Onderzoek over tablets in het onderwijs

Leestijd: 3 minuten

Onderzoek over tablets in het onderwijs

Er is in de UK een website van een vrijwilligersorganisatie die lijkt op O4NT (Onderwijs 4 een Nieuwe Tijd): Tablets for Schools (T4S).  Zij willen scholen van informatie voorzien m.b.t. de invoering van tablets in het onderwijs.

Naar aanleiding van de publiciteit over de start van de O4NT-scholen in Nederland verscheen er ook een goed blog op die site over de rol van de leerkracht.  Interessant is dat die schrijver in Engeland onze aanpak blijkbaar beter heeft bestudeerd en begrepen dan menig publicist in Nederland.

Vandaag is een nieuw onderzoeksrapport uitgekomen over het effect van tablets in scholen in Engeland. Bepaalde scholen worden al sinds 2011 gevolgd.  Hier staan de belangrijkste bevindingen.  Het rapport is hier op te vragen.

Onderzoeksrapport

Het onderzoeksrapport is in lijn met onze verwachtingen en ervaringen op het vlak van tablets in het onderwijs in Nederland. Dit is de voornaamste conclusie:

Pupils appear to have greater engagement with learning, collaboration with peers increases, and teachers can monitor individual progress effectively. There are some concerns about pupil distraction and managing time effectively. It is clear that schools need time to adjust to the introduction of one-to-one devices, and that the functions of the Tablet need to be understood by teachers, together with the changes to pedagogy that are brought about by an increase in independent learning. Strong leadership helps this process. Infrastructure, insurance or self-insuring, and protection for the devices need to be considered before introduction takes place, and access to appropriate content is key to using the devices effectively. For schools considering the introduction of one-to-one Tablets, learning from schools that have undergone this journey is highly beneficial. 

Enkele van de andere interessante conclusies zijn:

–  There are considerable cost savings schools can make through the implementation of one- to-one Tablets, and longitudinal schools are beginning to see the benefits of this.

–  Tablets can be described as a portable pedagogical toolbox, offering within one device a record of learning and research, and a means to communicate with teachers and peers to enable collaborative learning.

–  The Tablet allows teachers to differentiate between different styles of learning and different learning abilities, which is of benefit to children with special educational needs as well as to gifted and talented children.

–  Independent learning is one of the first visible effects of Tablet use, which has been observed to lead to increased pupil motivation and engagement.

–  The pedagogical impact of Tablets develops over time, as teachers grow in confidence and develop their approach to teaching. This process of change is dependent on strong leadership that is willing to take risks and lead this evolution of change.

–  Teachers were observed helping pupils develop sophisticated source discrimination skills by alerting and coaching them to be critical of online sources.

– In addition to carrying out research online and visiting specific websites, apps are used to explore and produce information. This is mostly done using multi-purpose apps, by which is meant apps that can be used across a variety of topics and subjects in order to organise work, and to explore, present and document pupils’ learning. These include mind mapping,

Samenwerking

Net zoals in Nederland wordt er intensief door de scholen met elkaar samengewerkt om deze belangwekkende onderwijskundige vernieuwingen goed te implementeren en anderen de gelegenheid te geven om er ook van te leren.

Ik ben er zeker van dat binnen 5 jaar het overgrote deel der leerlingen op scholen in Westerse landen beschikken over een tablet in het onderwijs.

U heeft zojuist gelezen: Onderzoek over tablets in het onderwijs.

Volg Maurice de Hond op Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube.