What limitations are involved when using digital technology within the English

classroom? The perspective of pupil and teacher

Rationale• I am really interested in how quickly technology moves

forward, which was what made me focus my research project on this area.

• I feel comfortable with using a lot of new technology as I use much of it in in my spare time, but I thought that many teachers may not feel as confident.

• I wanted to hear from both students and teachers so that I might find the best ways to share good practice with other English teachers in the future.

Teachers’ knowledge of digital technology

Students’ knowledge of digital technology

Is there a massive gap?

Overcoming obstacles

Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School…• Has over one thousand PCs on

site.• Uses the ‘Moodle’ VLE.• Is trialling ‘Mimeo’ IWB software

in some classrooms.

Technology can become outmoded or ineffectual after only a few years.

This must be a huge financial concern for schools when deciding which technology is invested in.

Literature review'digital literacy is … much more than a functional matter of learning how to use a computer and keyboard, or how to do online searches' (Buckingham, 2008)

'sheer diversity of specific accounts of “digital literacy” that exist' (Knobel & Lankshear, 2008)

'teachers need to be digitally literate so that they can empower students with the skills and knowledge that they will need to be successful in a workplace dominated by technology’ (Pianfetti, 2001)

‘the older generation of teachers ‘don’t believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music, because they can’t … they didn’t practice this skill constantly for all of their formative years.’ (Prensky, 2001)

Prensky, 2001

Digital Natives Digital Immigrants

Methodology• Interviews with members of the English department

(individually).• Interviews with year 9 pupils (grouped)• Interviews with year 12 pupils (grouped)

• Findings organised by issue as it ‘can make comparison across respondents more economical (Cohen, 2007: p.467)

Findings – 1. Time

“We’re not experts in it, in our mind we have a mental image of it taking a lot of time to prepare.”

“I think there’s a sense of kind of re-doing things that you might already do electronically ... Replacing something will always come slightly lower down the priority than perhaps developing something from scratch.”

Findings – 1. Time

• This feeling wasn’t unsubstantiated – PowerPoint and Mimio Notebook for example.• Perhaps showed a reluctance to create digital resources if the teacher has already expended time and effort in creating something beforehand.

Findings – 2. Use of PowerPoint

“Most of my lessons do have PowerPoints in them. Really these days PowerPoints are replacing my lesson plans.”

This mirrored the findings of Holbrook et al. (2012: p.219-220), who state that: ‘technological tools become a means for increasing efficiency.’

Findings – 2. Use of PowerPoint

Year 9 students expressed dissatisfaction with the way PowerPoint is used in their lessons:

“They put writing on the board and sometimes we have to copy it out and like you don’t read it properly so you don’t understand what you’re actually meant to be doing.”

This could imply that whilst some of the teachers within the department use PowerPoint to ‘increase efficiency’, some students view this as counterproductive.

Findings – 2. Use of PowerPoint

Susskind (2004) did a study into student response to the use of PowerPoint, focusing on HE. It found that ‘students viewed themselves as more effective’ and that ‘it was easier to understand the lecture and take notes.’

Is it possible that age matters when using presentation software?

Findings – 3. ‘Hands-on approach to CPD’

Two thirds of the English staff that I interview stressed the need for a practical, hands-on approach to training in digital technology.

Findings – 3. ‘Hands-on approach to CPD’

“There should be times that we are assigned that we can do some training and ... Have a go at playing with technology a bit more.”

“If you buy technology at home or you buy a new car, you tend to learn how all the buttons work kind of as you’re learning it, rather than by reading the manual or being trained to use it and maybe teaching doesn’t really allow you to do that”

Findings – 3. ‘Hands-on approach to CPD’

“the problem is if you don’t then go back and do something with it straight away you may as well not have had it. It’s kind of lost really.”

“It’s all very well and good having the training but then you have to find the additional time to do something with it so you’ve got all the information before it slips out of your head.”

Findings – 3. ‘Hands-on approach to CPD’

• From these comments, it felt like there was a real enthusiasm for digital technology, but a certain amount of frustration at how CPD sessions and training in school is spent.

“I don’t learn by watching somebody do things on a computer, I have to do it myself.”

Findings – 3. ‘Hands-on approach to CPD’

When is there time to experiment?

Findings – 4. Visual

Year 9 students highlighted the use of visual technology such as film:

“It depends if we’ve like done a play or like read a play sometimes afterwards we’ll watch the play, gives like a visual of what it’d be like to see.”

“Like if we read the story or watch the film afterwards as well I think to like it in action, help understand it properly as well.”

Findings – 4. Visual

It could be suggested that these students’ views support Kress’s (2003: p.64) views of ‘visual grammar’:

‘The screen more than the page is now the dominant site of representation and communication in general ... The screen is the site of the image, and the logic of the image dominates the semiotic organisation of the screen.’

Strengths- Helped me realise that students like to be ‘left to go and do stuff’, therefore taking the onus off teachers to master as much technology as they possibly can.

Weaknesses- Interviews with year 9s were not particularly strong as it could be argued that I directed them towards answering negatively.

This resource was part of assessment for Secondary English PGCE course at Sheffield Hallam University and is being released with permission of its author. It accompanies the case studies produced as part of the "Digital Futures in Teacher Education"; for more information see www.digitalfutures.orgExcept where indicated otherwise, the content produced within the project is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales.