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NG Developing Student GeneeUs
A recent project at Huntcliff School funded by Northern Grid was to develop learning materials for use with interactive handheld devices. This summary aims to distil some of the lessons learned so that others approaching similar projects do not need to reinvent the wheel. The project was based around producing resources for use in the History and Geography Departments, but many of the lessons learned are also applicable to other areas.
1. Selecting a Supplier of Interactive Handheld Devices
This did not actually come within the remit of the project at Huntcliff as the school had already purchased the GeneeUs system. However, as work on developing learning materials progressed, features of the systems which ought to be considered before purchase became clearer.
- Price (the obvious one!)
- Ease of preparation of learning materials. Many teachers are used to preparing materials using Microsoft (or similar) applications. If information and questions can be prepared using a familiar medium this is obviously an advantage. Software for interactive handheld devices which will sit inside or overlay existing applications have obvious advantages. If suppliers claim that materials can be easily imported from applications like Powerpoint check out carefully how effective this really is.
- Consider what facilities are offered within the software:
- Game play options – useful as a motivational tool. Are there different games for variety? Do they encourage different skills? Sometimes you might want students to respond quickly and accurately (fastest finger), on other occasions you may want students to be more reflective and have a greater emphasis on accuracy.
- Charts showing student choices – After students have inputted answers to a question you may want the option of being able to show the class a bar chart or pie diagram of their responses. This can be useful to discuss opinions (Why do you think Charles I deserved to die?) but only if it is possible within the software to ask questions which do not have a single correct answer! Another way of using this kind of survey with a class is to help them understand which topics they particularly need to focus their revision on.
- Conditional branching – This allows the software to move to a particular slide based on responses to a question. So if more than 50% of the class are unable to answer a question about the Schlieffen Plan (for example) the software can be set to move to an information slide on the topic. If a further question is answered correctly by 50% or more, the software may move onto a question on a different topic.
- Recording of student answers – depending on how the interactive handheld devices are used it can be useful to have access to a database of information from student answers. This can help the teacher to be aware of class (or student) areas of strength / weakness and tailor learning experiences appropriately. It is worth considering how easily this can be achieved – does a student need to be handed a particular handset or can they enter a code so that the software ‘recognises’ who they are? In what form is the data available?
- Screen freeze options – This means that students are unable to input answers to a question until a teacher removes the ‘screen freeze’. This can be vital to make sure that students read and consider questions carefully, perhaps discussing the answer in pairs, before inputting their answers.
- Audio – Be aware that students unable to read a question will be disenfranchised if the software does not provide for audio output (or screen freeze is not used to give time for the teacher to read aloud the question).
- Good technical support offered after purchase may be vital for your sanity.
- Make sure that you know how long the batteries in the handsets can be expected to last as these can be very expensive on a long term basis.
- A Free Trial Period is vital so that any technical difficulties can be ironed out and it is possible to check that the equipment and software are fit for the purpose for which they are designed.
For more information about the relative merits of interactive handheld devices the Falkirk Council Education Services ‘Evaluation of Classroom Response System / Voting Tools’ is very helpful. It gives teacher accounts of how they have trialled the different systems and includes a chart comparing their relative merits.
2. Creating Materials
- Working with a team of staff to develop / test resources would reduce significantly the amount of time which has to be devoted to preparing resources and dealing with technical issues. Alternatively additional non-contact time for a member of staff pioneering use of the interactive handheld devices may need to be built into the cost of the project.
- Think carefully about your objectives before creating any materials. How will using an interactive handheld system add value compared to not using technology? What specific features of the interactive handheld system will give a better experience? The focus should be on what learning will be achieved and how.
- Factual Recall Questions. Interactive handheld devices are often sold on the basis of being motivational (students ‘love’ using them) and that all students are involved in answering questions. Nobody can sit there quietly and make no input. Both factors have been borne out by experience. But in terms of learning, simple factual recall questions may have limited value. Interactive handheld systems (particularly when allied with a games element) can encourage rapid correct / incorrect responses without thought, discussion, or even a proper reading of the question. Students may show little interest in the correct answer as they don’t feel it’s likely to be asked again in the future! All they’re interested in is the current game. It may be worth slipping the same question in more than once so students make a habit of noting the answers to questions they did not answer correctly. A limited number of factual recall questions may be helpful to gauge current knowledge (perhaps to identify areas to revise prior to an exam), or to review learning perhaps for a starter or a plenary. The other key use for factual recall questions (particularly allied to a very competitive game element) is to cover those few facts students MUST know but hate to learn. So 15 key dates & events which would be helpful for Y11 History students shortly to sit their GCSE’s would normally be a nightmare to teach – but as a game with some discussion of the importance of each – along with the awareness that we’ll be doing them as a game in a random order in a future lesson – there’s suddenly a powerful motivation to try and learn them…
- Develop thinking skills through discussion. Multiple choice can be used to support deeper learning but this requires greater thought by the teacher. One way to do this may be to give students sources to look at closely with a partner. They are then asked multiple choice questions about the sources. If a freeze screen is used then students can be encouraged to discuss their answers before making an input. Encourage close observation by using complex multiple choice questions which require thought and possibly even rough working first. Students analysing why the poster ‘Women come into the factories’ was produced during the Second World War (an exam question) can begin to think through the relevant issues through use of interactive handheld devices. They may be encouraged to think about the propaganda element by considering the poster produced in 4 different colours. Which gives the warmest impression? After they have voted students can discuss their responses – which colour was chosen by the government and why? Another question could draw attention to ways the government exaggerated the attractiveness of factory life. A copy of the poster with a number of deliberate mistakes could lead to students listing in pairs the mistakes before selecting their chosen multiple choice answer about the number of mistakes. Such resources obviously require a huge investment in preparation but they are more likely to lead to deeper learning than factual recall questions.
- Be aware of differentiation and ‘down-time’ as issues. Once a student has made an answer input their learning may be held back until the rest of the class also makes an input. If all students are dealing with questions at the same level of ability then SEN students may be experiencing little success while the most able are barely challenged at all. Using ‘freeze screen’ and encouraging discussion time is helpful as students can be encouraged to justify and develop their views.
- Another way of encouraging differentiation is through role play. Students are asked identical questions but have to input the answers as different characters. The characters are distributed according to complexity. So in developing an understanding of the English Civil War students could be given a series of events (e.g. Charles married a Catholic) and after each be asked to respond to the statement ‘Charles I should be King’ (individually or in pairs) on the basis of their character. It is obviously much more difficult to decide at what point a Catholic hit hard by Ship Money would lose faith in the King than the view of Charles I. All students can use individual whiteboards to record their reasoning for each vote – this supports more meaningful discussion as charts of class responses show students moving from strong agreement with the statement towards disagreement. It also show assumptions which may need to be challenged (e.g. that Cromwell always thought Charles shouldn’t be King). In developing role plays like this issues may become oversimplified but do be realistic about what is achievable before trying to build in greater complexity.
- Build in an evaluation of different types of activity as you develop resources. For each one include questions about student enjoyment and how much they have felt they have learned from the activities they have taken part in compared to using more conventional lesson activities.
3) Copyright Issues.
Graphics and multimedia make for much more interesting presentations but issues of copyright cannot be overlooked, particularly when work is to be published on the web. Photos are copyright until 70 years after the death of the photographer, drawings are copyright until 70 years after they are completed. Here are some possibilities:
- Use copyright-free Clip Art
- Use preview versions of Pathe News Clips
- Use student drawings and graphics (students enjoy seeing scanned images of their own and other student’s work)
- Use relevant photos taken by yourself and friends
- Draw your own graphics (this is very time consuming and some of us don’t have the necessary skill!)
4) The Realities of using Interactive Handheld Devices in the Classroom
The real test of the activities produced is in the classroom. Here are some points to remember:
- Test all equipment thoroughly beforehand
- If possible have a trial run with a small group first e.g. History Club
- Have the ICT technician on stand-by
- Be up-front with students about whether you are planning for them to do a ‘game’ or a different type of activity
- Start with the simplest activities (e.g. a few factual recall questions) and work up to using features like ‘screen freeze’
- Encourage students to produce questions (and graphics)
- Be aware that the teacher input is vital – not only in creating resources but in pairing up students, encouraging and drawing out discussion points, varying pace, making sure that there is differentiation, varying learning activities, analysing the usefulness of the interactive handhelds to help to make a particular point etc.
- Do give it a go! Only then will you know whether it’s of use to you in your classroom!
5. Evaluation
Involve everyone you can in evaluation. Talk to other adults in the room – support assistants, teachers who want to see the equipment in use, the ICT technician. What comments can they make about the learning? Ask students about whether they enjoy / learn from different types of activities using the interactive handheld devices – make it a habit to build in a couple of evaluative questions at the end of every presentation.
6. Discuss Your Ideas
Discuss your ideas with other interested parties. When this project was in its infancy I read in the TES that Ben Walsh was involved in a project about the value of using interactive handheld devices. I e-mailed him and he kindly sent a number of journal articles and some material he had prepared as part of The use of voting handsets and software in the History classroom Project. This help (along with his comments on material I had already produced) was invaluable to helping me develop my thinking and improve the resources I had created.
7. Health Warning
Developing appropriate learning activities for the classroom and even sorting out the technological problems which crippled our early attempts at getting the system up and running have not been easy. A colleague who has witnessed many of the frustrations and difficulties encountered commented, “I think most schools attempting a project like this would have given up. It is worth recognizing that you are not a typical secondary school teacher in terms of your commitment and tenacity. I personally thing the ‘How to…’ Report should contain a health warning!”. It is certainly true that many of the issues were a lot more complex than originally envisaged but then the technology is improving all the time and if someone else has already blazed the trail…
Hannah Mohon, Huntcliff School, April 2007
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