Scssa dig tech_edinburgh_web

Digital Technologies:
Where is the Learning?
Professor Steve Higgins,
School of Education, Durham University,
s.e.higgins@durham.ac.uk @profstig
Information and Communications
Technology in the Classroom
Making a Difference to Pupil
Learning
Thursday 13 November 2014
The John McIntyre Conference Centre,
Edinburgh
Slideshare: bit.ly/HigginsSCSSA

Overview
 Introduction
 What’s worked in the
past?
 What hasn’t worked?
 Thinking about
learning

Six myths about digital technology
1. The ‘Future Facing’ Fallacy
“New technologies are being developed all the time, the past
history of the impact of technology is irrelevant to what we
have now or will be available tomorrow.”
2. The ‘Different Learners’ Myth
“Today’s children are digital natives and the ‘net generation –
they learn differently from older people”.
3. A Confusion of ‘Information’ and ‘Knowledge’
“Learning has changed now we have access to knowledge
through the internet, today’s children don’t need to know
stuff, they just need to know where to find it.”

Six myths about digital technology
4. The ‘Motivation Mistake’
“Students are motivated by technology so they must learn
better when they use it.”
5. The ‘Mount Everest’ Fallacy
“We must use technology because it is there!”
6. The ‘More is Better’ Mythology
“If some technology is a good thing, then more must be
better.”

The UK context
 Huge investments in ICT in schools from
1980s
 World leader on IWB uptake
 Learning platforms/ VLEs common in schools
 Gaming approaches promoted with (past)
government support
 New computing curriculum in England
 Tablet mania

Research
evidence
 What’s ‘worked’ in
the past
 What hasn’t worked
 The importance of
pedagogy
 A look towards the
future
http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/

Evidence from correlational studies
 “Studies linking provision and use of
technology in schools ...find small positive
associations with educational outcomes but it
is not clear that this is always a causal link” (e.g.
Harrison et al. 2004)
 Good schools may invest more in technology (Moseley et
al. 1999)
 When socio-economic factors are controlled for -
no effect (Fuchs &Woessmann 2004)
 The link is not a simple linear one – optimal use
may be a better concept (e.g. OECD 2006)

Experimental studies
 “Evidence from experimental and quasi-experimental
designs indicates consistent
moderate benefit” (e.g. Sipe and Curlette 1997; Pearson, 2005)
 Comparison with other researched
interventions suggests technology-based
interventions tend to produce average gains
(e.g. Hattie, 2009; Higgins et al. 2012)

Digital
technologies
in the Sutton
Trust/EEF
Teaching
and Learning
Toolkit
http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/

Evidence from meta-analysis
 Collaborative use (pairs/ small groups)
more effective than individual use
 Effective as a short but focussed
intervention
 Remedial / tutorial use can be
particularly effective as catch-up
 Greater gains when it supplements
rather than replaces normal teaching.
 Training and professional development
are essential

What hasn’t worked…
 LOGO
 Integrated learning systems
 One-to-one laptops
 Talking books
 Interactive whiteboards
 No magic bullets

kinect
Why will these be any different?
e-learning
iPads
Wii
Raspberry Pi

Getting the most from technology
 Innovators & early adopters choose ICT to do
something differently – a solution to a problem
 When adopted by the majority, focus is on the
ICT, but not as a solution
 The laggards use the technology to replicate what
they were doing without ICT
Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations. Simon and Schuster.

Challenges
 How well you use it is more important than
whether you use it or not
 Pedagogy trumps technology
 Cost effectiveness?
So…beware of geeks bearing gifts?

Learning…
 … from experts
 … with others
 … through making
 … through exploring
 … through inquiry
 … through practising
 … from assessment
 … in and across settings
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/DecodingLearningReport.pdf

Improving learning – what improves?
 What changes?
 For teachers
 Better explanations? More feedback? More accurate
assessment? Level of challenge/focus? More efficient
use of time?
 For pupils
 Work harder? For longer? More efficiently? Greater
understanding? More depth? Faster? Better habits?

Learning about decimals with a
portable computer in 1998...
 used Apple e-
Mate with
pressure mats
 used as
sophisticated
timing device
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED458652.pdf

Challenge 1: how fast can
you run?
 start on mat - run
to wall - return to
mat
 record time in secs
to 2 decimal places
 smallest is best

Challenge 2: how long can you stay
in the air?
 stand on mat - jump
- how long in the air
(to 2 decimal
places)?
 children see need for
multiple trials
 change of focus -
biggest is best -
jumping

What was effective?
 ICT acted as a lens to focus the learning
 Generated decimals to 2 dp from a meaningful
context
 Timing mat and computer simplified accurate data
collection
 Technology NOT used to do the calculations
 Competition encouraged multiple trials
 Pupils extended the task in their own time
 Harder to do without technology

A multi-touch classroom in 2012

NumberNet
http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2012.10.004

Developing adaptive expertise?
NumberNet
‘Make up some questions’
task
Add to each of the other
groups attempts (3x)
Organise the correct
expressions

Teacher control
 From iPad
 Timing/rotate tables
 Freeze the action
 Disable keys ‘on the fly’
 Feedback on correct and incorrect expressions
(by group, by individual, by target number)
 Show/hide correct/incorrect expressions
 Show/hide totals (competitive)

Jack: Who done... Who's green? Jiminy…
That's quite smart! [the calculations have a colour border
indicating the table where they were created, so Jack is asking
which is the green table, and so who was responsible for the
calculation]
Adam: Oh look at that! 10 times 10 that
equals 100, add 50! Now that's clever,
whoever did that! I'm doing that…

What was effective
 Practice – multiple repetitions
 Self-regulated level of challenge
 Teacher gets feedback about competence
and confidence in pupils’ skills
 Teacher can ‘tweak’ the challenge
 Learning from others
 Balance of collaboration/ competition

So how should ICT be used for
teaching and learning…
 Adopt technology as a solution to a teaching
and learning challenge or problem
 Check that technical or basic skills issues won’t
get in the way of the learning
 Should helps learners accept high level of
challenge
 Look for evidence of improvement
 Evaluate the impact

ICT for teaching and learning…
 What are the teaching and learning
challenges digital technologies can help you
solve?
 A ‘complementary’ pedadogy?
 What will the technology replace?
 What will you stop doing?
 How will you know it is better?

For every complex
problem there is a
solution that is simple,
neat…
and WRONG!
H.L. Mencken 1880-1956

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