Other ICT
Activity and Learning Teaching IWBs Other-ICT
Laptop/desktop PCs were often used for practice of low-order skills and techniques which had been introduced through activity around the IWB, but were sometimes used for exploratory activities by pairs of pupils. Generally, pupils tended to focus on achieving the task outcome regardless of method, and ICT sometimes provided alternative ways of achieving the product without engaging with the intended ideas. Individual ICT activities sometimes allowed pupils to obtain the answer easily with no need for pupils to think, or they could get the right answer by trial and error with no understanding. This was counteracted by teacher management of whole-class activity at the IWB, however.
The speed and repetition features of ICT were also exploited when learners were able to see a rapid succession of cases of a particular phenomenon, such as angle relationships, which helped with inductive concept generation. The range, capacity and linking features of ICT afforded systematic searching for information, providing an exploratory experience in contrast to books which tended to give an answer very easily. However, pupils preferred traditional practical work to simulations in science because they enjoyed the physical manipulation, recognised that it is what ‘real’ scientists do, and were cognitively engaged by the relative unpredictability of the setting.
Frequent cases of the ‘ICT interference factor’ were reported. This was mainly due to technical problems rather than lack of ICT skills – indeed, teacher and pupils together could often overcome problems experienced. In some cases, breakdowns and slow operation disrupted the flow of activity so as to counteract any advantage that ICT might have conferred.