In classrooms and schools around the world one of the areas of contention has been student use of their own technology. Mobile phones are seen as a particularly disruptive technology – so much so that we can see that similar problems create similar solutions. The more one sees, however, the more one wonders about the boundaries of reality. Are these real, or instances of wishful thinking?
How can e-learning be integrated into a range of settings for both teachers and pupils? Here we have a number of small-scale studies covering a range of projects: those based in classrooms; home-school environments; after-school activities; school-based continuous professional development (CPD); subject-based CPD in national contexts and post-graduate accreditation. The work of primary and secondary school pupils and adult learners is considered.
In the book ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ by James Hilton, a shy British teacher (Mr. Chipping – hence ‘Chips’) devotes his life to teaching after the death of his beautiful American wife. The film (1939) of the book features Robert Donat as Mr. Chips, who looks back on his long career and the people in it. And there you have it: the quintessential image of the devoted teacher, interacting with pupils and students, enabling them to excel and achieve their goals. The reality, of course, is often slightly different. Teachers are caught between the Scylla of an increasingly prescriptive curriculum and the Charybdis of public accountability; schools are expected to pick up the shortfall of parenting and social responsibility, abandoned as parents rush out to work increasingly long hours to service mortgage and consumer debt.
When we ask young people to write a book report or their homework, what do we expect them to produce?
Here we can observe a number of young people as they grapple with the task. And, in the battle with paper and pen, keyboard and screen, who will produce the most meaningful response?
The old label CPD – ‘continuous professional development’ should now be CPPD – ‘continuous personal professional development’, given the ways in which educators can now take charge of their professional development and identity. Can teachers manage their own professional development without the direction of such extrinsic motivators as local authorities, higher education or government agencies?
This study indicates some possible directions.
What is the role of teachers, when so many young people seem to be able to learn quite successfully outside the confines of the classroom? What conflicts arise?
Can we safely assume that the majority of young people can learn how and why to use digital tools? If we can, what are the expectations of their teachers – and for their teachers?
The label ‘Traditional Education’ is often used as a rallying cry by those unsettled by change, to promote something that they feel is better. Try asking some of the Mexican teachers who took part in an international IWB project whether they prefer ‘traditional education’ to the possibilities that interactive display technologies have brought to their classrooms. Here’s the story of how their professional lives – and those of their students – changed.
How do the experiences and expectations of learning shift when you take teachers and their classes out of their normal environment? What are the changes? And do these changes transfer to the classrooms?
If you provide every pupil in a Year 6 Primary class with a NetBook, how does the learning dynamic change? How does the ecology of the classroom change? This study looks at a project run from the Teesside City Learning Centre across three schools in the North East of England.
What is the evidence for the impact and effect on teaching and learning of interactive whiteboard use?