A review of the research literature relating to ICT and attainment

Summary of the main report, which examined current research and evidence for the impact of ICT on pupil attainment and learning in school settings and the strengths and limitations of the methodologies used in the research literature

The value of learning geometry with ICT: lessons from innovative educational research

This chapter reviews research on using ICT to support the teaching of geometry. The research selected focuses on learners’ use of interactive geometry software, the design of suitable teaching and learning activities, and the nature of relevant teacher professional development. The central theme of the chapter is that while ICT has considerable potential in enlivening the teaching and learning of school mathematics (and geometry in particular), there is much to take account of in terms of enabling this potential to be fully realise

Research bibliography: dynamic geometry software

This bibliography lists research that has investigated the use of dynamic geometry software (DGS) in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The bibliography is not intended to be exhaustive; rather it includes the major studies across the range of research that has been published

A review of the evidence on the use of ICT in the Early Years Foundation Stage

This report reviewed existing evidence on the potential of technology to support the development of educational policy and practice in the context of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Reference is made to the use of ICT by young children from aged birth to five years and its potential impacts, positive and negative on their cognitive, social, emotional educational, visual and physical development

Processing mathematics through digital technologies: A reorganisation of student thinking?

This article reports on aspects of an ongoing study examining the use of digital media in mathematics education. In particular, it is concerned with how understanding evolves when mathematical tasks are engaged through digital pedagogical media in primary school settings. While there has been a growing body of research into software and other digital media that enhances geometric, algebraic, and statistical thinking in secondary schools, research of these aspects in primary school mathematics is still limited, and emerging intermittently. The affordances of digital technology that allow dynamic, visual interaction with mathematical tasks, the rapid manipulation of large amounts of data, and instant feedback to input, have already been identified as ways mathematical ideas can be engaged in alternative ways. How might these, and other opportunities digital media afford, transform the learning experience and the ways mathematical ideas are understood? Using an interpretive methodology, the researcher examined how mathematical thinking can be seen as a function of the pedagogical media through which the mathematics is encountered. The article gives an account of how working in a spreadsheet environment framed learners' patterns of social interaction, and how this interaction, in conjunction with other influences, mediated the understanding of mathematical ideas, through framing the students' learning pathways and facilitating risk taking

E-learning for Networked Living

Networked Living is a Level 1 course in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) offered by the UK Open University. The first two presentation of the course, in 2005 and 2006, attracted over 3000 students between them. Networked Living introduces students to ICT concepts and issues in a range of contexts. The course adopts a blended learning approach, using printed texts, web resources, DVD and computer conferencing. All the above media are used where appropriate to support students' learning. About 60% of the material is print-based – teaching texts, together with selected third-party articles. About 20% is web-based – using a comprehensive course web site, but also requiring students to find and use third-party sites. The remaining 20% is based on offline computer resources (e.g. spreadsheets) and collaborative activities using computer conferencing. The course web site contains short animations, quizzes and several interactive activities where students contribute information and commentaries, and can then see the collated contributions of other students. The DVD contains longer animations, simulations and software. Computer conferencing is used for tutor-group and whole-cohort conferences, and for online tutorials, with both asynchronous and synchronous discussion. The course web site provides a new, shareable 'online journal' facility, where students can record their work for the course. This paper discusses the various e-learning elements of Networked Living, based on the first two presentations of the course. The paper considers how e-learning can be combined with printed resources to create a successful blended learning experience for students

'Becoming experts': learning through mediation

Purpose – This study is largely founded on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Feuerstein’s theory of Mediated Learning Experience and Lave and Wenger’s ‘community of practice’, which concerned building a community of learners that places mediation as central in learning and teaching. While the overall study involved Malaysian Year One English and Mathematics classrooms, this article focuses only on the latter. Two research questions were posed: 1) How does the teacher/peers mediate learning? 2) How does mediation influence the individual’s identity? Method – This qualitative study was conducted within a period of three months. Data collection included intense classroom observations, interviews, classroom discourse and dialogic discussions with teachers and pupils. Microgenetic analyses of transcripts were made to show moment-to moment changes observed.Findings – Four types of mediation emerged from the data : Environmental mediation, cognitive mediation, affective mediation and metacognitive mediation (i.e., an ECAM model for mediation).Findings suggest that mediation enabled the Mathematics teacher to change, to take ownership and to sustain her new pedagogical approaches within the classroom. This re-focusing benefited her pupils, and dramatically changed a particular less able pupil from one who was initially ‘lost in his world,’ into one who was able to engage in the learning process, take ownership of his own learning, as well as mediate other pupils’ learning. Value – Hence it is argued that the ECAM model for mediation provided opportunities for this teacher and her pupil to expand their capacity to learn and develop their identities as individuals capable of learning and becoming ‘experts’