I have just posted an introduction to a new project on Learning Transformation. You can view it here on the main website. This is just the introduction, further posts will follow in due course.
This project is part of my work as an education consultant and will lead to presentations on the subject of transforming learning. I hope also to include some of my work on Personal learning networks and home access, maybe including some of my earlier work on learning styles. The ICT aspect, so much at the heart of my work, will be seen as a vehicle for delivering the transformation of learning.
It is always difficult and a bit dangerous to try to predict the future of ICT in education, nevertheless, I believe that at the recent Handheld Learning Conference, we might have had a glimpse of that future. Let me try to explain what I mean.
It does not take great insight to see the timeline progression from Desktop to Laptop to Handheld device (in this timeline I’d see the netbook as a stopgap device between laptop and handheld in that it retains much of the functionality of a laptop but does not quite fit in your pocket). This would appear to suggest that the future lies in handheld devices.
I am yet to be convinced, however, that current mobile phones or gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP devices represent in any way the handheld computing devices of the future.
What is not so readily evident is the learning environment behind the devices. Originally we used standalone machines that required content to be loaded on to them before they could be used to support learning. Then the environment moved to networked machines that meant that content stored centrally within an institution could be utilised by any or all devices. With the advent of networking, came the ability to share and collaborate with other users. In time, the networks expanded and connected with other networks with the advent of the internet, thus these devices could access a vast array of information. Also at this time, we saw the learner being able to access the information from almost any device; not just those in an institution but also devices at home.
In recent years we have seen the arrival of devices that allow a user to access content while on the move. Initially, these devices were fairly limted in what they could access but the technology has been developed rapidly and the facilities of such mobile tools have expanded rapidly. The approach of the iphone with its apps store has been followed by other manufacturers and so a new type of mobile computing device has been born; one that can access and manipulate content from almost any location.
So the question must be asked, why have a device at home, a device at school and a device in your pocket that can all do the same thing? Would not just one device, which you can use anywhere, be a more sensible approach?
I know, I know… that one device does not yet fully exist; which is why I say we had a ‘glimpse’ at the Handheld Learning Conference. It was a tantalising glimpse and an exciting one and I am sure I am not the first to have had such a glimpse.
I was a little surprised at the recent Handheld Learning Conference that there were so many references to the old Pedagogy versus Technology debate. This was very much the debate we had back in the 1980s when we first started introducing technology into schools, so why is this debate still going. It could be argued, as some have, that we did not learn the lesson back thenand so still need to have the debate but I feel it is more than that.
I feel that many teachers are ‘uneasy’ about the technology in the classroom, possibly because they do not use it much themselves or do not feel in control of it. For such people, the pedagogy must come first and the technology should be used only where it supports or enhances the pedagogy. I have some sympathy with this view but I am concerned that this view would only strengthen current and past pedagogic practices and could become a barrier to modern, future or transformed learning.
There is also an underlying dichotomy in that technology changes rapidly whereas the world of education seems to change only slowly. For many even the slow change of education is too much to cope with; this is especially true where one change takes time to embed and become accepted practice just as the next change is announced. This cycle of educational change has dogged the education system in England for the last decade or two to such an extent that teachers find it hard to keep up with the changes and sometimes have no exposure or idea of the latest pedagogic practice. With all the occuring and reoccurring changes in pedagogy, how can we even expect teachers to incorporate technology into their practice?
The pedagogy versus technology argument seems to be emplyed mainly by those who advocate that the pedagogy should take precedence. They have a very powerful and persuasive case. It can also be used by those who are not willing to change their approach to pedagogy and use this as a block to technological innovation in learning. Even those of us who love and advocate the use and development of technology in learning, may often feel guilty if we stop and think that we are promoting the technology more than the pedagogy.
Looking back through the history of educational technology, there have always been times when technology has led the way and introduced new ideas and concepts into learning. In the 1980s, the biggest factor in the development of educational technology is that the overwhelming majority of schools had standardised on the BBC micro. We had a standard of technology that allowed for a robust market for teachers, enthusiasts and software companies to promote new ideas. Compare that to the 1990s when we had a split between Archimedes/Acorn and PC technologies; educational software innovation stagnated.
In some ways, I feel that those who advocate the importance of the pedagogy over the technology are overlooking the significance of the technology. What I’d like to say to any teacher is that if you find that a piece of technology (hardware or software) enables you to teach better, to reach pupils who may be hard to reach, to provide new and stimulating resources for learning, engage pupils better, etc., then do not feel guilty about it.
In short, perhaps the debate is not really pedagogy versus technology but is more an interaction of pedagogy and technology where each contributes and influences the other.
This post has been prompted by Terry Freedman’s article on his website about wall displays and it starts with a comment I posted there.
Traditionally a teacher would festoon the classroom and other areas with displays of the pupils’ work, particularly artwork, written work and photographs of events. These might be used to reward pupils for producing exceptional work, to demonstrate work produced by the pupils, or they might be used to encourage and provide exemplars, above all, they would be used to support pupil learning.
Nowadays, pupils produce more and more work in digital formats and the question is raised as to what is the best way to display such work. Or are we to lose the benefit of wall displays simply because digital work cannot be easily displayed? Some of the work can be printed out and displayed in a traditional way but somehow, unless it’s a product designed to be printed, that would seem to almost defeat the object.
I have seen some schools use large monitor screens for display purposes, generally though they seem to be used to display promotional clips of the school and seem aimed at visitors. Rarely do they seem to be used to display pupils’ work and far more rarely do they seem to be used in pupil areas. The cost of such systems probably act against their widespread use in schools. Also, unlike simple display boards, such electronic display systems are rarely simple to use and are often outside the ‘domain’ of the class teacher.
Nevertheless, I do feel that flat panels could be a way (perhaps an expensive way) of displaying pupils’ digital creations.The technology should be becoming cheaper and many flat televisions can display images from a memory card. Even simple electronic photo frames could be used, some of these can display video too, though as the size still tends to be on the small size, they could hardly be considered classroom displays.
Not all digital creations are visual, though, and I’ve yet to think of a way of effectively displaying pupils’ audio creations; though I’d guess that IP radio systems might be a way of distributing pupils’ podcasts around a school.
I’d be interested to hear/see how schools have tried to tackle this issue.
But then, perhaps I’m falling into the trap of thinking about classrooms in the traditional sense? Maybe we can display pupils digital work in a digital environment such as a virtual classroom or a VLE. It may not have the same impact as a physical display in a classroom but it should be simple to add links to other pupils’ digital content for a learner to access, or maybe ‘advert’ like banners to encourage the learner to explore other pupils’ work or even simply to embed digital content within a pupil’s space.
Not too long ago I led two ICT training sessions which have been very similar in outcome even though the schools were very different.
One school was using Mac notebooks, whereas the other was using Windows machines. The Mac school had been unable to make best use of the software they were attempting to use because the software was essentially Html and flash based and they were trying to run the software on an old version of Internet Explorer. The second school had been unable to make best use of their software because it had not been installed properly on their network, so would not run properly (if at all) and they had not had effective training on it.
At the Mac school, I was able to demonstrate the software using Safari instead of Internet Explorer. Mac fans will say that this was a simple and obvious move to make and may be wondering why it had not already been done. What we have to keep in mind is that in a small school such as this, staff simply do not have the time to explore all ICT possibilities, especially when trying to solve technical issues. The software had previously run OK in IE but new developments and innovations in the software had left IE behind. The staff simply felt that the software was somehow incompatible with their system or required technical troubleshooting which they were unable to provide. The staff wanted to focus upon delivering teaching to their pupils rather than incur costs and time repairing the software. Consequently, they either ignored the software or only made use of those parts that did still seem to work.
This school is very far from being unique in seeing staff become frustrated or jaded by ICT technical issues. It would be true to say that there should be a technician on hand to prevent or sort out such technical issues so that teachers can continue to deliver education to the pupils. However, it it very much the case that primary schools have very inadequate technical support. Having a technician visit half a day each fortnight is quite a common pattern and it is certainly far from adequate in maintaining modern educational systems. Often, problems have to be reported in incident books, which will be read by the technician upon arival, he then has to decide a priority for the problems and try to implement a fix in the short time available. Sometimes telephone support is also available but this may sometimes mean a staff member taking the time to make the call and implement a fix (where possible)by sacrificing time which may better be spent elsewhere.
By showing this school how the software worked effectively on Safari, the school felt the software had been given a ‘new lease of life’ and that they were able to make much more use of it in their teaching. I was also able to show them many aspects of the software which they were unaware existed, simply because they had not been able to use the software.
In the second school, there was an element of frustration because the software had not initially been installed correctly on their network. This sort of problem should be entirely unnecessary but does still occur more often than it should. The problem had been rectified (almost) but the school staff had missed out on being able to use the software to support a number of teaching opportunities. They had also missed out on an effective training session because the system was not working properly.
I say the installation had been ‘almost’ rectified because we discovered that one staff member login did not allow proper access to the software. This was due to incorrect addressing of the program. Once I had spotted this, a quick and easy fix allowed the whole software to work effectively for this member of staff.
With the fix in place, I was able to train the staff on the software and was able to cover much of the ground that should have been covered in the original training session. Again, in this school, the staff felt that the software had been given a new ‘lease of life’ and that they were now better able to make use of it in their teaching.
I guess, in a small way, I may be blowing my own trumpet here in saying that I was able to renew these schools interest and usage of the software on their system. Yet, I feel that this is one of the most rewarding aspects of my training role; seeing staff enthused (or re-enthused) about using ICT or a particular piece of software or hardware.
It’s always a pleasure to watch John Davitt giving his presentation. Unfortunately I missed it at this year’s Handheld Learning Conference, so it was great to see the video made available on the web.
You can find more videos of the handheld learning conference here
May 2010 update.
I’ve heard John speak a few times now and each time I seem to find something new in what he says. This is partly why I recommend anyone to go listen to him.
Below, I have listed some of the things I have got from John’s presentations. I daresay there are more I could have got and I guess other people may have got a different interpretation or message from John’s presentations, nevertheless, here is what I have got so far…
We should be using technology more creatively … no, I’ll rephrase that, we need to allow and support learners to use technology more creatively. For so long, pupils have been passive consumers (I think he actually uses that phrase) of technology, we ned to move them on to becoming creative uses of the tech. Instead of just sitting down in front of a monitor, pupils can be allowed to use a wide range ofd devices to create their own digital material and resources.
There are so many ways in which a pupil can demonstarte their work and their learning, so why, when we use technology, do we demand they use only a few? If you think about it, technology in the classroom has been very much a ‘visual’ tool, even when we consider Audio Visual or Multimedia aspects it seems that the Visual aspect dominates. Learners employ different senses and different styles of learning, even traditional teaching was not just visual, so we need to use technology in much more creative ways to reach out and support the different learning styles of individuals.
We’re each different. Some of us like our toast nicely buttered with the butter evenly spread across the slice and into each corner ( I had a girlfriend like that once, it nearly drove me mad; not her obsession with having the butter evenly spread but the fact that she was still around at breakfast time!). In the past, computers might have been seen as the preserve of neat and tidy people who liked organising databases, populating spreadsheets, or producing nicely word-processed documents. Nowadays, technology should be in the hands of everybody, not just the neat and tid, organised people. Being neat and organised, despite what your mother or your employer might think, is not a positive attribute; it is simply a personal characteristic and does not make you a better person that someone less organised or untidy.
Then there’s the story John tells about the Banda machine ( a primitive copier that used an analogue method of turning a handle to produce copies, for those of you too young to recall such a device) and how this one person had charge of the machine. It took me a while to realise any significance in this story but I do recall how in the early days, computers were seen as the territory of the IT co-ordinator in a school and no-one else was allowed to touch them without his permission or without prior signing of a book to say that you had it and signing again to say you had returned it. Nowadays, such petty empire building is not acceptable, all teachers now should have easy and ready access to technology for their lessons. In fact, we have gone much further than that, no longer should all teachers have access to technology for the lesson but all pupils should have access to, and that access should be available whereever the pupil is and wherever the learning takes place.
Okay, I’ll stop there but there is much more to be gained from listening to John Davitt or reading his book or following him on twitter. So do so!
As I right this, John is apparently on a beach somewhere, not sunning himself like any normal person would but running a training course!
Currently there appears to be a great deal of work behind the scenes preparing for an initiative to promote the use of ICT by teachers. This has prompted me to quickly put together a few thoughts about training teachers in the use of ICT.
Some of these thoughts are clearly born from my own experiences training staff in using ICT, whereas other thoughts are perhaps a bit more forward looking and maybe a little bit more “off the wall.” I have had years of experience in training staff to use computers and other technologies to support their teaching.
Having been a teacher myself for many years, I hold teachers in high regard and am always willing to encourage them to make use of technology in their work. Up to recently, though, most of this training has focussed upon enabling staff to use the tech within their own teaching and curriculum delivery. Increasingly, however, I feel the technology requires and promotes new approaches to learning and that possibly it is these new approaches which could be the focus of new ICT CPD initiatives.
1) Thought 1 – It is my belief that if you give teachers the equipment and the time, then the ideas will follow. Indeed, it has been my experience that the ideas are often already there, it is the time and the equipment that is often missing. However, too much equipment at once is rarely a good idea especially if that equipment is provided without the time and training necessary. Sadly, that has very often been the case as training is seen as expensive and undervalued. Even if done correctly, however, this approach might only generate new ways of using the technology to support current practices; it may increase teacher confidence and skill but it is unlikely to be transformational.
2) Thought 2 – I feel it is the role of the teacher to allow and enable learners to make use of the technologies. Therefore, ICT CPD should focus upon getting teachers to allow or enable learners to use technologies in new and innovative ways. The emphasis is upon learner use rather than teacher use. Increasingly, I feel, that it is the way in which learners are able to use ICT which is more important in learning rather than the way in which teachers use it. The teacher, however, still has a need to be made aware of new possibilities and opportunities afforded by technology and be allowed the time and training to explore ways in which the learners can use it.
3) Thought 3 – It is important to improve a teacher’s confidence and skills in using ICT but also it is important to give them the confidence and skills to support the learners’ use of ICT. I make the latter point because it is likely that not all learners will take to technology as easily and readily as others. Many learners may need support and encouragement to learn using technology and many of these learners may turn to the teacher for support and guidance. I therefore feel it is important that ICT CPD for teachers is designed in part to give teachers the skills and confidence to provide the support and guidance for their learners.
