Bridging the divide between research and practice
In the final stages of the project the InterActive Team decided to take a stand at the BETT
show. We did this because we are committed in the way we worked to weakening the boundaries between research and to practice. We wanted to share our findings and show evidence from the teachers and classrooms where the
research happened.
We were delighted that many visitors came to our stand to see examples of what's been
going on in classrooms and talk to the teachers and researchers who have been working
together about what were finding.
In January 2004 these are some of the conclusions we were reaching about ICT, teaching and learning
- Using ICT to enhance learning involves more than just meeting the technical challenge -
though that is important.
- ICT may be motivating for many learners but motivation alone does not always lead to
learning.
- Incorporating technology in learning challenges well-established pedagogies. It requires
sometimes painful re-thinking but this can be rewarding and lead to enhanced learning.
- In learning, the interaction of new and traditional technologies - like pencil and paper
are complex and subtle. We are beginning to understand them.
- A deep understanding of the affordances and potential of the range of available software
make for more effective learning designs.
These are some examples of the things that had been happening in classrooms that we showed and talked about.
- Year 4 pupils had been using ICT to investigate their hunch that there is never an
equal share of orange Smarties in every tube - and challenging Nestle to explain this.
- Year 11 pupils had been constructing web pages to create a revision site for "Of
Mice and Men".
- Year 5 pupils had been getting excited about the English language, and improving their
spelling scores, by investigating the morphology and etymology of words using PowerPoint
and the OED online.
- Year 6 pupils had been "nicking each other's sounds 'cos they're cool" as
they used Dance ejay software to compose their own music.
- Year 9 pupils had been working in a dynamic geometry environment to develop
mathematical proofs.
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