SMART moves? A case study of one teacher’s pedagogical change through use of the interactive whiteboard

This case study investigates how the use of an interactive whiteboard (IWB) leads to pedagogical change within a UK secondary school classroom. A teacher’s experiences as recorded in a reflective journal, and the responses of students as recorded in a questionnaire, are set within the context of rhetoric about the value of IWBs. It is argued that this action research approach is particularly valuable because of the insights a teacher has on the complexities of the classroom environment. Assumptions about the way in which IWBs should (and do) change the dynamics of interactivity within the classroom are considered by questioning the definition of terms such as ‘interactive’ and ‘pace’. The case study concludes that if a teacher understands and utilises appropriate strategies to meet given learning objectives, pedagogical change will emerge, with teachers empowered by the IWB to consider how learning takes place, and match activities to learners’ needs. However, IWB use will be within the context of the philosophy of the teacher and how much he or she wants to pursue new ideas in order to support learning.     

Towards a better understanding of the potential of interactive whiteboards in stimulating mathematics learning

This research explored the stimulation of mathematics understanding and learning in an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) environment. IWB affordances appear to be best used when mathematical tasks engage students in mathematical reasoning and when all students are involved in the discussion. The intent of this project was to design and implement, together with a small group of teachers, a series of lessons for the purpose of developing a useful framework for effective IWB use. In a first phase, the potential of the IWB in pursuing high-level mathematical tasks and promoting classroom interactivity was discussed in depth by the teachers and the researchers. Lessons were also planned in detail. In a second phase, the planned lessons were taught in the presence of the researchers, audiotaped and subsequently analysed by the researchers and teachers. The analyses highlighted the usefulness of the IWB in (a) improving high-level mathematical tasks and (b) creating a dialogic interactive discourse for better mathematical understanding and learning. Two main patterns in productive IWB use emerged from the study. The first pattern was that the IWB promoted problem-solving activities through intensive use of geometrical or other mathematical software. The second pattern was using the IWB as a notepad with links to external sources, geometrical and other mathematical constructions, problems and activities, which the teacher, in collaboration with the students, ‘tailors’ following a thread. For both patterns, developing a strong synergy between the IWB affordances and students’ interaction with it seemed critical. The IWB appears to be a powerful tool that allows students and teachers to alternate between different points of view and different visualisations of the same topic.     

Primary teachers’ understanding of the interactive whiteboard as a tool for children’s collaborative learning and knowledge‐building

This paper reports on the second phase of a joint teacher/researcher project that explored teachers’ understandings of the potential of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) as a tool for primary school children’s collaborative group work. By examining teachers’ written analyses and discussions of work carried out in their own classrooms, the paper seeks to contribute to the debate about the ways in which the use of IWBs can contribute to changes in pedagogy. It highlights the interrelationships between collaborative learning and factors identified as important in the research carried out by teachers, amongst them the children’s technical skills and confidence, the mediating role of the teacher, the IWB affordances for knowledge‐building and the teachers’ own knowledge, attitudes and professional development. The paper also provides an account of how participation by the teachers in a course with Faculty staff, focused on the collaborative co‐construction of knowledge related to learning and to classroom research grounded in the values and principles of socio‐cultural theory, supported changes in pedagogic practice.     

Teaching literacy in primary schools using an interactive whole-class technology: facilitating student-to-student whole-class dialogic interactions

Much of the research conducted on the use of interactive whole-class technologies in primary school classroom focuses on teacher-to-student interactions. This paper, drawing on a social theory of learning, reports on a qualitative case study undertaken with two primary school classes in one school in New South Wales, Australia where the interactive whiteboard (IWB) was used. Here the focus of the lessons was on literacy where students were learning to write reviews. The results of the study demonstrate that the use of the IWB can provide for learning in a whole-class setting where interactions between students feature. Consequently, the teacher is able to take on a facilitator’s role.     

A New Way of Using the Interactive Whiteboard in a High School Physics Classroom: A Case Study

In recent decades, the interactive whiteboard (IWB) has become a relatively common educational tool in Western schools. The IWB is essentially a large touch screen, that enables the user to interact with digital content in ways that are not possible with an ordinary computer-projector-canvas setup. However, the unique possibilities of IWBs are rarely leveraged to enhance teaching and learning beyond the primary school level. This is particularly noticeable in high school physics. We describe how a high school physics teacher learned to use an IWB in a new way, how she planned and implemented a lesson on the topic of orbital motion of planets, and what tensions arose in the process. We used an ethnographic approach to account for the teacher’s and involved students’ perspectives throughout the process of teacher preparation, lesson planning, and the implementation of the lesson. To interpret the data, we used the conceptual framework of activity theory. We found that an entrenched culture of traditional white/blackboard use in physics instruction interferes with more technologically innovative and more student-centered instructional approaches that leverage the IWB’s unique instructional potential. Furthermore, we found that the teacher’s confidence in the mastery of the IWB plays a crucial role in the teacher’s willingness to transfer agency within the lesson to the students.     

A case-study of one teacher's use of an interactive whiteboard system to support knowledge co-construction in the history classroom

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have rapidly become an integral feature of many classrooms across the UK and elsewhere, but debate continues regarding the pedagogical implications of their use. This article reports on an in-depth case-study from the wider T-MEDIA project (Teacher Mediation of Subject Learning with ICT: a Multimedia Approach). A key aim of the study was to draw upon sociocultural perspectives to develop a shared, grounded theoretical account of the processes through which teachers mediate subject learning incorporating use of the IWB and other resources. A series of six history lessons with a class of pupils aged 12–13 was videoed and analysed collaboratively by a university research team, the teacher, one of his colleagues and an academic subject specialist. We identify an emerging emphasis upon interdependent learning relationships in the classroom and illustrate how this particular teacher harnessed IWB technology to support a dialogic approach to knowledge construction in history. Strategies included communicating and developing complex ideas and modelling historical thinking processes through use of multiple digital resources; collaborative annotation of images and texts; spotlighting and reveal tools for focusing; and ‘drag and drop’ for classification activities. Revisiting annotated slides served to draw on shared experience.     

Transition in pedagogical orchestration using the interactive whiteboard

This paper revisits the analysis of how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) can contribute to effective pedagogy. It builds on previous work concerning the relationship between the features of IWBs and associated technologies and some key components of pedagogy, including the stage of IWB use, the role of ICT, the type of interactivity, and the overarching aspect of orchestration for learning. Two example lessons are constructed to illustrate the relationships associated with a basic stage of IWB use as a blackboard substitute and the most sophisticated, synergistic stage of IWB use. The analysis of these lessons is used to show that in the synergistic lesson, the IWB functions as a hub for classroom activity. The key difference is that both the teacher and pupils use the affordances of IWB for orchestration of activity rather than merely using a set of unrelated tools predominantly used by the teacher. Implications are drawn concerning the need to develop skills in orchestration for learning alongside technical skills in IWB use through initial teacher education and subsequent professional learning.     

Students as ‘catalysts’ in the classroom: the impact of co‐teaching between science student teachers and primary classroom teachers on children's enjoyment and learning of science

This study is an investigation of the impact of collaborative teaching by student‐teachers and classroom teachers on children’s enjoyment and learning of science. The paper describes findings from a project in which undergraduate science specialist student‐teachers were placed in primary schools where they ‘co‐taught’ investigative science and technology with primary teachers. Almost six months after the student placement, a survey of children’s attitudes to school science revealed that these children enjoyed science lessons more and showed fewer gender or age differences in their attitudes to science than children who had not been involved in the project. The authors discuss how this model of collaborative planning, teaching and evaluation can both enhance teacher education and improve children’s experience of science.     

Gender inequality in the primary classroom: will interactive whiteboards help?

This paper sets out to investigate (i) gender differences in whole class classroom interaction with a sample of teachers who were not using interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in their lessons; and (ii) the short‐term and longer term impact of IWB use upon gender differences in classroom interaction. The study focused upon teacher–student interaction at Key Stage 2 in the teaching of literacy and numeracy in English primary schools. As part of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, IWBs have been made widely available as a pedagogic tool for promoting interactive whole class teaching. In order to investigate their impact, the project looked specifically at the interactive styles used by a national sample of primary teachers. Using a computerized observation schedule, 144 lessons were observed over a two‐year period. The findings concur with other research which has found that boys dominate classroom interaction in terms of the frequency of certain discourse moves. The average length of each move did not vary significantly between boys and girls. Frequency dominance was disproportionately stronger in classes with a high percentage of boys in class, and was also stronger in lessons where whiteboards were used. Understanding how interaction varies in the classroom, and how new technology might affect this interaction, has important implications for teachers, researchers and future research priorities.     

The impact of interactive whiteboards on teacher—pupil interaction in the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies

The study set out to investigate the impact of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) on teacher—pupil interaction at Key Stage 2 in the teaching of literacy and numeracy. As part of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, IWBs have been made widely available as a pedagogic tool for promoting interactive whole class teaching. In order to investigate their impact, the project looked specifically at the interactive styles used by a national sample of primary teachers. A total of 184 lessons were observed over a two‐year period. Using a computerised observation schedule, teachers were observed in literacy and numeracy lessons, with and without an IWB. The findings suggest that IWBs appear to be having some impact on the discourse moves used in whole class teaching, but this impact is not as extensive as that claimed by the advocates of IWBs. Lessons which used IWBs had a faster pace and less time was spent on group work. The implications of the findings for classroom pedagogy, teachers' professional development and future research priorities are considered.     

‘Horrible or happy – we’ll have a little grey now’: aesthetic judgements in children’s narration with an interactive whiteboard

This empirical study investigates what activities emerge when six-year olds are instructed to create narratives with an interactive whiteboard (IWB). A detailed analysis is provided of what the participants are oriented towards in the activity, and further what aesthetic judgements are used and their role in the evolving activity. Theoretically, the study builds on a sociocultural perspective on learning and Dewey’s (1934–80. Art as Experience. New York, NY: Perigee Books) philosophy on aesthetic experience. The empirical data consist of video recordings of six technology-mediated story-making activities in a preschool class. The findings show that even when the teacher attempts to scaffold narrative learning, the children direct their attention foremost to the visual arts, which occasionally lead to the participants’ insufficient intersubjectivity. This finding is explained with reference to the inherent design of the IWB. Furthermore, the participants frequently use aesthetic judgements on both actions and the created visual objects. The judgements turn out to constitute directives in terms of leading the activities forward and, importantly, being indicators of the children’s learning.     

Teacher learning in Lesson Study: Affordances,disturbances, contradictions,and implications

Lesson Study is a form of professional development where teachers collaboratively design research lessons and improve instruction using the evidence they have gathered on student learning and development. This article reports on a professional learning team’s enactment of Lesson Study in an elementary school. A methodological approach informed by Cultural-Historical Activity Theory was adopted to study teacher learning practices that provided affordances to teacher learning, practices that produced disturbances to teacher learning, and underlying systemic contradictions revealed by the disturbances. The findings suggest implications for enhancing school-based professional development through Lesson Study.     

Embedding interactive whiteboards in teaching and learning: The process of change in pedagogic practice

This paper draws on research carried out for the UK government during 2004–2006 to evaluate the impact of interactive whiteboards for teaching and learning in primary schools in England. Multilevel modelling showed positive gains in literacy, mathematics and science for children aged 7 and 11, directly related to the length of time they had been taught with an interactive whiteboard (IWB). These gains were particularly strong for children of average and above average prior attainment. Classroom observations, together with teacher and pupil interviews, were used to develop a detailed account of how pedagogic practice changed. Results from the multilevel modelling enabled the researchers to visit the classrooms of teachers whose pupils had made exceptional progress and seek to identify what features of pedagogy might have helped to achieve these gains. It was also possible to examine possible reasons for the lack of impact of IWBs on the progress of low prior attainment pupils, despite their enthusiasm for the IWB and improved attention in class. The IWB is an ideal resource to support whole class teaching. Where teachers had been teaching with an IWB for 2 years and there was evidence that all children, had made exceptional progress in attainment in national tests, a key factor was the use of the IWB for skilled teaching of numeracy and literacy to pairs or threesomes of children. Young children with limited writing skills, and older pupils with special educational needs are highly motivated by being able to demonstrate their skills and knowledge with the tapping and dragging facilities of the IWB. These effects are greatest when they have the opportunity, individually or in small groups, for extended use of the IWB rather than as part of whole class teaching. The IWB is in effect a mediating artefact in interactions between teacher and pupils, and when teachers use an IWB for a considerable period of time (at least 2 years), teachers learn how to mediate the greatly increased number of possible interactions to best aid pupils’ learning. The IWB’s use becomes embedded in their pedagogy as a mediating artefact for their interactions with their pupils, and pupils’ interactions with one another, and this is when changes in pedagogic practice become apparent.     

Levels of use of Interactive Whiteboard technology in the primary mathematics classroom

Despite the availability of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) technology in a large number of Australian primary schools, many teachers focus only on technical issues as opposed to pedagogical engagement in an attempt to incorporate the technology. Previous research suggests that the technology is being used for sophisticated transmission-style teaching as opposed to constructivist approaches. This article presents findings of a project that considered the implementation of IWB technology in three Victorian primary mathematics classrooms (5 to 12 years of age). The study analysed the teaching strategies adopted by three teachers as they embarked on the use of IWB technology as an integral component of mathematical activities with the support of professional development. Teacher use of IWB technology in the primary mathematics classroom was aligned against Beauchamp’s generic transitional framework for viewing the development of teacher use of IWB technology. Through this alignment, a transitional framework emerged which is specific to the introduction of IWB technology in the mathematics classroom.     

Opportunities for learning given to prospective mathematics teachers: between ritual and explorative instruction

The mathematics education field, including prospective teacher education program, has seen a continuous effort to change teaching practices to be more cognitively demanding, conceptually oriented and student centred. Our goal in this study was to examine how certain underlying assumptions about mathematical learning, as reflected in a skilled instructor’s discourse, align with opportunities to learn. The data included a set of fully transcribed 11 lessons from an introductory algebra course. The method of analysis was built upon the communicational (commognitive) framework and included discerning between the instructor’s mathematizing and identifying talk. This framework was extended to quantify the instructor’s identifying talk over the whole set of lessons. Our findings showed that at the surface level, the instruction in the class seemed to align with “explorative” goals. On a deeper level, however, it was more aligned with “ritual” goals that are concerned with producing narratives about people, not about mathematics.     

Factors affecting the motivation to learn among United Arab Emirates middle and high school students

This study was designed to examine the relative contributions of student and parents’ socio‐demographics, students’ beliefs about learning, parental support of children’s learning, peers’ attitudes towards learning, teacher–student interaction and curriculum content to students’ motivation to learn. The sample consisted of 275 school‐age children ranging from 12 to 16 years old. All measures were constructed for the purpose of this study. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to predict student motivation to learn. Results indicated that students’ beliefs about learning, teacher–student interaction and curriculum content contributed to the United Arab Emirates middle and high school students’ motivation to learn. Implications for research are discussed.     

Issues in Implementing a Structured Problem-based Learning Strategy in a Volcano Unit: A Case Study

The purpose of this study was to understand how an 8th grade science class used a structured problem-based learning (PBL) strategy to study volcanoes and to discuss some of the issues that science teachers might encounter when designing and implementing the PBL strategy. This study took place at Collins Middle School, which is located in a cosmopolitan community in Illinois. The PBL lessons, which a teacher taught cooperatively with his student-teacher, required ten class periods to study two real-life volcanic phenomena. The guiding research questions were: (a) in what ways did the teachers (Mr. Brown and Ms. Jones) facilitate student learning about volcanoes using the PBL strategy?; and (b) what were the students’ engagements like during the PBL classes on a volcano unit? This study’s findings supported three main assertions: first, the teachers’ questions and group dynamics guided and facilitated the students’ course of learning; second, with the teachers’ specific guidance, the students collaboratively built up their supporting evidence; most of the supporting evidence was much more developed than just listing the terms or simple facts on volcanoes; and, third, there existed a tension between the teachers’ ideals and the implementation of the PBL strategy. They tended to slip into the traditional role of focusing on scientific facts about volcanoes.     

课堂争论对学生深度学习的影响:基于交互论证分析

课堂话语互动与学习辩证地联接在一起。学习科学的新发展要求不应仅仅研究课堂话语互动环境与结果,更需要实时分析课堂话语互动过程。交互论证分析超越了传统的静态的图尔敏论证模式,能够动态地实时分析课堂话语互动。基于此,本研究聚焦于争论这一典型的课堂话语互动形式,借助交互论证分析,对研究案例进行三步骤分析,不但揭示了学生话语互动中所运用的交互形式,阐明了话语互动质量,而且清晰地描绘了课堂话语互动如何促进个体的深度学习,学生个体的意义构建如何影响小组论断形成,以及作为机构代表的教师如何促进学生的学习。研究表明课堂争论有效促进了学生的深度学习,同时也进一步指出构建新型的教师角色的必要性。     

The structure of pre-adolescents’ perceptions of their teacher’s interpersonal behaviours and their relation to pre-adolescents’ learning outcomes

Previous studies have offered indications that the way pre-adolescents (fifth and sixth graders) structure their perceptions of their teacher’s interaction in terms of Agency and Communion differs from adolescents. The purpose of this study was to delineate previous findings by thoroughly examining the structure of pre-adolescents’ perceptions of their teacher’s interpersonal behaviour, and by investigating the extent to which this structure relates to pre-adolescents’ learning outcomes. A mixed methods research design was implemented including a qualitative instrument adaptation procedure followed by a quantitative large-scale administration. Participants for the latter were a random sample of 504 pre-adolescents (from 10 to 13 years old) and 36 teachers. Results showed that participants placed significantly more emphasis on their teachers’ Communion behavioural dimension and this emphasis was illustrated on the association of perceived teacher interaction and students’ learning outcomes. Implications for theory, research and practice are discussed.     

Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction

Providing contingent or adaptive support (i.e., scaffolding) is effective. Yet it is unclear how it promotes students’ learning. In this mixed-methods study, we investigated to what extent the effect of contingent support for students’ learning is mediated by the extent to which students take up teachers’ support in subsequent small-group work. We define contingent support as support that contains adapted levels of teacher control or regulation based on the learner’s level of understanding. To explore the research question, we analyzed all interactions from 35 lessons of 7 secondary social studies teachers and 7 small groups of students. Logistic multilevel mediation analyses showed that the likelihood of students formulating accurate answers during small-group work was higher when students applied the teacher’s support in subsequent small-group work (as opposed to ignoring that support). However, the contingency of a teacher’s support did not affect students’ uptake or the accuracy of their answers. Additional qualitative analyses showed that students’ uptake of contingent support was sometimes hampered by untimely fading of the support. Moreover, we found that contingent support that was then gradually faded was the most effective in fostering students’ uptake of a teacher’s support.