Steve Kennewell

The features of interactive whiteboards and their influence on learning

In a small‐scale study of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)‐rich primary school, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) were found to be the predominant ICT tools used by teachers. The study sought to identify how the teachers used features of ICT to enhance learning, based on a list of ICT’s functions published for teacher education programmes. This list did not appear to account for all the aspects of the IWB’s influence that were described by teachers and observed in their lessons. Interview and observation data concerning digital whiteboard technology were probed further, using a framework for analysing activity settings designed for teaching and learning. This process generated a new taxonomy of features of ICT involving two levels: those intrinsic to digital media and devices and those constructed by hardware designers, software developers and teachers preparing resources for learning. Pedagogical actions supported by these features were identified and views concerning the impact of these actions on learning were analysed. This article reports the findings of the analysis, and exemplifies a use of the taxonomy in comparing practice across subjects. It suggests that this focus on ICT’s features may be valuable for both future research on the impact of ICT on learning and the design of new ICT resources.

The influence of ICT on the interactivity of teaching

There has been much concern with the ideas of interactive and dialogic teaching during recent years in the UK, ideas which have emerged from international comparisons. This paper concerns a research project in Wales which sought to explore how the interactive features of information and communication technology (ICT) support interactivity in teaching. The project found that much use of ICT by good teachers was at a relatively superficial level of interaction, yet when teachers used a deeper, more dialogic, level of interactivity in teaching, they achieved improvements in learning whether they used ICT or not. The potential of ICT to support more dialogic teaching was not being fully exploited. The paper reports the findings of the classroom observation dimension of the project, and examines the implications for pedagogical practices and the development/dissemination of ICT resources which can support more dialogic interactivity.

The Role of Play in the Pedagogy of ICT

Today’s children meet a wide range of technology in their everyday lives, and they become competent users of devices such as mobile phones and games machines without any formal instruction. It appears that highly complex ICT processes and techniques can be learned through informal methods which are very much learner directed—unfocussed exploration, creative invention, trial-and-error, cooperation with friends and asking people who are more experienced. Indeed, the children themselves tend to see their activity as play rather than learning.This paper describes a project carried out in a number of informal learning situations. The children involved were relatively disadvantaged economically, and the majority were not very confident in using a PC. Most had access to both a games machine and a mobile phone, however, and rated themselves as very confident with these. The project aimed to find out how they developed competence in using unfamiliar hardware and software, and how much they learned from self-directed study in a loosely structured learning environment. In order to investigate these issues, groups of children were introduced to new software tools and left to ‘play’ with the software in order to explore the possibilities and discover new features. The children were observed and their questions answered, and the researcher also discussed their experiences with them afterwards.Despite their lack of previous experience with PCs and the particular software used for the project, the children were generally successful in gaining specified competencies with the software. Several children reflected that they were learning in the same way as they had learned to use mobile phones, although there was no evidence for transfer of specific techniques. This indicates that the role of higher order learning skills is important, and evidence emerged that the influence of self-efficacy may be more important in gaining success than previous experience with PC technology. This factor is suggested as the focus for further investigation.

Meeting the standards in using ICT for secondary teaching

Introduction 1. ICT in secondary education 2. The nature of ICT and its potential contribution to teaching and learning 3. ICT tools and concepts 4. Applications of ICT in the curriculum 5. How pupils learn with ICT 6. ICT capability and its development 7. Managing learning in the ICT classroom 8. Developing pedagogy with ICT 9. Preparation and evaluation of ICT resources 10. Impact of ICT on assessment 11. Other professional applications of ICT 12. The future: developments in technology and improvements in pedagogy

Interactive whiteboards and all that jazz: the contribution of musical metaphors to the analysis of classroom activity with interactive technologies

The teacher’s role has often been described as one of ‘orchestration’, and this musical analogy is a powerful one in characterising the manipulation of features in the classroom setting in order to generate activity or ‘performance’ which leads to learning. However, a classical view of orchestration would fail to recognise the extent to which effective teaching and learning make use of serendipity and improvisation – characteristics more often associated with jazz. This paper uses the characteristics of various musical genres to characterise teaching approaches observed in the authors’ work in two research projects investigating the use of ICT in mathematics classrooms. In particular the authors demonstrate how jazz and other musical analogies can be useful when describing some of the more effective classrooms in which serendipitous events were exploited and performances were improvised by pupils as well as teachers. They discuss the ways in which teachers were able to use ICT to establish conditions under which more jazz‐like performances were likely to occur, offering opportunities for more creative, improvised teaching and learning. They also examine lessons that can be learned by examining differences between musical and pedagogical settings.

Initial teacher education students’ views on play as a medium for learning—a divergence of personal philosophy and practice

It is a challenge for teacher educators to develop innovative pedagogical practices amongst initial teacher education (ITE) students when much of their learning is gained in schools where practice is slow to change. This paper examines two such practices which are currently being promoted through government policy for children’s education in Wales: the use of play as a mode of learning and the development of capability in information and communications technology (ICT). A study of how ITE students learn from informal experience with novel technologies and structured play in an ICT course setting is analysed in relation to their experiences of teaching ICT in their teaching practice and their perceptions of play as a mode of learning for themselves and for the children they teach. The ITE students’ teaching approaches do not exhibit the principles of learning through play which they predominantly espouse, and this evidence points to a tension between the beliefs that they have gained from reflection on their own experiences and the ICT pedagogy which they meet in schools. A number of barriers are identified which must be overcome in order to develop the use of play in both developing ICT capability and using ICT for learning in other subjects.

The integration of information technology into teachers' decision-making

The teacher-thinking framework has rarely been applied to research concerning the integration of IT into teaching and learning. This paper explores two main aspects of teachers’ decision-making where the integration of thinking about IT can have a major impact on their classroom effectiveness: the planning of teaching and learning activities, and the monitoring of student progress during a lesson. Shulman’s framework based on different forms of teachers’ knowledge is used to examine the current barriers to teachers’ integration of IT into their planning. In particular, the consistent finding that experienced teachers merely assimilate IT into existing approaches to teaching topics is considered to result from teachers’ reliance on curriculum knowledge and content knowledge of IT, together with a general pedagogical knowledge which does not allow them to exploit IT fully. Further illumination of classroom issues is provided by McIntyre’s concepts of ‘normal desirable state of student activity’ and of ‘student progress’. This theoretical analysis leads to practical conclusions concerning future research and the design of in-service and initial teacher education programmes.

Developing research models for ICT-based pedagogy

The need for evidence concerning ICT’s positive effects on learning has been recognised since the early instances of computer aided learning (Rushby, 1979), yet over the past 25 years the results of our quest for such evidence have been less than overwhelming. Yet it seems that increasing numbers of educators are convinced of ICT’s potential and, despite our inability to demonstrate clear gains from merely providing ever more technology for schools and colleges, governments have continued to fund a rapid expansion in ICT resources for education (for example, BECTA, 1998). This investment has been maintained because of a political conviction that ICT is beneficial for all aspects of life in the 21st century, and that education should be able to exploit the features of ICT (TTA, 1998) in the same way that business does. There are now indications, however, that this investment may not continue unless politicians can be reassured that learners are benefiting to an extent which is commensurate with the level of provision. A significant body of qualitative/interpretative research over recent years has yielded valuable insights into the underlying processes of learning with ICT, but such studies do not directly compare the impact of different factors. It is unlikely that isolated case studies of successful teaching, or detailed interpretive analyses of learning processes, will provide convincing evidence for the political audience.

The professional development needs of secondary school information technology co-ordinators

Abstract Analysis of a recent survey in the United Kingdom of the roles, concerns, training needs and support priorities of secondary school Information Technology Co-ordinators has revealed a number of factors and relationships amongst these variables and with other variables concerning the characteristics of schools. In this article we present and discuss the results of a recent survey in the United Kingdom of the roles, concerns, training needs and support priorities of secondary school Information Technology Co-ordinators (ITCs). We draw conclusions concerning the unique problems faced by ITCs as a result of the expectations placed upon them, not only to teach their own subject, but also to train and support other teachers in the pedagogical application of information technology (IT). In response to a great variety of needs, there is only limited support provided for them formally by their schools and by external sources. The most highly valued support comes from informal sources. We consider the impl...

Developing an ICT capability for learning

Learning effectively with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) requires an appropriate level of ICT capability. This paper explores the ways in which children develop their capability in home and school, and how their skills support ICT activity and learning in each setting. Conditions for developing ICT capability during such activities are identified using a framework for analysing learning situations based on affordances, constraints and abilities. It is concluded that all aspects of young children’s ICT capability can be developed effectively through a combination of structured activities in school designed primarily for learning other subjects, provided that subsequent reflective activity is generated. This learning is supported by unstructured activities at home, and provided that they have access to appropriate guidance from more capable family and friends. Suggestions are made concerning the coordination of school and home ICT activities in order to exploit the positive features of each setting, and generate effective learning within and beyond the formal curriculum.