This is a short section taken from my Masters Dissertation on the use of ICT by student teachers. I thought this section might be of interest to readers of this blog and that some of you would find the links to further research useful. I’ll post a link to the full dissertation here sometime.

WhenI get the time I’d like to work this section up into a much longer look at the literature surrounding whiteboards and attainment. Not sure when I’ll get round to that though!

ICT and Student Attainment

There is an assumption at the centre of the push to increase the use of ICT in the classroom that any new technology enhances the learning process. In part the evidence for this is often anecdotal although there is a growing body of evidence which is beginning to suggest some positive impact of digital technologies on learning outcomes (Underwood, 2009). The ImpaCT2 study for BECTA (Harrison et al., 2003) found evidence of a positive relationship between ICT use and achievement however in some subjects those effects were not considered statistically significant. ICT was observed to lead to increased motivation and greater involvement in learning. It is felt by some that ICT has the potential to provide rapid feedback that supports the construction of knowledge (Sutherland et al., 2004). Other studies have also suggested that the appropriate use of technology has a positive impact on pupil achievement compared to traditional instruction methods (Marzano & Haystead, 2010; Sandholtz, 2001; Waxman et al., 2002; Whale, 2006). A comprehensive review of various studies relating to ICT and pedagogy (Cox et al., 2003) suggested that when teachers use their knowledge of both the subject and the way pupils learn, the use of ICT had a more direct effect on pupils’ attainment. Another review of research (Cisco Systems, 2006) found that the use of technology results in a small, but significant, improvement in pupil learning. However, in a study of the introduction of interactive whiteboards to primary classrooms (Higgins et al., 2005) no effect on attainment was observed despite both teachers and pupils being certain that the technology was improving teaching and learning. An analysis of the relationship between IWB’s and pupil performance (Moss et al., 2007) failed to see any evidence of an increase in pupil performance in end of Key Stage tests, although the number of schools studied was small, and the technology had not yet been fully embedded into classroom practice.

The benefits of ICT should not be measured purely in terms of student attainment, however much that drives school league tables. Studies have demonstrated that  ICT has the potential to transform relationships between teachers, pupils and the knowledge and skills being taught (Pearson & Somekh, 2006) as well as promoting higher order learning in the classroom (McNair & Galanouli, 2002). Research also suggests that the integration of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogging, social bookmarking and digital storytelling, can promote pupil learning and facilitate the development of lifelong skills such as collaboration, creative thinking and knowledge construction (Lambert & Cuper, 2008; Nelson et al. 2009). The use of online Learning Platforms can support opportunities for independent and personalised learning, facilitate pupil collaboration, and encourage pupil reflection and self-assessment (Jewitt et al., 2011). Integrating iPad technology into the classroom can lead to children utilizing technology to enhance higher-level thinking skills, problem solving and collaborative working (Pilgrim et al., 2012).

A study of the motivational impacts arising from uses of ICT (Passey & Rogers, 2004) concluded that ICT use by pupils and teachers led to positive motivational outcomes, which supported a focus upon learning and the tackling of learning tasks. There were also indications that use of ICT impacted positively upon pupil behaviour inside school and also had some impact on their behaviour outside school. In the personal opinion of pupils surveyed, ICT made learning more effective and meaningful and teachers who actively used ICT emphasized the importance of using ICT for increasing the learners’ active engagement (Hakkarainen et al., 2000).

As ICT changes the environment in which teachers work and the way they relate to other teachers, it also has an important impact on the nature of the teachers’ profession (Pedro da Ponte et al., 2002). It has been suggested that as technology has become ubiquitous in our modern lives, the skills we need to teach in schools should also change. As “citizens of information-age societies” we are required to be able to think critically, solve problems, communicate and collaborate with others and bring diverse perspectives towards learning (Angeli & Valanides, 2009 p.154). The increased introduction of new technologies such as mobile devices can help teachers and pupils interact with one another, collect and analyse data and get instant knowledge and messages in a learning environment (Chi-Cheng et al., 2012).

smartboard

The Interactive Whiteboard

One of the most visible shifts in the use of technology in schools in the last 10 years has been the arrival of the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). They are a common sight in most schools and if used correctly can become the conduit for introducing teachers to a greater use of other technology (Schuck & Kearney 2008).

In a review of various IWB studies, Smith et al. (2005) found two broad categories of use: the IWB as a tool to enhance teaching and as a tool to support learning. The IWB can serve as a facilitative technological tool in the classroom to promote effective teaching strategies and to help teachers with technological integration (Jang & Tsai, 2012). However, often these IWB’s are being used with very basic interactivity and act purely as a screen for presentations or videos (Passey, 2006; Schuck & Kearney, 2008) implying a need for better training for teachers in their use.

A difficulty teachers faced in using IWBs was in combining the use of this innovative technology tool with their existing teaching approaches (Jang & Tsai, 2012, Schmid, 2008). It has been argued that an IWB supports a wider range of learning styles, since teachers are able to draw on a variety of different resources to suit the particular needs of the learners (Glover et al, 2005). They can also support planning and the development of resources, allow teachers to model ICT skills and increase pupil interactivity and participation in lessons (Levy, 2002; Smith et al., 2005; Wall et al., 2005).

Pupils also felt that interactive whiteboard technology had a positive effect on facilitating their preferred approaches to learning (Wall et al., 2005). Other studies link its popularity with its ability to display a wide variety of information allowing concepts to become more tangible and therefore easier to grasp (Levy, 2002). However, it has been suggested (Slay et al., 2008) that all the benefits of IWB’s seem to stem purely from the combination of laptop and data projector to display content, and that the board itself offers little real benefit and in many cases can be a disadvantage.

In practice interactive whiteboards are often purely used to stimulate the pupils visually, with passive content such as video clips used to a large extent (Passey, 2006). Such activities require little kinaesthetic use. The skills required of the pupils in such classrooms were mainly low level skills of knowledge acquisition and comprehension with only a limited focus on higher order levels of knowledge handling skills. Teachers fall back into a transmittal model of lecturing to a class, becoming the “sage on the stage” (King, 1993), rather than placing the technology in the hands of the pupils and acting as a more constructivist “guide on the side”.

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Source:

Taken from : Nicholson, D. (2013) “An Analysis of Pre-Service Primary Teachers’ Perceptions and Attitudes towards ICT Implementation”, Dissertation for Masters in Education. University of Bedfordshire.

References:

Angeli, C., & Valanides, N. (2009) ‘Epistemological and methodological issues for the conceptualization, development, and assessment of ICT–TPCK: Advances in technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK)’, Computers & Education, 52(1), pp. 154-168

Chi-Cheng, C, Chi-Fang, Y, & Ju-Shih, T. (2012), ‘Perceived convenience in an extended technology acceptance model: Mobile technology and English learning for college students’, Australasian Journal Of Educational Technology, 28(5), pp. 809-826

Cisco Systems. (2006) ‘Technology in schools: What the research says’. [Online]. Available at: http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/TechnologyinSchoolsReport.pdf

Cox, M., Webb, M., Abbott, C., Blakeley, B., Beauchamp, T., and Rhodes, V. (2003) ‘An investigation of the research evidence relating to ICT pedagogy’, British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA), [Online] Available at:  http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1601/

Glover, D., Miller, D., Averis, D. & Door, V. (2005) ‘The Interactive Whiteboard: A literature survey’, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 14(2), p155-170

Hakkarainen, K., Ilomaki, L., Lipponen, L., Muukkonen, H, & Rahikainen, M. (2000) ‘Students skills and practices of using ICT: Results of a national assessment in Finland’, Computers and Education, 34(2), pp. 103-117

Harrison, C., Comber, C., Fisher, T., Haw, K., Lewin, K., Lunzer, E., McFarlane, A., Mavers, D., Scrimshaw, P., Somekh, B., & Watling, R. (2003) ‘ImpaCT2 : The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Pupil Learning and Attainment (Full Report)’ Becta. [Online] Available from: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1572/

Higgins, S., Clark. J., Falzon. C., Hall, I., Hardman, F., Miller, J., Moseley, D., Smith, F. & Wall, K. (2005) ‘Embedding ICT in the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies: Final Report April 2005’ Newcastle Upon Tyne: Newcastle University. [Online] Available from: http://www.ecls.ncl.ac.uk/publications/Clark%5E2005-IWBreport.pdf

Jang, S.-J., & Tsai, M.-F. (2012) ‘Reasons for using or not using interactive whiteboards: Perspectives of Taiwanese elementary mathematics and science teachers’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 28(8), pp. 1451-1465. [Online]. Available from: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet28/jang.html

Jewitt, C., Clark, C., & Hadjithoma-Garstka, C. (2011) ‘The use of learning platforms to organise learning in English primary and secondary schools’, Learning, Media and Technology,  36(4) pp. 335-348. [Online] Available from http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/6914/

King, A. (1993) ‘From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side’, College Teaching, 41(1), pp. 30-35

Lambert, J. & Cuper, P. (2008) ‘Multimedia technologies and familiar spaces: 21st-century teaching for 21st-century learners’, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8(3). [Online] Available from:  http://www.citejournal.org/vol8/iss3/currentpractice/article1.cfm

Levy P. (2002) ‘Interactive whiteboards in learning and teaching in two Sheffield schools: a developmental study’. [Online] Available from: http://dis.shef.ac.uk/eirg/projects/wboards.htm

Marzano, R. J., & Haystead, M. W. (2010) ’Final report: A second year evaluation study of Promethean ActivClassroom’, Englewood, CO: Marzano Research Laboratory. [Online] Available from: http://www.marzanoresearch.com/documents/Continuation_
Study_2010.pdf

McNair, V. & Galanouli, D. (2002) ‘Information and communications technology in teacher education: Can a reflective portfolio enhance reflective practice?’, Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 11(2) pp. 181-196

Moss, G., Jewitt, C., Levaaic, R., Armstrong, V., Cardini, A., & Castle, F. (2007) ‘The interactive whiteboards, pedagogy and pupil performance evaluation: An evaluation of the Schools Whiteboard Expansion (SWE) project: London challenge’. London: Institute of Education. [Online] Available from: https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/RR816

Nelson, J., Christopher, A., & Mims, C. (2009), ‘TPACK and Web 2.0: Transformation of Teaching and Learning’, Techtrends. 53(5), pp. 80-87

Passey, D. (2006) ‘Technology enhancing learning: analysing uses of information and communication technologies by primary and secondary school pupils with learning frameworks’, Curriculum Journal, 17(2), pp. 139-166

Passey, D. & Rogers, C., with Machell, J. & McHugh, G. (2004) ’The motivational effect of ICT on pupils: a Department for Education and Skills research project 4RP/2002/050–3’ Nottingham, DfES. [Online] Available from: http://downloads01.smarttech.com/media/research/international_research/uk/lancaster_report.pdf

Pearson, M. & Somekh, B. (2006) ‘Learning transformation with technology: A question of sociocultural contexts’, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(4), 519–539.

Pedro da Ponte, J., Oliveira, H., & Varandas, J. M. (2002) ‘Development of pre-service Mathematics teachers’ professional knowledge and identity in working with information and communication technology’, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 5(2), pp. 93–115

Pilgrim, J, Bledsoe, C, & Reily, S. (2012), ‘New Technologies in the Classroom’, Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 78(4), pp. 16-22

Sandholtz, J.H. (2001) ‘Learning to Teach with Technology: A Comparison of Teacher Development Programs’, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 9(3), pp. 349-374.

Schuck, S., & Kearney, M. (2008) ‘Classroom-based use of two educational technologies: A sociocultural perspective’, Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8(4), 394-406. [Online] Available from: http://www.citejournal.org/articles/v8i4currentpractice2.pdf

Schmid, E. C. (2008). ‘Potential pedagogical benefits and drawbacks of multimedia use in the English language classroom equipped with interactive whiteboard technology’, Computers & Education, 51(4), pp. 1553-1568

Slay, H., Sieborger, I. & Hodgkinson-Williams, C. (2008) ‘Interactive whiteboards: Real beauty or just “lipstick”?’, Computers & Education, 51(2008), pp. 1321-1341.

Smith, H. J., Higgins, S., Wall, K. & Miller, J. (2005) ‘Interactive whiteboards: Boon or bandwagon? A critical review of the literature’, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 21(2), pp. 91-101

Sutherland, R., Armstrong, V., Barnes, S., Brawn, R., Breeze, N., Gall, M., Matthewman, S., Olivero, F., Taylor, A., Triggs, P., Wishart, J. & John, P. (2004) ‘Transforming teaching and learning: Embedding ICT into everyday classroom practices’, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20(6), pp. 413-425

Underwood, J. (2009) ‘The Impact of Digital Technology. A review of the evidence of the impact of digital technologies on formal education’ Becta. [Online] Available from:    http://www.ICTliteracy.info/rf.pdf/impact-digital-tech.pdf

Wall, K., Higgins, S. & Smith, H. (2005) ‘The visual helps me understand the complicated things: Pupil views of teaching and learning with interactive whiteboards’, British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(5), pp. 851-867.

Whale, D. (2006) ‘Technology Skills as a Criterion in Teacher Evaluation’, Journal of Technology & Teacher Education, 14(1), pp. 61-74