum. This assignment is setting out the evaluation framework rather than a full scale implementation due to delays in getting started.

Louise

From the first round of action research I was interested in developing Assessment for Learning within the sixth form with a view to making it more engaging and interactive. Currently we focus on exam skills, through the completion of exam style questions then assess their understanding through question and answer sessions within the class. From my reconnaissance, it was clear that there had been a lot of research into how technology can be developed and used for assessment by universities and schools. I believed this would produce more interactive and engaging AFL for the sixth-form. I feel this is still an important area to develop within schools, and more focus should be placed on developing skills which sixth formers would utilise within the “real world”.

I felt I wanted to focus on the use of ActivExpression software and interactive whiteboards, as these were both available to me immediately.

 

The main issue I had to consider was how I could measure engagement. Most people believe this to mean how active the students are within the classroom and how much of a role they play within the advancement of the lesson, although arguably, it could also include how much they enjoy the lesson and what they take away from it.

The Oxford English Dictionary (2011) defines the term “engage” as: “to occupy or attract someone’s interest or attention” and “to participate or become involved in”.

Therefore these were the two areas I wanted to measure when implementing the trial runs within the classroom.

 

I conducted research into what motivated students within the classroom. Previous reconnaissance showed that group work, debates and quizzes were the most popular activities for students within the sixth form. I now had to find a way of incorporating new technology into these types of classroom activities.