Classroom Technology

Archive for the ‘Classroom Technology’ Category

Flipping Textbooks

Monday, January 30th, 2012

: Image by Amin Tabrizi via Flickr

The other day, I got quite depressed by watching a discussion on Twitter about textbooks. Not, you will notice, ebooks or even etextbooks but good old fashioned hardbacked or paperbacked textbooks; the sort we used to use when I was at school (and I’m talking about as a pupil not as a teacher). Does education find it really hard to let go of the past or does it just go around in cycles?

Even though I didn’t agree with almost anything I saw on that discussion, it did make me think about textbooks and the relative advantages and disadvantages of them.

Information

There is usually much more information in a textbook than on, say, a website. This is a big advantage in favour of textbooks. At one time it was claimed that CD roms would replace textbooks, but CDs and even DVDs just never seemed to hold as much information upon a topic as did the average textbook. Sure, the CD or DVD had the advantage that it could contain animation, video, photographs and interactive quizzes, all of which might be more difficult, if not impossible, in a textbook but in terms of actual amount of information, the textbook wins.

A disadvantage of the textbook is that it could soon go out of date or become inaccurate as things changed, whereas a website could be easily changed to keep it up to date and relevant.

Relevance and Appropriateness

One of the good things about textbooks is that you could have a textbook written on a subject for young pupils, have another textbook written on the same subject for older pupils and others written for adult learners. You rarely seem to find this, though, for websites or CD roms, though there are some for young pupils, most websites appear to be aimed at an almost ‘ageless’ audience. You used also to get textbooks that progressed in series with the learners; so you’d have book 1, book 2, or book 3 or beginner, intermediate, advanced … you rarely seem to get such progression in digital media.

Critical Thinking

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of a textbook is that a class or school often only use one, so it had only one source of information which was also presented in only one way. By using the web, a school could have access to several different sources which could present different viewpoints on the same topic. The web could therefore better allow for the development of critical thinking in the learner whereas in the days of textbooks, the learner just assumed the textbook was correct and presented the only view. However, this critical thinking could only go so far because websites and other digital media rarely present as much information, upon which to be critical, as textbooks.

Engaging

This is a tricky one as I’m sure we can all think back to any textbooks we used to learn in school and I daresay ‘engaging’ is not a term we would immediately apply to them. TV looks much more engaging, CDroms look much more engaging, the web looks much more engaging, .. at least they did when they first came out, do these media still look as engaging as they once did?

So it seems that textbooks had some advantages over modern digital media but also some drawbacks. So should they be used or barred in 21^st century learning?

Why Can’t Textbooks Be Free? (forbes.com)
Borders Launches Online Textbook Marketplace (webpronews.com)
Textbook Sales (shalampax.com)
Are all textbooks created equal? (computinged.wordpress.com)
Free textbooks from Curriki (teleread.com)

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, textbooks, Twitter
Posted in Classroom Technology | 2 Comments »

Using a Visualiser with the Visually Impaired

Monday, January 16th, 2012

A visualiser is essentially a static webcam that can be used to project images of real objects or text onto a screen, an interactive whiteboard or a webpage. By projecting an image onto a whiteboard or a large screen, they can be used in whole-class or large group teaching. By linking them to a server the image can be sent to a network of computers, including remote computers, or to individual handheld devices. The image can be, and most often is, displayed in real time but the image, or a stream of images, can be recorded, stored and used at any time. The visualiser is a very versatile piece of kit that can be used in many ways to enhance teaching.

What I want to touch on in this post is the use of a visualiser for pupils with visual impairment. Now, instinctively, the first thing you think when working with a pupil with visual impairment is that the image should be both clear and large. The visualiser can easily provide this; it displays the image of the object under its lens and projects this onto a screen. The image can be of a two dimensional object, such as text or picture in a book, or a real three dimensional object, it can even be of a moving real-life object, such as a spider (or ladybird for the squeemish). Careful use of a light source can help minimise shadows and/or emphasise the 3 dimensional nature of the image. The image produced from the visualiser can be enlarged to present it clearer to the pupils; this can be especially useful if you are teaching a large group or if you have a pupil with visual impairment who just happens to be sitting near the back.

It is traditional wisdom that images should be larger than life when teaching a pupil with a visual impairment but really the efficacy of this depends upon the nature of the visual impairment. What I’d like to suggest is that we do the opposite; we take the image produced by the visualiser and we shrink it and then shrink it even more until it is actually smaller than in real life.

Why do I suggest shrinking it like this? Well let us take the case of a learner whose visual depth is no more than a couple of centimetres in front of his eye. A learner with such an impaired visual field can rarely take in the whole of an object but has to move their head and eye around an object in order to perceive it all. If we present a real-life sized image to such a learner, they will experience difficulty perceiving it. If we have enlarged it, then we have only compounded the difficulty the learner experiences. If, on the other hand, we have shrunk the image to less than life size, we have increased the opportunity of this learner to perceive the whole object and, thereby, improved the learning opportunity for that learner. This, of course, assumes that the learner is able to get close enough to the projected image!

I make that last remark because, while it may be the case that the image can be projected onto a wall, projector screen or IWB, the learner may be prevented from getting close to the projected image by furniture or objects placed in front of or attached to the a screen. The learner would also have to be able to locate the small image among a vast mass of white space. Perhaps, in this instance, feeding the visualiser image to a server and then to a handheld device might be a better solution.

There may be many other ways of using a visualiser with visually impaired learners and, indeed, other obstacles to overcome. I simply present this as an idea for their use and a demonstration of their versatility.

Interactive Projectors – IWB’s without the whiteboard (whiteboardblog.co.uk)

Using a Visualiser with the Visually Impaired

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Display technology, Document camera, Interactive whiteboard, visualiser, visually impaired
Posted in Classroom Technology | No Comments »

World Book Web and Virtual Libraries

Monday, January 9th, 2012

: Image by Ant McNeill via Flickr

I wrote an earlier post looking rather superficially at the differences between old fashioned textbooks and modern digital media in education. This post builds on a bit further from that original post.

If we accept that textbooks had certain advantages over modern digital media, could those advantages be harnessed further by turning textbooks into digital media in the form of, I guess, e-textbooks? Up to fairly recently, I’d say there hasn’t really been a suitable format for ebooks; – reading a book, or ebook, on a laptop or desktop computer really hasn’t proved a worthwhile experience for many of us. Perhaps now, though, we are seeing the emergence of new devices, such as ebook readers and the iPad, which make reading ebooks much more enjoyable and versatile. Perhaps now is a time to look again at the potential of etextbooks.

The biggest advantage of a textbook is that it usually contains much more information or detail about a topic than could be found on the world wide web or an interactive DVD. So if that information could be made available in digital format, then it could be easily referenced, searched, tagged and utilised by learners.

Imagine also if all the quotations, references and citations that exist in textbooks were automatically hyperlinked to their source, then there would be a lot more information that could be easily found by learners.

Let us also think of the possibilities of web 3.0, the semantic web, for etextbooks. Each time a learner reads an etextbook or links to part of a book in an essay, they are presented with possible further text books to extend their study or maybe they can be given other authors with a complementary or alternative viewpoint.

Imagine if every text book that ever gets written has to not only go into the library of congress or the British Library but also has to have a digital version made available, pretty soon the amount of information available to learners would dwarf the amount currently available on the web. Not only would the amount of information be increased but the quality of it should be improved. Sure, learners would still need to be taught how to access it and how to use it properly but the benefits to learning could be enormous.

It could well be the case that such a ginormous (is that a word?) amount of information would be too much for a school or for younger learners. Yet, what is to stop a school setting up a subset of that information, a subset that it feels will be of value to its learners? Couldn’t a school setup a ‘virtual’ library of ebooks that pupils can use in their learning and also for their entertainment. Such a ‘library’ could be setup on the school servers and the ebooks made available to download onto computers (either school based ones or the pupils’ own) for use in school and also for use at home.

Now the possibilities of such a venture fills me with excitement at the benefits it could bring, which is such a great change after the depression I felt when I first watched the Twitter discussion on textbooks. The biggest ‘buzz’ is that most of this is already possible and is forward looking rather than backward looking, that so seems to dog edtech currently.

How to Find Cheaper College Textbooks (bucks.blogs.nytimes.com)
100 ways to use a VLE – #19 Reading a book (elearningstuff.wordpress.com)
Visit Ebook Libraries for an enriching experience! (webspawner.com)
Social Annotations in Digital Library Collections (dlib.org)
BISG Study – 7% of eBook downloads are from a library (libraries.wright.edu)
The future of the textbook (scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.com)
Using eBooks with Students (librarianbrain.wordpress.com)

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: British Library, E-book, e-textbook, iPad, Libraries, Semantic Web, Textbook, virtual library
Posted in Classroom Technology | No Comments »

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Monday, December 26th, 2011

: Image by Nick J Adams via Flickr

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

What matters most in educational technology is not so much how you, the teacher, use technology but how you, as a teacher, enable and allow your learners to use technology.

Discuss

Syllabus – Educational Technology and the Adult Learner ed366 (davecormier.com)
Designing India’s Future Classrooms (isteconnects.org)
A Commercial Approach to Promoting Educational Technology (ictineducation.org)
Technology Hurdles In Canadian Education (isteconnects.org)
Constructing Education for the Future (ictineducation.org)

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, Educational technology, Instructional Technology, Technology
Posted in Classroom Technology | 3 Comments »

Technology Not Doing What it Should be Doing?

Monday, November 28th, 2011

I had a laugh yesterday, I shouldn’t have done because the guy was quite serious but …

What caused me to laugh was a post on a forum about ICT in schools and why some teachers weren’t using it. The comment was made that sometimes technology doesn’t do what it is supposed to do and this led to some teachers not using it.

It was that bit about technology not doing what it is supposed to do, that made me laugh. I know what he means, I know exactly what he means but it does make it sound like the technology is being a naughty child. It does raise questions about peoples’ understanding and their relationship with technology. The technology does what it does; that may not be what you want it to do or what you expect it to do but it is, unless it is broken, what you are telling it to do!

I recall my early days in school, then if a teacher was faced with someone who didn’t do what they were supposed to do, the teacher had two options; they could stand them in the corner and ignore them, or they could give detention after school and make them do it properly.

In the case of technology, it seems in some classes, the same two options still apply!

What Skills Does an ICT Co-ordinator Need? (ictineducation.org)

Technology Not Doing What it Should be Doing?

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, Information and communication technologies in education, Teacher, Technology
Posted in Classroom Technology | No Comments »

Getting Rid of the ICT Suite

Monday, November 21st, 2011

: Image via Wikipedia

A couple of primary schools I’ve visited recently have both taken the decision to remove their ICT suites. This seems like a good idea, as you may know, I am not a great fan of the ICT suite (see this post). In the case of these two schools, though, the removal of the suites was not part of a planned process, they were removed out of necessity and in some haste; either because the school found itself short of classrooms or ‘natural’ damage (flood) meant the suite could no longer be used.

In both cases, and I’m sure in many others, the school had to look to alternatives to deliver its ICT provision. In both these cases (as, I’m sure, in others), the school opted for a banks of laptops and netbooks. Interestingly, both schools have procured two banks of laptops and netbooks with portable charging trolleys to replace one ICT suite. This has had the immediate benefit that two classes can make use of technology at the same time instead on just the one at a time that could use the old suite.

However, it has been the netbooks that have caused problems. I am not certain but I very strongly suspect that the schools purchased the netbooks because they appeared to be a cheaper version of the laptops. Big Mistake! I have nothing against netbooks but I do firmly believe that they are not laptop replacements. To use netbooks effectively requires careful planning and changes to the ways in which ICT is used.

Superficially, a netbook looks like a slimmed down laptop but it is not. Currently, a netbook has less memory and storage than a laptop, it has less power (and lower battery consumption) and lacks an optical (CD or DVD) drive. It relies far more than a laptop upon a wireless connection to access resources and services on a network (LAN or Internet), hence the term ‘net’book. If you wish to make effective use of netbooks, then you need first to ensure your wireless infrastructure is suitable for the job.

I accept that a netbook is more easily portable than a laptop and that its smaller size and lower weight may make it more suitable for younger learners. However, it would be quite wrong to see a netbook as being a laptop for younger pupils. A netbook is an item of educational technology in its own right and can be suitable for learners of any age or stage of education, it is probably better to regard it as a more portable and, certainly, a more ‘personal’ device.

So what can we learn from the experiences seen in these two schools?

First of all, replacing an ICT suite (or any major change in ICT provision) needs to be carefully planned and prepared,

Secondly, netbooks are not straightforward replacements for desktop or laptop devices

Thirdly, netbooks are not suitable only for infant or younger learners

Fourthly, adopting and using netbooks requires a full rethink and planning in how ICT is used in a school

and Fifthly, if you want to use netbooks or laptops, first ensure your wireless provision is adequate

Let me also add another question; should the school be continuing to provide this kit or should it be enabling the pupils to provide and use their own kit?

Number of computer suites (edugeek.net)
What Skills Does an ICT Co-ordinator Need? (ictineducation.org)

Possibly Related Posts:

Posted in Classroom Technology, Handheld Learning | 4 Comments »

23% of Learners Learn Better Without an Interactive Whiteboard

Monday, November 14th, 2011

In a recent study, researchers found that in 23% of cases, learners achieved better results when interactive whiteborads (IWB) were NOT used.

Okay, this was not the main finding of the study but it is an interesting one and one which I feel some people will latch upon. We need, however, to look at why the research found this finding. On examining the evidence, the researchers discovered that there were potential pitfalls in using interactive whiteboards, these included;

1. Not organising the content appropriately and/or presenting the content poorly – often the content was rushed through without allowing learners the time to interact or analyze the content.

2. Using too many visuals. Pages may be awash with imagery that it became difficult for the learner to identify the key content.

3. Inappropriate use of voting or feedback devices. These were often used to note how many students got the right answer without probing why wrong answers were given or explaining why one answer was more approriate than another.

So at first it migh be argued that this research suggests that inappropriate or poor use of the technology could be more damaging to learning than no use of technology. Even if the points above were corrected, however, I’d suggest that there would still be some learners who would learn better without the use of IWBs. The Interactive Whiteboard is essentially a visual medium or multimedia tool. There are some learners for whom a visual method is not the best method of presentation. I’m thinking here of those learners who may have a predominantly auditory or kinaesthetic learning style.

For learners with a preferred style of learning that is not visual, the use of interative whiteboards (or any predominantly visual tool) could be a distraction, a source of confusion or, at worst, a detriment to their learning.

I’d also suggest that there may be many learners who, though unrecognised or undiagnosed, are at some point along the Autistic spectrum. We know that autistic learners have difficulty combining senses and appear to learn better via one sense. Often this IS the visual sense but not necessarily so. For such a learner, a multi-sensory or multimodal approach could be confusing or detrimental.

So, the research suggests that at least a fifth of learners learn better without an interactive whiteboard being used. Their suggestion is that it is inappropriate use of the technology which underlies this. Correcting the inappropriate usage may reduce this figure. However, there may still be those learners for whom the IWB may not be the best technology to utilise because of their preferred learning style.

The research was carried out by Robert Marzano and reported in the paper Multiple Measures; Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards published November 2009. An extract of which can be found here on the ASCD website. The study appears to have involved Promethean boards but should also be relevant to other manufacturers’ products.

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Display technology, Educational technology, Interactive whiteboard, Learning styles, Robert Marzano
Posted in Classroom Technology, Interactive Whiteboards | 1 Comment »

Archive for the ‘Classroom Technology’ Category

Flipping Textbooks

Using a Visualiser with the Visually Impaired

World Book Web and Virtual Libraries

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Technology Not Doing What it Should be Doing?

Getting Rid of the ICT Suite

23% of Learners Learn Better Without an Interactive Whiteboard

Contact me

Follow us on Twitter

Doug Woods

Archive for the ‘Classroom Technology’ Category

Flipping Textbooks

Related articles by Zemanta

Using a Visualiser with the Visually Impaired

Related articles by Zemanta

World Book Web and Virtual Libraries

Related articles by Zemanta

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Related articles by Zemanta

Technology Not Doing What it Should be Doing?

Related articles by Zemanta

Getting Rid of the ICT Suite

Related articles by Zemanta

23% of Learners Learn Better Without an Interactive Whiteboard

Contact me

Follow us on Twitter

Doug Woods