The Interactive White Board: First Impressions

My fourth year at university would be the first time that I actually see the amazing new educational technology that is referred to as the Interactive White Board. Although I was initially impressed (and surprised) when a fellow PGCE student swiped her hand on the board and text magically appeared, I kept thinking to myself ‘what more could this technology actually do?’. If one can simply write using a finger instead of chalk/marker, and display some images, is this not just the same technology as a projector combined with a whiteboard? If so, then is it really a necessary apparatus? Surely this technology must be very expensive to install.

On the other hand, technology is forever improving and developing, and as teachers in an educational system moulding the minds of tomorrow, we should keep up with the times. Children today are given iPads at the age of two or three, and can use them effectively before they even know how to read or write. These will be the children in our classrooms one day, and one has to wonder whether they will still respond to a traditional chalkboard or whiteboard. Even if the IWB is currently not doing much more than its manual counterparts, it may still just be in its ‘awkward phase’ or developmental stage. Given the opportunity, and time for innovation to take place, it will surely, as all technology does, develop into a tool that does much more than we may currently be able to imagine.

I actually had the chance to use the IWB myself for the first time today. Although I have not been given any instruction in its use, I managed to give a simple PowerPoint presentation using it, and it was relatively simple to use. However, for my purposes today, it was rather unnecessary, and I ended up using the computer to cue the next slide half the time.

Thus, I think, the Interactive White Board has its place. It should definitely be used and should be developed further for more complex and interactive use in the future, perhaps in ways that require more active learner involvement. In the South African context, however, we should first focus on getting each and every learner a proper desk to sit at, and getting textbooks delivered, for example, before we spend a lot of money on a tool that is not a necessity. 

Meditation on Methods of Involvement

According to Wills (2015), as the teacher, one must find new and creative ways to keep learners actively involved in the classroom. A teacher must think of activities in which learners will participate, and that will require their full attention and effort. These should be activities for which they feel accountable, and thus take responsibility. The example that Wills uses is that of getting learners to move tables and chairs quietly, in order to keep a peaceful atmosphere in the classroom. This she achieves only once she has placed bowls filled with water on top of each table and asks the learners to move them without spilling the water. Here she has turned a dull, ordinary, and perhaps unpleasant, task into one that poses an actual challenge to the learners. It thus becomes an activity that requires their full attention and teamwork. It is very important then to give learners tasks that challenge them, but to always keep in mind that something that is too difficult will also diminish their interest and motivation.

Foley (2014) on the other hand prescribes a three step recipe for success in educating the whole child. Pastoral care and student well-being to keep positive relations in the school environment is the essential first step. One must then use one's knowledge of pastoral care in enhancing the second key element - effective teaching practices and the school environment. The third key concept, academic resources, should also be incorporated in enhancing the educational environment of the learner.

The factors that stood out to me the most in terms of keeping the learner involved and engaged in their work, were the methods by which a teacher could implement effective teaching practices and to enhance the school environment. One should, for example, prioritise certain learning objectives, and only highlight key ideas so that learners have a good understanding of the main concepts. The teacher should use all of his/her time effectively, and not allow learners any time to get bored with the work. Learners should be given activities that keep them engaged, like the type of activity that Wills describes in her work, and should receive prompt feedback on their input and understanding so that they may correct their mistakes or gain further insight.

Making use of cultural backgrounds of learners is also an interesting way in which a teacher may involve learners and get them interested in their work. One must set up work in such a way that is is relatable to the learners. It is also important to consider that every learner will learn best in slightly different ways. Keeping this in mind when designing lesson plans will enhance your quality of teaching and learning in the classroom.

Tech-mediated self-directed distance learning

After watching the Independent Project (2011), I have realised that there is perhaps much more potential success to be had in self-directed learning. In this short documentary, 8 learners explain how they created their own form of learning and constructed their own “classroom” within their school. These are all learners who struggled to adapt to the public school system and standard curriculum. They describe themselves as having been the “trouble-makers” or learners who didn’t care about their work at all. When they all got together, and chose their own topics of study, however, they turned into hard-working learners who took interest in their academics and actually enjoyed their work. The Independent project shows the potential of giving learners control over their schoolwork. There may however, be some problems with this type of learning in terms of upholding certain national standards in assessment. If there is no criteria as to what learners should be studying, they cannot be assessed on an equal level. Learners should thus be given some sort of criteria or set work that is to be tested. They should also however, be allowed freedom to study topics that interest them, and develop their skills and knowledge in these subjects.

Another possible stumbling block with self-directed learning may be in terms of connecting learners who study or focus on similar fields. This is where technology may come in. If technology can be used to set up a type of online school system that connects different groups of learners in a strategic way, this could possibly lead to a whole new type of school, and could make the “Independent School” a lot more practically applicable to a much larger scope of learners. In this way global digital communities can be set up, as referred to in The Standards of Critical Digital Pedagogy (2014) by Sam Hamilton. Learners should still meet daily in their “class” groups, and should interact on a face-to-face basis, but expanding the “school” by using technology as medium of learning/teaching, will only add to the knowledge available. Technology will allow for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and research on an incredibly large scale – a scale much bigger than anything we can imagine happening in a classroom on its own. As Jonan Donaldson put it: “New digital tools available to students have flung open the doors to creativity, imagination, and student-directed learning.”

Learning via Social Media

In reading “Social Media Can Be Your Ally” by Ncholas Provenzano, and “A Guidebook for Social Media in the Classroom” by Vicki Davis, I could gather many techniques for teaching by using forms of social media. From podcasts to Instagram, the application of social media in the classroom is vast.

In my own specific subject areas of English and Afrikaans, I can definitely put some of these techniques to good use. 

Following the constructivist approach to teaching, I could allow learners to teach each other and construct their own knowledge by allowing them to use the internet as a tool in learning. I could give them a small research-type class assignment, or an assignment in which they must learn the meaning of new concepts, and then allow them to use their tablets/computers/phones to search and expand on their knowledge of the topic. They could then teach each other their newly found knowledge, and learn through teaching. 

As the teacher, I could keep a blog that describes what the learners are learning every week and perhaps highlights and low points, so that parents can know what their children are doing and be more involved in their lives. 

I think that as a class group we could also use Twitter more constructively. Learners could use a specific hashtag(s) to link their discussions and questions, and to make these accessible to all others in their class. When an assignment is due, then, learners could post their questions or thoughts on Twitter. This will allow other learners to answer their classmates’ questions, or have their own uncertainties, that they perhaps share with others, clarified. The teacher can then also view these questions and answers, and gain insight into the learners’ understanding of the assignments and topics given to them. The teacher can obviously also provide guidance and the correct answers on twitter, creating a connection between class and teacher outside of the classroom.

Learners could also be given tasks where they need to tweet a ‘fun fact’ or highlight regarding class, once a day/week, to keep learners involved, reflecting and sharing their knowledge and experiences. This can serve as a way in which they may feel they have ownership of their class and work, and that they make meaningful contributions to it. Feeling like they are an important part of the class will motivate them to make an effort with their work, and may ultimately contribute to their success.

Digital Pedagogy and Online Teaching

In my interpretation of the article “Decoding Digital Pedagogy, pt. 2: (Un)Mapping the Terrain” by Jesse Stommel, Digital pedagogy is described as something much broader than simply the use of electronic tools in the education of learners. It is a way of thinking about the process of education. Stommel says that “digital pedagogy is less about knowing and more a rampant process of unlearning, play, and rediscovery”. It “calls for screwing around more than it does systematic study”. In this sense digital pedagogy, especially when we remove the “digital” from the pedagogy, as is suggested to an extent by Paul Fyfe in “Digital Pedagogy Unplugged”, refers less to technical elements but more to the teaching and learning, the communicative, and facilitative efforts that technology can bring to the table. In “Hybrid Pedagogy”, Stommel and others argue just this – that this type of pedagogy refers more to the “communities tech engenders and facilitates”, and less to the technology itself.

Digital Pedagogy is referred to here as a discipline. A discipline in which hacking is necessary – ‘hacking’ referring to adapting, manipulating and making productive use out of a tool (Fyfe). It is about improvisation and mindfulness, as well as that instant, “vital exchange”, in which learning takes place. It is the connection between theory and practice, the investigation of learning, and is by its very nature emergent, calling for continuous learning and adaptive change.

With this broad description of digital pedagogy, being much more than the use of a singular technology, it becomes easier to understand the point that Sean Michael Morris makes in his article “Decoding Digital Pedagogy, pt. 1: Beyond the LMS”. Morris explains how the use of the LMS (Learning Management System), or online teaching, is not the same thing as digital pedagogy. On the contrary, the further I read the clearer it becomes that it is quite the opposite. Online teaching took the creativity and capacity to innovate out of teaching by turning it into a one-directional process in which information is just fed from the teacher to the learner. This creates no space for learner interaction, questioning or communication of any kind. It makes teaching and learning uninteresting and dull with no room for exploration, adaptation or novelty, which is the opposite of what digital pedagogy should do.

Unplugging Digital Pedagogy

 Digital Pedagogy, the use of electronic tools to change the way in which we educate, has become an integral part of 21^st century education. What Paul Fyfe, in his article “Digital Pedagogy Unplugged”, questions, however, is whether one must “pull the plug” on digital mediums in order to expand or make proper use of human creativity in developing pedagogy. Some fear that using digital tools too integratively in the classroom may limit the student or learner in terms of analogous information processing, or in other words, using their own brains, and their intrinsic creativity and capabilities.

Others, however, argue that we may need to reconcile electronic and analog pedagogy in order to combine and optimise their various strengths. What would this look like? According to Fyfe, this would be like “teaching naked” within technological use. “Teaching naked” is the term used to describe analog or purely human pedagogy without the use of the digital to assist in educating.

I would imagine this concept to incorporate the use of digital tools or technology in all its forms (whether electronic or not) in such a way that it encourages analog thought and human creativity in the student, instead of fulfilling certain thought processes for them.

In sum, I personally view technology, or the use of digital tools within education, as extremely vital in our development, whether it be human or technological. The possibilities are limitless in terms of what learners and students may be capable of when digital pedagogy is used optimally.