Pedagogy and Design Mariruth Leftwich
e-Learning officer, Museum of London Martin Bazley ICT4Learning

Overview <ul><ul><li>More info in our
paper “Leftwich and Bazley – Pedagogy and Design” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Key points in this presentation: </li></ul><ul><li>How do we know what teachers are doing in the classroom? </li></ul><ul><li>What resources are they using? </li></ul><ul><li>How are online resources being used? </li></ul><ul><li>Case study: Fire of London website </li></ul><ul><li>Case study: Manchester Art Gallery Ford Madox Brown </li></ul><ul><li>What do teachers want? </li></ul>

How do we know what
teachers want? Potential tools: <ul><li>Website statistics </li></ul><ul><li>Teacher focus groups </li></ul><ul><li>Surveys (online and onsite) </li></ul><ul><li>Classroom observations </li></ul><ul><li>Teacher blogs/forums </li></ul>

Use of online resources <ul><li>Teacher
use away from classroom </li></ul><ul><li>Lesson preparation – finding images, ideas, material for use with students </li></ul><ul><li>Subject knowledge development </li></ul><ul><li>Museum/ gallery visit planning </li></ul>

Use of online resources Teacher
use with whole class Very popular, predominantly using IWB Actual use varies with resource type

Use of online resources Student
use without teacher Semi-independently – structured tasks, on computer in corner of classroom or in IT suite Independently – in IT suite making their own choices about which Web sites to use, for example project research.

Considerations for working with teachers
<ul><li>Money talks! Consider paying teachers for their planning time, travel, etc. </li></ul><ul><li>If possible, time classroom testing around when content is already being taught. </li></ul><ul><li>Online surveys generally get a higher response rate than paper based that have to be returned. </li></ul>

What can teachers tell you?
<ul><li>How they currently approach teaching a topic and how the web can add value </li></ul><ul><li>The parameters for using websites within their class/school environment </li></ul><ul><li>How, when and why they use websites in teaching </li></ul><ul><li>What features would be most useful for teaching </li></ul>

Pedagogy and Design: Real World
Examples <ul><li>Teachers consulted multiple times and classroom user testing and summative evaluation conducted </li></ul><ul><li>All consultation and classroom greatly influenced the design of the website </li></ul><ul><li>Budget and time constraints mean all teacher and user feedback could not be accommodated </li></ul>

Pedagogy and Design: Great Fire
of London website Activities page included with brief suggestions based on themes in the game. Breaks included in narrative that allow for teacher interjections. Links from game to image bank with higher resolution images. Images available for download. Divided chronologically and can be navigated by day or narrative and game elements within each day. Narration and games had to function regardless of the number of users. Teachers can access a particular section of the site or the students can move continuously through storyline. Easy to use on the whiteboard, with drag and drop elements and large graphics that project well for whole class use Design Impact Suggestions not lessons Teacher control Large scale images Flexibility Whole class use Whiteboard Use Teacher Practice

Pedagogy and Design: Great Fire
of London website

Pedagogy and Design: Great Fire
of London website

Pedagogy and Design: Ford Madox
Brown microsite

Heuristic input <ul><li>Evaluator highlighted some
basic issues with initial designs from developer: </li></ul><ul><li>Use mixed case not ALL CAPS </li></ul><ul><li>Give children some information on which to base their choice (quiz) ‘it’s not a test’ </li></ul><ul><li>Drag and drop issues </li></ul><ul><li>etc etc </li></ul>

Interactive concept testing <ul><li>Teachers viewed
PDFs of initial designs, video clips and site map </li></ul><ul><li>Liked intro animation but wanted it reversible </li></ul><ul><li>Buttons along bottom not clear </li></ul><ul><li>Need to be aware of variable light levels </li></ul><ul><li>Finding people on IWB vs mouse </li></ul><ul><li>Video controls </li></ul>

Interactive concept testing <ul><li>Teachers viewed
PDFs of initial designs, video clips and site map </li></ul><ul><li>Liked intro animation but wanted it reversible </li></ul><ul><li>Buttons along bottom not clear </li></ul><ul><li>Need to be aware of variable light levels </li></ul><ul><li>Finding people on IWB vs mouse </li></ul><ul><li>Video controls </li></ul>

Lighting levels not ideal Lots
of distractions, people moving around etc Not easy to see the screen from here…

Skilled teacher knows what her
class will respond to – and what they won’t

Developing activities for independent use
by children is much harder

Resources teachers want Images just
image can be useful + caption and brief description / context = even better Also key question(s). Video Erica starter

Resources teachers want On-line collections
Fantastic, provided they are easily browsable and searchable by teachers

Resources teachers want <ul><li>Video, audio
clips Keep clips short (<30s good guide) </li></ul><ul><li>provide a clear, short description of contents </li></ul><ul><li>and a key question where possible </li></ul>

Resources teachers want <ul><li>Quizzes, interactive
games Fantastic, if </li></ul><ul><li>well designed for use in class (rare!) </li></ul><ul><li>appropriate to a particular context </li></ul><ul><li>Make images available for teachers to copy and use to suit their activities </li></ul>

Resources teachers want Brief overviews
of topics / themes If key idea put concisely with a few images + 20-60 words, teachers may use the material as presented. Otherwise they would need to copy, paste and edit to suit the needs of their class, so may look elsewhere

Resources teachers want Detailed interpretation,
stories etc Not usually suitable for whole class use (small writing and unlikely to be engaged by lengthy texts). May be useful for lesson preparation, subject knowledge development, or assignments for students to read, précis,etc

Resources teachers want Lesson plans
/ schemes of work May appeal to newly qualified teachers or those working outside their specialism, but most teachers just want access to the ‘stuff’ and will fit it into their existing planning. video

To think about… What value
do highly authored pieces like Fire of London and Ford Madox Brown’s Work add? Is it worth investing in such resources? Get basics right first – put engaging, concise well written, object-based material online first. Interactives etc can help market educational services, and can stimulate learning, but the benefits do not always outweigh the costs in the long term.

Is it worth developing… Flash
interactive interface Teachers with interactive whiteboards can do their own ‘animation’, zooming in and out, hiding parts of the image, etc – so why use Flash? + added value is convenience of having it done for you, with engaging graphics etc – downsides include technical issues, and constraints imposed on the way they use it On the other hand having a ‘worked example’ like this can help even experienced teachers find ways to make the most of objects like this

Is it worth developing… <ul><li>Video
</li></ul><ul><li>– expensive to do,could provide same information using stills from the painting, and get the teacher to role play with the children instead </li></ul><ul><li>yes, but if video is well done it is more likely to inspire, rather than just inform – motivating children to explore further </li></ul>

Is it worth developing… Quiz
– not expensive, but very constrained Quizzes and interactives appeal to teachers: they can occupy children with less intensive teacher mediation – but the questions are locked, and unless they match the ability and interests of all their children, it may not be the best use of class time, in educational terms. => Should museums just give teachers what they want?