Use of White Boards in Educational System in KSA - Research Paper Example

Use of white boards in educational system in KSA Abstract: In the following paper there shall be developed a detailed analysis of the changes that have been experienced in the education system that is in place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabian classrooms (KSA) due to the application of technology. The project will be focused on analysing the effects of use of the interactive whiteboards as a mode of communication between the teacher and the student in class- the idea is to figure out the Aim of the project: The basic aim of the project is to look into the changes that have been experienced in the quality of the education that is imparted in the classrooms teaching English due to the use of the interactive whiteboards in the in primary and secondary classrooms. The project also aims at ensuring that the opinion of the students is also recorded and analysed. This will help ensure that a holistic project has been developed. The project will study the system of education that was in place before the implementation of the use of the interactive whiteboard, and the effectiveness of the system of education, and the comparison will help evaluate the effectiveness and the economy of the change that has been brought about. The project will in essence find out the overall effectiveness of whiteboards when used in primary and secondary classrooms. Aims of research: (this needs to come much earlier) The introduction of the extensive usage in the context of the interactive whiteboard in schools has to be understood primarily in the context of the fact that it requires extensive training for teachers in order for it to be correctly used. These could work in terms of the inclusion of teacher’s interactive whiteboard training classes as part of the teacher training courses. When classes on didactics or information technologies are held in the modern teacher’s training school there is an automatic stress that is laid on the use of technology in effective communication where the education sector is concerned. The need for teachers would therefore in the most automatic sense of the term ,would be to ensure that futures teachers are aware of the use and the methods of use where the interactive whiteboard is concerned. This is true in the context of the fact that there is a need to integrate the interactive whiteboard within the teaching plan and this cannot be accomplished in the absence of the teacher’s understanding on how to achieve this integration within their teaching chart. In the past few decades, the World Wide Web has replaced, albeit arguably books as the first source of information where children are concerned. The device when paired with the computer and the interactive whiteboard would help the teacher making use of the unlimited educational resources of the Internet. Computers, interactive whiteboards and related technology have the ability to attract interest of pupils and teachers thereby helping them in increasing the effectivity of the process of teaching through activation and active participation. Despite the insufficient base of information and materials for work with the interactive whiteboard, many teachers cannot now imagine their work during their lessons without it. This research works on this very premise in the context of the prevalent learning environment that characterizes KSA. The idea therefore is to focus on the relevance of the interactive whiteboard as a tool of teaching communication and the relevance that this could find in KSA. Methodology that will be applied: One of the most important sections that need to be developed while conducting a program is the methodology that the program will adopt to collect the data, and the research philosophy that will be utilised to analyse the data. Since the project that has been proposed studies the changes that have been experienced due to the implementation of technologically advanced methods in the classrooms, therefore a thorough study of the system will have to be conducted. There are a number of theoretic sources that can be drawn upon to form the basis of which the study will be conducted. Also information will be gathered through preparation of a questionnaire that would be distributed among the staff of the school and the students respectively. The data thus collected will then be analysed in the light and background of the theoretic research that will be carried out. This will help develop a holistic analysis of the system of education that is in place in the classrooms of the country. Problems that may be faced: There has to be realised that there are a number of assumptions that are made while formulating this program. The fact is that the program assumes that all the other factors that are affecting the quality of education remain static, but this may not hold true. Thus, the research may not be hundred percent accurate. Also, the conduction of the survey on the basis of the questionnaire that will be prepared will be carried out in a random fashion, and any students who attend the English classes may be surveyed. Finally, the records that will be analysed may not reflect accurately the conditions that are present in the classes. Introduction: Contemporary theories of learning come up with models that would promote the engagement of the student in the occurrences that take place within the classroom one can understand them as being an important element in the component of knowledge construc­tion. These learning theories include the following (Van Mieghen, 2003): 1. Constructivism –this approach is reliant on the willingness of the learner to be able to carry out a selection and then perform the transformation of the information they get, for the further construction of a hypotheses so that they could take decisions in the long terms which are reflective of a synthesis of learning through the personalization of knowledge 2. Active learning: backed by this approach, students are actively encouraged towards the engagement in the process of learning wherein activities like writing, discus­sing events, and analyzing them, reading, and synthesizing the information collated more than a passive absorption of instructions is required. 3. Whole-class teaching– This aims at brining the whole class as one focusing on the improvements in attention span providing struc­tured, teacher-focused group communication. It is here that the interactive whiteboard has its relevance. “[The teacher] would always choose the whiteboard for its flexibility and the opportunities it allows for individual and whole class assessment as the teacher works with the class” (Edwards, Hartnell and Martin, 2002, p31). One has to understand the fact that interactive whiteboards have attraction qualities both for all student types: Intrinsically motivated students- They are motivated to be participate in class through the interactive whiteboard in front of the class given the fact that the board provides an opportunity as a medium through which they are able to showcase individual achievement (ASQ, 2009) Extrinsically motivated students-They find attraction in the fact that there is the differentiation that is provided by the technology ensuring that students get motivated, and learning as an experience is more enjoyable. Use of technology in education: Individuals in particular and society in general affects the manner in which the world operates on a day to day basis in terms of it undergoing constant change. Advances in terms of technological growth, have had impacts in terms of the development and the evolution of newer areas of work requirements and problem-solution that might even make one feel lost and helpless (Kossobucka, 2007). More than anything else, this shift in paradigm of perception could find proof in terms of the overall acceptance of technology in the field of education. Schools contemporarily pose challenges to educational professionals. The fact that the ability to teach is requisite of immense knowledge, and is no secret, the change that one witnesses now is in terms of the creative inputs that teachers are to take where education is concerned and, above all, conviction about the need to develop new methods of work. Presently, a major aspect of the profession the fact that knowledge has shorter shelf life in terms of relevance and the impact it would have in terms of being able to hold the student’s attention. There is therefore a need for stress being laid on the development of education in terms of standardization of professional norms (Nocny, 2007). This would then mean that in order to be a good education professional one would have to develop personal standards, norms of theoretical and practical knowledge. Language is extensively taken to be the governing form of contact, above all in the environment where teaching is the purpose of communication. Methods such as gesturing through images and action focused on the same often are regarded as descriptive acts that could be of support where spoken and written education is concerned. It has been demonstrated through scholarly research in the context of the teaching and learning process that there could be doubts expressly mentioned on assumptions that have been made in this regards (Taylor and Francis, 2008). In the primary classrooms where the processes are conducted, it has been a commonly accepted method of communication wherein teachers make use of gestures, models and images in order to explain such phenomenon that need explanations. These automatically then require the use of responses that use visual written and actional means for the production of concepts, maps, diagrams and 3-D models One would have to understand at the very beginning of this discussion that there is a need for teachers in terms of them being a fundamental component of the education system, at every given level. The nature and the quality of information being imparted and education being given depends largely and even crucially on the nature of the preparation undertaken by the teacher, his personality and the nature of methods that they use for imparting this education. Most of the changes that are made in the larger educational curricula are made keeping in mind the need to upgrade and hence at improving education. Constantly creative and innovative work is requested and required from a pedagogue. A teacher, when being trained necessitates the use of techniques available to work toward the creation of a person that would be equipped to deal with a series and variety of roles that would in the long run manifest in the form and shape of a guide, manager, diagnostician and creator when passing ready knowledge. The fact that there is an increasing use of technology in the manner in which the modern education system works. This is, in essence, driven by a fear that education which is oral in its nature is highly vulnerable to attentions that would be instable, not being therefore able to find stable attentive students, thereby wasting energy and time leading to insufficient utilization of necessary resources (UNESCO Report, 2010). Numerous experts that use of new methods and technical stances for the use have also opined it and presentation on information in the long run would make teaching and learning easy, thereby multiplying effectivity of results. The idea therefore remains that the using tools such as the interactive whiteboard would be a prior requisite in implementing pedagogical innovations (Rojewski, 2004). Interactive learning becomes an important part of a modern school. To become successful, it requires adequate preparation of teachers and furnishing schools with equipment and didactical materials. The interactive whiteboard One of the most oft used, easy to acquire and to execute is the usage of the new, multi-functional didactical means is the use of an interactive whiteboard. It is new-generation equipment using wireless technologies. It is characterized by the high quality image and very functional software. As a result it is considered that there is requirement for breakthrough the in use of informative technology in teaching many European counties (Nocny, 2006). The whiteboard is not only a device used to present information in form of text, graphics, sound or animation. This is done by a computer connected to a multimedia projector. Its most important advantage is its interactive software adjusted to efficient communication between a computer and its applications and persons using it. It allows them to freely enter, manage, process and present data in a clear and effective way. One has to understand the fact that the widespread introduction of the interactive whiteboard in the given set that define the necessary equipment for a given classroom is just a matter of time. clearly, the whiteboard itself has strong associations with the major costs in terms of fiscal issues. In most countries of the world the role of education would be the definition of the factors it is supposed to be a facilitator for development. This however is not something that is easily understood let alone easily accepted. The issue would therefore be simply with respect to the fact that there would have to be prior justifications provided for the use of the interactive whiteboards as an essential school classroom tool kit. This would automatically take time and effort. One has to understand here that the board itself has found application in some of the schools of KSA. The number of schools in Riyadh with the interactive whiteboard is still small, but constantly increasing. It is important for methodological centres and universities that train teachers to see a need to introduce into their training programs also issues related to use of the interactive whiteboard. Actions of that type will help to increase the effectiveness of that device and to avoid unnecessary methodological mistakes that can result in decrease in effectiveness of a lesson. KSA Education system outlined The ministry has also recently introduced the Education 2020 Strategy a five year plan for the introduction of advanced education approaches, establishment of model schools and encouragement of the use of technology. All government education is provided in Arabic but English is taught as second language. Many Saudi students travel to Europe and US for their studies (Cavendish, 2007). Information technology literacy has been emphasized by all levels of the education systems-the idea has been a shift from the textbooks to compact disks for students and for providing guidelines and material on CDs (Rojewski, 2004). The school system in KSA can in fact have understood in the context of much of what characterizes Riyadh. As of 2006, there are 545 government schools run by the Ministry of Education that serve Saudis and expatriate Arabs as well as 2055 private schools. The medium of instruction in public schools is Arabic with emphasis on English as a second language, while most of the private schools use English as their medium of instruction. Most private schools cater to one or more expatriate communities. The Ministry of Education is responsible for school's accreditation. Methodology: Project philosophy: It has been established over the last few years that there is a symbiotic relationship between research philosophy and the development of a knowledge base in a given field of study. Any given research in the manner of spirit of work would function best when it works along the lines of a best established mode of a basic research philosophy. This also then helps the overall path of the research project. There could numerous philosophy based traditions and paradigms that could be used for an understanding of these, so that the correct could be established and used providing a conducive method of research (Bullock A Trombley S, 1999). These can be categorised under three core traditions. These are: Positivism: this philosophical tradition has its roots in the physical sciences. Social Constructivism: This keeps the essential elements on the research rooted in social sciences which are inclusive of history and anthropology and Transformative theorists: this school of theorists having roots in feminism based research, civil rights research, and prejudice and making room for writer bias. The research philosophy of the paper will be based on informed enquiry. The research shall look at the positivist aspect through studying the various changes that have been experienced in various cases where this has been applied. Through the conduction of such research it will be established if the implementation of these have been successful or not, and how the whole system has been affected and altered due to the changes that have come about due to the implementation of these in the process. Then after this has been realised there will be an analysis conducted of the results of these. It has to be kept in mind that there is required that the proper and suitable methodology should be selected for the performance of the research. The paper will follow the basic pattern of collection assimilation and presentation as its basic research methodology. The research methodology can be either quantitative or qualitative or both. Choosing the proper research method is the very crucial element of the study as the proper methodology provides the way to the success of the research project (Corden RE, 2001). The methodology that has been chosen will allow us to achieve the objective of the research. Also, the many research questions have also got solved by using the apt methodology. Research Methods: The research would make use of the quantitative method of data collection and analysis. According to Cassell and Symon (1994) the basic assumption underlying this method is the positivist paradigm wherein an objective fact obtainable in the world that can be deliberate and clarified in a scientific manner. Chava Frankfort-Nachmias,David Nachmias (1992) explain that the method is then trailed by corroboration sponsored by data that has been scientifically gathered. According to Ting-Toomey, (1984) the scientific hypotheses are value-free; the researcher's own values, biases, and subjective preferences have no place in the quantitative approach. The quantitative method of inquiry would therefore mean that this researcher aims at investigating the relationship of influence between various factors such as demographic, intrinsic, and extrinsic on the degree of importance attached to interactive whiteboards by teachers and educational professionals alike. If the quantitative method is employed, then the focus is on building and testing theories, as has been mentioned by Coolican H (2006) who states that “Research focuses on describing, explaining and predicting the research issues”. Quantitative method is usually adopted when the philosophy of research is positivism (Reznitskaya A, Anderson RC, Kuo L, 2007). On the other hand qualitative method looks at the understanding and comprehension of the data that is gathered and complied. This is usually adopted under the philosophy of social constructivism. The paper will look at employing both the above mentioned methodologies of quantitative as well as qualitative research to ensure that the final result of the paper is all encompassing and complete. Thus, there shall be collection of data carried out through the questionnaire which will be prepared, and then theory will be built on (Van Mieghen, 2003). Then on the basis of this information a detailed analytical study will be conducted on the services provided by the research and analysis of the data collected. This will help ensure that an overall developed research is conducted that takes into account all the various variables and components of the process. Methodology: The questionnaire will look into studying the various aspects of changes that have been experienced due to the implementation of technology. Other than the changes that have occurred in the educational pattern due to the implementation of the new system of technology, the questionnaire will also look at the background of the person through a set of questions that will be prepared. It will be divided into two parts. The first will look into the experience before the system was implemented. The other will look at the changes that have taken place Data Collection The data collection method would be the Likert scale survey will be distributed by the researcher to two major schools in the KSA. This is to be sent to at least 500 respondents and the data collection would be based on the equal probability of selection designs (EPS), in which each element of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample. This uniformity makes EPS surveys relatively simple to interpret. Forms of EPS include Simple random sampling (SRS) and systematic sampling. The idea in the survey is to provide the researcher with precise ideas on the various facets of the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of the interactive whiteboard as a key element in the teaching process in schools. Statistical data analysis All categorical items would be transformed to an ordinal scale that ranges from the minimum value (for instance “do not agree at all”) to the maximum value (for instance “fully agree”). Items or questionnaires that do not receive response will be coded as missing values. Scale values will therefore be calculated as the average or mean of the single items. All items are assumed consistent with characteristics of a normal distribution. Research Outcomes: ( The first part of the questionnaire consisted of multiple choice easy questions that attempted to translate the usability of the interactive whiteboard and the efficacy with which it could presumably be implemented across school. As such then, 30 teachers across 2 schools were selected. On being questioned on the amount of interaction that took place under the previous system, eighteen teachers said that it helped a lot in enhancing interaction, while the others felt that it was of some help. The second set of questions found that most students were able to pick up things through the interactive whiteboard in comparatively lesser time. Twenty four teachers found that students liked the interactive whiteboard system of teaching, while the others found it a useful tool in drawing the shy students out of their shells. Twelve teachers found students picked things up fast, while fifteen found that students did have initial levels of difficulties but got over these quick enough. Ten school teachers found the expenditure that went behind the interactive white board to be affordable and more importantly justified; while 12 felt that these expenses would stretch already tight budgets. Overall it was found that the interactive whiteboard helped raise standards of teaching especially in classes with limited resources. Research Limitations: There are certain limitations which are evident in any research project which is undertaken. This also holds true in the case of this research project. This is due to the fact that there are some basic assumptions made in all research projects. There are certain limitations that are involved in all studies and researches that are conducted. These issues from the fact that there are certain assumptions that are made while conducting a research. Thus, the research cannot be a 100 percent accurate. The basic limitations of this research are: The survey will be conducted on a certain group, and their answers will be assumed to represent the opinion of all those who have been affected by these changes. Those who will be questioned will be picked in a random manner. The assumptions that will be drawn in the end may not hold true in the long run. The survey assumes that all the other factors that are involved will remain constant during the time period when the change is being implemented. Research Ethical Issues: While conducting any research programs there are certain ethics that have been maintained. Ethics has been described as the appropriateness of behaviour. The ethical standard that has been maintained while carrying out this research is in sync with the standards that have been set up by the Northumbria University in its ‘ethics in research and consultancy-policy statement’. All those who participated knew what the research was being conducted for and where the information was going to be utilised. It does not include any confidential information of any of the participating individuals or groups. Problems with research: The research would have to have to undergo problems in the context of the fact that much of the educational system in KSA is controlled by the government thereby ensuring that access to information and the permission to carry out interviews would not be easy. Training and the modes of acceptance for change is not a topic that goes down well with teachers that have spent their lives in the education profession, therefore not many of them might be forthcoming. Finally, given the fact that much of the resources are controlled by the government, the fact that this research advocates the use of technology etc would automatically find detractors that cite shortage of funds as the eternal pessimism factor, thereby terming the research as being useless. Moreover, since much of the debate is subjective, an objective analysis based on the qualitative method of data interpretation would not be easy. Finally, there are always the problems that one encounters in terms of time and space crunch. Bibliography : ASQ 2009: Preparing for a new school year- why quality and continuous improvement? Pub. Communities and Networking, Monday 24th, August 2009. Bullock A, Trombley S 1999: The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, London: Harper-Collins, 1999, pp.669-737 Cassell, C., & Symon, G. (1994). Qualitative research in work contexts. In C. Cassell, & G. Symon (Eds.), Qualitative methods in organizational research (pp. 1-13). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Cavendish, M., (2007). Peoples of Western Asia. Marshall Cavendish. p540 Chava Frankfort-Nachmias,David Nachmias 1992 : Research Methods in the Social Sciences . Hodder Arnold press. Coolican, H. (2006) Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology (3rd edition) London: Hodder & Stoughton. Corden, R.E. (2001). Group discussion and the importance of a shared perspective: Learning from collaborative research. Qualitative Research, 1(3), 347-367 Edwards, Julie-Ann, M. Hartnell and R. Martin. “Interactive Whiteboards: Some Lessons for the Classroom.” Micromath (Summer 2002): 30-33. Fundamentals of Educational Planning: Improving school Effectiveness, accessed on May 2010-05-20 at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001224/122424E.pdf. Gagnon, Jr, G.W. & Collay, M 1999: Constructivist Learning Design, accessed on February 2010-02-02 at http://www.prainbow.com/cld/cldp.html Kossobucka, A. (2007), The Biology teacher as a didactitian and educator. About realization of educational aims of the Bioethical education in secondary schools. ..[w:] Janicka-Panek T., Dąbrowska A. tendencies and priorities in teaching natural subject, WODN Skierniewice, 158– 169. Nocny, M., (2007). Place of the interactive whiteboard in higher education of the Polish educational system. 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Van Mieghen 2003: Capacity Management, Investment, and Hedging: Review and Recent Development, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Vol 5, No 4, pp 269-309 Appendix: Questionnaire: What was the amount of interaction that took place under the previous system? A lot Some Not at all What was the amount of time it took for students to pick up how the interactive whiteboard worked.? A lot Some time Not at all What was the amount of likeability that was gauzed among the pupils in the class? A lot Some time Not at all What was the rate at which the students were able to interact and enquire under this system? Fast Easy to manage Very Slow What was the assessment of the progress of the pupils under this system? Very Good Slow Very Slow What was the cost that was undertaken to maintain the system once it had been set up and established? A lot Some Affordable The overall academic achievement of the pupils in the class under the system in a year? Good Bad Awful Read More