The Impact of Interactive Whiteboards on Teacher-Pupil Interaction - Research Paper Example

of the of the Concerned 15 April 2009 The Impact of Interactive Whiteboards on Teacher-Pupil Interaction in theNational Literacy and Numeracy Strategies Research Article Focus The article under consideration intends to analyze the relevance and efficacy of the interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in the domain of teacher-pupil interaction. The implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies has resulted in the introduction of IWBs on a large scale so as to facilitate and interactive whole class teaching. Since their introduction in 1990, the primary thrust of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) and National Numeracy Strategy (NMS) has been on promoting 'interactive whole class teaching'. The main premise behind this approach is that an introduction of the novel interactive teaching methodologies will play a key role in uplifting literacy and numeracy levels. As per Reynolds and Ferrel, an inclusive approach towards education that encourages discussion is bound to enhance the quality of teaching (1996). Several experts and agencies have applauded the introduction of IWBs in the classrooms. Also a significant proportion of the teacher oriented journals and publications also testify to the efficacy of IWBs. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA 2003) while reviewing the available literature on IWBs noted that the very fact that the usage of IWBs in classroom teaching stimulated the students to interact physically and intellectually with the media certainly improved the overall quality of learning. Levy also praises the visual appeal of the IWBs to the students and the ensuing possibility of a more physical interaction, which motivated the students to respond to the teachers' queries (2002). Ball regards the IWBS to be a unique media that makes the entire teaching process more student centric, thereby giving students a sense of control and confidence (2003). Glover and Miller noted that IWBs pleased the students as a majority of the students liked making presentations before the class (2001). In the study conducted by Levy, a significant number of students reported that the mutual sharing of views facilitated by IWBs furnished a better articulation of ideas (2002). IWBs are considered to be more acceptable to the contemporary students because they are already used to media images in their day today life (Richardson 2002). Also in a large number of studies, the teachers agreed to the relevance of IWBs because of the element of anticipation that they brought to a lesson (Glover and Miller 2001). As per Kennewell, IWBs enhanced the students' attention and engagement in a classroom scenario by extending them the opportunity to discuss their work and views before a group (2001). The focus of this article is to establish the level of veracity of the above mentioned views in the light of the empirical evidence gathered through research. "Given the lack of empirical evidence to support many of the assertions made about the benefits of IWBs in promoting teacher pupil interaction, this study set out to investigate their impact on the interactive core of whole class teaching in the NLS and NNS with Year 5 pupils. The study was therefore designed to test the claims that IWBs can be used as a pedagogic tool to promote interactive forms of learning and teaching, thereby changing traditional patterns of whole class interaction and discourse (Smith, Hardman and Higgins 2006)." Key Terms Successful Teaching - "Teaching that is discursive, characterized by high quality oral work and interactive, encouraging, expecting and extending pupil's contributions (Department of Education and Employment 1998)." "High quality direct teaching is oral, interactive, and lively... in which pupils are expected to play an active part by answering questions, contributing points to discussion, and explaining and demonstrating their methods to the class (Department of Education and Employment 1999)." Dialogic Teaching - "The essential features of a dialogic classroom are that it is collective (teacher and pupils addressing the learning task together), reciprocal (teachers and pupils listening to each other to share ideas and consider alternative viewpoints) and cumulative (teacher and pupils building on their own and each other's ideas to chain them into coherent lines of thinking and enquiry) (Alexander 2003, Mercer 2003)." "Research into dialogic teaching suggests that classroom talk can take a variety of forms and functions, leading to different levels of pupil participation and to higher levels of pupil achievement (Nystrand et al. 2003)." Directive forms of Teaching - "In its prototypical form teacher-led recitation consists of three of three moves: an initiation, usually the form of a teacher question, a response, in which a student attempts to answer the question, and a follow-up move, in which the teacher provides some form of feedback (very often in the form of an evaluation) to the pupil's response. This three part exchange, or IRF, structure, is particularly prevalent in directive forms of teaching and often consists of closed teacher questions, brief pupil answers which teachers do not build upon, superficial praise rather than diagnostic feedback, and an emphasis on recalling information rather then genuine exploration of a topic (Sinclair and Coulthard 1975). Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) - "IWBs are large touch sensitive boards which are connected to a computer and a digital projector which projects images from the screen onto the boards. IWBs are a relatively new technology to education, having been originally developed to satisfy needs identified in office settings (Greiffenhagen 2000)." Objective of the Research Interactive whiteboards are a relatively new and digitalized approach towards education. Thus there exists very limited research literature pertaining to this concept and whatever literature is available is primarily confined to concise reports, small scale research projects carried out by academicians and academic institutions. Most of the researchers tend to claim that IWBs promote an interactive approach towards education and their usage should thus be encouraged. The researcher in the given article intends to assess the veracity of such claims by using scientific and empirical research methodologies. In the words of the researchers, "Our objectives for the observations were as follows: Objective 1: To what extent are there differences in classroom interaction when a teacher uses an IWB compared to when they do not And is there an interaction effect with subject area (literacy/numeracy) (This objective was tested in 2003, and provided baseline data for the next objective; Objective 2: The IWBs were newly integrated into the classroom in 2003: would an extra year with an IWB change classroom interaction in any way; Objective 3: Are there any observable differences in classroom interaction between year 5 and year 6 pupils, when an IWB is being used (Smith, Hardman and Higgins 2006)" Research Approach The overall approach adopted by the researchers in the article under consideration is primarily mixed. It resorts to attaining a compatible mix of both the quantitative and qualitative methods to drive the relevant conclusions. The quantitative and the qualitative methods chosen by the researchers in this study possess complementary strengths and non-juxtaposing lacunas, which eventually arm the overall research with an inherent logic. Thus the results furnished by this research are reliable and credible. On the qualitative side, the research approaches chosen by the researchers furnish this study with descriptive, internal, external, interpretative and theoretical validity. When one considers the quantitative aspects of this research, it certainly satisfies the criteria of statistical, construct, external and internal validity. Somehow, the researchers have managed to strike the right balance between the quantitative and qualitative aspects and have presented the conclusions of this study in a clear and concise format. Research Style Though this research resorted to qualitative styles like conducting interviews, studying the weekly reports and conducting surveys, the study under consideration is primarily quasi-experimental in its approach. It focuses on measuring the dependent variable that is 'classroom interaction' in an experimental environment, though there exists very limited control over various other independent variables like level of the respective students literacy and numeracy skills, experience of the selected teachers, classroom environment, etc. That is why the researchers have resorted to a variety of strategies to evaluate the subjectivity of the final conclusions. Research Sample This research was carried out in two stages. In Stage I carried out in 2003, the research sample comprised of 30 teachers, 18 of which were female while 12 were male. The research sample chosen in the Stage II carried out in 2004 consisted of the same 30 teachers, though observed under different situations and parameters. In both the cases the sample was large enough to deduce reliable results. The LEAs involved in this study were selected by Primary National Strategy. These schools and the teachers who participated in this study were selected by these respective LEAs via computer generated random numbers. Research Instruments All the required data in the given study was gathered by using a computerized observation schedule. "The coding scheme used 'The Observer' software (Noldus Information, 1995) to log the number of different types of discourse moves by teachers and pupils (Smith, Hardman and Higgins 2006)". The computerized system used to collect data and readings was real quick and allowed for the instant storage, saving and retrieval of the collected data. Thus the collected data could instantly be analyzed and evaluated. Trustworthiness of the Given Research The given study is objective in its approach as it was conducted by using credible, randomly selected samples and computerized observation schedules. The parameters were so selected so as to allow for objective readings and conclusions. This study is highly reliable and was published in the British Education Research Journal. The conclusions arrived at by this research can be generalized to suit a variety of situations. As the data for this study was collected and processed using the digital devices, it can readily be confirmed. The findings of this research are transferable to related academic endeavours and experiments. Considering the involvement of acclaimed experts and credible institutions in this study, the related data and results could easily be confirmed. Conclusion The researchers came across very negligible ethical problems during this study. The crux of this study is that IWBs or other digital educational aids though having their advantages can do little to change the fundamental paradigms dominating the modes of pedagogy in the British education system. The researchers concluded that the IWBs lessons primarily involved more whole class teaching and very little group activity. Though the answers given by the students in the case of IWB lessons exceeded the non-IWB lessons, these answers actually made very little contribution to the overall quality of teaching and learning. No gender differences were found in the IWB and non-IWB lessons. Thus IWBs can not be trusted to bring about a fundamental change in the methods of pedagogy and are grossly overrated in their efficacy. Still the proportion of open ended questions furnished by the teachers happened to be more in the case of IWB lessons then in the case of non-IWB lessons. The study supports a further research so as to find out the ways of making teachers resort to more interactive and inclusive ways of teaching. Digital devices can not act as a quick fix in an academic scenario. To alter the modes of pedagogy, some fundamental changes need to be wrought out in the teacher education. IWBs can definitely play some important role in this direction and thus further research needs to be carried out to find out how IWBs can be used by the teachers to allow for a more interactive classroom teaching. Efforts need to be made and initiative needs to be taken by both the policy makers and the teachers to propagate interactive modes of teaching and learning. Doing so could lead to significant results and advantages. Works Cited Alexander R 2003, Talk in teaching and learning: in international perspectives, in: New perspectives on spoken English in the classroom: discussion papers, London, Qualification and Curriculum Authority. Ball, Q 2003, Teaching and Learning Mathematics with an interactive whiteboard, Micromaths, 19(1), p.4-7 Department of Education and Employment (DfEE) 1998, The National Literacy Strategy: a framework for teaching, London. Department of Education and Employment (DfEE) 1999, The National Numeracy Strategy: a framework for teaching, London. Glover, D.S and Miller, D 2001, Running with technology: the pedagogic impact Of the large scale introduction of interactive whiteboards in one secondary school , Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 10(3), p.257-276 Kennewell, S 2001, Interactive whiteboard: yet another solution looking for a Problem to solve Information Technology in Teacher Education, 39, 3-6 Levy, P 2002, Interactive whiteboard in learning and teaching in two Sheffield Schools: a developmental study, Sheffield Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield. Mercer, N 2003, The educational value of dialogic teaching in whole class dialogue: In; New perspectives on spoken English in the classroom: discussion papers, London, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Nystrand et al. 2003, Questions in time: investigating the structure and dynamics of Unfolding classroom discourse, Discourse Process, 35(2), 135-198. Reynolds, D & Farrell, S 1996, Worlds apart- a review of international studies of Educational achievement involving England, Oxford University Press, London. Richardson, A 2002, Effective questioning in teaching mathematics using an Interactive white board, Micromaths, 18(2), 8-12. Read More