Engaging the 'Xbox generation of learners' in Higher Education

The research project identifies examples of technology used to empower learning of Secondary school pupils that could be used to inform students’ engagement in learning with technology in the Higher Education sector. Research was carried out in five partnership Secondary schools and one associate Secondary school to investigate how pupils learn with technology in lessons and to identify the pedagogy underpinning such learning. Data was collected through individual interviews with pupils, group interviews with members of the schools’ councils, lesson observations, interviews with teachers, pupil surveys, teacher surveys, and a case study of a learning event. In addition, data was collected on students’ learning with technology at the university through group interviews with students and student surveys in the School of Education and Professional Development, and through surveys completed by students across various university departments. University tutors, researchers, academic staff, learning technology advisers, and cross sector partners from the local authority participated in focus group interviews on the challenges facing Higher Education in engaging new generations of students, who have grown up in the digital age, in successful scholarly learning

The positive impacts of interactive whiteboards on student learning outcomes in FE colleges, and the conditions under which outcomes can be maximised.

This paper draws from a wider study on the use and impact of ICT within FE colleges. The research questions addressed are: what is it about the ways interactive whiteboards (iWBs) are being used that produce positive impacts on student outcomes, and what institutional and personal factors determine which teachers use iWBs effectively? Multiple case-studies of 6 colleges were designed using a new framework for classifying e-learning uses (ELUs) according to the learning context, learning objectives and the types of software and activities being used. Tutors’ beliefs in the efficacy of iWB use, their intentions for use, teaching style and pedagogical skills, and the subject taught all affected the ways in which iWB were deployed, and in particular the degree of multimedia and pedagogic interactivity. Tutors who made a lot of use of iWBs were in colleges where the leadership vision prioritised ICT within teaching and learning. The strongest impact on student outcomes occurred where iWBs were used in a variety of ways, use was appropriate for the subject, and congruent with the teachers' purposes and intentions for students' learning. Tutors who made little use of iWBs tended to be in colleges where the emphasis on management of learning was stronger than on supporting pedagogic development, and/or they were unaware of the potential of iWBs particularly in relation to their subject

Learning outcome dependency on contemporary ICT in the New Zealand middle school classroom

Often studies of children's technology use in the classroom is internally focused and small scale. This study attempts a globalised exploratory overview of an entire New Zealand middle school to understand the technology usages across a range of curriculum and learning outcomes. Observations of the use of technology in the classroom during eight different lessons were conducted followed by structured-open-ended interviews. From our classroom observations and through teacher interviews, we have been able to identify three levels of the dependency of learning outcome on contemporary-ICT

Mobile reflections (MoRe) pilot, developing reflection within initial teacher training for students with dyslexia

The MoRe (Mobile Reflections) pilot was designed to explore whether the use of freely available Web 2.0 technology and mobile phones could assist dyslexic student teachers to develop reflective skills by capturing their reflections using audio within a shared online learning space

About using Mobile Reflections

a short guid

Landscape Study in Wireless and Mobile Learning in the post-16 sector

In the post-16 sector (further and higher education, and adult and community learning) there is a need to understand how wireless and mobile technologies can contribute to improving the student experience of learning, and help institutions fulfil their missions in an age of incomparably fast technological change. In the context of this interest and growing need, a Landscape Study project was commissioned by JISC through the Innovation strand of the JISC e-Learning Programme in 2004-5. Our project aims were to take a birds-eye view of developments and practice in the UK and internationally, and to communicate our findings to a broad and varied audience. The Summary report is accompanied by 3 associated reports on 'Current Uses', 'Potential Uses' and 'Strategic Aspects'. (The four reports are available in one single document here.