Post - The Third

ICT Trial in School

This week, whilst on placement, I was lucky enough to be able to observe a free trial of a system for secret voting in the classroom. The company (who shall remain nameless) were offering technical support and hiring of the equipment for sessions on the interactive whiteboard.

What does the system do?
The main idea is so that children have the opportunity to vote on a right answer out of a choice of a few on the board (sort of a Who wants to be a Millionaire type idea). Each child has an individual handset with buttons that each correspond to an answer on the board. The computer can then remember the answers given for each handset and produce graphs, tables and reports to allow the teacher to assess who might not have grasped key ideas within lessons.

Why were they good?
The first thing that was brilliant about these devices is that the children in my class absolutely loved them. They really engaged the children and one boy even admitted that they got his brain working! It also allows them to each have the opportunity to answer a question without some people calling out and not allowing shyer children to talk. One boy admitted that the handsets were an excellent way of getting people to answer without 'getting a headache' from people shouting out. They provided excellent opportunities for assessment and were a great teaching tool as they could be incorporated into any part of the lesson. Because each child was expected to give an answer the teacher was able to see which children were struggling with the topics being presented on the board.

The handsets proved especially popular with the boys in the class as they were similar to the computer games etc that they might play. In this way they were a complete novelty.

What was bad about them
Although the idea of this technology is potentially brilliant, the company offering it seemed to have no idea what was involved in teaching. The technicians and the equipment had to be booked in advance. This means that if you wanted to use them on the spur of the moment you couldn't. Also the company made the slides for you or adapted your slides to the software needed. This really means that you can't have ownership over the slides which would be very frustrating. The company can be booked for an hour or for a day. However; the system would be brilliant to perhaps use just in an intro or a plenary so they would not be needed for a whole hour. The amount the company were charging per hour would mean that a teacher would have to use the system for the whole hour to make it worth while and this would not necessarily be the best way of using the system in teaching. As well as the company not really understanding how teaching works, they seem to be out of touch with the children as well. The slides were very boring and there were no flashes or cool sound effects that children seem to really love. If paying them to make the slides then they would have to be greatly improved.

What would be better?
The company that came into the school basically had a fantastic idea. However; the fact that they have to set each session up means that a teacher can't have ownership or use them last minute. Other companies such as Active Primary and Quizdom also offer a similar idea, however; a school is able to buy the software and the equipment to use as and when they want so they can be effectively planned in to a lesson. The teachers therefore can create their own slides and quizes so they can have full ownership of the software and the way it is used for teaching and learning.