The Nature of Conversation of Primary Students in Technology Education: Implications for Teaching and Learning

Classroom conversations are core to establishing successful learning for students. This research explored the nature of conversation in technology education in the primary classroom and the implications for teaching and learning. Over a year, two units of work in technology were taught in two primary classrooms. Most data was gathered in Round 2 during the implementation of the second unit titled ‘Props for the School Production’. It used qualitative methodology and an ethnographic approach using participant observations, Stimulated Recall interviews with autophotography, semi-structured interviews with participants and their teachers, and students’ work samples, to develop a rich description of classroom conversation in technology. Initial data identified four significant stages of learning within the second technology unit; these included Stage 1 Character and Function, Stage 2 Planning, Stage 3 Mock-up and Stage 4 Construction. Four over-arching elements of conversation, each with various sub elements, were identified as flowing through the classroom conversations. These were Funds of Knowledge, Making Connections and Links, Management of Learning, and Technology Knowledge and Skills. These elements describe the sources and the purpose of conversation. For example, conversations identified as Funds of Knowledge showed students brought knowledge and or skills learned from home and their community to their technology learning. In Making Connections and Links, students implemented knowledge from school based learning. Management of Learning included classroom conversations initiated by both teachers and students, which enhanced or managed students’ learning in some way. In the fourth element, technological knowledge and skills learned were evidenced. Further analysis of the elements identified three over-arching themes of conversations. The first, ‘Deployment’, describes knowledge and skills brought by students to their technological practice and included the elements Funds of Knowledge and Making Connections and Links. The second, ‘Conduit’, described techniques and strategies used by teachers and students to maximise learning opportunities acting as a conduit between other knowledge and technological knowledge, and was mainly situated within the Management of Learning element. The third theme, ‘Knowledge’, showed the exact nature of technology learning obtained by the students though the bringing together of the first two themes, rather like a set of interconnected cogs. The study makes a significant contribution to understanding how students learn in technology education. It develops current understanding of the nature of talk and the role it plays in learning technology. It also presents new findings on the Funds of Knowledge students bring to technology and it challenges existing findings on students’ ability to transfer knowledge from one domain to other. Finally, it identifies a gap in existing research into students’ abilities to investigate and select appropriate materials for intermediate and final outcomes

A new approach to professional learning and development for technology teachers in New Zealand: Developing networks of expertise

This article presents a study that focuses on the Mātanga’ (Māori term for expert) perspective of their leadership in a professional learning and development (PLD) programme in technology education. Funded by the Ministry of Education’s Network of Expertise Initiative, the PLD programme was designed and delivered by Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ), to foster teachers’ engagement with the technology education curriculum. It aimed to develop teacher specialist identity by focusing on [Author 1] and Williams’ notions of technological and technical thinking by matching teachers with Mātanga. The PLD model aimed to support teachers in remote areas, or for those who have limited access to curriculum support. In New Zealand, technology teachers are used to a top-down delivery approach to PLD where they are the receivers of information, which they then need to make sense of, for their own classroom and school setting. The aim of this project was to reposition the agency within the professional community. The developers of the PLD programme envisaged that once a community of Mātanga and teachers were established, teachers would feel more connected to local, regional and national support through digital networks. The long-term aim of the PLD programme was to create self-sustaining PLD in technology education, based on community needs. Research findings indicate that technology education is a subject that presents a confused identity. The Mātanga identified various factors affecting the nature of technology education in New Zealand. Mātanga had differing understandings and interpretations of the technology the result of their professional experiences and they recognised various factors affecting the nature of technology education in New Zealand. Most evident were the identified tensions for teachers’ curriculum and assessment understandings, and the pressures being placed on practitioners to remain current in their practice

The Role of Conversation in Technology Education

This article investigates recent literature in the area of classroom conversation and dialogue with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the role that classroom conversation and dialogue plays in learning. It also investigates literature on the constructivist, collaborative nature of technology education and suggests that to enhance our understanding of how children learn in technology it is necessary to understand the impact that clearly focused conversations of children, amongst themselves and between children and their teachers while undertaking technological practice, has on advancing thinking and understanding. It also suggests that by understanding the full impact of classroom conversation and facilitating its use in the classroom, teachers can greatly enhance learning in technology education.Conversation with and between students allows teachers insight into the impacts of previous and specifically targeted learning experiences on learning in technology.Classroom dialogue can also enhance understanding of how learning occurs in technology and how interaction with peers and teachers advances thinking around technological concepts and components of practice.A related study currently being undertaken investigates the nature of conversation in the primary technology classroom with the aim of facilitating and developing teachers’ understanding to better enhance learning for children in technology education. It is the author’s intention to submit the results of this study to this publication in the future

Enhancing the learning of technology in early childhood settings

This article describes a study of early childhood teachers’ understanding of teaching and learning in children four and five years-of-age in technology education. The research aimed at assisting teachers’ understanding of learning in technology using a developed framework. This study investigated the development of dispositions and attitudes including the building of children’s confidence and self-belief in their capabilities, within four aspects of learning and across five pre-determined behaviours relevant to technology education. The study employed qualitative research methods to assist teachers with the use of an observation and conversation framework aimed to improve their ability to assess formatively their children and their own ability to give specific feedback. Observations and interviews were used to gauge teachers’ developed understandings of children’ learning in technology. The study shows that the framework used benefitted teachers and children. It allowed for insight into understanding how and what children learn in technology and teachers’ understanding of technology

Contributions to technology education through funds of knowledge

The value and place of cultural knowledge, particularly that of minority groups, is frequently overlooked in school settings. However, when teachers are aware of students’ backgrounds, and cultural practices, the likelihood of students making use of this knowledge increases. This article reports on a study that explored the contribution of students’ Funds of Knowledge in undertaking technological activity. It explores the Funds of Knowledge deployed in technological practice and the role these played when students collaboratively developed their technological outcomes. Set in a primary school with six and ten year old students, this study revealed that students deployed home and community knowledge when developing technological outcomes. The article introduces two sub-categories of Funds of Knowledge and compares the use of Funds of Knowledge between the two year levels and across a unit of work. This study highlights the use of Funds of Knowledge in technology education and examines aspects within Funds of Knowledge that are applicable to it

Embedding Computational Thinking into Authentic Technology Practice

This paper presents the findings from a pilot study aimed to investigate how the computational thinking aspect of digital technologies can be embedded authentically into students’ technological practice. The project explored teaching and learning computational thinking in context and particularly focus on technological needs and practice for young Māori learners. There is recognition internationally about the need for digital technologies within the curriculum. Computational thinking is a critical component of this and is defined as an approach to problem-solving, designing computer systems, and understanding related human behaviours, while drawing on fundamental ideas of computing. Therefore, it is critical that all students acquire computational thinking skills. Technology practice is most successful when embedded within authentic contexts, thus this paper presents a study that facilitated the learning of two concepts of computational thinking: sequencing and orientation within culturally embedded technology practice. The study’s vision is to assist mainstream Māori learners from low socio-economic backgrounds to develop an understanding of related concepts of computational thinking. The research design drew on Māori values and practice that situates learning within authentic Māori contexts. Kaupapa Māori pedagogies were used in our design-based intervention programme to achieve the research goal. The focus of the project was to improve digital technologies learning outcomes to ensure Māori tamariki (children) see themselves as comfortably situated in a digital world