Comparison of Two Research Articles

Compare and contrast the articles by Ed Smeets (2005) and John Robertson (2002). Make suggestions which would help us provide a more meaningful learning environment, based on your own experience of the use of ICT in the schools you have taught in.

Smeets (2005) stated that education must be provided in an optimal environment in which learning is promoted. In order to promote a classroom in which learning and problem solving can take place, there must be co-operation and interaction between the staff and pupils. He stated that ICT has a number of functions which can be beneficial to the classroom environment. Firstly, it can provide an abundance of information for both planning and research. Teachers can make use of ICT to share lesson ideas or to plan lessons with the assistance of others, or others ideas. Smeets also stated that ICT has allows for complex processes to be understood more easily and has allows for active learning and higher order thinking. Within the classroom situation, ICT allows for tasks to be adapted to the needs and capabilities of the pupils which in turn helps the teacher plan for curriculum differentiation.

There are however a number of factors that affect the level of ICT use within schools. One of the main factors it that of accessibility, both regarding the number of computers within a school, but also the location of the technology. Smeets stated that it is essential that they are placed within the classroom to be of benefit to the children. Another major factor is the skill level of the teacher, as well as their confidence to use it in front of children. Children today, are often have more advanced computing skills than the adults who are trying to teach them. The role of the teachers’ use of technology can have a huge impact on the learning impact that they are trying to create within a classroom setting.

For the optimum powerful learning environment, Smeets identifies that :
· Tasks need to be rich in context and as authentic as possible
· Active and independent learning must both be stimulated, as well as co-operative learning.
· The curriculum must be adapted to the individual needs of the pupils (differentiated)
Smeets divides ICT software into two main types. The first type is skill-based transmission software which is designed to enhance skills by administering drill and practice exercises (to assist teachers who support constructivist views). In comparison, open-ended software is a tool used for helping learners to build on previous knowledge and encourages active learning, whilst creating a powerful learning environment. The type of software chosen can have an instrumental effect on the pupils attainment within ICT.

Smeets carried out research within Dutch primary schools and used a sample of 331 grade 8 teachers, to investigate their thoughts on the topic of ICT. He found that 3 out of 4 teachers felt their skills were good or quite good, and many used ICT to stimulate their pupils to work autonomously. 1 in 3 teachers use ICT to stimulate pupils to explore information for themselves, with 93% of teachers used ICT in their lessons – on average at least 55 minutes a week. He also stated that skill-based software is used more often than open-ended software with 59% of pupils are regularly working on computers alone. If they work with others, it is normally as a pair. Smeets claimed that male teachers are more likely to favour open-ended ICT applications compared with females, and that while most teachers are aware of the benefits of ICT within the classroom, few use it to its full potential. As yet, few are prepared to change their pedagogical practices. He also felt that the larger the class size, the more likely the teacher is to use skill based ICT, and that the presence of an ICT suite within a school building, leds to a decrease in the amount of skill-based ICT use.

Robertson examined the state of ICT in primary schools at the end of the twentieth century and the route taken to reach the current levels. Many government initiatives, trainings and research have been carried out in the past few years which examined the use of ICT within primary education, many of which state the benefits available to both teacher and pupil. In agreement with Smeets, Robertson states how ICT can be instrumental in allowing for interactive and personalised learning to take place within the classroom, as well as giving an opportunity for creating simulations, problem solving as well as allowing the children the opportunity to investigate and handle data and information. In reality though, Robertson found that ICT was not being used to its maximum benefit, and instead of providing an interactive, personalised lesson, children were instead taught drills via drills and practice in which passive learning took place.
When comparing the two articles it would appear at first hand that Robertson has a more negative view on ICT in education than Smeets, yet they both state how important ICT could be to the classroom if used to its full potential. Smeets examines current research based in the Netherlands whereas Robertson has focused on the progress throughout the end of the twentieth century in the UK. Holland have very different teaching methods to the UK therefore it is important to bear in mind the cultural differences that are involved, and that Smeets research cannot be directly applied to the UK educational system. Both authors examine that the use of ICT has increased dramatically within recent years, yet realise that with better understanding and with the adaption of teachers pedadogy, ICT can be used to a more full potential.

Suggestions for the future.
ICT has the opportunity to make or break a lesson. It’s unpredictable nature, especially when requiring wireless networks, often put a huge risk on a teacher to rely solely on ICT to carry out a lesson. With improvements in technology, and reduction of cost, then ICT can go from strength to strength, and with young adults from the ‘computer generation’ qualifying as teachers, then hopefully their skills and knowledge can be implemented successfully into the school classroom, however I am still a little dubious about how long this will take to be fully implemented, and with the ever advancing ICT available, I feel children will always be one step ahead of the staff who are trying to teach them.

References:
Robertson, J. (2002) The ambiguous embrace; Twenty years of IT (ICT) in UK primary schools. BJET, 33(4) 403-409.

Smeets, E. (2005) Does ICT contribute to powerful learning environments in primary education? Computers and Education, 44 (2005) 343-355.

Final Post

Both this blog and SBT1 are coming to an end within the next week. In school I have had the opportunity to use the ICT suite to teach both ICT and geography lessons, and have encorporated ICT into all my core curriculum lessons.

As this is my final blog entry I have been asked to evaluate the exercise. I have found the use of blogs an interesting way to present a weekly report, compared with a written diary, although have found it hard to remember to do it, especially when having spent all day at school! It is nice that you can access the blog from any computer, so I could update my work even when I was in hospital or at home for the holidays. I have found it hard to come up with 'interesting' things to say, as very few 'new' things happened each week and therefore I had little to report on. With regards the actual package, I have found it easy to use and have easily uploaded photos and pictures etc. I think it would be an easy programme for pupils to 'pick up' and learn.

I have found this a useful package to facilitate writing and communication, and would like to use it within my schools, perhaps to help with homework etc. I however dont think I would use it personally as a means of communication as I find it a wierd prospect to be writing about my daily life etc to, potentially, the entire world! If I were to use it in a school, I would want to investigate whether privacy settings could be used, so only the class teacher and other pupils could view the blogs, rather than the world world having access.

School

I've now been in school for three weeks and beginning to challenge myself by incorporating more ICT within my lessons. I often use powerpoint to introduce my lessons but have also started using some of the promethan flipcharts that are available. This week in maths, I had children coming up in pairs to the IWB to practice their symmetry with a computer package while the others completed tasks in their books. It is lovely to see how interested children are when tasks are online rather than in books.

I also had the chance this week to teach the whole ICT lesson on simulations where the children had the chance to make Colins Coffee and also have their first driving lesson. It is encouraging to see how enthuasistic they are when presented with tasks that they would not normal complete, if it werent for ICT.

This coming week, I am teaching a geography lesson which will be based in the ICT suite, where the children will be looking at Southampton, their school and homes using Google Earth packages. I hope this will enable them to relate their location in relation to the entire world, which is often difficult on a 2D poster of the world. I also will be teaching another ICT lesson exploring further simulations.

School based training

I'm back at school now, so that means that this blog is back up and running. The major ICT use that I've experienced this week was the use of the interactive whiteboard. My mentor has been able to teach me about all the functions that they have and has given me the chance to explore and practice using it. I also witnessed the CTM allowing the children to use the IWB themselves, for a mathematics mental starter game which I was pleased to see.

In the majority of the lessons that I have observed or taught this week, the IWB has been used as the sole use of ICT. Personally, I want to introduce ICT into my lessons, but at present, I don't feel I have the confidence to use it. This is one of my targets for the next week, so hopefully I can report back next week with whether I have been able to offer ICT for the children.

The ICT suite that the school has, allows pupils to work in pairs at each desktop. I know many schools do not have this privilege, however even working in pairs, I have noticed that often one pupil dominates despite being told to swap over half way through the lesson. This is one of the major disadvantages of ICT use that I have seen in school. When I teach my first ICT lesson, I hope to plan it so that all pupils have enough time to explore the topic that is being taught and achieve their own learning objectives.

I look forward to trying to use ICT in my lessons next week!