This document discusses the history of educational technology from slates to tablets. It traces how technologies like slates, then tablets, aimed to improve education by engaging students and enabling personalized learning. It also notes challenges like student distraction and a lack of evidence that technologies improve test scores. More recently, the focus has shifted to student-owned devices and collecting evidence on what works through programs like Apps for Good and the Rosendale Primary research project.

1. 4 March 2014
Mobile 1:1
Technology
Miles Berry!
!
University of Roehampton

2. Ed Tech

7. The slate-based curriculum
. . . prevents idleness, and procures that great desideratum
of schools, quietness, by commanding attention . . . Some
Studies require a degree of mental exertion, that may or
may not be made, and yet the omission remain
undetected; but this is so visible, that every boy’s attention
to his lesson may be seen on his slate; and detection
immediately follows idleness, or indifferent performance! !
Lancaster, 1805

8. Personalisation
a boy who is associated in a class of an hundred others,
not only reads as much as if he were a solitary individual
under the master’s care, but he will also spell sixty or
seventy words of four syllables, in less than two hours; by
writing them on the slate, when this additional number of
words be taken into account, the aggregate will amount to
repetitions of many thousands of words annually!
Lancaster, 1808

9. 1:1
Instead of hanging the slates to nails on the wall, every
boy has a slate numbered according to his number in the
class, and fastened to a nail on the desk at which he sits.
By this means all going in and out for slates is avoided.
But, if slates are suspended to nails on the walls, the class
must go from their seats to fetch them; and the same to
replace them, when they have done work. !
Lancaster, 1808

12. Handheld Devices

14. Taking the tablets

15. Steve Jobs, 1980
"Right now, if you buy a computer system and you want to solve one of your
problems, we immediately throw a big problem right in the middle of you
and your problem which is learning how to use the computer. A substantial
problem to overcome. Once you overcome that, it's a phenomenal tool. But
there is a barrier of having to overcome that problem.!
What we're trying to do … is to remove that barrier so that someone can buy a
computer system who knows nothing about it and directly attack their problem
without learning how to program their computer.!
Our whole company, our whole philosophical base, is founded on one
principle. That principle is that there is something very special and very
historically different that takes place when you have one computer and one
person. Very different than if you have ten people and one computer."

16. Cedars

17. Three mantras from the first two years
❖
Technology as accessible as
paper!
❖
A computing platform for
everyone!
❖
Technology for subjects not
traditionally well-served by
technology!
Speirs, 2011

18. M-learning with the iPad, 2010
The education sector must keep its
eyes open and assess the benefits and
challenges of any innovation through
the lens of what is known to be
effective teaching and learning….!
A new mobile device might
eventually be a catalyst for a
sea-change in the way we perceive
education, but the urgency and
relevance of the learning need should
always drive its use.

19. Smart Classrooms, 2010
❖
Not constrained to one
curriculum area!
❖
Best suited to personal use!
❖
Enthusiasm, maturity, respect
and creativity!
❖
Ownership of learning, both
independently and in
collaborative situations

20. iPad Scotland, 2012
❖
Supports the curriculum!
❖
Transformative tech!
❖
Personal ownership!
❖
Leads to changes in
professionalism and pedagogy!
❖
Parental engagement

21. iPad as a tool for education, 2012
❖
Use strong in English, Maths,
Science!
❖
Homework and beyond school!
❖
Motivation!
❖
Quality!
❖
Collaboration

22. iPads in education, 2013
Rationales matter!
Accessibility, ease of use,
increased productivity,
collaboration/cooperation,
personalisation, seamless
learning, access to content,
real-time monitoring,
assessment, CPD

23. Tablets for Schools, 2013
Results suggest that long-term
use of the Tablet has a profound
effect on pedagogy, and that
pupils benefit from having access
to content both at school and at
home. Pupils appear to have
greater engagement with
learning, collaboration with peers
increases, and teachers can
monitor individual progress
effectively

24. Hmm…

25. 4 reasons why tablet rollouts fail
❖
Deploy iPads, do nothing else!
❖
Theft and damage!
❖
Ignoring the network!
❖
Choosing an immature platform
Lai 2012

26. The school that swapped its laptops for iPads...
❖
Image-conscious headmaster!
❖
Staff still cling to old documents and resources created
in software such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint!
❖
One of the biggest problems is the storage, since you
can’t connect USB memory sticks to it!
❖
A classic case of the chap with the chequebook making
the decision
Noble, 2012

27. “Only boys use Android…”
The school gave us all iPads, and all we ever use them for is
Instagram and SnapChat and YouTube. Everyone's connected all the
time. They must have thought it would help us with learning but
it's completely backfired. They even tried to change us to a new wifi
signal but we knew it would block off lots of content, so we all
carried on using the old one.!
!
Lucy, 12!
Mobile Entertainment, 22/8/13

28. Cuban on the LA iPad roll-out
There is no body of evidence that
iPads will increase math and
reading scores on state
standardized tests. There is no
evidence that students using iPads
(or laptops or desktop computers)
will get decent paying jobs after
graduation.
… No hard data on how often the
devices were used, in what
situations, and under what
conditions. Nor mention of data
on student outcomes.
2013

29. So, how did that go?
Los Angeles Unified School District, the second biggest school district in the
US, signed a deal worth $500 million (£313 million) with Apple to supply each
of its students with an iPad.!
But just weeks into the new term, city officials are holding crisis meetings
after students hacked the tablets, enabling them to access restricted websites
and download games. Last month, more than 300 students at Roosevelt High
School managed to circumvent security on the iPads, allowing them to surf
and download non-approved content.!
The district has prevented students from taking their devices home because of
concern among parents that they will be forced to foot the bill if the
computers are lost or damaged.!
TES, 18/10/13

30. Evidence informed education?
I think there is a huge prize waiting
to be claimed by teachers. By
collecting better evidence about
what works best, and establishing a
culture where this evidence is used
as a matter of routine, we can
improve outcomes for children,
and increase professional
independence. !
!
Goldacre, 2013

31. Rosendale Primary
Rosendale Primary, in south London, won a £253,000 grant for the research which will involve
1,400 pupils in 24 schools in London, Essex and Manchester.!
Rosendale pupils use tablet computers to photograph their work and tag it with notes about
how well they learned. Children at the school are encouraged to reflect on every piece of work
or unit of learning. They are asked to think about which bits went well, what they struggled
with and what they might need to do to improve when they next revisit the subject. !
The research project aims to test whether the strategy actually improves pupils' attainment. It
will be tested at 24 two-form-entry schools, one form will carry on as normal, the other will
record and reflect on their learning using digital note-taking. Children will be tested at the start
and finish of the project to measure their abilities and the results evaluated at Manchester
University.!
BBC, 1/11/13

32. Apps for Good

33. Why schools don’t need ICT
Our schools are now a desert swept with the winds of yesterday's technology; meanwhile
our students can be found drinking from an oasis of smartphones, smart apps and smart
interfaces. They have answers to questions we haven't even dared to ask. They outsmart us
at every turn.!
Teenagers upgrade their mobile phone every 12 months. Even the socially disadvantaged
are one step ahead of their school's ICT. That's not a problem. That's a huge opportunity
schools should grasp. It's an opportunity to save money and upgrade our thinking about
ICT.!
Even last year's smartphone will operate as a calculator. And a book reader. It will translate
the Bible from the original Hebrew and can differentiate Sin(x). It can pinpoint both the
Battle of Hastings and the Belt of Orion. It will act as a word processor, a piano and a spirit
level. Not bad for a bit of kit that your school didn't purchase and doesn't maintain.!
Schools don't need ICT. It's coming through our doors every day. We just need to adopt
and adapt a little bit.!
Yorston, 2010

34. BYOT
“The market is a far better judge of the appropriate personal digital
technology than any group of ‘ICT experts’”!
❖
Technology is chosen by the student and/or family!
❖
Personalisation of teaching and learning in and out of school!
❖
In-school technology use is an extension of students' existing
technology use!
❖
Respect for student ownership of technology and information
stored on it!
Lee, 2012

36. !
m.berry@roehampton.ac.uk!
!
@mberry!
!
milesberry.net!
!