1
Case study: CD-ROM project using ICT tools in environmental education
(John Parry)
Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Sussex at Brighton, September 2-5 1999
This paper outlined some of the difficulties encountered by teacher trainees in relation to introducing an innovative teaching tool into a crowded curriculum. Examples were given of some of the resistances ranging from attitudes of some teachers to the problems of gaining practical access to suitable computer suites as well as some of the benefits and insights into teaching and learning resulting from the use of the CD-ROM. Suggestions for a possible way forward in the light of TTA requirements for ICT training, the Science curriculum, and the practical logistics of life in schools were also given.
This project was undertaken during the PGCE 1997 Autumn term and the 1998 Spring term. It involved the use of an environmental education, pupil-generated CD-ROM called Re-cycled Places. This was the result of a three year research project, sponsored by the ESRC Global Environmental Change programme, which was set within Primary and Secondary schools near four wildlife sites in Lewes, London, Bradford and Leeds.
The aims of the original ESRC project were to explore the benefits, or otherwise, of pupils generating their own sequences for storage onto CD-ROM. By contrast, the PGCE project aimed to test the response to the CD-ROM product by trainee teachers and students not involved in its original conception.
An initial demonstration led to nine trainees becoming involved of which four chose to base their special study around the use of ICT in the classroom. No special lecture time was created within the PGCE course and the students volunteered their lunch hours for discussion and feedback.
Each student approached the use of the program in different ways. These included:
•a comparative study in which the same material was presented to two different groups, one through the computer program and the other through direct presentation by the teacher.
•the use of the program as a catalyst to spark interest in the creation of a wildlife area within the school grounds through an out-of-school club.
•a comparative study in which one part of the program was projected onto a screen and explored by a whole class with little teacher intervention and another in which the teacher intervened at pre-determined points of the program.
•design of a poster by ICT literate pupils basing their content on information discovered within the CD-ROM.
There were considerable difficulties encountered in the early stages of implementation within the schools summed up by students:
•mentor very busy and every time I’ve tried to talk to her about it she’s said, ‘we’ll talk later.’
•Doesn’t really fit in with the POS this term so they don’t want to ‘waste’ a lesson when they are running to a tight schedule.
•Next week INSET days - hope to find time to view with class teacher.
•Technical difficulties - trying to find CD-ROM capable of running disc.
•Unable to use on Yr. 7 and 8 as computers are Apple.
•My Yr. 9 group is too far behind.
•Unable to book the computer room as it is used for adult education or as an alternative to employing a supply teacher.
One of the students concluded that the results of her project 'indicated that the best use of CD-ROMs would not be in independent use but in small groups with the teacher present as a control factor and to stimulate thought.’
Another aspect emerged in relation to devising pupil groups to take account of the potential gain for weaker pupils to learn from the teacher in smaller groups while more able pupils accessed the same material for themselves through the use of the computer program. While such a policy could not be defended all the time because it would lead to a lack of computer experience for the weaker pupils, the use of computer time in such a way in order to free up quality teaching time for less able pupils was an interesting idea.
In the Spring term, severe access problems to computer suites were reported by all the trainees. Classes pursuing qualifications in IT had priority and so the physical presence of one or two computer suites in a school was, in effect, no guarantee that they could be used within class time.
Some trainees claimed that ICT was a taboo subject among staff who were being polarised to state their views for or against its use.
One student estimated that her planning time for lessons using a computer component ran to 3 - 4.5 hours compared with 10 minutes to an hour for a class without ICT use.
And all trainees stated a severe need for affordable, school-based educational software, albeit in the hope that the access problems would finally be resolved.
The students' experiences were followed up by teacher interviews in which the following points were confirmed or made:
•access to computer suites is difficult or time consuming. Teachers often have to compete with GCSE Information Technology option classes.
•the ability to preview programs at the University would be very helpful.
•emphasis on IT teaching as opposed to teaching IT through subjects remains.
•there is a huge and growing differentiation between pupils who have access to computers at home and those that do not.
•it is whole class teaching or nothing when it comes to using a computer suite - there is no half way house where a class can be divided creatively.
•strategies and materials on how to use and integrate the computer into teaching is essential. There was a positive response to the idea of a teacher-training CD-ROM that included a variety of approaches in a variety of classroom situations.
Summary
•The development of ICT within classrooms was for many haphazard and uncharted territory in which the day to day running and management problems within schools severely restricted the mode of operation for a teacher let alone a trainee teacher.
•Many teachers in schools were impressed with the ability to project a computer image onto a screen but with little thought as to the teaching and learning implications of such a potential 'top down' innovation.
•An important social dimension to the use of computers within classes emerged in which small groups of pupils working at a screen collaboratively was perceived as a positive learning context.
•The use, timing and appropriateness of worksheets to complement a computer program was important and has received little attention to date.
• So, too, are the implications for quality group work or small group teaching resulting from the fact that half the class may be engaged in a computer program, thus freeing up the other half of a class for specific teacher input.
•The tightness of many current programmes of study seriously weakened the chances of innovation and experimentation by student teachers for fear of a class 'getting left behind.' But how else are we to explore new ways of approaching this technology?
So, how might we move forward in terms of teacher training?
There is a case for a CD-ROM written for a spread of approaches and topics:
1. Whole class teaching
through the projection of a multimedia sequence with designated intervention points for live teacher presentation and clarification.
group task sheet introduced during the middle of a presentation.
single worksheet produced immediately after the completion of a presentation.
2. Carousel approach
stand-alone single computer in a classroom integrated with five other complimentary tasks and activities such as a card game, or a colouring exercise, or a gap-fill activity or a sequencing exercise each lasting approximately 8 minutes giving a total of 48 minutes activity within a one hour session.
3. Questionnaires integrated into a computer sequence
these may be embedded within a program to be answered electronically by individual pupils.
alternatively, they may be introduced on paper at appropriate points within a program for group discussion and consensus.
4. Deliberate mistakes within a multimedia sequence
this would test the pupils' ability to question what they were viewing on screen.
access to further parts of the program might be denied unless a mistake had been identified or better still, corrected.
5. Freeing up half class time
complimentary taught materials for half the class would be used while the other half of the class worked through a computer simulation or modelling exercise linked to the taught material.
Talk on the use of CD-ROM technology within teacher training by John Parry.