Teacher trainees: learning and teaching with laptops

Background to case-study This case-study highlights the impacts on trainees’ practice within the Dorset Teacher Education Partnership (DTEP) which is an employment-based initial teacher training provider (EBITT) working across both secondary and primary phases of the school curriculum. The partnership received TDA funding for information and communications technology (ICT) in initial teacher training (ITT) projects in each funding round from 2004–05 to 2007–08 (four years in total). The funding was used to provide laptops for trainees and, latterly, the introduction of a virtual learning environment (VLE). This funding equalled DTEP’s normal budget for ICT in ITT.

Impact This case description looks at the impact of laptops on trainees’ practice, pupils and pedagogy. It also looks at the sustainability of the project in terms of depth, scope and transfer of ownership. • Depth: how do you position the projects to

impact on the classroom environment and challenge different contexts, beliefs and attitudes?

• Scope: how do you get a critical mass of people participating in the programme and changing practice?

• Transfer of ownership: how do you encourage participants to take ownership of the technology and intervention?

View: the video case-study. Download: the full research report; the executive summary. Impacts on trainees’ personal practice and teaching Without exception, all interviewees noted that the laptop helped their organisational skills by using it to plan and update evaluations, reviews and lesson plans on a regular basis. This allowed the trainees to work flexibly and alleviated some of the pressures of modern living. ‘Having that access to a computer at home... there’s no way I could plan all my lessons at school. I didn’t have a computer at home so I now have access all the time.’ ‘You can work at home when you have kids.’ Trainees felt laptops to be: ‘Vital…absolutely vital. I’m lost when I don’t have it because everything is done electronically at both schools we are training at. It’s a case of not being able to take the register if you haven’t got a laptop.’ One trainee equated the necessity of having a laptop in teaching as: ‘It’s like having a pen nowadays.’

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Communication and support Having a laptop also enabled a means of communication with tutors, school, mentors and peers. They were able to share assets, give and get advice and support, and take part in peer coaching across a distributed network. This facilitated emotional and professional support networks. In school, a laptop offers immediacy in classroom activities, so amendments to lesson plans are easier and lesson evaluation can be done immediately after a class, enhancing accuracy of recall. Confidence and control Laptops offered trainees new ways of engaging and motivating learners in the classroom. Having resources and lessons prepared on laptops instilled confidence in the trainees and enabled them to develop new approaches to teaching. For example, one teacher had learners make video clips of art techniques and upload them for review by the class. ‘I’ve been much braver and tried many more new things.’ Trainees had more time to focus on their relationship with pupils as they were better equipped for transition to the next lesson – no preparation of resources was needed, nor did the lesson outcomes need to be summarised. Access to resources Having all the necessary teaching resources together on a laptop was seen as essential, not only as a teaching aid but also to facilitate updating and evaluating resources on a regular basis. Trainees noted that the laptop provision ensured that they had the same access to technology as their pupils. YouTube and Facebook were used as learning resources, although there were reservations around social and learning spaces mixing in the latter. The use of YouTube in school engaged learners more readily. The fact that trainees were actually using a technology that pupils used gave trainees kudos within the school.

‘Kids are also more digitally aware, more so than adults, so that anything you can put on a screen validates it for them. That’s where they get most of their information, television and computer.’ ‘Kids know the internet far better than any of us so we should use that, and any opportunity you can give for them to show and share (their knowledge) is good.’ Bridging home and school Pupils can search the web at home and locate resources through sites suggested at school. Trainees encouraged learners to bring in work they had done online at home which was used to illustrate a method of solving a particular problem or to locate information. Impacts on schools and pupils Classroom practice Images first versus text first Trainees were utilising laptop and whiteboard to use imagery as a way of accessing text in English and as a subliminal backdrop in art with paintings on a projected loop. Several trainees stated that the utility of having a huge colour image projected rather than a small black and white photocopy was engaging for learners. In their own words ‘If there is a lesson that is based around a particular artist or object or theme... it’s great to have clips from films or the actual web pages, or prepare slide shows of the work of the artist that run on a loop throughout the lesson to remind them of what they’re supposed to be doing and as a stimulus.’ ‘It’s also important to have a screen to be inclusive especially in terms of visual impairment. Visually impaired learners aren’t ‘different’ because they need a large paper copy, and they can see it on screen and have the electronic version on the school’s VLE.’

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‘If you have a picture you want to display, how much better is it to have it on a big screen in colour than black and white on paper that just means nothing?’ ‘I’ve been teaching for 11 years but it is amazing how it’s changed my planning. Everything’s becoming more visual.’ ‘English, historically, has always been text-based, and we talk so much about imagery in the poems. What do you see in your head when you read this line of verse? And if you’ve got something obscure that you’re trying to get across… having the obvious image in front of them. They go: “Actually I can see that now”.’ ‘Ted Hughes, for example, describes the swallow as a barbed harpoon, and they can get really abstract visual work (getting images from the web). Quite often they’ll say: “Why is that picture up there, Miss?” We’re talking about the hawk (Ted Hughes) and it’s actually nothing to do with a hawk (visually). So you say: “Ah well, you’ll have to wait and see it’s somewhere in the poem ...”, which acts as a stimulus for reading the poem. It makes them understand that written images are meant to be however you want to see them and can be as abstract as you want to see them.’ ‘We can digitise and archive the kids’ work for displays.’ ‘Visually impaired (VI) pupils can access visual resources more effectively without the need to enlarge fonts. So for them having it blown up on the screen doesn’t provide specific differentiation. For them, it’s whole class inclusivity so they don’t feel different instead of having an A1 piece of paper.’ Impacts on pedagogy Having a laptop allowed trainees to structure lessons that focused on the learning process rather than the teaching process. The added functionality of interactive material from the web and DVDs on the electronic whiteboard added variety to lessons and motivated learners through a familiar medium. Lessons were differentiated by tasks within a lesson and chunked into smaller items.

Learners could approach the activities in a non-linear fashion, leading to greater learner autonomy and personalisation of lessons. In their own words ‘Not that I’m personally or emotionally attached to my laptop but it’s actually a comfort, especially when you’re starting out and I’m floundering a bit and realising how much I didn’t know. To have it to access things (on the net) straight away is great.’ ‘Since I’ve had the IWB and laptop it’s completely changed the way I teach. All my lessons seem to flow much better because everything is there.’ ‘Everything I need is on the laptop, which frees up time. When the kids come in you welcome them and you’re ready to start. It has such an impact on the whole of your lesson.’ Making the abstract concrete The ability to bring the world into the classroom via the web impacted on teaching and learning by allowing learners to experience concretely previously abstract concepts. In their own words

‘GCSE course work is based on the Matterhorn in Switzerland and you can just have the Matterhorn there. These kids have never been to Switzerland but suddenly there it is as a backdrop to your lesson. Rather than a black and white photocopy you can have a great big mountain with a beautiful blue sky. It does bring things to life, plus it’s saved forever.’

‘In religious studies kids see examples of “the wheel of life” and then make their own but digitally.’ ‘Having a YouTube video of “A perfect storm” is brilliant for discussing the effect of weather on settings in Shakespeare. It just isn’t the same with pictures.’ Modelling how internet resources can be found, analysed and used Trainees often spoke of how they would search for information on the internet together with learners, then invite learners to find particular resources. This use of social constructivism places the teacher in a different role to that of a sole expert. Trainees became one of many different sources of expertise and were able to illustrate critical analysis of resources and knowledge. In their own words ‘Children often think that you have an “infinity of knowledge” and you can actually have an infinity of knowledge right in your laptop.’ ‘That’s what the new curriculum is about… trying to encourage them to be independent learners.’ ‘If they ask me a question and I’m not sure, the facility is there to go and check.’ ‘It’s promoting problem solving and independent learning.’ Increasing learner participation and interaction Learners often suggested using resources during lessons that they had found at home which could often lead to a lesson ‘going off in a different direction’. In their own words ‘I can also mark students’ work and send it back to them electronically. That’s just great –they e-mail it to me, I mark it and send it back, and it’s more of a process for them.’

‘It’s (using laptop) more learner centred. The kids can interact with it as well. For example, if I’m teaching poetry I’ll have the poem on the whiteboard and the kids can come and write on it. We can save it and print it out.’ ‘ I can model paragraphs on the whiteboard and compare them with the kids’ own.’ ‘In order to engage them you need to use the technology that they (kids) are used to and use all the time at home.’ Facilitating differentiation Laptops facilitate differentiation by being able to revisit material instantly if children need to (or likewise go forward). Equally, there is no need for pupils to copy from the board. How it was done The employment-based initial teacher training provider (EBITT) had a strong value-led curriculum that went beyond the qualified teacher status (QTS) requirements. Laptops were seen as an essential tool of teaching, and all trainees were provided with one by matching the TDA funding that was made available. This was also seen as a necessary prerequisite to the introduction of the Dorset virtual learning environment (VLE). ‘Our steering committee decided that trainees should have a laptop and that it would impact on their training if they didn’t. They can’t be a teacher without a laptop.’ ‘QTS standards require teachers to incorporate ICT to support pupils’ learning, however this programme requires trainees to evidence pupils actually using ICT.’ ‘Part of our training (design) is to get the trainees to not be didactic and to give the independence to their kids – part of the philosophical belief is that you can only get decent learning when kids take more control of their learning, and therefore you’ve got to give the learning tools to the kids.’

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Impacts in terms of sustainability • Depth: how the use of this equipment can

impact on classrooms, other contexts and beliefs and attitudes.

• Scope: how to encourage a substantial number of people to sample this and change their practice.

• Transfer of ownership: how to get people to own the technology and intervention.

Depth Trainees have been able to promote the innovative use of laptops in school through example. ‘This “Active Primary” board that they’ve had for years. I loaded it onto the laptop, took it home and played with it. I was showing them how to do stuff with their board!’ Scope Access/digital divide: a laptop is essential Several trainees noted that without the laptop supplied to them by the EBITT they would not have been be able to engage digitally with their practice, or the digital society with which their students engage on a regular basis. They stated that they could not have purchased their own. ‘It was absolutely essential to my practice. I come from a very big family and we don’t have a lot of money, so for me it’s just been invaluable.’ Transfer of ownership: kudos, legitimacy and professional identity Laptops were seen as essential tools for being a teacher. Trainees came prepared, ready to enter the professional domain. Others noted that it gave them kudos as ‘up-to-date’ teachers who were ready to use technology for learning. ‘I can’t imagine being in the classroom and not having a computer. I use it for everything – CPD, training days and in the classroom.’

‘Anyone who does any sort of work really, especially those in a managerial position (like teaching) where you are paid to get the job done rather than for the hours that you work, needs a laptop to do it. Otherwise you’re stuck to one place and one desk.’ ‘It’s another tool like a pencil in a pencil case that you need to use as creatively as you can. You’ve got access to an infinite world (of resources) – it’s how you use it that’s the most important thing.’ ‘Having a laptop enables you to engage with how things are (digitally) anyway.’ Thinking/discussion points Is a laptop an essential part of being a professional teacher? If so, who should pay for trainees’ machines? What’s driving pedagogic change and to what extent? • the learners and their digital habits? • the affordances of the laptop when married

to a digitally aware individual with an overriding purpose of engaging and motivating learners?

• or, the philosophy of the training course in legitimising a learner-centred approach?

Is technology driving improvements in teaching and learning or is it the need to engage digitally-aware learners? Is digital culture leading to a more learner-centred pedagogy? If so, is that pedagogy based upon a collaboratively constructed and interactive culture? If so, should it be articulated more fully and by example in teacher education?

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Things to read A report on the New Zealand experience TELA: Laptops for Teachers Evaluation Final Report Years 9–13 http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ict/27370/24604/8 [Report]

Social Constructivism http://gsi.berkeley.edu/resources/learning/social.html [Guidance] Affordances Theory after Gibson (easy) http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/cgt/courses/cgt112/lectures/gibson_affordance_theory.htm [Guidance] Affordances Theory (a little more complex) http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/affordances.html [Article] Prensky, M H, 2009, Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=705&action=article [Article/paper] Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 2008, Learning Futures: Next Practice in Learning and Teaching. Innovation Unit http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.html [Paper] Hadfield, M, and Jopling, M, 2008, A Horizon Scanning Guide: Innovation Unit http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.html [Guide] Links TDA http://www.tda.gov.uk/ TTRB http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ Becta http://www.becta.org.uk/nextgenerationlearning.php JISC http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ Innovation Unit http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.html DCSF http://search.dcsf.gov.uk/kbroker/dcsf/dcsf/search/search.lsim?qt=ict&sr=0&nh=10&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=dcsf&ha=1121 Educause http://www.educause.edu/node/720?time=1237309753 Futurelab http://www.futurelab.org.uk/ Training and Development Agency for Schools

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