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| 100" Supernova screen at the new George Carey C of E Primary School |
For many years, Barking and Dagenham has been at the
forefront of developments in interactive teaching technologies designed for use
with the whole class. It was the first local authority to deploy new and
innovative technologies such as the visualiser and the wireless slate on a large scale into UK
classrooms, and the first to adopt a new generation of large display screens
for general purpose classrooms. The right technology has always been selected
on the basis of supporting and enhancing effective pedagogy. Other
technologies, however popular they may be elsewhere, have been rejected if they
are not fit for purpose. This approach has led to recent school building
projects being equipped with state-of-the-art-technologies unlike any to be
seen around the world and which deliver un-paralleled value for money when
compared to more commonly deployed traditional alternatives.
A brief history of
whole class teaching technology
The invention of the Blackboard in the early 1800s
revolutionised teaching in that for the first time a teacher was able to write
or draw something that the whole class could see at the same time. There were
limitations though, such as the chalk dust and the fact that while writing on
the board teachers had to stand in front of it so that visibility was obscured
for some of the class at all times, and the teachers had to face away from the
class while writing on the board. However, these drawbacks were far outweighed
by the benefits, and there were no practical alternatives for whole class
teaching.
The whiteboard and dry wipe marker of the 20th
Century did little to address the drawbacks, other than the elimination of
chalk dust and better clarity, and this technology still persists today
There was little debate about the pedagogy, because teachers
had no choice but to use the only whole class teaching technology available to
them. Turning your back on the class and obscuring what you want children to
look at was just something you had to deal with.
During the 1960s, another technology appeared on the scene
which did overcome the drawbacks of the blackboards and whiteboards. This was
the Overhead Projector, or OHP. This device enabled teachers to face the class
while they wrote on acetate sheets, and at the same time project on to a large
screen positioned where everyone in the class could see it. Not only that, but
the acetate sheets could be prepared in advance and re-used time and again.
Pedagogically speaking, the device was a breakthrough but
either through reason of cost or because of teachers’ suspicion of new
technology, the device never replaced the blackboard or whiteboard in many classrooms.
In Barking and Dagenham, as part of a major programme of
investment in Mathematics teaching during the 1990s, most primary school
classrooms were equipped with Overhead Projectors but the devices needed to be
positioned towards the middle of the room where power cables had to reach from
wall sockets, and screens had to be pulled down over existing wall furniture.
Perhaps because of this, they were rarely used outside of the Maths and English
lessons that were accompanied by acetate sheet resources.
The widespread introduction of the Interactive Whiteboard
(IWB) during the first decade of the 21st century remains one of the
most perplexing adoptions of new technology in education for use with a whole
class, in that it re-introduced most of the drawbacks of blackboards and
whiteboards that had been eliminated by the OHP. In some ways, it made these
worse, as teachers would tend to spend even more time in front of what they
wanted children to look at while they interacted with the software using the touch-sensitive
surface. Unlike the OHP screen which was large enough for everyone to see, and
positioned high enough up to give un-interrupted sight lines, the IWB had to be
smaller and positioned low enough down so that teachers could reach the top of
the display. One of the arguments used in support of the IWB was that ‘it
mirrored the way teachers taught with ordinary blackboards and whiteboards’.
This argument completely overlooked all of the limitations and disadvantages of
this approach.
In Barking and Dagenham, having just introduced new
forward-facing technology in the form of the OHP into primary classrooms, the
IWB was, pedagogically speaking, a significantly retrograde step. It was a
classic situation of expecting pedagogy to adapt to technology, instead of what
should happen, that the technology is developed and adapted to suit effective
pedagogy. There was no doubt that the ability to display an image from a
computer to the whole class was an enormous benefit, and there was also no
doubt that the new generation of interactive software offered exciting and
innovative ways to teach and learn difficult concepts. The problem was the
misconception that this new software in some way depended on (or even ran on)
the IWB, rather than the computer connected to a ceiling mounted projector.
The
IWB combined the function of a display screen with that of an input device and
as such was un-fit for each of these purposes. The display screen was too small
and too low down, and in order to use the touch sensitive surface you had to
stand in front of it. What was needed was a way of interacting with the
software from anywhere in the classroom, with the computer image being
projected onto a much bigger and better positioned display screen. The obvious
choice was a simple graphics tablet, of the kind used by computer
draughtspeople and computer artists, that used an A5 sized board connected to
the computer and a pen-like stylus. However, at that time, all such devices
were physically connected to the computer with a cable. Barking and Dagenham
therefore lobbied the technology industry for a wireless version that could be
used anywhere in the classroom.
As a result, the first wireless slate in the world made its UK debut in
the Borough, and although a product developed for an entirely different market
(collaborative technical drawing) the slate was an exact pedagogical match for
effective whole class teaching.
Early deployment of the wireless slate
showed that it didn’t matter where in the classroom the person was who
controlled the software. As the picture shows, pupils were able to concentrate
on the display, not on the child using the slate. The slate could be rapidly
passed around the classroom enabling many more pupils to take a turn in helping
to move the lesson forward than would be possible if they had to make their way
individually to the front. Furthermore, pupils could write and draw with a pen
at the same scale they would do on paper, and be able to reach to the top of a
large screen positioned high up on the classroom wall.
The early wireless slates had drawbacks of their own,
symptomatic of leading edge technology. They were sometimes unresponsive, and
there were often difficulties in maintaining a wireless connection with the PC.
However, over time these difficulties have been overcome and the latest
generation of wireless slates are reliable and easy to use. A new ‘intelligent’
version is now available, the ‘Mobi View’, which acts as a true mobile
interactive whiteboard, in that is has its own touch sensitive display screen,
about the size of an iPhone screen, where all of the whiteboard software tools
can be selected, and where lesson resources such as web sites, videos, pictures
and documents can be launched from anywhere in the classroom. There is also a
touch-screen keyboard like those in most smartphones for entering text into any
application on the screen.
It should be remembered that the traditional static
interactive whiteboards do not run software. They are ‘dumb’ devices. The
software programs, such as SMART’s Notebook, Promethean’s Active Studio, RM’s
Easyteach, and eInstruction’s Workspace, all run on the computer, and can all
be used with a mobile input device instead. Most suppliers will promote the
static IWB over a much cheaper and more effective mobile device, purely I suspect because
of the higher profit that entails, although always claiming some pedagogical credibility.
Having
separated out the two functions of display and input, we can now use the best
of breed for both - the ‘Mobi View’ on the one hand, and the best possible
display screen on the other. Traditionally, in order to show images with high
contrast, and videos, teachers have found themselves drawing the blinds and
switching off the lights. This has been to achieve acceptable colours and a
high contrast, leading to children spending hours in dim and gloomy
surroundings. The problem has been addressed in the past by spending more money
on more powerful projectors, with much higher on-going sustainability costs. In
Barking and Dagenham, uniquely in the UK, the problem has been addressed by
looking at new and innovative display screen materials which allow vibrant high
contrast images unaffected by high ambient light levels, so that lessons can
take place with all the lights on and most of the blinds drawn back.
These new screens can be used with normal medium-power projectors, and when used in conjunction with a mobile interactive whiteboard the solution is about £1000 less to install than a traditional static IWB with ultra short-throw projector (to reduce the shadow thrown by the user). Apart from the cost saving, there are major pedagogical advantages of a large display and mobile interactivity.
These new screens can be used with normal medium-power projectors, and when used in conjunction with a mobile interactive whiteboard the solution is about £1000 less to install than a traditional static IWB with ultra short-throw projector (to reduce the shadow thrown by the user). Apart from the cost saving, there are major pedagogical advantages of a large display and mobile interactivity.
Using technology to
solve problems
In most areas of life, technology is developed and applied
to address existing problems and to make either business or home life easier or
more effective, or to enable us to do things not previously possible. It is a
sad fact that in education, technology solutions developed for other sectors,
are promoted for use in schools, regardless of their fitness for purpose.
Rather than offering solutions to problems that teachers and learners have
identified, they often create a whole new set of problems, and teachers are
blamed if they don’t adapt quickly enough to using technology that has little to
offer effective pedagogy.
There are many problems that
teachers have come up against. These include showing something small to the whole
class at the same time, demonstrating a precise technique (such as a brush stroke,
a stitch, soldering), or annotating real objects. Similarly, the problems faced
by learners might include modelling their practice to the rest of the class or
sharing their work with their peers.
The
visualiser provides a solution to these problems, and many more besides. In
some ways it is like an up to date and digital
version of the OHP, in that it is used in the same way, although now connected
to a modern ceiling mounted projector, and a computer. It is an example of a
pedagogically sound forward facing technology. It enables you to display real
objects (such as flowers, rock samples, crystals, circuits or small pictures
from books or magazines that would otherwise have been photocopied for everyone
to see and discuss at the same time). Objects placed on the visualiser and the
image displayed within a Window on the computer, can then be annotated using
the ‘Mobi View’ from anywhere in the classroom, and the resulting image and
annotations saved on the network for future study or made available to pupils
via the school’s Learning Platform.
The teacher shown using
the visualiser in the picture is positioned so that he can maintain eye contact
with the class. The ideal position of the Visualiser is therefore away from the
wall, much like the position needed for the old OHPs. It was for this reason
that teachers in Barking and Dagenham designed a purpose-built mobile teacher
workstation and developed the concept of the ‘umbilical cord’ which connected
the workstation to a convenient panel on the wall.
The workstation has lockable
wheels, a secure cupboard with racks for the computer, DVD player and
amplifier, pull-out trays for keyboard and mouse, and sufficient depth for a
flat-bed visualiser and monitor. In addition, there are extra sockets on the
top providing power, network and USB for easy access. All the cable management
is inside the workstation, and there is a secure access panel for technical
staff. Once in the optimal working position, the wheels can be locked, and
heavy duty safety mats can be placed over the umbilical cord.
The Barking and Dagenham Interactive Technology Solution
The components of the solutions are:
Computer, keyboard and mouse
22” widescreen desktop monitor
Visualiser
Mobile Interactive Whiteboard
100” diagonal Supernova projection screen
Ceiling mounted, conventional throw, projector
DVD player
Amplifier
Wall mounted speakers
Teacher Workstation
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