THE EVALUATION OF PROMETHEAN BOARD USE IN CLASSROOMS AT BETHUNE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Prepared by
Talleah Smith
Prepared for
Sedrick Anthony
Assistant Principal Bethune Middle School
April 11, 2011
Executive Summary
The use of Interactive White Boards has the potential to expand the traditional classroom and the way students experience learning. Three years agomath classrooms, and recently language arts classrooms, at Bethune Middle School were equipped with Promethean Activ Boards (PABs)under the premise it would have a positive impact on student learning. This summative evaluation used questionnaires, surveys and observations to answer the following questions:
1)Were teachers properly trained to use the PAB?
2)What impact does the use of the PAB have on student learning?
3)In what way(s) and by whom is the PAB being used?
Although there has been limited training for the PABs, teachers are demonstrating competence in using the PAB and delivering lessons to students. The teacher questionnaire showed that teachers were confident in basic uses, such as using the pen and knowing the capabilities of the PAB. However, observations revealed many teachers only used a portion of what they knew about PABs. Several of the features, like the camera tool and math tools, were omitted from the lessons; therefore, reducing the PAB to a projection screen or electronic white board.
The surveys and observations also indicated positive results when it came to the impact on student learning. A high percentage of teachers and students believed lessons delivered using the PAB result in increased student engagement, participation, and motivation. Teachers and students differed in opinion when asked if using the PAB helped students better understand the material.
The observations indicated a number of teachers used the PAB in its simplest form by only using a few of the features that are available. Only a small amount of teachers used the PAB to incorporate interactive websites, games, and photosinto the lessons.
The following recommendations will be made:
- Initial training for the PAB should be broken up into a series of smaller sessions.
- Teachers should participate in a minimum of three follow up PAB trainings during the year.
- Bethune Middle School should designate a minimum of three resident experts to assist teachers in each grade level with planning and implementing an interactive lesson using PABs.
- Students should be given mini lessons on the basics of the PAB to insure they are able to actively participate in lessons.
This evaluation shows teachers have a knowledgeable foundation in basic PAB use and students are experiencing a positive impact to their learning environment. However, more training should be conducted to allow teachers to learn more features and how to embed the many uses of the PAB into their lessons. Only then will students get the true impact of learning in an interactive classroom.
THE EVALUATION OF PROMETHEAN BOARD USE IN CLASSROOMS AT BETHUNE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Introduction
During recent years, interactive white boards (IWBs) have gained popularity in the education sector. The use of IWBs has the potential to expand thetraditional classroom andthe way students experience learning and teaching. Many schools are stretching their budget dollars to be able to outfit their classrooms with this technology because the IWB allows teachers toincorporate a variety of multimedia resources. Traditional lecture style classrooms are being transformed by incorporating written text, pictures, video andonline websites into classroomactivities(Murcia and McKenzie, 2008;Betcher & Lee, 2009).According to Lewin, Scrimshaw, Somekh, andHaldane(2009), there has been substantial government funding and policy directives aimed at pushing this new technology. “Teachers were enthusiastic,had seen improvements in student engagement, and were able to develop and evolvetheir IWB teaching strategies through explicit reflection. However, there wasconsiderable diversity both in the ways in which the IWB was used and in the degreeto which teachers changed their classroom teaching practices” (Dalgarno, Tinkler, and Winzenried, p. 534, 2010).
Bethune Middle School, that has Promethean Activ Boards (PABs), a type of IWB, installed in math and some language arts classes, is the setting for this evaluation. There are approximately 950 students in grades six through eight. This evaluation seeks to determine how PABs are being used in the classroom, who is using the PAB, and what impact the PABs have on student learning. The evaluation client, Mr. Anthony, is the sixth grade and instructional administrator. He is a former social studies teacher and student of the DeKalb County school system. Active stakeholders in this evaluation are Mr. Anthony, teachers, administrators, instructional coaches, students, parents, and ultimately the community.
Purpose
The purpose of this summative evaluation is to determine if teachers were properly trained on the use of the Promethean Board, and does this training translate into effective lessons with active student participation. Lewin, et al., (2009) states that the use of IWBs, such as the PAB, supports whole class interactive teaching.
A determination will be made as to how the PABs are being used with students and what they are gaining from lessons delivered with the PABs. This evaluation is looking to determine if there needs to be a change in current Promethean trainings that teachers receive or if teachers need additional training in planning effective technology enriched lessons that foster active student participation.
Evaluation Questions
The objectives:
•Teachers will have a basic knowledge in using the tools and features of the Promethean Board.
•Teachers will be able to create and deliver effective lessons using Promethean Boards.
•Students will actively participate in lessons that are delivered using the Promethean Board.
The evaluation client would like to know the following:
1)Were teachers properly trained to use the PAB?
2)What impact does the use of the PAB have on student learning?
3)In what way(s) and by whom is the PAB being used?
Methods
Participants
The participants were originally six math teachers and three language arts teachers. This evaluation actually includes four math teachers and one language arts teacher. There were two male and one female math teachers from sixth grade, one female math teacher from eighth grade, and one male language arts teacher from sixth grade. There were eighty students who were surveyed, fifty three sixth graders and twenty seven eighth graders. Of the sixth graders who were surveyed, thirty two students were male and twenty one were female. Nineteen eighth graders were female while eight were male.
Design and Procedures
Teachers were given two short questionnaires. One questionnaire focused on the teacher’s knowledge of basic PAB use, such as how to use different features and tools, and the other focused on their perception of the lessons they deliver using the PAB. The surveys were hand delivered to teachers and a follow up was conducted a week later. Of the original nine teachers, five teachers returned the surveys and agreed to be observed. The observations took place over three weeks where each teacher was observed once a week for thirty minutes.
Instruments
Four instruments were used in this evaluation.Teachers were asked to complete the Promethean Knowledge Questionnaire and the Teacher Use Survey. These two instruments contained items that determined the teacher’s knowledge on using the PAB and the impact on student learning. The Teacher Observation Tool was used to evaluate lessons that were taught using the PAB. Students answered a questionnaire that contained items pertaining to their perception of PAB use in the classroom.
The Promethean Knowledge Questionnaire
- Questions 1-3-Items that can be used in conjunction with the Promethean software such as Power Point and various websites.
- Questions 4-7-Using key features such as the camera and revealer tools
- Questions 8-10 -Creation aspects of a flipchart such as how to create layers and change backgrounds.
Teacher Use Survey
- Question 1 –Teacher comfort level in Promethean knowledge
- Questions 2-9 – Student Engagement
- Question 10 – Teacher training
Teacher Observation Tool
- Question 1 – Who is using the Promethean Board
- Questions 2-4 – Teacher role
- Questions 5-7 – Student role
- Questions 8-9 – Pedagogy
Student Questionnaire
- Questions 1-6 – Student engagement
- Question 7 – Technology use
- Questions 8-10 – Product creation
Table 1. Instrument Use in Relation to Evaluation Questions
PrometheanKnowledge / Teacher Use / Teacher Observation / Student Questionnaire
Question 1: Were teachers properly trained? / x / x / x
Question 2: Impact on student learning / x / x / x
Question 3: How is the Promethean being used and by whom? / x / x
Summary of Key Findings
Evaluation Question 1: Where teachers properly trained to use the Promethean Board?
According to Hall and Higgins (2005), professional development should beongoing. “It is easy for schools to fall into the trap of acquiring IWBs, installingthem, and then offering a onetime technical training to teachers. Unfortunately, this type of training program is common but not likely to result in the effective use of IWBs” (DIGREGORIO & SOBEL-LOJESKI, p. 5, 2010). Successful teachers should be trained how to integrate the IWB into pedagogy and given the time to practice and develop these skills,which in turn may give them the confidence to put them into practice (DIGREGORIO SOBEL-LOJESKI,2010).
Training for the PABs started three years ago for math teachers at Bethune Middle School. This training consisted of a one day, eight hour, session. In this session, teachers were shown the basics on how to use the pen, change background colors, and how to use key features such as the calculator and reveler tool. No follow up training had been offered until February 2011 when a second installment of PABs were placed in language arts classrooms. This follow up training, for math teachers, and initial training, for language arts teachers, took place over four days for one hour each day.
Teachers were given surveys that pertained to basic knowledge and their use of the Promethean Board. According to the surveys, teachers have a basic understanding of how to use the PAB. They are familiar with tools and features that are offered in the software. Even though the teachers have a basic operating knowledge, their thoughts, based on the surveys, show they don’t feel the training was adequate. This lead to sixty percent of the teachers feeling they deliver high quality lessons using the PAB.
Teachers were also observed teaching lessons using the PAB. During the observations it is evident that teachers understood and could use the basic functions of the PAB. However, it is also evident that teacher’s aren’t using the PAB to its full capabilities. Many of the functions and tools that were taught during training sessions were not used and the PAB was used as an electronic dry erase board.
Evaluation Question 2: What impact does the use of the PAB have on student learning?
PABs were purchased and installed because studies showed that its use would increase student learning. “IWBs provided a range of technical capabilities of potential benefit in achieving positive learning outcomes across the full curriculum spectrum” (Dalgarno,Tinkler,and Winzenried, p. 535, 2010).A key benefit of IWBs is an increase in student engagement, according to Dalgarno, et.al, 2010).
Teachers at Bethune Middle School, who were surveyed, had overall positive views about student learning in lessons taught using the PABs. Eighty percent of teachers agreed that students are more motivated and engaged in the learning process. Sixty percent of teachers reported there was increased student participation and that students were able to construct new knowledge. However, eighty percent of teachers felt the use of PABs was not helping students to become critical thinkers.
For the most part, student’s views were in line with teacher views although the differed slightly in a couple of areas. Ninety two percent of students reported that enjoy lessons taught using the PAB and that they are more motivated to learn. Students agreed with teachers in regards to higher participation. The difference of opinions is introduced when it comes down to whether students understand the material better using the PAB. Seventy two percent of students reported that using the PAB gives them a better understanding of the material; whereas, fifty percent of teachers reported that students were not gaining a better understanding of the material. The majority of students agreed that using technology, such as the Promethean, was important and would help them in the future.
Evaluation Question 3: In what way(s) and by whom is the PAB being used?
“The benefits of IWB’s were very much dependent on the ways in whichteachers used the IWBs in their own classrooms” (Dalgarno, Tinkler, Winzenried, 2010, p. 535). To determine how and by whom the PAB was being used, teachers were observed three times for approximately thirty minutes.
In the classrooms that were observed, teachers were the only users of the PAB almost half of the time. Students, in the classrooms where the teacher was the only user, were passive participants. These students were either listening to a lecture or working alone on an assignment that was displayed on the PAB. The classrooms where the teacher and the student were users of the PAB, there was increased participation through the use of interactive games and websites. In one classroom, students viewed a short animated clip from Brainpop.com. After the clip, students were allowed to take the quiz as a class. A student was chosen to navigate the class through the quiz by clicking on the responses that the students chose. About ninety percent of students were familiar with how to use the Promethean pen. They were able to change the pen size and color, erase, and change the background colors.
The results of the survey showed about eighty percent of teachers used the PAB as a projection screen to display an assignment or flipchart. Less than fifty percent of teachers used the PAB to show videos, play interactive games, use interactive websites, or as a station. Over half of the teachers used the pen, color, and desktop annotate features. Other features such as the highlighter, revealer, resource browser, and camera were used less than fifteen percent of the time.
Recommendations and Conclusions
In conclusion, this summative evaluation sought to determine if teachers were properly trained on the use of the PAB, and did the training translate into lessons that impacted student learning. The surveys and observations showed that teachers were trained properly on the basics of the PAB. Teachers were confident of their knowledge when it came to using basic functions and were even knowledgeable about more in depth capabilities such as using Power Point with the PAB and how to use the Promethean Pen to write in other applications such as word. Even though teachers had knowledge of other advanced features of the PAB, these features were not included as part of their lessons.
Teachers who deliver lessons using the PABs are reaching a greater variety of learning styles, reigniting excitement for learning, and are preparing our students for their futures.Teachers and students agreed that lessons taught using the PABs created environments of increased participation and motivation. However, teachers and students disagreed when it came to whether or not the use of the PABs allowed students to 1) gain a better understanding of the material and 2) challenged students to think critically. Digregorio and Sobel-Lojeski (p. 255, 2010) tell us that “interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are generally perceived by studentsand teachers as a positive addition to the classroom learning environment; however, questions remain about the relationship between IWBs, studentlearning, and achievement”.
The following recommendations will be made:
- Initial training for the PAB should be broken up into a series of smaller sessions.
- Teachers should participate in a minimum of three follow up PAB trainings during the year.
- Bethune Middle School should designate a minimum of three resident experts to assist teachers in each grade level with planning and implementing an interactive lesson using PABs.
- Students should be given mini lessons on the basics of the PAB to insure they are able to actively participate in lessons.
Teachers demonstrated success during this evaluation in two ways, by demonstrating their knowledgeof PABs and using it to provide lessons that have a positive impact on student learning. The biggest challenge is giving teachers the time to learn how to plan lessons that are truly interactive forthe students. “Teachers’ pedagogy mustevolve to meet the demands of changing learningenvironments and learning needs of contemporarydigital students” (Murcia, p.23, 2010).This barrier can be overcome with additonal training and support. According to Lewin, etal. (2009), through conversations and interactions with others, teachers learn technical and pedagogic skills in IWB use whichcould be the most crucial factor in enablinglearning.