Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Teachers love using technology, just not at school.
New survey reveals the perception that new technology is the domain of the young may be out of date.
A report conducted by Becta on the use of web 2.0 technologies found widespread use and competence with social networking and other technologies amongst both teachers and learners. The report involved a survey of 100 staff and 2,200 learners in 7 schools aged 11-16. The teachers were just as likely to have the latest phone, ipod or have a profile on Facebook as their students.
Yet these same learners reported that they expected not to use these applications at school, despite the facility being there. Having the hardware and software is the beginning of the journey to achieve effective and innovative use. The majority of teachers questioned in the survey had never used Web 2.0 applications in lessons, despite being frequent users of technology in their personal and professional lives. Their main concerns involved a lack of time to familiarise themselves with the technology and worries about managing the use of the internet in class
Interviewing the teachers who had used web 2.0 technology in the classroom the survey found the vast majority found there were clear educational benefits including:
- Web 2.0 helps to encourage student engagement and increase participation – particularly among quieter pupils, who can use it to work collaboratively online, without the anxiety of having to raise questions in front of peers in class – or by enabling expression through less traditional media such as video.
- Teachers have reported that the use of social networking technology can encourage online discussion amongst students outside school.
- Web 2.0 can be available anytime, anywhere, which encourages some individuals to extend their learning through further investigation into topics that interest them.
- Pupils feel a sense of ownership and engagement when they publish their work online and this can encourage attention to detail and an overall improved quality of work. Some teachers reported using publication of work to encourage peer assessment.
One of the main reasons given for reluctance to use social networking sties in class was concerns over security and safety for staff and students. Teachers need the support and confidence to use the new technologies in their lessons even when they have become proficient in using them in the rest of their lives. Becta has responded to this by publishing guidance to support schools and teachers in the safe ways of using 2.0 technologies in schools.
The latest Harnessing Technology report from Becta published this month indicated that although "use of web 2.0 technologies and social software (such as blogs, instant messaging, wikis and online discussion groups) to support learning is still extremely uncommon.. there has been a slight increase since 2007 in teachers saying they used these technologies."
Perhaps, the pace of change is slower in adopting and adapting to new technology in the school and classroom but the use of new technologies will in time and with support become as common place there as the survey indicates it currently is in life outside of school for both learners and teachers.
To read the Harnessing Technology Report 2008, Click here: