NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Interactive video and associated technology in the school curriculum REPORT OF THE EVALUATION STUDY

September 1992 - June 1994

Diana Laurillard (IET, Open University, Project leader)

Lorraine Baric (IT Institute, University of Salford) Philip Chambers (Department of Education, Worcester College of HE)

Geoff Easting (Department of Education, University of Surrey) Adrian Kirkwood (IET, Open University)

Lydia Plowman (COGS, University of Sussex) Philip Russell (Independent Consultant)

Josie Taylor (IET, Open University)

The authors would like to express their warm thanks to all the teachers and pupils who co-operated with us during the evaluation, which demanded both their patience and their time.

© National Council for Educational Technology, 1994

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Interactive video and associated technology in the school curriculum

REPORT OF THE EVALUATION STUDY

September 1992 - June 1994

Foreword

The project to pilot the curriculum use of Interactive Video (IV) and associated technologies was announced in November 1991 by Michael Fallon, then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools. The aim of the initiative was to investigate IV as a resource for teaching and learning in the context of the National Curriculum. The first phase of this pilot project, involved 35 schools. 30 were funded by the Department for Education (including two Grant-Maintained schools), four were funded by the Welsh Office Education Department, and one school was funded by a Welsh LEA. The project was managed by the National Council for Educational Technology. The poroect covered a range of curriculum areas including mathematics, science and technology. One aim of the project was to pilot The World of Number discs which focus on number within the National Curriculum mathematics, and which were developed by the National Curriculum Council with Government funding.

The project took place against the background of the Government's strategy for information technology in schools, the main element of which has been grant support for LEA expenditure on training in the use of IT in schools and for the purchase of microcomputers and other IT equipment. The strategy also includes the piloting and development of the application of newer technologies for educational purposes, and it was within that framework that the IV pilot project - like the earlier CD-ROM project - was funded.

The first phase took place within the schools year 1992-93. The project was extended to a second phase within the school year 1993-94, to allow schools in all English LEAs, and a limited number of Grant-Maintained schools, to participate in piloting the number discs. This report is based on the experience on all participating schools, in England and Wales.

Contents List of Tables 1

Executive Summary 2

Background to the project 2 Implementation (see Section 3] 3 Impact on learning (see Section 4) 3 Resource provision (see Section 5} 4 Comparative benefits of interactive technologies (see Section 6) 4 IV and the teaching of mathematics (see Section 7) 5 Disc design (see Section 8) 5 Operational characteristics (see Section 9) 6 Access (see Section 10) 6 Customisation (see Section 11) 6 Management of innovation (see Section 12) 6 Recommendations (see Section 13) 6

1. Introduction 8 1.1. The Pilot and National Extension Studies 8 1.2. Aims and objectives 8 1.3. Description of the technology 9 1.4. Background 9 1.5. Previous evaluation studies 10

2. Evaluation methodology 12 2.1. The relation between evaluation and management 12 2.2. Quantitative data 13 2.3. Qualitative data 14 2.4 Data analysis 14 2.5 Findings 15

3. Implementation 16 3.1. Teacher preparation 16 3.2. Integrating IV with existing teaching 18 3.3. Optimal group size 20 3.4. Design of learning tasks 21 3.5. Follow-up activities 22 3.6. Supervised vs. unsupervised use 23 3.7. Self-managed learning 24 3.8. Concluding points 26

4. Impact on learning 28 4.1. Pupils enjoy it 28 4.2. Responsibility for learning 29 4.3. An exploratory medium 29 4.4. Covert learning 30 4.5. A non-reflective medium? 30 4.6. When it is good it is very very good... 33 4.7. And when it is bad... 35 4.8. IV in the curriculum 35 4.9. Concluding points 36

5. Resource provision 38 5.1. Patterns of usage 38 5.2. The disadvantages of under-resourcing 41 5.3. The relation between resource level and supervision 42

5.4. Concluding points 43

6. Comparative benefits of interactive technologies 44 6.1. The role of moving video 44 6.2. The quality of audio and visuals 45 6.3. Access and control 47 6.4. Degree of interactivity 48 6.5. Concluding points 50

7. IV and the Teaching of Mathematics 51 7.1 How were the sections used? 51 7.3 Motivational value 54 7.4. Generating ‘maths talk’ 55 7.5. 'Situating' the learning of maths 56 7.6 IV for staff development in mathematics teaching 58 7.6 Concluding points 59

8. Disc design 60 8.1. Ease of use 60 8.2. Interactivity 61 8.3. Use of visuals 61 8.4. Support for pupils 62 8.5. Support for teachers 64 8.6. Fit to the Curriculum 64 8.7. Enjoyment 65 8.8. Learning effectiveness 65 8.9. Teachers' views of disc design 66 8.10. Concluding points 68

9. Operational characteristics 69 9.1. Pupils easily learn to handle discs 69 9.2. The optimal working environment 69 9.3. Advantages of bar-codes 70 9.4. Disadvantages of bar-codes 70 9.5. How valuable is printer hard-copy? 71 9.6. IV takes significant time to set up and plan 72 9.7. Concluding points 73

10. Access 74 10.1. Children with learning difficulties 74 10.2. Effectiveness of the discs for children with special needs 75 10.3. Gender 77 10.4. Group co-operation 78 10.5. Concluding points 79

11. Customisation 80 11.1. Bar-coding 80 11.2. Opensoft and KeyAuthor 80 11.3. i-Media 80 11.4. How important is customisation? 82 11.5. Concluding points 82

12. Management of innovation 83

12.1. Within-school models 83 12.2. LEA models 86 12.3. Concluding points 87

13. Conclusions and recommendations 89 13.1. The value of interactive media 89 13.2. The World of Number discs 89 13.3. Resource discs 89 13.4. The context of use 90 13.5. The optimal medium for education? 90 13.6. Where should interactive media be targeted? 91 13.7. What would ensure success? 91

Appendix 1 Hardware used in the project 93

Appendix 2 Discs used in the project 94

Appendix 3 Teachers’ hints on getting the best out of the discs 97 Mathematics 97 Science and Technology 104 Creative work 106 Language 106

Appendix 4 Recent relevant publications 107

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List of Tables Table 1: Comparison of amount of use with level of resource share

Table 2: Comparison of amount of use with type of Extension school

Table 3: Comparison of spread across the curriculum by type of school

Table 4: Comparative changes in usage over time

Table 5: Usage of sections of the World of Number discs

Table 6: Time estimated that each section is likely to be useful within the course of one school year.

Table 7: Evaluation of the most used sections of the World of Number discs

Table 8a: Teacher's opinions of features of IV discs.

Table 8b: Teacher's opinions of features of CD-I discs.

Table 9: Average hours spent on aspects of planning IV use

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Executive Summary

Background to the project

The main aims of the Evaluation Study were: • to evaluate the Interactive Video World of Number materials developed by the National Curriculum

Council for the mathematics curriculum;

• to investigate the contribution of Interactive Video (IV) and associated technologies to the school curriculum and to students' learning in order to develop an informed educational perspective on new interactive technologies;

• to recommend strategies for successful implementation of new technologies.

The project was conducted in two phases, each included in the evaluation. The Pilot phase (Sept 1992 - July 1993) involved 16 primary schools, 1 middle school, and 18 secondary schools, in nine LEAs. These schools are referred to as the 'Core' schools. Two of the secondary schools were Grant Maintained. Each school received 1, 2 or 3 workstations, plus the World of Number primary or secondary discs, plus 4 or 5 additional discs relevant to other areas of the National Curriculum. Some schools also received CD-I and CDTV systems, so that comparisons could be made across the interactive media.

In the Extension phase, from September 1993 to March 1994, 208 schools (2 from each LEA) were involved. These schools are referred to as the 'Extension' schools. Each one received a workstation, together with the World of Number discs.

The project was managed by the National Council for Educational Technology (NCET), and the evaluation study was carried out by the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University.

The aims of the evaluation study were supplemented by a number of objectives to focus the findings around the issues of interest to teachers and LEAs:

operational characteristics of the systems;

effects of differential resource provision;

methods of implementation;

the impact on teaching and learning;

access to the technology ;

customisation of the materials to local needs;

benefits and disadvantages of the interactive technologies;

comparative characteristics of the IV/CD media.

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The findings reported are grouped according to these objectives and include further issues emerging from the study:

disc design

management of the innovation.

The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods of evaluation to investigate the impact of interactive video and associated technologies on learning processes.

Qualitative data was collected from over 100 teacher interviews, and a similar number of observation studies, and over 80 reports on schools; quantitative data was taken from questionnaires sent out at the end of each term of the project, giving 184 respondents from the Core schools and nearly 300 from the Extension schools altogether. These figures represent at worst a 50% return on some questionnaires, to at best a 90% return from the participating schools. Implementation (see Section 3]

Teachers in both the Pilot and Extension phases have embraced IV with considerable enthusiasm. Although it is an unusual form of teaching, being heavily technology-based, and imposing a particular way of teaching, teachers in general feel that it fits in well with their existing methods.

The idea that interactive technologies could replace teachers is not supported by the evidence. The successful teaching strategies were those that prepared the pupils for the on-line task, offered a structure for the work they did at the work-station, ensured at least occasional supervision of their progress, and provided some form of debriefing or follow-up activity to make sure the key lessons had been learned.

If IV is to be practicable, teachers need to plan their use of IV very carefully, and must take advantage of all the ways of minimising their effort, e.g. by giving sufficient time to familiarisation, by sharing disc support materials with other schools, by using whole-class demonstrations, by encouraging pupils to help each other, and by using structured tasks or customised worksheets. Supervision can never be avoided completely, as this risks serious reduction in the quality of learning achieved.

NCET has an important role to play in facilitating the transfer of successful disc support materials across schools. It would be valuable to set in place some method that allows this kind of support to continue.

Impact on learning (see Section 4)

Pupils enjoy using the new technology. They value its engaging qualities: both the audio-visual stimuli, and the active nature of their own involvement. The technology can also give access to information and ideas normally beyond the range of classroom materials.

There are several features of IV and CD technology that contribute to effective learning: user control gives pupils a sense of taking their own responsibility for their learning; resource-based learning allows pupils to explore and discover information for themselves, although this only works well when the activity is properly supported; interactivity supports investigative activities; the engaging qualities of the medium hold pupils' attention, making it capable of supporting complex conceptual learning.

Interactive technology supports some of the cognitive processes that constitute learning, and it also supports the affective aspects of motivation and enjoyment that enable the cognitive processes to be engaged in the first place, setting it apart from the old technologies of print, audio and linear video, which cannot support either to the same extent. This combination of interactivity and audio-visual features enables this technology to enhance the quality of learning.

Interactive technology cannot stand alone as a teaching method. Pupils’ on-system activity tends to encourage better experimentation but a less reflective general approach, e.g. pupils are unlikely to reflect on open-ended questions or on information that does not require a decision. This suggests that it must always be used in combination with more reflective teaching methods if learning is to be fully effective.

Resource provision (see Section 5}

The questionnaire data showed repeatedly, at all stages of the study, that shared use of a single system can achieve greater usage than sole use, given that teachers have only a limited range of discs. This requires careful timetabling and will not always work successfully. A collaborative approach to ownership of the systems ensures better shared usage.

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Average usage may be expected to stabilise at 4-5 hours per week per teacher.

There is little evidence to support the idea that new technology can be a school-based independent learning system, used by pupils away from the classroom context. This implies that systems must be provided as classroom-based or curriculum-based, rather than school-based. One machine per curriculum/classroom area appears to achieve optimal usage.

Comparative benefits of interactive technologies (see Section 6)

The new features of IV systems (moving video, interaction with video, high quality sound and visuals, high-capacity information storage) only achieve their potential when on-line work is combined with off-line work, when interactivity is used to support pupils with meaningful feedback, and when pupils are helped to develop their information-handling skills.

Information-handling skills will become particularly important as schools acquire more CD-based information resources. It is important enough that attainment targets in the National Curriculum may need to be strengthened in this area if pupils are to be introduced to resource-based learning at an early age.

The study describes the benefits of the various features of multimedia, so that teachers and designers can maximise their use of those features, whatever hardware configuration they are using. The only media comparisons possible on the basis of this study are contingent upon the particular discs used; they are not intrinsic to the media forms (e.g. teachers and pupils were sensitive to the poor quality visuals they encountered on some of the CD systems, but these are not necessary characteristics of these systems). Logistical features such as the manageability of the hardware, compatibility, and costs of hardware and software are more likely to appear important as the systems are more widely used.

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IV and the teaching of mathematics (see Section 7)

Teachers value the interactive media used in the project for their engaging qualities and their motivational effects. These features are seen as being useful for allowing pupils to work on their own, at their own pace, and relatively unsupervised, while still gaining learning benefits. In mathematics this is especially important because of pupils’ generally low motivation for the subject, and because it requires concentrated and repeated practice. However, few of the discs, or sections of discs, used in the project achieved this ideal. It remains a potential benefit of the medium for mathematics, rather than a frequently realised benefit of these particular discs.

It was noticeable that high usage of a disc section by teachers correlates with low supervision for that section.

The video component of IV is especially important for mathematics teaching because it appears to encourage ‘on-task’ talk. While pupils are talking about maths, explaining ideas to each other, this is helping to consolidate their understanding, by giving them a language for mathematics that is not simply formal systems. The use of video appears to be particularly conducive to generating talk about mathematics.

On some sections of the discs the video is particularly valuable because it can help to give meaning to mathematics, by enabling pupils to see the relationship between a mathematical representation and its real-world counterpart. These sections are very much appreciated by the teachers who use them.

Some of these obervations are mirrored in teachers' reactions to the Teaching Secondary Mathematics disc. This was judged not to be interactive, but as capable of encouraging interaction among teachers. It presented good quality video of classroom events, offered easy access to information, and gave users good control over the presentation, all of which combined to stimulate discussion and prompt a well-focused debate among teachers on approaches to teaching mathematics. In this context, IV was found to be very good for stimulating discussion of teaching for staff development purposes.

Disc design (see Section 8)

Certain key parameters emerged. On the key parameters of enjoyment, ease of use, good visuals, and assisting pupil learning, the discs used in the project do reasonably well. On other the key parameters of fit to curriculum, teacher and pupil support, and interactivity, they do much less well.

The strongest reported criticism of the discs is that they are not interactive enough and do not exploit the technology fully. There is consensus that discs need to be comprehensively indexed and made explicitly relevant to National Curriculum requirements.

The NCC Maths discs were appreciated particularly for their enjoyment value and ease of use, and also for their visual quality and educational value. Teachers were less enthusiastic about their degree of pupil/teacher support, their fit to the National Curriculum and their level of interactivity. The lack of interactivity in these discs was a particular disappointment.

The educational software design industry will have to take much more seriously the full exploitation of the new technology, and the formative evaluation of its designs, if it is to make any real impact on the quality of learning, and thereby increase its appeal to teachers.

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Operational characteristics (see Section 9)

Operational problems were rarely insurmountable. It is encouraging that teachers and pupils alike found the hardware and software easy to use once early difficulties were sorted out. Teachers need adequate time for familiarisation and lesson planning.

The optimal working environment requires small groups, sufficient space, clipboards (or some other support for pupils making or taking notes) and the use of a keyboard or handset. It is a clear disadvantage if there is no facility to print hard copy from a disc.

The support provided by NCET in the early stages was clearly greatly appreciated by teachers, and was undoubtedly a key factor in getting many schools up and running in reasonable time. It will be important to continue this kind of support whenever new techology is introduced; lack of such provision is a false economy. The main reason for lack of usage cited by the 11% of the questionnaire respondents who had not used the sytem was that hardware problems had not been sorted out.

Access (see Section 10)

Pupils with learning difficulties derive particular benefit from new techology, because it engages attention and increases concentration. The ease of operation and motivational qualities of the IV provide a rewarding learning environment for children with special needs. However, they must be properly supported, and may need positive discrimination to increase their access. Disc designers should take steps to ensure that they exploit fully what the new technology can do for children with special needs, and do not further disadvantage them.In particular, they need to make special provision to differentitate materials according to the kinds of special needs some children have.

The issue of access to new technology must remain salient for teachers, although the groups requiring special attention may change. Teachers are quite clear that girls are not especially disadvantaged as a group. Pupils that may be disadvantaged are those with less home access to computers, and those with less strong personalities.

Customisation (see Section 11)

There was too little evidence of customisation during the pilot study to be able to draw many firm conclusions about its value. Teachers see customisation as important because it is a way of keeping control over what is taught, and can improve the quality of the disc material.

The programming tools for authoring provided for this project are seen as too time-consuming.

Management of innovation (see Section 12)

Successful innovation involves the support of senior managers and the commitment of a school to innovation, the provision of enough time for teachers to familiarise themselves with materials and to introduce them to other teachers, sufficient technical and expert support, and quality materials. Staff development has been crucial for bringing more teachers into the use of the new technology.

The quality of the management environment has been relatively good throughout the project, with some support provided at all levels, regional, local and institutional. National support from NCET was also important in the transfer of support materials, and for operational problems. Support of this kind, that allows teachers to learn the basics, to share their experiences with others, and to have a source of help when needed is vital to the success of an educational innovation.

Recommendations (see Section 13)

Designers must find ways of offering teachers control and flexibility over materials, but without under-utilising the key benefits of interactivity.

The teaching of information handling needs urgent reconsideration, and may require a specific staff development initiative if teachers are to cope adequately with the new possibilities offered by resource discs.

Given its relative success, the project can serve as a good model on which to build other educational innovations. The critical factors were the following: the discs were designed in collaboration with teachers; they were developmentally tested in schools; they were sent out with support materials; they were disseminated to schools that had made a case for being able to use them well; practising teachers were given initial training; ongoing support, hardware and software support was continually available to schools; and the implementation was piloted so that lessons learned could be disseminated to all participants.

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The optimal interactive medium for education is one that provides interactivity, at least some moving video, high quality stills, sound and graphics, and computer-controlled adaptivity. The optimal medium for the industry will be one that relies on low-level interactivity, avoiding adaptivity as being too expensive and difficult to provide. It will be necessary to create special pressure from education if the former is to become the norm.

Interactive media should be targeted on those topics from any curriculum area that are both important and particularly difficult to teach, and where the presentation or practise of the topic requires high quality audio-visuals.

The motivational value of the medium means that it should be targeted on low ability pupils for whom it makes significant differences to their interest and attention span. For these pupils it can often make the difference between learning something and learning nothing.

New technology for education requires an industrial model for its development and implementation, to achieve the standards of excellence and the economies of scale it needs to be worthwhile. These will only be achieved as the educational system moves towards large-scale long-term integrated usage of new technology. Thus the infrastructure that needs to be in place to support the optimal development and implementation of new technology in schools touches every level and aspect of the school system.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

INTERACTIVE VIDEO AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGY IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

REPORT OF THE EVALUATION STUDY

September 1992 - June 1994

1. Introduction 1.1. The Pilot and National Extension Studies

The Pilot phase of the project included 16 primary schools, 1 middle school, and 18 secondary schools, involving nine LEAs. These schools are referred to as the 'Core' schools. Two of the secondary schools were Grant Maintained. Each school received 1, 2 or 3 workstations, plus theWorld of Number primary or secondary discs, plus 4 or 5 additional discs relevant to other areas of the National Curriculum. Some schools also received CD-I and CDTV systems, so that comparisons could be made across the interactive media. Details of systems and discs can be found in Appendices I and II.

In the Extension phase, from September 1993 to March 1994, 208 schools (2 from each LEA) were included. These schools are referred to as the 'Extension' schools. Each one received a workstation, together with theWorld of Number discs. Some of the secondary schools also received a disc for use in staff development: Teaching Secondary Mathematics.

The project was managed by the National Council for Educational Technology (NCET), and the evaluation study was carried out by the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University in collaboration with researchers from other universities.

At the beginning of each phase, once the schools had been selected, the project and the evaluation study were introduced to participating teachers at weekend workshops, held in regional centres. These were designed to train teachers in the use of the materials, and to initiate contact between them and the NCET staff who would be supporting them. At the beginning of the Extension phase, they provided an opportunity for the Core school teachers and the Evaluation Team to pass on some of the lessons learned from the Pilot phase.

1.2. Aims and objectives

The main aims of the Evaluation Study were:

• to evaluate the Interactive VideoWorld of Number materials developed by the National Curriculum Council for the mathematics curriculum;

• to investigate the contribution of Interactive Video (IV) to the school curriculum and to students' learning in order to develop an informed educational perspective on new interactive technologies;

• to recommend strategies for successful implementation of new technologies.

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These were supplemented by a number of objectives to focus the findings around the issues of interest to teachers and LEAs:

operational characteristics of the systems;

effects of differential resource provision;

methods of implementation;

the impact on teaching and learning;

access to the technology ;

customisation of the materials to local needs;

benefits and disadvantages of the interactive technologies;

comparative characteristics of the IV/CD media.

The findings reported below are grouped according to these objectives and include further issues emerging from the study. 1.3. Description of the technology

The Interactive Video (IV) systems provided to primary schools consisted of a videodisc player and monitor, with a remote control handset or bar-code reader.

The IV systems provided to secondary schools had a videodisc player and monitor controlled by a microcomputer, with keyboard or mouse as input devices.

The Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I) and Commodore Dynamic Total Vision (CDTV) systems consisted of the system and monitor, with handset or joystick controls.

The laserdiscs for IV are larger diameter, and larger capacity than compact discs, and can store video in analogue form, unlike compact discs which can only store data in digital form. This means than most compact discs currently hold only stills or graphics, rather than moving video, one key difference between the two types of disc. The CD-ROM versions of the World of Number discs do have moving video, but of poor quality, a feature of the software rather than the hardware.

Those systems that use only handset, joystick or bar-codes for input restrict the interactivity to forms of menu choices. A system that is controlled by a programmable microcomputer and uses a keyboard for input offers a wider range of forms of interaction: the keyboard enables pupils to construct their own input as words or numbers, and the programmable computer can adapt to their input, and offer feedback accordingly. This is another key difference between the systems available.

Only some schools linked their disc systems to printers, which were not supplied as part of the project. Not all the materials provided made use of the potential for printing out information, a feature, again, of the software, not the hardware.

In addition to the laserdiscs, CD-I discs and CDTV discs, NCET also provided sample customisation systems for selected schools: the authoring languages KeyAuthor and OpenSoft, and the iMedia system using smartcard technology to record teachers' preferred routes through the discs.

1.4. Background

Most of the early evaluation studies of IV originated in the United States, usually within the domains of the US military, medical applications and corporate use, and compared the efficacy of IV with other training methods. They tried to quantify the amount of information assimilated, usually by means of pre- and post-testing, and the reduction in training time required to achieve these results. These studies focused on cost-effectiveness and increased productivity.

The problems in isolating, or even identifying, learning variables have led to acknowledgement that multifaceted evaluation methods are required to obtain meaningful information. Evaluation methods which combine quantitative and qualitative approaches are favoured, often offering a broad perspective informed by statistics indicating the levels of usage and resourcing, and supported by a more detailed analysis based on systematic observation.

The range of methods also reflects different types of evaluation objectives. These can include an assessment of both short and long-term impact of the technology on the curriculum and learning, cost effectiveness, and management and implementation issues. Large scale evaluation usually takes place within a political context

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(the studies mentioned later were all funded by the DTI or DES) and the objectives are usually governed by the commissioning agent who sets the parameters of the study, such as time limits, choice of hardware and software, and the numbers of schools involved. Evaluators work within these constraints.

The following study continues this tradition in a number of respects. It has been funded by the DfE, it combines qualitative and quantitative methods, and there has been no attempt to measure learning gains, although the study investigates the impact of these technologies on learning processes.

1.5. Previous evaluation studies

A number of other evaluation studies of different aspects of IV or IT in schools within the last few years in the UK have taken a broadly similar approach.

The ‘Interactive Video in Schools’ (IVIS) project 1986-1988 was funded by the DTI and focused on eight IV packages as piloted in over 60 schools. The aims of the evaluation were to investigate the educational potential of IV in schools, to assist in the development of educational criteria to guide future software design, and to contribute to dissemination of lessons learnt from the project.

The evaluation of the ‘CD-ROM in Schools’ scheme operated within a very short timescale of just one term between schools receiving systems and the report's completion. The scheme involved more than 550 schools and the aims of the evaluation were to investigate the curricular impact of CD-ROM and how it related to particular features of the technology, and to consider the usability and setting up of systems.

Some of the issues raised are pertinent to this study: (i) that the quality of the software is at least as important as the technology, and (ii) the extent to which the control of learning pathways is decided by the designer rather than the learner. The authors comment on the danger of pushing the hardware into schools before there is an adequate supply of good quality materials suitable for a British market and report that the systems were greeted with great enthusiasm, that students found them very easy to use, and they had a positive motivational effect.

The ImpacT report focusses on the impact of IT on children's achievements in specific learning tasks and skills. This was a three-year project (1989-1992) which monitored IT resources and use across 87 classes and included 5 in-depth longitudinal studies focussing on classroom interactions. It reinforces the IVIS finding that the outcomes of pupils' learning are substantially influenced by teaching styles and management of IT in the classroom and suggests that there is a minimum threshold of IT access for its contribution to pupils' learning to be apparent.

The case studies suggest that teacher training needs to cover familiarisation with hardware and software, and also the development of classroom management skills and teaching styles which are conducive to the more open-ended and collaborative work facilitated by learning with computers.

Some of these issues are considered in the output from the ‘Groupwork with Computers’ project, funded by the InTER programme of the ESRC 1989-1991. This was a wide-ranging study showing that computer-based groupwork is not a single phenomenon, but that the nature of the group, the curriculum content, and the type of software engender different work styles and responses and that simple interventions by teachers could alter the group dynamic considerably. They consider ways in which the computer mediates social interaction within the group and its different roles in task-based environments. This is an important area for consideration in the present study, as the observations undertaken were usually of group use of IV or CD technologies.

Although the scope and focus of these studies varies considerably, there are a number of recurring issues worthy of further investigation:

• All studies report a paucity of evidence showing learning gain directly as a result of interaction with these technologies.

• The teacher's influence is still considered paramount. • There is much evidence to suggest both teacher and pupil enthusiasm for interactive media. They

are considered by teachers to be great motivators, and children generally find them easy to use and enjoy the opportunity to learn at their own pace.

• The importance of careful attention to management, access and implementation issues at both the classroom and LEA level is also a common theme.

The following report adds to our knowledge about these issues and considers ways in which the design of software influences learning processes.

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2. Evaluation methodology

The aims and conditions of the Pilot phase put a number of constraints on the format of the evaluation. The approach was designed to meet the objectives as follows:

• The major part of the data-gathering had to be done on-site, using observation and interviewing in order to develop an understanding of the technology that was grounded in participants' experiences - students, teachers, and school managers.

• Interviews and observation studies were carried out by negotiation with teachers, to coincide with lessons when the systems were expected to be in use.

• The members of the Team of evaluators were selected for their experience in evaluation of new technology and for their proximity to the Core schools, to enable frequent visits, timed to coincide with interesting usage. Thus each local group of schools had one evaluator, with whom a continuing relationship could be developed.

• The Team was co-ordinated by the Project Director, sited at the Open University, and met 8 times during the study to consolidate methods and findings.

• To ensure comparability of data, the Project Director, in consultation with the Team, designed templates for interview and observation schedules for all data collection, and for reporting procedures.

• To enable productive co-operation and comparison across schools of patterns of practice, the Team reported back after each visit, and the Project Director analysed these cumulatively, to build up and communicate current findings and any key emergent issues to all members of the Team.

• To ensure generalisability of findings the site-based data, together with telephone interviewing of school contacts not being visited that term, was used to design a questionnaire sent to all schools once each term.

• To enable evaluators to discern key contrastive factors in implementation, the Project Director and each member of the Team visited at least 2 schools each term.

• As the study required the co-operation of teachers, both in giving their time to be interviewed, and in allowing evaluators to observe their classes, negotiation with them began at the NCET Training Days, and continued in detailed discussions over the arrangements for site visits.

• As the developers of the IV World of Number discs already had considerable experience of use of the discs from developmental testing, they were consulted at the start of the project over the likely educational benefits of the materials, and the optimal conditions for their use.

• The Interim and Phase 1 Reports were sent to participating schools, so that evaluation findings were communicated to practitioners as early as possible.

• For the Extension phase, the Team continued to visit the Core schools, and sent questionnaires to all participating schools, with questions designed on the basis of findings from the Pilot phase.

In addition to these planned methods of data collection, the Team were fortunate in receiving from teachers many examples of pupils’ work, and copies of pupils’ evaluation comments, carried out as part of their work on the discs.

2.1. The relation between evaluation and management

Although evaluation can be a valuable tool for management decision-making, since it provides regular information on how a project is developing, it is important that it never be confused with management itself. The Evaluation Team negotiated good working relationships with each of the core schools, and it was important for the continuing success of the relationship that trust was maintained, and we were not seen as having managerial responsibility for the schools or the project. In each case, the most senior member of staff in charge of the project, usually a Deputy Head. was kept fully informed of all contact with the school.

The importance of the team evaluation was widely recognised, and by its very existence appeared to encourage activity and thoughtful approaches. In this sense, evaluation is more than just a tool for management decision-making. When there is higher management - in this case central government - interest in the evaluation, it does appear to have a positive effect in terms of local provision of a supportive organisational structure: provision of dedicated rooms, staff time, recognition of success, and an entrepreneurial culture with respect to educational technology in general. The evaluation itself acted as a signal that NCET cared about what happened in the schools.

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The regular reporting back to NCET meant that the evaluator's role could be compromised, however. Although teachers were told that the Team was independent of NCET, we were seen as at least a direct line to them, and as acting on their behalf. For example, one evaluator was drawn into dealing with a school which was not fully exploiting its systems: correspondence from NCET referred to comments and suggestions made by the evaluator. This made the evaluation immediately useful to management, but had an undeniable effect on the continuing relationship between school and evaluator. On a subsequent visit the evaluator was viewed differently, more as an inquisitor, and teachers felt obliged to give a perhaps inaccurate account of usage as they were concerned that NCET would prevent them from keeping the systems at the end of the project. There is a delicate balance to be maintained between immediate management action, and a continuing viable evaluation role.

Schools appreciated the strong links which built up with their evaluators over a period of time, and it is possible that we contributed to the success of the project to a certain extent. We were a source of motivation to keep involved. Teachers also commented that they felt much more disposed to make an effort over the questionnaires when they were being returned to a known evaluator rather than the disembodied OU. This also enabled evaluators to keep a much closer eye on what was happening, as the questionnaires were a useful extra source of information and could prompt further visits or 'phone calls.

For future projects, the model used for evaluating this one had a number of benefits. The initial Pilot phase, in which a relatively small group of schools which could be visited regularly and relationships established, provided mainly qualitative findings to inform the Extension Study, which collected primarily quantitative data. It also had the benefit that teachers from the Core schools could train the new participants, although this could have been exploited further, especially if more INSET money had been made available.

2.2. Quantitative data

Questionnaires were sent to all participating schools, via the evaluators. Questionnaire 1, sent at the beginning of January for comment on the previous term, collected data on usage, opinions of discs used, and attitudes to the media, all focusing on issues relevant to the objectives outlined above. Questionnaire 2, sent out in April, for comment on the Spring Term, was identical. It was planned to send out the same questionnaire again at the end of the Summer Term, so that trends could be plotted over the year. However, returns on Questionnaire 2 were slow to come in, the Summer Term was very short in some areas, and by then there was the prospect of an extension phase, so it was expedient to postpone the third edition of the questionnaire until the Autumn Term, and collect more reflective data at the end of the Summer Term, using Questionnaire 3. Questionnaire 4, similar to 1 and 2, was sent out at the end of the Winter Term 1993, and Questionnaire 5, which collected similar usage data, but also added more questions on school management, was sent out at the end of the Spring Term 1994.

Returns were as follows:

Questionnaire 1 (Jan 1993) 35 teachers, 18 schools.

Questionnaire 2 (April 1993) 54 teachers, 24 schools.

Questionnaire 3 (June 1993) 31 teachers, 17 schools.

Questionnaire 4 (Jan 1994) 37 teachers (Core schools).

188 teachers (Extension schools).

Questionnaire 5 (April 1994) 27 teacher (Core schools)

96 teachers (Extension schools)

The Extension phase included 208 schools, so these figures represent at best a 90% return from those schools. 94% of the respondents have used the IV system with their pupils, which provides a reasonable sample size on which to base conclusions about IV usage in schools.

The first questionnaire was also sent to the schools involved in the developmental testing of the World of Number secondary discs. These schools constituted long-term users of IV in the classroom, and provided a picture of what usage might be like in schools where (a) IV is no longer a novelty, and (b) there is no special continuing support at national or LEA level. Returns were as follows:

Questionnaire 1 (Jan 1993) 19 teachers, 11 schools.

Questionnaire 2 (April 1993) 8 teachers, 8 schools.

This data is used to inform projections of current data, not as part of the evaluation of the project.

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2.3. Qualitative data

Qualitative data was collected through interviews and observation of classroom activities. To date the eight members of the evaluation team carried out over 108 teacher interviews, together with 106 observation studies, synthesised in 84 reports on schools. Additional data from teachers’ meetings and pupils’ evaluations have also been incorporated into the analysis. All the schools have remained active throughout the study, although there is great variation in the amount of activity.

Qualitative data is quoted where relevant throughout the report, giving sources as 'Int' = interview, 'Obs' = observation schedule, 'Rep' = report on a school visit by the evaluator.

2.4 Data analysis

All evaluators sent copies of observation reports, interviews and school reports to the Team leader. Findings were grouped under the eight main objectives in the form of emerging descriptors, each with references to those reports which documented the evidence. This 'qualitative data analysis' document was updated regularly, adjusting descriptors, and adding references, and a copy was sent to all members of the Team at intervals, so that they could see how their own findings related to the collective data. At Team meetings, this document enabled members to agee on where there were gaps or discrepancies to be followed up.

At the report writing stage, this document was used to generate a 'Questionnaire for Evaluators', a disc-based template to which each evaluator contributed their own analysis of each category of finding. These replies were collated and edited to form the basis of the first draft of the report, which was then circulated to the Team again for further comment. In this way, we were able to ensure that all members of the Team had their findings fully represented, and were intimately involved in all stages of the data analysis and write-up.

2.5 Findings

The findings from the study are grouped under the main objectives of the evaluation study, as described in section 1.2. In addition, it was clear that management issues were critical fctors for success, so this forms an additional section. Throughout the report, findings are generalised across all schools, except where they are specific to primary and secondary, in which case this is made clear.

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3. Implementation

The evaluation study set out to identify strategies and methods of classroom organisation and teaching style that appear to be successful for introducing the interactive technologies. This section describes the main features of a number of different approaches we observed, giving illustrative examples of their success or failure in each case, and summarises our conclusions about good practice at the end.

The section begins with descriptions of the kind of preparation teachers have found necessary, and documents the different models of lesson organisation we observed. It then goes on to describe what happens within the lessons, how pupils are grouped, which kinds of learning tasks work best, and what the teacher's role has to be.

3.1. Teacher preparation

Teachers need some time to familiarise themselves with what is on the discs (see 'Operational characteristics' Table 9, section 9.6), and to decide how best to link the material to their National Curriculum (NC) targets. They need to know the extent of teacher and pupil support provided by the materials so that they can judge how much they need to generate for themselves. Many of the sequences are broad enough to be used in a number of different ways, but such use requires teachers to plan and support those varying approaches. At some schools teachers are given guaranteed free periods, funded by the NC training budget, to look at the materials specifically with NC in mind. This was important as many teachers found it difficult to find the links (see ‘Disc Design’).

There is so much material. It’s a pity it’s so difficult to know what is really in it [Int, Secondary teacher].

Finds it time-consuming rather than a relief. Wonders how much time she can validly spend on it given that it could be more tailored to the National Curriculum. [Int, Primary teacher].

Preparation of IV is time-consuming because of the familiarisation process - browsing and scanning takes much longer than for print. The questionnaire data showed that this takes 9 hours on average, but with a very wide variation, between 1 and 50 hours, and the measure staying high for the continuing core schools. At least the questionnaire data shows that all teachers agree it is worth the effort (a mean of 2.1 on a 1 to 5 scale).

It is important to set aside time (9 hours was average) for initial familiarisation with disc material.

For many teachers this has been their main preparatory activity, and it would be valuable if the resulting mappings of disc material to National Curriculum ATs could be shared among all teachers.

The culture is very much a pupil-centred, exploratory type of approach. Individual, small group use of machines makes sense, so they are less interested in mapping materials onto ATs, but would like to exchange mappings with other schools where possible [Report on Secondary school].

In the latter stages of the project, this has now begun to happen, as NCET takes responsibility for acting as a conduit of materials between teachers, disseminating good practice, and thereby encouraging more.

All teachers should take advantage where possible of the existent mappings of disc material onto NC ATs created by other teachers.

The World of Number discs attract some criticism for not being closely linked to particular ATs, and teachers have spent much time producing suitable worksheets for those sequences that they feel do link well. It was a source of amazement to many teachers that discs developed by the NCC did not have obvious links to the National Curriculum.

She considers that worksheets are essential to focus the activity and to revise what they’ve learnt. She produces her own, as those provided are unsuitable. [Int, Primary teacher].

This lack of fit is only to be expected with the other discs. Discs that have not been specifically designed for school use may contain valuable sequences, but they are usually unsuitable for use without supervision or customisation by teachers. This is often due to changes in level in coverage of a topic - from material that is suitable for school students of a particular age to material that is too demanding. Teachers using these discs get more out of them when they prepare worksheets relating the work to other classroom activities, or integrate them explicitly with project work. The difficulty of finding material to fit the lesson makes it more efficient to work the other way round.

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She had looked through the disc for suitable materials and then built a lesson sequence around it rather than set up lessons and then look for suitable material [Int, Secondary teacher].

It is easier to work from the disc, and create customised worksheets around the disc material, than to search for appropriate material on

the disc.

IV is a resource that lends itself to different uses and different philosophies of teaching, and we found successful examples of both highly structured use, and freer unstructured use.

The most successful use of IV was found more often in the more structured formats, where teachers had a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve with the IV, and what they expected students to do with it. Whether supervision was close or not, teachers frequently felt that further support was needed in the form of worksheets, and many of them spent some time preparing them. This was time well spent, but it was apparent that worksheets had to be carefully designed to provide clear aims and set the context of pupils’ work. Without this, their time can be unproductive.

Using worksheet on Radioactivity. They seem very uncertain about what they’re meant to be doing. Although they have a worksheet it’s not very informative, and they don’t seem to have been given any context for the work. Need more teacher input but the supervising teacher is busy with his class. Increasingly bored and lost. Say ‘Oh this is exciting’ in a sarcastic manner. Can’t work out what’s going on in the ‘building an atom’ section. Move on to experiment and much more impressed by graph and instruments - turning knobs, setting switches etc; girls liven up a bit and read out instructions from the worksheet, point to screen and make suggestions ‘Yeah this is the ticket, we’re getting the hang of this now’, ‘Oh this is exciting, isn’t it’ (not sarcastic). Nevertheless, they don’t really seem to have a clear idea of what they’re doing or how it relates to anything else. [Obs, ages 15-16].

Children need worksheets to provide them with a context and clear aims for their work on the system.

The introduction of clear routines and the use of simple handouts can provide short-term (for the pupils) and long-term (for teachers subsequently using the materials) benefits in relation to IV.

Working with his class of 9-10yr.olds this teacher has built up a clear routine for using the IV which makes it accessible both to children and to other teachers. A simple handout instructs the children in how to operate the IV. It also asks questions geared to the subject of the class maths work and the related work done by pairs on the IV. [Obs, WofNP, Hundreds and Thousands, ages 9-10]

Careful design of the worksheets, relating the work closely to the design of the IV, requiring pupils to attend to the material and answer questions, not just follow instructions, makes it more likely that they will make thorough use of the material.

The teacher had prepared worksheets based on those in the notes supplied with the discs, including the relevant bar-codes. The questions on the worksheet required the children to pay careful attention to what they saw on the video. They responded to prompts from the IV and discussed the answer among themselves. The children worked through the chapters more than once to be sure they had the answers correct. Worksheets based on the ones provided with the discs ensure the work is properly targeted - the children do a lot of critical reading both from the screen and from the worksheets. [Obs, ages 7-8].

Worksheets should ask questions that direct pupils’ attention to the disc.

3.2. Integrating IV with existing teaching

Because previous studies have emphasised the importance of teaching style and the classroom management of IT, the evaluation study used observation sessions in classrooms to identify the key factors involved, and to relate these to pupils’ activities on the IV systems. The most influential factors are the nature of the tasks undertaken by pupils, and the level and type of supervision offered by teachers, discussed below. At the more general level of lesson planning, it was important to observe the extent to which the IV work is integrated with other classroom work, and to understand how best to achieve this. We saw several models for using interactive technologies:

• Introduction using IV by the teacher to the whole class, then structured problem-solving off-computer by pupils working alone.

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• Introduction using IV by the teacher to the whole class, then structured problem-solving off-computer by pupils working alone, then structured problem-solving on-computer by pupils working in groups.

• Introduction using IV by the teacher to the whole class, then exploration on IV by pupils working in groups.

• Introduction by teacher to each small group working on IV, with close supervision. • Introduction by teacher to each small group working on IV, with little further supervision. • Introduction by teacher to first small group; thereafter cascade effect of pupils introducing it to

the next group; little further supervision. • Off-line project activity by groups of pupils, followed by on-computer observation work with IV

in small project groups. • Free exploration of discs by pupils.

The models that provide pupil preparation, and follow-up work were the more successful. The questionnaire data shows that there is most support for using IV as one of several group activities, particularly from secondary teachers, or in combination with whole class work. Small group work at the IV workstation fits in well with secondary schools' approaches to Maths teaching, when this is undertaken in mixed ability classes and with individual work plans. It is used as one resource among several: small groups work with fairly short sequences of IV material that are linked to individual tasks. IV is not favoured either for whole-class work or individual use alone - primary teachers in particular disagree with the latter.

Introduction by the teacher to the whole class was much more efficient in teacher time than doing it for each small group separately, unless, of course, different groups had different needs. Small group activity at the IV takes place in the context of small group work by the rest of the class, all of whom still require teacher attention. The separate group introductions were too vulnerable to the teacher being called elsewhere. From questionnaire data, teachers were clear that IV does not work best as a whole-class teaching aid, and is best used as one of several small group activities, so whole-class use is confined to introductions.

Give introductions to the whole class rather than to each small group.

The cascade method of training is valuable for learning the technicalities, but risky if applied to conceptual aspects: children helping each other is an important bonus from the enthusiasm they bring to IV, but can be unreliable if the children are uncertain of the aims of the task. On the other hand we saw children giving better advice than the teacher on the minor technicalities. Teachers are agreed on the educational value of this, as well as the great convenience it offers. One secondary school using IV but with only one of its six feeder schools using it, encouraged the pupils from that one school to initiate the other children.

We use the cascade system of training to teach the children how to use the equipment. One child trains two who then train four and so on. The children from the school already using the equipment are very keen to teach the others. [Int. Secondary teacher ]

Allow the ‘cascade’ model to operate among pupils, but don’t rely on it for conceptual learning.

When pupils are working entirely off-computer, and the teacher uses the IV solely as a whole-class introduction, the IV becomes little more than a standard teaching aid in the form of a series of flashcards, or a trigger video. It works very successfully, often producing some high quality supervised class discussion, but it is debateable whether it fully exploits the medium.

Structured problem solving off-computer followed by the same task on the IV was often very successful. For example, in the World of Number (S) disc, where the children are able to see other children's working, this was very effective as they were able to relate it directly to the work they had already started themselves.

This format of being presented with the problem first, by the teacher, working it out, and then going to the IV seems very effective. It removes the time taken to discuss and carry out calculations from time spent at the system, and means that all the interaction between them is focused - it’s easier to

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learn, it’s not in a vacuum because they’ve already done the same problem. They are all able to follow it and the pace is much more lively. [Obs, WofNS, Ways of Calculating, ages 13-14].

Use off-computer preparation of tasks in advance of trying the same tasks on the IV.

Free exploration was rarely successful. Pupils would too easily sample, and hurry on, seeking something more exciting, anxious not to miss anything. Several schools allowed pupils to use the systems in unstructured lunchtime sessions, and these were popular. It is probably more productive to use these sessions for encouraging the individual initiative that free exploration fosters, and to reserve lesson times for the apparently more successful structured usage.

Because it wasn't easy for them to work out what the activities were they would have a cursory glance and then move on. A brief introductory guided tour would give children an opportunity to get a flavour of what's on a disc so they could select a topic in a more informed way. [Obs, ages 14-15].

Offer structured tasks to avoid unproductive browsing.

The other key difference in lesson planning, which could apply to any of the above models, was the duration of the session on the IV. This could be as much as 60 minutes, i.e. the entire lesson for one group, with other groups having their turn in later lessons. IV can certainly sustain interest for 60 minutes if the sequence is well-designed. Short sessions have the advantage that more pupils can use the IV within one lesson, and brevity does not necessarily mean lack of depth.

The task, taken from the disc, had been set up with the whole class. They then worked in groups and came to the system in those groups. 3 groups in 30 minutes. Not aimed at sustained work but stimulus for much smaller sections. Seemed to work very well - very focused discussion and material seemed genuinely useful to them in sorting out the problem. [Obs, WofNS, Pond Borders, ages 12-13].

Consider using short sessions at IV (~10 minutes each).

3.3. Optimal group size

If the teacher is doing a whole-class demonstration of course the group size has to be that of the class. We saw many instances of whole-class demonstrations being used very successfully as a way of introducing the material on the disc, but they tended to be kept short. The screen is small, and many children will be straining to see. It is a help if much of the message in a sequence is carried by the audio. The main value of a whole-class demonstration is to create a context for the work on IV, and to create in the children the expectation that this is going to be worth doing, and is easy to operate. It is not the optimal way to produce reflective learning.

The whole class of 18 pupils watch together crowded round the system in one corner of class, some sitting, others standing. Watch Intro intently. They are very excited about it, but the group size is too large for them to have the sort of discussion necessary to work out a strategy. They therefore operate mainly on guesswork and calling out ideas. [Obs1, WofNS ‘Who Stole the Decimal Point?’, ages 10-1].

Using the technology to initiate a whole-class discussion can work effectively, however, when the teacher is using it as a teaching aid, and leading the discussion. In this mode, it is possible for under a minute’s worth of IV to lead to a half hour discussion.

IV can be used as an effective means of introducing concepts and winning the attention of a whole class.

This whole class session to some extent demonstrated the nonsense of even bothering to use the IV in such a situation ('It doesn't matter if you can't see that well. . . . . listen.') Nevertheless the attention of the class was impressive and the IV was useful in modelling a methodical approach - defining a problem and trying various strategies to work it out. [Report, WofNS, Toast, ages 11-12]

We saw some excellent examples of how IV can be used in whole class lessons, where it can serve as an effective means of holding attention while introducing specific concepts. Given good sight lines, and with the teacher as operator/instructor/facilitator it is possible to ensure that the whole class benefit from the IV. These lessons also serve as motivators for future use - evidenced both by positive pupil response and by pupils being directed to the open access IV for future projects.

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When the IV is used by pupils in a circus arrangement, with, for example, each small group using it once every two weeks, its use with the whole class consolidates the learning they have done in the groups.

The whole class are consistently involved. At the end of the week, or when the subject is finished, the whole IV programme is gone through with everybody. This also includes a contribution from those pupils who have worked with it. In this way the discussion is lead by 'experts'. [Obs, WofNP, Hundreds and Thousands, ages 9-10]

Don't underestimate the usefulness of IV as a method of delivering concepts to the whole class.

For small group work the consensus seems to be that 3 works best for facilitating discussion and shared input; 4 gets the whole class through the system more quickly, and 5 is definitely too many, as one gets left out. If a group is too large there can be problems of control and direction within the group.

The group of 10 seemed rather large for focused work on the problems posed on the IV. Not all the group members seemed to be actively involved, and only 2 or 3 seemed to determine when an unsolved problem was abandoned. There was little interaction during the problem-solving activity and left the IV unused for several periods of time [Obs, WofNS ‘Who Stole the Decimal Point?’, ages 14-15].

With 2 or 3, or at the most 4 students, each can make a contribution to work with the IV courseware and it can be rewarding for group members to see how they can adopt different approaches and use different methods. Such benefits tend to be lost with a larger group - some students dominate the controls and decision-making, while the contribution of others may be disregarded (intentionally or unintentionally).

After 1 hour the children are still working positively, helping each other and surmising. Some excellent co-operation between the children was being encouraged. All 4 were meaningfully occupied due to the IV, and the teacher input. [Obs, WofNS ‘Who Stole the Decimal Point?’, ages 12-13].

The optimal group size for IV work is 3, depending on the size of the class, and the nature of the task.

3.4. Design of learning tasks

The great value of IV is that it has the flexibility to allow use in a variety of ways. It supports the full range from exploratory activities to hypothesis testing. Structured tasks seem to work best in the school context. A task with a certifiable end point, such as an answer to a maths problem, tends to keep students working persistently even when unsupervised. Exploratory sessions, especially if they have no assessment attached, tend to tail off in a rather pointless way. Knowing when they have achieved the goal has an important motivating effect for children.

They have to work out which of 8 possible diagrams is correct, then run test and find out if they’re right. They are successful and are delighted with it as it has been quite difficult. They choose to do another when they could have stopped. [Obs, WofNP, ‘Sorting them out’, ages 7-8]

Use structured, focused tasks, where possible.

A number of the tasks on the discs are too general for pupils to make good use of them unsupported. Questions such as 'Do you always need to measure accurately?' are far too open and children do not know where to start. On the other hand, some apparently focused exercises generate guessing and little discussion. Decisions that require some reasoning and discussion are better.

With a series of true/false questions the related discussion is fairly minimal - “I think it’s false” - but without reasoning. One question asks them to choose the correct procedural order for programming a robot from 6 choices. This is more complex than the true/false format and produced more useful discussion [Obs, ages 16-17].

Teachers feel that tasks set by the discs are often either too open or too closed and there is not enough guidance, so children have to interrupt teacher for help and advice. For example, although the World of Number(S) discs introduce maths problems in an engaging and motivating way, feedback provided to pupils is often lacking and must be provided by the teacher to individuals or groups. Pupils have expressed disappointment at the lack of solutions or methods provided on the discs for comparison with their own.

Tasks on the discs must be carefully judged for the extent to which pupils can support their own learning - many are not sufficiently

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structured. Customised worksheets, or prior off-computer work can create more structure.

The worksheets provided for duplication with maths discs have also been found unsuitable by some teachers, especially for primary use: too much text, and too many activities per sheet. Those for the secondary maths discs were more warmly received, though still criticised.

As the main form of usage of IV is in small groups, an important element is turntaking and discussion within the group. Primary school children seemed to need more explicit encouragement to take turns, and some schools implemented strict rules for rotating input mechanisms. Teachers may assume children will share by this age, but that is not always the case. Many times we observed that one child would take control of the handset or mouse at beginning of a session, without any apparent discussion, and not relinquish it until the end of the lesson or until a particular disagreement about an answer or navigation.

Group discussion makes an uncertain contribution to learning. It can encourage improvement in the social skills of co-operative learning, but the improvement in cognitive skills is unclear. Many teachers feel it is important that they check on what pupils have understood, as none of the discs incorporate this kind of interaction.

She usually lets the group go through the disc and worksheet with as little intervention as possible. Then the whole class goes through it and she picks up any problems they have not understood. This is essential because they have often failed to pick up the point of a section. [Int, Primary teacher].

It is difficult to judge the quality of learning taking place through pupil discussion, so it is important to use some means of checking

they have understood.

Most of the tasks on the "World of Number" secondary materials require little in the way of interaction at the workstation. More usually, the IV introduces a problem or puzzle for students to solve - worksheets and group work are then necessary to complete the task. Planning the appropriate balance between on-computer and off-computer work on the tasks for all the groups in the class can be complex.

The activities required pupils to find a pattern. They spent a lot of time discussing their findings and working out the hypothesis and how to test it. Pupils were allowed to stay on the system as they did this. This is time-consuming. To give all groups sufficient time to accomplish the task set, the time required to follow through a section for one group of 3 must be multiplied by ten. [Obs, Secondary school].

Teachers have to work out a strategy for mixing on-computer and off-computer work on a task, to optimise system usage in the time

available.

3.5. Follow-up activities

As we have seen, the predominant use of IV is as one of several small group activities, with the teacher only occasionally present. The follow-up is as important as the preparation of IV work, therefore, as this is the occasion for the teacher to check that concepts have been understood, that the appropriate links have been made with other work, and for the children to reflect on their work.

After all groups have used system they reassemble as a class. Teacher goes through video and they compare their answers and discuss. This is thought to be one of the most important activities associated with IV usage. [Int, Primary teacher].

Follow-up activities are sometimes motivated by the work children have done on the IV. We were delighted to find that some children were led to books as a way of finding out more. Teachers use an imaginative range of follow-up activities, including school trips, an approach which is particularly encouraged by the maths discs, linking maths, as they do, to real life.

Had used section on train timetable and this had worked well. She had linked it with their forthcoming trip to Bath as an example of real maths. Found it challenging. Will use section on Roman mosaics; also link to trip [Int, Primary teacher].

Teachers find that work on IV is most valuable if it is integrated with the rest of the curriculum work, just as for any classroom

activity.

3.6. Supervised vs. unsupervised use

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The schools in the evaluation study spanned a range of cultures and teaching styles, and this was especially so in the degree to which the IV work was planned, and supervised, or laissez-faire and largely unsupervised. Under ‘Design of learning tasks’ we argued that structured tasks were preferable to unstructured work, but this need not determine degree of supervision. One of the clear advantages of IV is that it can support unsupervised learning by providing structure and feedback. ‘Laissez-faire and unsupervised’ does not mean unstructured and unproductive, therefore. Certainly, from the childrens’ point of view, they enjoy unsupervised sessions with a system, and those schools that operated unsupervised lunchtime sessions found plenty of takers.

All these children expressed a strong preference for being unsupervised - "It’s much more fun, and in any case the teacher never uses it" - Easier to get on this than on the computers without having to be supervised by a teacher" [Int, on CDTV , ages 10-11].

Unsupervised work can be successful when it is part of a clearly established routine of independent work supported by handouts.

While the teacher worked with the whole class on a particular area of maths, pupil pairs worked on the same area with the IV. Through the provision of a simple handout he ensured that the pupils were on-task.

[Obs, WofNP, Hundreds and Thousands, ages 9-10]

Because of the importance of structure, and clarity of aims and goals, the need for supervision is heavily dependent on the design of the disc. Many sections of the discs do not provide either structure or feedback, as we discuss in more detail in ‘Disc design’. The CD-I and CDTV systems, in particular, constitute resource-based, exploratory learning, rather than interactive teaching.

P1: If you’re left to your own devices you can experiment, you learn quicker when you decide rather than being told what to do.

P2: If you’re forced by the teacher, if he makes you look at particular things, it’s difficult. You can explore the material if you’re left alone. [Int, on CDTV, Secondary pupils].

Children can make good use of unsupervised sessions, especially if supported by good worksheets.

Pupils are clearly aware of the value of finding their own way, following their own goals, and teachers see it as an advantage of these systems that they can support this mode of learning. Unsupervised use was thought to work best when the equipment was acting as a resource in project work, with children having open access to information discs, such as ‘Regard for the Planet’, with their work kept under control by the teacher’s bar-coded worksheets. But we also saw many instances of unsupervised exploration going nowhere, with pupils left bored or bewildered. The teacher can only really be sure of productive learning if they have structured the activity, or if they are present to offer occasional advice and guidance.

They seem to complete the first part of the worksheet very quickly. Then they go to ‘shop’ and select what sort of energy different things used. They jump from one section to another looking for something to sustain their interest, and the remaining 30 minutes is taken up like this. Consists of going to a section and saying ‘this is boring’ after a quick look. Eventually teacher intervenes - comes back to check they know what ‘biomass’ is. They don’t know, although they’ve already printed it out, because not reading it through and no checks by system [Obs, Energy disc, ages 14-15].

Most teachers feel that IV should relieve them of some aspects of teaching so they can work with other groups, but do not believe that it does so, especially at secondary level, perhaps because of the perceived lack of fit with the National Curriculum. Certainly, they are more likely than primary teachers to feel they can leave their students unsupervised, though neither group feels strongly on this. This has perhaps been one of the main sources of disappointment as many teachers had the expectation that they would be able to leave small groups with a system to work in a relatively unsupervised way. Some teachers feel that IV could not be designed for completely independent use because the teacher has such an important role in developing concepts. Others feel that it should be possible if only the discs were more interactive. Unsupervised sessions are not favoured for students of lesser ability, because they could not be expected to follow a plan. But in general, teachers would welcome feeling that they could leave most children to work without constant checking.

Considerable teacher input is required to ensure that children are not reinforcing wrong concepts; either with whole class sessions, or having to intervene regularly in group sessions - it does not

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free up the teacher. The stills pictures in particular [ie step] need some sort of additional material - either voice-overs or written questions on screen, to be used properly without a great deal of adult input. [Minutes of school meeting]

For much of the disc material, additional structure is needed in the form of extra support material, or supervision.

The degree of supervision seen to be necessary for IV depends more on disc design than it does on teaching philosophy. More structure in the discs would allow teachers to choose between supervised and unsupervised; as it is, they feel the latter is often risky.

Unsupervised use is to be welcomed when children are sufficiently motivated, and can follow a plan of work, or can develop their own.

3.7. Self-managed learning

In order to judge the extent to which we can expect pupils to work successfully with a medium that requires more teacher input than is usually available, the evaluation team looked closely at the ways in which pupil self-management was attempted. Can they succeed in making good use of the technology?

If the optimal use of IV is to require a degree of pupil self-management, then it will work best in those schools where this is already part of the culture. In several of the schools we observed, a form of self-managed learning, using small group work, is indeed the main teaching method, where children are kept busy through the use of planning sheets. For example, in one class, sheets were issued at various times during the term, and had tickboxes against tasks which children had to complete. These ranged from spending time completing worksheets on the IV system, to making a costume for the school play. Planning sheets are derived from the teacher's term and week plans, and by checking them periodically, the teacher is able to keep track of individual progress.

Kids have their own check list so they can manage their own time... Some of the time they will be sitting in a maths group, but at other times there are various other activities [including the IV system] .. You can always say to them 'show me your checklists, let's see where you are up to', which is quite important. [Int Primary teacher]

Once pupils have learned how to use the equipment this can lead to a great deal of self-managed work, particularly in their own time when they have a project they wish to finish. It is, of course, very difficult to be sure how much conceptual learning is taking place but some teachers have been surprised at the amount of material children dredge up from the discs while researching for a class project.

They tend not to be static in their approach but are always striking off in new directions and following up leads and finding something new. There is a lot of learning going on although some of it appears to be unintentional. [Int. Primary teacher]

However, for the younger age ranges of children, one teacher, with a great deal of experience and a leading proponent of pupil-managed learning, still believes that to obtain work of any quality from younger children a teacher is absolutely necessary. The teacher's role is to manage that process, and to provide structure for the way pupils manage their learning. If they are left to do it in their own way, it is not necessearily so productive.

After seeing many children take on the task of teaching other children she is convinced that it helps them, both in their self confidence and with language skills. However she adds the rider that although it is easy for a child to teach another child to use the equipment there is not much in the way of conceptual learning. [Int. Primary teacher].

This way of consolidating one child's work on the IV, and at the same time providing focused guidance for another, is a valuable technique in any context. The good practice we saw shows that pupil self-management can to some extent deliver the structure and support that new technology might otherwise demand from the teacher. It was also clear that the teachers using this kind of approach did so with great care and forethought. It cannot easily be grafted into a school where it does not already exist.

In a culture that fosters pupil self-management, this approach may provide the structure and support that new technology might

otherwise demand from the teacher.

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Implementation: Summary.

Teacher preparation

• It is important to set aside time (9 hours was average) for initial familiarisation with disc material.

• Exchange mappings of disc material onto NC ATs with other teachers.

• Create customised worksheets around the disc material.

• Worksheets should provide a context and clear aims for the work.

• Worksheets should ask questions that direct pupils’ attention to the disc.

Lesson planning

• Give introductions to the whole class rather than to each small group.

• Allow the ‘cascade’ model to operate among pupils, but don’t rely on it for conceptual learning.

• Offer structured tasks to avoid unproductive browsing.

• Use off-computer preparation of tasks in advance of using the same tasks on IV.

• Consider using short sessions at IV (~10 minutes each).

• The optimal group size for IV work is 3 pupils working together.

• Use follow-up activities to integrate and consolidate IV work.

Learning tasks

• Use structured, focused tasks, where possible.

• Select tasks from the discs carefully, according to the extent to which pupils can support their own learning.

• Use customised worksheets, or prior off-computer work to create more structure.

• Plan a strategy for mixing on-computer and off-computer work on a task, to optimise system usage in the time available.

• Use some means of checking pupils have understood their work on the system.

Planning supervision

• Provide opportunities for children to devise their own plans for unsupervised sessions.

• Provide additional structure in the form of extra support material, to minimise supervision.

• Minimise supervision to encourage pupil discussion.

• Use minimal supervision to check on understanding.

• In a culture that fosters pupil self-management, this approach may provide the structure and support that new technology might otherwise demand from the teacher.

3.8. Concluding points

Teachers in both the Pilot and Extension phases have embraced IV with considerable enthusiasm. Although it is an unusual form of teaching, being heavily technology-based, and imposing a particular way of teaching, teachers in general feel that it fits in well with their existing methods. In the extension schools teachers have already established good levels of usage with a reasonable percentage of their pupils.

We conclude from both observations and questionnaire data that the idea that interactive technologies could replace teachers is not supported by the evidence. Teachers take as much trouble with preparation and support as they do with other classroom methods. Moreover, if they do leave it to the software, the children's work is noticeably less successful. The successful teaching strategies were those that prepared the pupils for the on-computer task, offered a structure for the work they did at the workstation, ensured at least occasional supervision of their progress, and provided some form of debriefing or follow-up activity to make sure the key lessons had been learned. All these are important: without preparation and structure, pupils engage in usually unproductive browsing; without supervision they are in danger of misinterpreting the information or

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tasks offered by the discs; without follow-up any learning is not consolidated, and mislearning is not remedied.

The implication for teachers is that if IV is to be practicable, they need to plan their use of IV very carefully, and must take advantage of all the ways of minimising their effort. Preparation is easier if there has been sufficient time for familiarisation, and if disc materials are shared across schools. Supervision time is saved if whole-class demonstrations are used, if pupils are encouraged to help each other, and if structured tasks or customised worksheets are used. Supervision can never be avoided completely, however, as this risks serious reduction in the quality of learning achieved.

The implication for NCET is that they have an important role to play in facilitating the transfer of successful materials across schools. This happens largely at random, and is heavily dependent upon chance meetings at training days, or on the variable quality of LEA support. NCET would be playing a most valuable role if it could set in place some method that facilitates the transfer of good practice among schools.

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4. Impact on learning

Although interactive technologies have been used in education for more than twenty years, it is still difficult to find hard evidence that they make a significant contribution to learning. Practically every evaluation study we have ever seen concludes (a) learners enjoy it, and (b) the medium has great potential to enhance learning. After twenty years it is still the potential contribution, not the actual, that is emphasised. This is partly because of the difficulty of demonstrating learning gains due exclusively to the new media. It is rare that they teach to the same objectives as other methods, precisely because they offer different kinds of learning experience. Judgments of learning gains within one session, isolated by pre- and post-tests overlook the importance of benefits accumulated over time. Longer-term testing suffers from interference from other teaching methods, and from the dependence of learning gain on the nature of follow-up tasks. We must also remember how difficult it is to establish the contribution to learning of traditional classroom methods.

In this evaluation study we have set out to describe the nature of the learning experience through these interactive technologies in the form of case studies. The minutiae of pupil-program interactions are what build up into whatever learning gains do take place. If we can find instances of benign, productive interactions, and if they are of a kind that it is difficult to encourage by other means, then we have reason to believe that these technologies enhance learning. Where we find unproductive interactions, we try to locate the origin of these in operational characteristics, disc design, or learning context, as we discuss in other sections, as well as in the nature of the medium.

4.1. Pupils enjoy it

Let the children speak for themselves:

It’s very pleasant working with the screen and not books because it’s new and interesting.

The CDTV is an excellent modern way to learn and great fun. The sound and graphics are both excellent. I really enjoyed using it.

You learn more than in books.

It asks questions, books just tell you how to do it.

I really like the Louvre disc. It’s just like being in a gallery with a tour guide. I could sit for hours watching it.

I think it should be used for maths more often it is so much fun.

[Pupils’ written comments, collected by teachers].

Enjoyment is to be expected, given the consensus of previous evaluations. However, these are always conducted at the beginning of an innovation. How long does this initial enthusiasm last? Already there are indications that it is not inexhaustible.

She said the initial enthusiasm among her kids for using IV had evaporated and she now had to direct them to use it rather than them clamour for a go. Another teacher endorsed this point, saying that when the system was taken out of her classroom, none of the children asked where it had gone or if they could have another go [Obs, Family of schools meeting].

Of course, pupils’ views reflect their teacher’s enthusiasm, and both these teachers had limited enthusiasm for IV. Perhaps pupils’ assessments will become less extravagant as these systems become more commonplace. Most teachers agree that their pupils find IV more fun than print-based learning (mean of 1.8 on a 1 to 5 scale), and that they learn more effectively from it (mean of 1.6). Continued enjoyment will depend most upon the design of the discs. Questionnaire data shows that in their ratings of the discs, the qualities teachers and pupils associate most with enjoyment are 'ease of use', and 'good visual stimuli'.

Pupil enjoyment of disc-based systems is dependent on the audio-visual quality of the discs, not just on the interactive nature of the

technology.

4.2. Responsibility for learning

As we discussed in the section on supervision, many pupils respond well to the self-directed learning offered by these systems. The interactive mode gives the user control, over retrieval of data from a resource-based system, or over input to a teaching program, and this creates a sense of personal responsibility for their actions. When the conditions are right - pupils are motivated, and suitably prepared, and the disc is properly structured - then this will be a rewarding learning experience for them.

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‘There is no-one dictating, you can do it yourself’. [Int, on CDTV, Secondary pupils].

‘Wonderful - there was no teacher. We were able to think of a plan and work it out between us’ - Pupils felt responsible for running the business in the simulation. If something went wrong ‘you could not blame anyone else’ [Int, on ‘How Money Works’, Secondary pupils].

All of the pupils liked the way they could come and use these resources in the library. This developing autonomy seemed to be an important feature of their attitude towards learning. One said that being able to come back and forth allowed him to be more selective - 'You might see a painting you like and then be able to go to books for instance for more information'. [Obs, Harvest of the Sun and The French Impressionists, ages 14-15]

The user control feature of IV and CD-based systems can give pupils a sense of responsibility for the way they learn.

4.3. An exploratory medium

Many of the CD-I and CD-ROM discs now available in schools are resource discs, offering easy access to information. The critical questions facing teachers now were articulated in the evaluation report of the CD-ROM in Schools Scheme:

What will happen to the development of efficient search strategies if we give students their head? Now that students have acess to CD-ROM, do we really need to teach these skills directly? Will the technology lead the students to the right conclusions? These quesitons are deliberately provocative and it is too early to claim a definitive answer. [Steadman et al, 1992: 32].

Our study focused on the IV discs, which are mostly not databases, but the inclusion of CD-I and some of the IV resource discs enabled the Team to observe some usage of this kind. As will be evident from the discussion of unsupervised use, and self-managed learning above, our observations led to the conclusion that pupils do need support in the development of their information-handling skills. They have to be encouraged to be systematic in their search for and selection of information. When they are clear about the nature of the task in hand, and when they have to report to others on their research procedures, this creates the conditions in which they are at least motivated to be systematic.

A group of seven 14-15 year- olds are working on a project gathering data on a chosen artist. Some have already used CD-I and are now going to help their peers and explain how they have used the materials. They immediately offer opinions on the CD-I observing that information can be found speedily and easily. One pupil who has already gathered information on Manet shows how he made notes from the CD-I to add to the information gathered from books. Focusing on one of the paintings he uses the magnifying glass (a click-on icon) to illustrate how he was able to include something on the detail of Manet's visual style. [Obs, Harvest of the Sun and The French Impressionists, ages 14-15]

Children enjoy information-gathering, and the kind of attention to detail that this medium affords so well. They remain engaged with it even when it makes little sense to them.

They have been doing a class project on outer space. The language seems quite difficult (it's Patrick Moore) and I ask them if they understand it.

"No - we don't know one thing of what this means."

And yet they're very happy using it - they love the visuals and the controls. [Obs CD-i, boys age 6]

4.4. Covert learning Pupils often do not appreciate that what they have perceived as play has a clear learning value. They may consequently mis-report the activity to teachers or parents, not to mention evaluators.

This pupil believed that IV enabled her to avoid reading. In fact she read the related literature without hesitation in order to be able to work with the IV. [Int, Secondary pupil].

‘It was fun’, ‘We enjoyed it’. I asked whether they thought they had worked that afternoon. Both replied quite emphatically and repeated that they had been playing and having fun. So I said nothing about the reading we had heard, the twenty sums they had done, and all the collaborative work with the calculator. [Obs, Shopping Microworld, ages 7-8].

The benefits to learning may not always be apparent to pupils.

4.5. A non-reflective medium?

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The disadvantage of a medium that is continually responsive to user action is that it seems to create the expectation in the user that they must respond immediately. This is a common observation in the use of computer-based learning programs generally. It has the effect of discouraging reflection on previous actions and results, which may be important for meaningful interaction and productive learning. For some children there is almost a compulsion to keep going.

Minor conflict between S and A about looking up ‘fact’. S doesn’t want to, he always wants to press on. They comment that he makes a point of never reading instructions for computer games. It seems to be a point of principle with him [Obs, Radiation disc, ages 15-16].

I began to suspect that an adult was needed to intervene whenever a question was posed [by the disc], so that an appropriate response was made, that it was too easy for the children to move on [Primary teacher’s notes on WofNP, ‘Living Fractions’].

Throughout this sequence, the girl is trying to think of ways of estimating, but the boy keeps wiping to go on to the next. Change places. Boy keeps telling girl to go on to the next, even though she hasn’t finished. She does. He is just plugging on without paying attention to the teaching points, not thinking about it. [Obs, WofNP, ‘Are there enough’, ages 10-11]

Equally, because the medium allows the user to ‘see what happens if...’, there is a danger that they ‘see but do not observe’, and the interaction becomes almost passive, not engaging them in active decisions at all.

They are not engaging in the process of solving a problem methodically but are having random attempts at the game [Obs,g WofNS, Stepping Stones’, ages 11-12].

Discussion minimal other than occasional comment on the pictures - just flick though them without taking much in [Obs, ages 5-6, using WofNP, ‘Repeating Patterns’].

They felt that it was ‘quite good, but you don’t learn much’, because of the lack of presence of the teacher: ‘It’s just on the telly. You’re watching it and skipping it’. They start with the aerial tour of the power station. D makes all the decisions about direction, what to look at, which facts to select. These decisions are made every few seconds. He doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing and just clicks on anything to see what happens.They finish the section on coal fired power station, and say ‘See. You don’t learn much, do you?’. I ask how it would have been in the normal class: ‘We’d have been told about it and some of it would stay in our heads’. [Obs, Energy disc, ages 15-16].

Pupils’ own attitudes to learning play an important part in how they react to these media. Being active in operating the program does not necessarily mean they are active in a cognitively productive way. This is why so many teachers feel that some supervision is important.

Pupils are unlikely to reflect on open-ended questions, or on information that does not require a decision.

Observation of groups of 12-13 year-olds using the Stepping Stones sequence gave us the opportunity to compare on-computer and off-computer strategies, as one group began off-computer, and another on-computer and then swapped. Neither group solved it during the hour they spent on it, (indeed we have never seen any group solve this problem), but it serves as an interesting case study of the impact of the medium on the problem-solving process.

The IV group began by trying out different numbers of steps and recording their moves, but using essentially a trial-and-error approach, not thinking through the process of the problem. Twenty minutes later they were still trying to guess the appropriate number of moves to make, but beginning to despair of their method:

Trying again

P1: No, we're going to lose

P3: Don't we always?

P1: If we move 3, 1, 2, no, try going 1, 3, 1, 2.

Computer wins

P1: Oh God. It's not fair. Someone else has to have a go now.

... T: What are you doing? Have you got a strategy?

Looks at notes.

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T: There doesn’t seem to be any systematic recording here. [Obs, WofNS, Stepping Stones, ages 12-13].

By contrast, the non-IV group had begun by working through the problem on paper, using a paper version of the diagram on the screen and counters to represent the positions of the players. Working systematically through the possible combinations they had several tables of moves and counter moves, and a list of winning patterns. The two groups then swapped places, and the second group on the IV began by putting their theory into practice:

P1: OK, we've got the strategy worked out

P2: 3, 3, 2, 3, that should work. If not, we'll try the other one

Try, and lose. Start again

P2: So we need to do - no, we've lost it

P3: We need to get on the inside

P1: Let the computer start

P2: He's keeping on the inside

P1: We need to have another strategy [Obs, WofNS, Stepping Stones, ages 12-13].

Now they are beginning to abandon their initial approach, no longer referring to their lists of winning patterns, already responding directly to the computer with fresh ideas at each failure to win:

P3: Do a 1 to get to the outside

P2: We need to get to that one [inside the circle]

P1: We start, 3, 3, - if we do a 1 we'll get into that formula again

P2: If we do a 3, he'll go 3, so it'll be our go, and we'll be on the outside

P1: 3 - he'll do a 3 or 1, so - damn, he's done it again

P2: We've got to think of a way to beat him". [Obs, WofNS, Stepping Stones, ages 12-13].

Ten minutes later they have moved into a fully trial-and-error approach:

P2: If we can get on the inside and 2 away...

P3: Has the other group got it?

P1: Keep doing 2's

P2: Let's do the same, but do 3 this time

Now they are working the way the first group did. [Obs, WofNS, Stepping Stones, ages 12-13].

It looks as though off-computer preparation is more help to begin with, therefore, because pupils spend less time in reflection if they are on-computer, and fail to record many of the moves. Once on the IV, the main strategy is trial and error. The group who had prepared a strategy first seemed to fare a little better until it became clear that they had an unworkable strategy. Then they too resorted to trial-and-error.

Observation of two further groups on a different occasion showed the same phenomenon, the on-computer group using trial and error, and the off-computer group thinking up strategies and testing them out on each other. This time it became clearer that the advantage of the computer was to provide a better test-bed of ideas:

Non IV group:

They are playing against each other to test out a current idea.

They are not being as genuinely competitive as the computer would be, but rather seem to be tending to co-operate to make the idea work.

P1: We were trying 1 move more, it was ok till we tried it on our friends, and they just copied us, so it didn’t work.

Thus the computer makes a better test. [Obs, WofNS, Stepping Stones, ages 12-13].

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No group was offered the key strategy of reducing the problem to a simpler one, either by the computer or teacher. The teacher hinted at it for one group, but too obliquely for the hint to be taken, and there is no help at all from the disc -rather the opposite in fact, because the child on the disc appears to solve the problem by a few seconds thinking, which is quite unrealistic. As an exercise in problem-solving strategy this one fails, therefore, but the main points of interest here are that (a) different ways of approaching the problem are apparent in the IV and non-IV groups, the one trial-and-error and non-reflective, the other more analytical and reflective, and (b) the computer provides a better test-bed for hypotheses than pencil-and-paper, where pupils are seduced into thinking they have the answer.

From this analysis, the better combination, therefore, is off-computer preparation to encourage analytical thinking, followed by on-computer experimentation to encourage proper validation of the idea. For this particular problem, however, children would also need some instruction on the basic problem-solving strategy of reducing a problem to a simpler form to understand its underlying structure.

Off-line preparation appears to encourage analytical thinking, whereas on-computer work encourages better experimentation, but

a less reflective approach to problem-solving.

This analysis suggests that the interactive capability of new technology does have a disadvantage. The immediacy of its response and the pull of its attendance on the user's next action conspire to reduce attention to the outcome of the previous action. Pupils are disinclined to analyse a response, or ponder on an open-ended question, when an input is awaited and will produce a new outcome. This kind of reflection is a key constituent to learning. It encompasses processes such as integrating and accommodating new information, planning immediate and long-term goals, evaluating current output against goals and intentions, etc. Without this, pupils squander the benefits of the experiences they have with the system. It is therefore likely to be important to combine on-computer interactivity with off-computer reflective activities for the medium to be fully effective.

It is likely to be important to combine on-computer interactivity with off-computer reflective activities to be fully effective.

4.6. When it is good it is very very good...

We have seen close observation and analysis:

Pupils decide to select ‘110m hurdles. Men’. They watch it at normal speed them replay it slowly.

T1: How many hurdles did the winner knock down?

P1: 2 or 3? - reply, confirm 2.

P2: Better not to knock any down as it slows you down.

P3: The one next to the winner knocked down 4 or 5 and this slowed him right down.

Select High Jump, Women.

T1: How high was that?

Pupils select ‘Info’.

Program: 2.03m. How does this compare with her height? How does it compare with yours? How long does she remain in the air?

Pupils agree to select tools. Ruler is used to measure her height.

Pupils engage in discussion about need to (a) draw lines to measure, and (b) get full, upright image of her on screen.

All pupils are involved. [Obs, WofNS, ages 13-14]

We have seen pupils make progress on difficult concepts:

T: What is important then?

P1: That you always use the same size thing to measure everything.

T: Yes, very good. What else can you think of which is like that?

P2: Cooking a cake - you have to get it right or it don’t taste right.

T: Yes, that’s right. Here’s another example of getting it right.

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[Starts to play IV. Concrete mixing. We watch the builder shovel up 5 parts of sand to 1 part of cement. T freezes video].

T: So what is the ratio?

Chorus: Five to one!

He thought that his group had understood something about ratios, and that if the equivalent material was presented in book form, they would not have been able to learn so much “They never would have stuck at it long enough” [ Int/Obs, Primary teacher and pupils ages 9-10 using WofNP].

Pupils are supported in their practice of a scientific approach to investigation:

He has a really interesting combination of a laboratory experiment using a light gate, and the equivalent on the Energy disc nearby. He believes that pupils should do science: they should investigate reality with all its anomalies and not look for the ‘right answer’. He does not want to use the experiment for evaluation of IV vs. reality, but to use IV like a library. [Int, Secondary teacher].

Pupils engaged in some effective collaborative learning when given the opportunity to experiment with information and materials and with minimal guidance from the teacher present.

The teacher tells the students to select a new programme - 'On the Move'. Control comes from different individuals, all making suggestions and trying out different strategies. Finally it settles so that one student records the data, another operates the IV and calls out to signal the start and stop of the stop watch, the third operates the stop watch and the fourth the calculator. They are soon working out and comparing the relative speed of vehicles and tracking cars to see if they are travelling safe distances apart. In doing this they use the various control facilities of the IV, especially the slow forward, and engage in some animated discussion. [Obs, WofNS, On the Move, ages 16-17]

Teachers welcome IV as providing more efficient learning than other methods:

Start by having problem of how to count large no. of sheep. Oliver suggests 'count the white ones then the grey ones'. Then shows how sheep can be put in pens of 10. They get the idea of counting in 10s very quickly. Then scene of people walking through ticket barrier at station handing in tickets. They start to join in the counting. Single digits are shown in digital form clocking up. Gets to 9 and expands electronic box for them to appear in .

IV: 'Why do we need this extra space?'

Oliver: 'So we can put another number in. And when we get to 100 we'll need three spaces.'

They work through to the end of the sequence and then the teacher shows them wooden blocks of units, tens, hundreds. One person has to say a number and the other has to show it in the blocks. When I leave they are still happily doing this with a small group watching interestedly.

Last year she introduced this without IV. She thinks it's a very good introduction and that it accelerates familarity with the concepts involved. A Year 3 teacher is sending children down to use it because she has 'run out of strategies for teaching it'. [Obs, WofNP, Tens and Hundreds, ages 6-7]

At its best, interactive technology supports learning processes such as close observation, experimentation and concept learning, and

gives access to information and ideas normally beyond the range of classroom materials.

4.7. And when it is bad...

It was never very bad. We saw very few examples of actual disinformation or gross misinterpretation, which must be a risk in such a rich information resource. At its worst, it disappoints.

4.8. IV in the curriculum

The special benefits that IV and the associated media bring to the curriculum are (i) good quality audio/video/graphics, which enhance the presentational capabilities of a computer, and in so doing increase motivation and enthusiasm for learning, and (ii) high capacity storage of audio/video/data, providing the opportunity to practise information-handling skills, to put it at its most general. In assessing the benefits of

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IV, we have to remember that the capacity for personal computers to provide these benefits is increasing rapidly, so the debate is not really about which technology is best, but which technological features best support learning. Several different types of delivery systems now support very similar features. The delivery system chosen by a school depends more on logistical considerations such as price, range of software, reliability, maintenance, portability, etc. than it does on pedagogy.

The benefits described here may not be peculiar to IV and CD systems for long, but the question is, how important are they for delivering the school curriculum?

Although this study has focused more on the maths discs than the others, the fact that IV is beneficial across the curriculum is clear from the impressive amount of cross-curricular usage the maths discs alone have achieved (see section 5.1). There are many examples:

• The compilation of a Maths Language Dictionary - every time the children come across a new word of expression on the disc they look it up, discuss it, question the teacher and then enter their own definition in their new dictionary.

• In baking bread or making sweets and biscuits, a frequent activity for younger children, the 'Fractions' section of the disc has been widely used. One school wanted to cover their biscuits in silver paper and use the maths disc to work out the best shape to cut out the paper.

• A number of primary schools have used the symmetry section of the disc as an inspiration for their art work and have produced some striking and colourful examples.

• One school integrated music and the maths disc. Using a key of patterns stimulated by the disc they wrote some music using their own notation which can be read by people who cannot read music.

• Following a traffic survey from a motorway bridge one group of pupils used the IV (On the Move: Traffic and Motorway from Bridge) in a follow-up session to make comparisons between traffic in two different contexts - on the motorway and in the town.

• The PE department in one school have built into their PE curriculum the use of 'On the Move: Olympics' for coaching and performing analysis in the summer term.

• In another school the PE department has used the same section of World of Number as an introduction to Lower Sixth biomechanics. It is the intention of the teacher to use this with all incoming groups as, in his words, 'It gets their attention and can be used to explain some important principles of biomechanics. '

• The section on 'Alcohol' on WofNS is used as a means of teaching Personal and Social Education, and for pupils taking Life Skills classes. It is seen as an excellent way of getting the pupils talking about issues.

• A science teacher was observed using 'Powers of Ten' as a 'visualisation of the relative size of things in the universe' to teach scientific concepts.

• Design and technology teachers are using 'Mechanisms' to explore the different functions and purposes of mechanisms.

• A Year 2 topic on 'Clothing' was related by the teacher to 'Repeating Patterns' to cover English, Art, Maths, PE, Technology and Music.

• The section ‘Life doesn’t run smoothly’ of WofNS has been used with pupils taking a GNVQ course (Level 3). Pupils tend to have better discussion skills than mathematical skills; they find it easy to relate the IV sequences to their life experiences.

• Sequences from 'Running, jumping' and ‘Olympics’ from WofNS have been used by students taking A-level P.E. They use the slow motion and freeze frame functions to observe body movements and techniques. The picture quality of the IV is very good for detailed observation - much better than CD-ROM or videotape.

The features of IV that benefit learning within the maths curriculum apply to all other curriculum areas equally well: high quality video provides a link with the real world, which allows children to apply their academic knowledge; their enthusiasm for the interest and stimulation provided by pictures and film increases their span of attention to the task in hand, which is vital for coherent learning to take place; the opportunity to use large data banks allows pupils to practise information handling skills such as planning, searching, investigating, testing, evaluating,

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assembling, editing, balancing, presenting - all difficult to achieve with smaller or less convenient information stores. Thus the technology can enhance the quality of learning and extend the curriculum in all subject areas, and this section has shown that the discs in the project are capable of achieving these benefits. Teachers' own accounts in 'Teachers' hints..' provide further evidence.

The combination of interactivity with audio-visual features supports both cognitive and affective aspects of learning, which enables new

technology to enhance the quality of learning.

Impact on Learning: Summary

• Pupil enjoyment of disc-based systems is dependent on the audio-visual quality of the discs, not just on the interactive nature of the technology.

• The user control feature of IV, CD-I and CDTV systems can give pupils a sense of responsibility for the way they learn.

• The benefits to learning may not always be apparent to pupils.

• Pupils are unlikely to reflect on open-ended questions, or on information that does not require a decision.

• Off-computer preparation appears to encourage reflective, analytical thinking.

• On-computer work encourages better experimentation, but a less reflective approach to problem-solving.

• It is likely to be important to combine on-computer interactivity with off-computer reflective activities to be fully effective.

• At its best, interactive technology supports some key learning processes, and gives access to information and ideas normally beyond the range of classroom materials.

• At its worst, it disappoints, because of its lack of interactivity.

• The combination of interactivity with audio-visual features supports both cognitive and affective aspects of learning, which enables new technology to enhance the quality of learning.

4.9. Concluding points

In common with every other study of interactive technology, we can conclude that pupils enjoy it. They value its engaging qualities: both the audio-visual stimuli, and the active nature of their own involvement. It is important to remember that pupils do not necessarily recognise an enjoyable activity as an educationally beneficial one.

We found evidence that there are key features of IV and CD technology that contribute to effective learning. Some pupils achieve a real sense of control that feels like taking their own responsibility for what they are doing, and for what they are getting out of it. This can come from a disc that requires judgement and decision-making and then provides feedback on the consequences of those actions, as in a simulation. It can also come from resource-based learning, when pupils can explore and discover information for themselves. This works well when the activity is properly supported by ensuring that pupils have a clear goal, are capable of making their own judgments about the quality of the data they find, and have some follow-up activity that consolidates what they have achieved.

The interactive nature of the medium allows pupils and teachers to focus closely and repeatedly on important details, and as documented above, supports several aspects of scientific investigation. The engaging qualities of the medium hold pupils' attention, and this is particularly valuable because span of attention is a key determiner of level of understanding: the more complex or unfamiliar an idea, the longer the attention span needed to grasp it. Thus any medium that can hold pupils' attention is capable of supporting complex conceptual learning. We have described several such examples above.

The combination of interactivity with the audio-visual capability of new technology makes it a powerful medium for learning because it supports some of the cognitive processes that constitute learning, and it supports the affective aspects of motivation and enjoyment that enable the cognitive processes to be engaged in the first place. This analysis sets it apart from the old technologies of print, audio and linear video, which cannot support either to the same extent. It does not stand alone, however. The non-reflective nature of

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pupils' activity with new technology suggests that it must always be used in combination with more reflective teaching methods if learning is to be fully effective.

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5. Resource provision

The level of IV or CD resource in a school affects usage, but in different ways, as schools adopted a variety of models for access. Each system may be used in one classroom, or may be located in a central resource area, or may be moved between classrooms on a daily, weekly, or termly basis. Because there are several patterns of usage, only the large population Extension study could provide statistically significant data on how these affected amount of use.

5.1. Patterns of usage

The relation between resource level and usage is complex. Each system may be confined to one teacher, or be shared among several. In the latter case, each teacher should achieve less use than in the former. However, this is not necessarily the case in practice. The conclusion from the Pilot phase, that shared resource does not diminish the sum of total activity, has been confirmed in the Extension phase, as Table 1 shows.

Sole Use 2 Sharing 3 Sharing 4 or more sharing

N=28 N=32 N=11 N=83

Average hours/ teacher/week

3.3 3.2 4.6 2.9

Max. hours/ teacher /week 8.2 5.5 7.8 6.6

% pupils using IV 62% 50% 42% 40%

Table 1: Comparison of amount of use with level of resource share

Sole use by a teacher means that the system stays in their classroom, and can only be used when they find something relevant to their teaching, which, with a limited range of discs, is infrequent for any one teacher. Shared use means careful timetabling, and more extensive use of the discs available, so although it is more difficult to manage, this model produces more optimal usage of the limited resources. From Table 1 we could deduce that total usage by a single teacher achieves on average 3.3 hours/week, 2 teachers sharing achieve 6.4 hours/week, and 4 sharing achieve 11.6 hours/wk (the low numbers in the ‘3 sharing’ column probably account for the discrepant high figure there). This indicates an impressive linear increase in usage with numbers sharing, at least up to 4 sharing.

With a limited range of discs, shared use achieves more optimal usage of the equipment.

The internal conditions within schools necessarily have an effect on usage of resource. Variation of usage across type of school is apparent in the comparison between primary and secondary sectors, as Table 2 shows.

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Autumn Term Spring Term

Primary Secondary Primary Secondary

N=79 N=104 N=57 N=81

Average hours/ teacher/week

4 3 4 10

Max. hours/ teacher /week

7 6 7 6

% teacher's pupils using IV

57% 35% 77% 32%

Table 2: Comparison of amount of use with type of Extension school Primary schools consistently achieve higher usage figures, both for average hours per week, and for the greatest amount of usage in any one week. Table 2 shows that in general, primary schools achieve double the usage that secondary schools achieve. Usage is similar to that for the Core schools in 93-94, which means that the new schools have made an excellent start, and have achieved similar usage and reach to their pupils as those schools with a year’s experience behind them. This is probably due to the longer run-up time these schools had in acquiring the equipment during the summer holidays.

Primary schools achieve double the usage that secondary schools achieve.

Extension Schools Core Schools

Primary N=79

Secondary N=104

Primary N=8

Secondary N=23

Art 1 - 3 1

Design Tech. 2 - 1 1

English 4 - 2 -

Geography 1 - 2 -

History 1 - 2 -

IT 6 5 2 -

Maths 74 95 4 8

Modern Lang. - - - 2

Science 4 1 2 9

Special Needs 16 3 - -

Other 2 3 1 4

Totals Total/N

111 1.4

107 1.03

19 2.4

25 1.09

Table 3: Comparison of spread across the curriculum by type of school

In the Pilot phase we found that the cross-curricular focus of primary teachers makes them more able to take advantage of any one disc to support their teaching than secondary teachers, with their more specialised focus. The secondary schools' orientation towards

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examinations, and a close adherence to the National Curriculum, also makes them less flexible towards the use of materials that do not meet their requirements. This result was fully confirmed in the Extension schools, where we would expect a low spread across subject as schools were only given the maths discs. Nonetheless, primary schools in the Extension study have used the discs in a wide range of subjects, as Table 3 shows.

An index can be calculated to express a comparative measure for the spread across subjects, in terms of the total number of subjects taught using IV for each sector divided by the number of teachers. For the Extension schools the primary sector achieves a 37% greater spread than the secondary schools, even with discs targeted on one subject area; for the Core schools, who had a range of discs available to them, the primary sector achieves more than double the spread, showing that the cross-curricular focus of the primary teacher is reflected also in their use of the technology.

The cross-curricular focus of the primary classroom achieves greater usage of a subject-based disc than is likely at secondary

level.

The early use of any technological innovation can easily be overshadowed by the hurdles of setting up, familiarisation and trouble-shooting. The amount of usage for actual teaching can look inadequate if this is not taken into account, and this is discussed further under 'Operational characteristics', where Table 9 shows that time spent on preparation is high. By collecting the same questionnaire data at the end of each term, and by including estimates of this preparatory activity, we can extrapolate from the trends over the course of the first year to what might happen as the system settles down and becomes a normal part of school life.

Core /Extension Schools

Autumn 92 Spring 93 Summer 93 Autumn 93 Spring 94

N=35 N=54 N=31 N=37/188 N=27/96

Average hrs / teacher / week

5.9 4.3 3.8 4.1/3.2 4.0/4.4

Max . hrs / teacher /week

8.5 6.9 6.0 6.8/6.7 6.6/6.6

% pupils using IV 56% 53% 46% 41/44% 45/51%

Table 4: Comparative changes in usage over time

The Core schools began with high usage rates for the early enthusiasts. As more teachers became active in the Spring term, a higher proportion were likely to be occasional users, so the mean usage across the whole sample went down. The Summer term was dominated by examinations and testing for many teachers, so usage dropped again. In the Autumn term, the figures rose again for the Core schools, at least for usage - coverage of pupils is inevitably lower at the beginning of a new year, but picked up a little in the Spring. Table 4 shows how weekly average usage changed over the 5 terms.

Current usage rates for the Extension schools match those for the Core schools, having improved on the first term, and we can probably take these figures as reasonable estimates of how usage of IV will stabilise, at least with this level of resourcing. Coverage of pupils for any one teacher is unlikely to increase while there is only one workstation per school.

Questionnaire returns from the long-term schools put mean weekly usage at 5.3 hours for 49% of the teacher's pupils, which is a little higher than the current figures for the Extension schools. Like the Extension schools, these long-term schools also have only one workstation and only the maths discs. We should not expect the usage data to worsen in comparison with those in Table 4, therefore.

Average usage may be expected to stabilise at 4-5 hours per week per teacher, under current resourcing conditions.

From the questionnaire data some 11% respondents did not use the equipment at all. Asked to indicate the reasons for this, the most common were hardware problems, including several thefts, and dissatisfaction with the materials:

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Due to technical problems with hard and software not used often, and we are not impressed with the World of Number interactive videos.

I have not used the World of Number disc as I feel that the activities are very limited and a great deal of preparation is needed. It is only useful as an additional resource, ie. for the pictures and still sand I’m very disappointed in the material for such an exciting piece of software.

The principal reasons for under-use are hardware problems, and dissatisfaction with the materials.

5.2. The disadvantages of under-resourcing

Teachers are keenly aware of the difficulties created by having too few systems available. Many bought trolleys to allow the machine to be trundled between classrooms, although this often introduced minor technical problems in setting up again, and wasted time. They tend to favour keeping it in one place, a classroom base for primary schools, a curriculum area for secondary schools.

Because of the stairs it has to be moved in its separate units. In his opinion, the difficulties of moving it around were the single most important issue for its lack of use. [Int, Secondary teacher].

If the IV system is kept in a central resource area, it is more difficult for the teacher to control what the pupils do, and restricts usage in whole-class work. The location of the system is cited as the main reason for under-use in those schools where it is central. Sending a small group to a resource area works well for CD-ROM systems which have become well-established, and are usually supervised by library staff, but while IV is still relatively unfamiliar to teachers, they are reluctant to be distant from it.

He would like to see materials which are child-centred and children able to select what would be useful to them. The system would have to be permanently in a room so that the teacher and the children could familiarise themselves with what’s on it and use when appropriate. [Int, Secondary teacher].

Under-resourcing makes forward-planning very important. Problems mainly centre on the need to arrange room swaps if the system is located in just one part of the school. It means that IV cannot be used as a resource to dip into, but must always be part of a lesson which has been plannned ahead. Teachers often found the problems getting access to the system quite discouraging. One teacher found that once she had a CD-ROM of her own she was able to use the materials much more often.

Some primary schools operate a team-teaching schedule, in which teachers rotate around various groups of children, so all the staff need to be trained on IV, but under-resourcing makes this difficult. In secondary schools, interest can be generated across different curriculum areas or departments, but arranging access to the IV equipment may be difficult to achieve with limited resources: should they move the IV equipment around from department to department or bring pupils from other locations to where the IV is situated? With too few systems the potential is not realised: they do not transfer to other teachers; they are seldom built into regular teaching, and when they are, become a source of conflict.

He cannot justify a training day with only one machine available in the school [Int, Secondary teacher].

Under-resourcing makes it more difficult for the potential of the systems to be fulfilled.

In some schools take-up has been slow because of political issues associated with ‘ownership’ of the systems. Inadvertent labelling of the resource by NCET as being for a particular curriculum area led to unproductive cornering. Those schools that took a more collaborative approach to ownership, regarding the equipment as a school resource to be managed co-operatively, were more successful at engaging the interest of other teachers than those originally involved, and at managing conflicting demands. It is this that probably explains how shared usage can support greater usage per system than sole usage. A collaborative culture creates shared interests, ideas and expectations, which in turn has a positive effect on usage.

Sharing limited resources works very successfully in open plan primary schools, where this is already part of the school culture.

A very pleasant open plan primary school all on one level. IV is set up at the back of a teaching area on a desk. There are children doing all kinds of project work all around, and adults wandering in and out. There are other bits of technology in the central area ... Surprisingly not as noisy as one might expect. [Obs, ages 10-11].

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A collaborative approach to ownership of the systems ensures better shared usage.

5.3. The relation between resource level and supervision

Where it is located in one area co-operation within a school or department is important. At one school the IV is in a workroom next to a science lab and stays there. Other Science teachers are happy to send children there because they generally have worksheets and the lab teacher is on hand to supervise if necessary. The school management wanted the system centrally located to increase use, but the teachers felt strongly it should be in a curriculum area. They feel that the teacher's presence is essential to discuss activities and develop skills: unsupervised learning means that the full potential is not exploited.

Teachers wanting to use IV in unsupervised mode prepare worksheets for students. These can be re-used many times over, so that the original investment of time pays off, but there are still occasions when students either want or need supervision, and worksheets are no substitute - the teacher still has to be on call, i.e. close to the system’s location.

Having the system in a central location to which children have to be sent does not facilitate teacher intervention. The children using the machine adjacent to X’s class were restricted to asking him for help when there was a pause in his teaching, and because he was not their teacher, he was unable to use his knowledge of the students or their work history to help them. [Obs, ages 14-15].

The questionnaire results reflected disagreement among teachers over the optimal location of this scarce resource. Some preferred the central resource location, others wanted it with the teacher. The solution that attracted most support was to locate a system in a single classroom or curriculum area for a term at a time.

Teachers prefer supervised usage, which locates systems in classrooms or curriculum areas.

One important issue that came up frequently from teachers is that one station, or one 'unusual' piece of technology is not ever going to be built into teaching so that it relieves the burden on teachers and improves the learning experience of pupils. The lesson is that there needs to be a critical mass of provision, and that it should be cheap and taken for granted, not something exceptional. The way in which it is used depends on the extent to which teachers see it as an aid that will help them as well as pupils. If it does not contribute to solving the crisis in schools, it is likely to remain compartmentalised.

A critical mass of resource provision must be reached before teachers see new technology as a genuine solution to perceived

problems.

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Resource provision: Summary

• With a limited range of discs, shared use achieves more optimal usage of the equipment.

• Primary schools achieve double the usage that secondary schools achieve.

• The cross-curricular focus of the primary classroom achieves greater usage of a subject-based disc than is likely at secondary level.

• Average usage may be expected to stabilise at 4-5 hours per week per teacher, under current resourcing conditions.

• The principal reasons for under-use are hardware problems, and dissatisfaction with the materials.

• Under-resourcing makes it more difficult for the potential of the systems to be fulfilled.

• A collaborative approach to ownership of the systems ensures better shared usage.

• As teachers prefer supervised usage, systems are best located in classrooms or curriculum areas, a term at a time if necessary.

• A critical mass of resource provision must be reached before teachers see new technology as a genuine solution to perceived problems.

5.4. Concluding points

One of the more surprising findings of the study is that the questionnaire data showed that shared use of a single system can achieve greater usage than sole use, given that teachers have only a limited range of discs. This requires careful timetabling and will not always work successfully. To be shared it must be moved between rooms, which creates problems of timing and logistics, and leads to less than optimal usage. On balance it seems that one machine per curriculum/classroom area would achieve optimal usage.

This kind of equipment seems unlikely to be used as much as a central resource. In the discussion of implementation of new technology (section 3.6), we concluded that supervised usage was important. In the context of this evaluation study we found little evidence to support the idea of it being a school-based independent learning system, used by pupils away from the classroom context. It is more likely to be integrated with other classroom-based methods, and to benefit by being so. The Extension study has confirmed this form of usage as the most popular, as the resources are curriculum-based. This implies that systems should be provided as classroom-based or curriculum-based, rather than school-based.

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6. Comparative benefits of interactive technologies

The schools in the study have been using mostly IV systems. Five Core schools have also had CD-I and CDTV systems for comparison, though only three schools had all three types of system. All the schools we saw also had some considerable experience of using computer-based learning programs, and several had been using CD-ROM for some time as well. We are not in a position to predict the future economic viability of the various systems, but given that all these systems currently co-exist in schools, it is possible to describe the comparative benefits apparent to the teachers and pupils using them.

The technical differences between these media are revealed to the user as differences in quality and amount of audio and video, amount of data, and forms of interaction and control. The greater storage capacity of IV yields the benefit of more moving video, sound of very high quality, and two audio channels. The keyboard input offered by IV is more flexible than the handset or joystick controls offered by CD-I and CDTV, but the comparative simplicity of the latter is also an advantage.

In the section on ‘Operational characteristics’ we discuss comparative ease of use, with CD-I and CDTV attracting fewer problems because of their relative simplicity. All the systems attract criticism because of their bulk (the CD systems much less so), and the difficulty this creates for moving them around a school or classroom.

The most interesting comparisons to make here, concern the pedagogical benefits the different media confer. However, comparing media technologies is fraught with difficulty because, of course, this can only be done in terms of comparisons of particular instantiations of those media. As we observe the different responses to IV, CD-I and CDTV we are observing responses to the discs being used at the time. Is it the content or the form that determines the response? If a disc does not fully exploit its medium, how is the response to be interpreted? This is particularly difficult when, as we see in ‘Disc design’, all the discs have been criticised by teachers for their poor links to the National Curriculum, and for under-exploiting the media. Nonetheless, parts of all the discs have been highly praised, and practically all the discs have at least one champion. So it has been possible, on occasion, to observe the potential of the medium being fulfilled.

Our approach in this study has been to describe the best we have seen for each medium, and to aim to understand how each feature of a medium yields its pedagogical benefits. If the benefits are described in terms of media features, then it becomes possible for teachers and designers to maximise their use of those features, whatever medium they are using. It is possible, for example, for CD-I to emulate some aspects of IV, and vice versa, so it would be unfair to conclude that either medium might be intrinsically better than the other. In this section, the findings are organised around media features, rather than media technologies, therefore.

6.1. The role of moving video

Moving video undoubtedly attracts attention, and children are easily captured by it, in spite of its prevalence already in their lives. In one classroom, the teacher, having directed the class of 24 to write up their notes on the classwork, proceeded to browse through the IV standing at the front of the class: not one single pair of eyes was looking at their notes. Certainly, from questionnaire data, teachers were in close agreement on the importance of the video for motivating children at both primary and secondary level (mean of 1.9 on a 1 to 5 scale)

Children react very directly to moving video: seeing food illustrated they say 'yum'; they touch things on the screen; they shout enthusiastically about whether the man has enough nails to finish the fence; they all join in with rocket countdown; they converse in the language they hear - noticeable among Welsh-speaking children using English language discs; they enjoy the human response of the weightlifter who grimaces and tells them not to muck about. The high quality images also allow children to identify with what they recognise as familiar: watching other groups of children, “they are the same as us”; watching lithium fizzing in liquid, “I remember seeing that before” referring to a distant science class; the M&S escalators sequence in Shopping Microworld is very popular because children recognise the experience. This is how video engages and holds their attention, and as attention is a pre-requisite for learning, this is a vital benefit of the feature.

One of the key advantages of video mentioned by teachers, is its ability to offer vicarious experience of the world, such as seeing the production process in a bun factory, watching the lens of the eye moving, a visit to a power station, wave tanks, a chemical experiment, work on radioactivity.

Having done some preliminary work on a traffic survey he observed, 'Now we can do the same with the interactive video and it's much safer and quicker'. [Int, Secondary teacher].

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They are not IT enthusiasts. However it was the presentation characteristics of video, the dangerous/costly experiments, vicarious visits to inaccessible places, etc, that were mentioned as benefits for their teaching [Int, Secondary teachers].

The alternative forms of representation available in video can be particularly important for conceptual understanding that requires pupils to think in a particular way about an idea. For example, the illustrative fragments of how gears work are worth a thousand words. The Maths discs have been regarded as very successful in relating mathematical ideas to everyday life - a design idea that featured strongly in both producers’ intentions.

The personifications of mechanisms such as the cork-screw and the mole grip were effective means of winning the pupils over to seeing what a mechanism is. In comparison with the initial verbal coaxing of the teacher these animations were much more productive. (Report, WofNS,

Mechanisms, ages13-14)

Before the video, the thermometer was the only thing the class had experienced to illustrate negative numbers. The video adds programme lapse and countdown [Int, Primary teacher].

The role of video in providing a bridge between reality and a more intellectually-based view of the world is important. IV can do this in a natural way - showing clips and asking hypothetical questions. Children respond well to such material. The questionnaire data showed that both primary and secondary teachers strongly agreed that the link between classroom learning and the real world was one of the clear benefits of the video component of the IV discs (mean of 2.0 on a 1 to 5 scale).

The instant recognition of the familiar helps to ground the idea in pupils’ previous experience; the combination of alternative representations, motion, graphics, language, mathematical expressions, helps them relate these together, and the interactive exercise enables them to practise their understanding.

Moving video is valuable because it engages attention, it offers vicarious experience, it relates learning to a recognisable reality,

and offers alternative representations of ideas.

6.2. The quality of audio and visuals

Both IV and CD media can produce high quality stills and graphics and these are greatly appreciated by both pupils and teachers. For example, the picture quality on the art gallery discs allows them to focus on detailed discussion of brush work, technique, and texture. The freeze-frame facility is especially useful in science, and in IV does not switch itself off, as it does in video. Good graphics are seen as having a motivating effect, - the pupils believe they help them to write better stories in the ‘Story Machine’ CD-I, for example. If motion is not essential for the point being made, then the much cheaper resource of graphics or still photographs will both serve the purpose, and maintain pupils’ interest. The vicarous experience of an art gallery or museum is handled very effectively by a series of stills on CD-I, for example. Sound, another relatively cheap resource, also helps to enliven the interaction, providing commentary on the visuals they are looking at, and attracts favourable comment from the children.

An excellent idea and so easy to use. Graphics, sound and looks each get 10/10.

Really good. I like the sound, the graphics, and how the control pad was so easy. [Pupils using CDTV]

It's like a TV, realistic.

Better than normal cartoon graphics.

It's especially good having sound. [Pupils using IV].

Pupils comparing the CD-ROM and CD-I discs they know comment on the better quality visuals of the CD-I and the fact that it uses the spoken word. The use of sound is important.

The sound and pictures are good and you can pause on one actual place to look at something you\re interested in.

The graphics are very good. [Pupils using CD-I].

The book doesn't talk to you. Computers talk to you. Reading is boring. Being talked to is better.

It's better than working with the teacher, it explains well. [Obs, Hundreds and Thousands, ages 9-10]

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High quality sound and visuals are motivating and help to maintain interest.

The CD-ROM versions of the World of Number discs gave some teachers the opportunity to compare them with the IV. All the comparisons were unfavourable. Of the 17 questionnaire respondents who had experience of both, only 3 preferred the CD-ROM, and only because of its more manageable hardware. Those who had experience of CD-i as well as IV also cited more manageable hardware as the chief reason for preferring it to IV.

During a hands-on INSET day working with WofN, both on IV and CD-ROM, teachers were unanimous in finding the quality of the image on CD-ROM vastly inferior to that on the IV. [Report, Secondary school]

Where detailed observation of moving pictures is required, e.g. analysis of movement and techniques, the IV’s slow motion and freeze frame functions are far superior to videotape or CD-ROM. [Int, Secondary teacher]

The quality of moving pictures on the WofN CD-ROMs is markedly inferior to that of the IV due to digital compression. However, this is not always an important issue when sequences are in use, unless close analysis of the pictures is required. [Int, Secondary teacher].

Image quality on WofN for CD-ROM is very poor. Students found it laughable to begin with, although seem more used to it now. [Int, Secondary teacher]

CD-i software is much more realistically priced. Also the system is easier to manage logistically. [Qu’re comment, Extension school teacher]

Good image quality may not always be essential to the task in hand, but the demonstrable motivational value of high quality sound and visuals should be sufficient reason to make this a high priority. Where CD systems have offered good reproduction this is highly appreciated.

The photos were ones she had taken on a recent trip to the Pompidou Centre of various art works, and were ones she thought would be useful to use as a focus for discussion in class. eg some had been chosen for figurative sculpture. It is possible to magnify different sections of the photo. Can choose high resolution. It is slower, but picture quality better and more suitable for Art applications. Pupils were enthusiastic too. It's like a customised illustrated art book, so not too expensive in that context. The PhotoCD has encouraged other members of the dept. to use the CD-I where the pre-recorded materials hadn't. [Int, Secondary teacher using PhotoCD ]

Teachers and pupils are sensitive to poor quality visuals, but appreciate the greater manageability of the CD systems.

6.3. Access and control

The non-linear media of IV, CD-I, CDTV and CD-ROM offer a fundamentally different way of engaging with information, from the linear media of books and television. User control means that there is no single ‘author’ who governs the sequence and pacing of the material - the information experienced is a genuine interaction between user and producer. Control is important because it affects both pace and sequence, and both are important for learning to be effective. We saw many instances of pupils taking advantage of these features in a way that was likely to benefit their understanding.

I asked them to draw a comparison with French progs on television:

‘They go too quickly, and you can’t keep repeating the voice.

‘It makes you pay attention. It gives you a chance to do it’ (i.e. have a crack at translation before asking the machine) [Obs, Asterix, ages 13-14].

Control is important, but for it to work, the means of access to the information on the disc must be transparent. There were many criticisms from teachers of the lack of indexes and catalogues, making it difficult to know what was there. Teachers greatly appreciated the PhotoCD feature that provides a mini reporoduction of each photo on the sleeve, giving a gallery of the images on the disc, and making retrieval very easy. On the whole, children found it relatively easy to manoeuvre locally around the section of the disc they were working on, and were less likely than the teachers to be worried by the lack of access at the global level.

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The World of Number on CD-ROM, unlike its counterpart on IV, is regarded as unpredictable by some teachers. Problems in loading the software has discouraged those with little experience of IT, to the extent that, in one case, "no one wants it in their room". Even the pupils have found it difficult to use.

The pupils working with the CD-ROM version become very frustrated when faced repeatedly with 'error'and 'disc not found'. 'The other one's much easier 'they say, pointing at the IV.

They then, with the teacher's help, get into the programme.

P1: 'You've got to find out what the number is'.

They can't seem to get any further. Teacher suggests that they try something else instead of Moats. They try the Farmyard .

P2: 'You always get the egg-timer stuck on this.'

P1: 'And the other one's got a much wider screen.

P3: 'You can't do anything with this'

P2: 'Wish I had some instructions - sir , you got any instructions?' (Obs, WofNS on CD, ages 12-13)

The fact that there is no menu on the CD-ROM version was also something about which the teachers complained. The CD-ROM version is more complex, and wait-times are more frequent and longer than with the IV, so progress is slower. All these problems are evidence of poor quality control in the development of these particular CD-ROMs, however, rather than of any intrinsic properties of the system. A more robust reproduction system is important.

It was the slide show feature of PhotoCD she was most enthusiastic about. It had taken her less than 20 minutes to get one working from when she first received the disc. 'You don't have to worry about experimenting because you're not going to do any damage. I can't lose the images'. [Int Secondary teacher using PhotoCD].

Ease of access to the CD systems is covered from an operational point of view under 'Operational characteristics', which favours the simplicity of the CD systems over the comparatively greater flexibility and greater complexity of IV input methods. IV can adopt the simpler methods, of course, but CD-I and CDTV did not provide the option of greater flexibility, as these systems did not have keyboard input.

User control allows pacing and sequencing to be optimal for the learner, but only if access is sufficiently transparent.

6.4. Degree of interactivity

Moving video offers additional forms of interaction not available with graphics alone. This gives it greater flexibility in the kind of illustrative feedback it can give, and in the kind of detailed analysis students can carry out.

Select ‘pole vault’. Pupils watch in slow motion, using pause to focus on breakdown of action.

T: ‘Freeze on pole release to see the body position’.

P1: ‘Body is upside down’.

P2: ‘It’s very straight’.

T: ‘View it again’.

Slow motion plus pausing is used again for observation. Pupils have developed technique to facilitate observation. [Obs, WofNS, ‘Running, Jumping, Flying’ in PE lesson, ages 13-14]

Having watched 'Motorway from bridge' teacher discusses with pupils what they can record from the sequence. One pupil realises that IV can be re-run, so 'it's possible to check on the IV, not like in real life'. The lesson proceeds. A pupil operating the video begins to run it but the others all protest that 'it's too fast' to record. 'Can we have it in slow motion?'Pupil operator obliges, using technique of intermittently clicking on slow forward. Remainder of class record data. [Obs, WofNS, Motorway from Bridge, ages12-13]

Close analysis of good quality stills can also be rewarding.

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A specific feature of CD-I, the magnifying glass, facilitates the close scrutiny of the details of a painting. This was clearly appreciated by one pupil who observed, 'If you want to do a painting in the style of [an artist's] work it helps because you're closing in on the work, seeing the detail, the way they use brush strokes, the techniques used'. [Obs, French Impressionists CD-I, ages 14-15]

IV and CD-I can both support close analysis of visual data, and can offer a form of illustrative feedback.

Teachers expected the IV to be more interactive than it was, providing more feedback and guidance. This was the feature in which the discs fared worst, in their judgment (see Table 8a). They also recognised that the CD systems were even less responsive to learner input, because they are treated much more as resource-based systems, with no guidance, offering access to large quantities of information for the user to navigate through at will. This gives a high degree of user control, in some cases too much. Children do not have sophisticated information handling skills. It is too easy for them to browse, and follow a kind of random walk through the information, rather than maintain a focused search strategy.

They may not check that what they’ve got is what they want. They can sit and print out 5 pages and not really know or understand what they’re doing. Have tried charging to make them more aware of bits they need - that has helped. They find selection of material difficult - the younger ones take anything, irrespective of quality. [Int, Secondary librarian, supervising CD-ROM use].

Teachers recognise that these discs are valuable for the easy access they offer to large quantities of information, and that ease of access and cross-referencing is an important feature in comparison with normal library catalogues, but this very fact makes it all the more necessary to support and develop their pupils’ information-handling skills. Children are not always able to evaluate the information they retrieve. For example, if hitting the hot-spot 'Blenheim' within a biography of Churchill links them to a description of Blenheim as a 'sheep-grazing area of New Zealand' they have to know enough already to know that this is probably a red herring. Similarly, they may not have clearly defined goals for their information retrieval. It is too easy to browse, and follow a kind of random walk through the information, rather than maintain a focused search strategy.

Resource-based learning requires more support for the development of information-handling skills.

Teachers value the greater interactivity they see on the IV discs, but frequently compare unfavourably all these discs with the computer-based learning programs they are used to.

She is not convinced of the interactivity of the system so far. She thinks a computer could do just as well. [Int, Primary teacher].

They are more positive than negative about the system, but said if they had the choice they would rather have had two computers. [Int, Primary teachers].

As we have seen, this is a criticism of the discs, not the medium. It is possible for all these media to offer a high degree of interactivity, of the kind teachers look for.

IV software often fails to exploit fully the interactive capabilities of the medium.

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Comparative benefits: Summary

• Moving video engages attention,

offers vicarious experience,

relates learning to a recognisable reality,

offers alternative representations of ideas.

• High quality sound and visuals are motivating, help to maintain interest.

• Teachers and pupils are sensitive to poor quality visuals, but appreciate the greater manageability of the CD systems.

• User control allows pacing and sequencing to be optimal for the learner, but only if access is sufficiently transparent.

• IV and CD-I can both support close analysis of visual data, and can offer a form of illustrative feedback.

• Resource-based learning requires as an essential concomitant that pupils learn good information-handling skills.

• IV software often fails to exploit fully the interactive capabilities of the medium.

6.5. Concluding points

This study has set out to describe the benefits of the various features of multimedia. When those are understood, it becomes possible for teachers and designers to maximise their use of those features, whatever hardware configuration they are using. The only media comparisons we can make from this study are contingent on the particular discs used; they are not intrinsic to the medium itself. The more important comparisons are likely to be between the physical features affecting the logistics of use, such as size, compatibility, and cost. Robustness is also a key issue. Teachers are often afraid of using IV, partly because there are so many cables, but also because they worry that if they press the wrong key the system will crash. CD-ROMs and CD-I have a big advantage here, because the information is read only, and it cannot be accidentally altered or deleted. They are "a great comfort" for the non-IT confident.

The evaluation study has demonstrated the value of the new features of multimedia systems: moving video, interaction with video, high quality sound and visuals, high-capacity information storage. It has also shown that these features only achieve their potential when on-computer work is combined with off-computer work, when interactivity is used to support pupils with meaningful feedback, and when pupils are helped to develop their information-handling skills. This latter point will become particularly important as schools acquire more CD-based information resources. It is important enough that attainment targets in the National Curriculum may need to be strengthened in this area if pupils are to be introduced to resource-based learning at an early age.

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7. IV and the Teaching of Mathematics

Theoughout the report the reader will find examples of ways in which the World of Number discs have enhanced learning in the classroom, as well as instances of how they fail. Details of how individual sections of the discs were used in mathematics teaching, and in other curriculum areas, can be found in Appendix 3: 'Teachers' hints on getting the best out of the discs'. Generalisations are difficult across such a wide range of materials, but in this section we bring together the main conclusions of the study with respect to the value of IV for the teaching of mathematics. Here we address the questions of how it has been used, its particular value in comparison with other methods, and how it can be expected to contribute to the mathematics classroom.

7.1 How were the sections used?

With the enlarged teacher population of the Extension study, it was possible to evaluate the Maths discs in more detail by asking teachers for their comments on the particular sections they have used. Teachers were asked to indicate their usage of each section in terms of the number of times they had used it in their classes, and replied on a 1 to 5 scale, (see Table 5). This provides a measure of perceived value, because it indicates the repeat usage of the materials - if a section is used more than once, that is probably because it was thought to be of some value, i.e. a score around 3 or more is good. This data was collected just for the Winter term, and shows that only a few sections had achieved repeat usage at that time. Extension schools’ usage is already greater than Core schools’ for some sections, although generally lower, as is to be expected. Table 5 shows that the first four sections on the Primary discs are perceived as valuable, as well as the first three plus ‘Who Stole the Decimal Point’, 'Powers of Ten', and 'Numerical Labyrinths' on the Secondary discs.

The evaluation findings from the Pilot phase suggested that the way IV was supported by the teacher was very important for its success. The evaluation for the Extension schools followed up this point by asking teachers to comment on the amount of time pupils spent on preparation and follow-up, and the time needed for supervision. In the main, time is spent after the program, in follow-up tasks, rather than in preparation for it.

Pupils spend more time in follow-up tasks than in preparation for IV work.

The games sections ‘Number Games’ and ‘Who Stole the Decimal Point?’ especially, receive little preparation, and among the least follow-up and supervision time as well. This accounts, perhaps, for their relatively high usage rate, which generally seems to correlate with low supervision, although Primary teachers give significantly more time to supervision than do secondary teachers.

High usage correlates with low supervision for a section.

In order to suggest the total usage that any one section could be expected to support, we asked teachers to estimate how much they thought each section could be used by a small group within a year, totalling all repeated usage. Table 6 shows that there is remarkable uniformity across all the sections, most falling within 30-60 minutes. The two that stand out are the 'games' style sections, which are heavily interactive, and where pupils are more likely to work for longer, unsupervised. Totalling these estimates across the discs shows that we can expect the Primary and Secondary discs to provide, respectively, 6 and 15 hours' worth of teaching.

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Table 5: Usage of sections of the World of Number discs

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Table 6: Time estimated that each section is likely to be

useful within the course of one school year.

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7.3 Motivational value

In order to find out what teachers valued most about the most popular sections of the discs, they were asked to comment on them in terms of pupil work, visuals, interactivity, and uniqueness. As Table 7 shows, the visuals were seen as the most important characteristic (achieving a mean of 1.4 on a 1 to 5 scale), and there was considerable unanimity on this. Interactivity was less highly rated for its contribution to the success of the section (mean of 2.0), which confirms the conclusion from Table 8a in section 8.9 ‘Teachers' views of disc design’, that the discs do not exploit the potential for interactivity. There is also agreement that pupils work better on these topics with IV than they do with other methods. This point was backed up by teachers' general view in the questionnaire that pupils find IV more fun than print-based learning (1.8 on a 1 to 5 scale). However, teachers are much more equivocal about whether pupils could only have done this through IV (a mean score of 2.8 on a 1 to 5 scale), i.e. the uniqueness of the learning experience offered by these discs remains in question. Their value is more likely to lie in the motivational quality of the visuals.

Table 7: Evaluation of the most used sections of the World of Number discs

Given that mathematics is traditionally a subject that many pupils find difficult and tiresome, a medium that offers lively presentation and increases span of attention must be valuable. The instances reported of low ability groups performing well through better concentration (see section 10.2) testify to this. In this sense IV offers a unique contribution in the maths classroom, the capacity to engage pupils’ attention on task.

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Teachers value the maths discs for their engaging qualities and their motivational effect.

7.4. Generating ‘maths talk’

Some teachers have expressed amazement at the amount and quality of the language generated by pupils working with IV, feeling that this could not be generated by other means. In the questionnaire, teachers responded by agreeing that IV is particularly good at generating maths talk, and suggest that it is most likley to be the use of video that stimulates discussion. It seems to encourage pupils to describe what they see in mathematical terms.

Teacher asks them for largest number they know. Responses are 400, 1000, 10,000 and 20,000. Then they watch section with teacher.

She reads out question on screen: 'What is the biggest number you know and how would you write it?' Some discussion. Then another question: 'What number comes after 999?'

P1 'Ten hundred.'

Teacher: 'What's another way of saying that?'

P2: 'Ten thousand.'

P1 'One thousand.'

They say the numbers they see on screen, eg a house for sale for £85,000 as 'eight pounds and fifty hundred'.

Teacher says, "It's more than the car we bought." They discuss large numbers they know, such as their phone number.

Teacher says IV has made large numbers enoyable and easy to recognise. [Obs, Hundreds and Thousands, ages 6-7]

Because the IV is often used by pupils working in small groups, this fosters collaborative learning which, by its nature, often leads pupils to rehearse a verbal description of what it is going on.

While trying to solve the problem set by the IV pupils describe and comment on their actions and the results of these out loud.

P1: 'Blue multiplies what you've already done on red'

P2: '- by two'

P1: 'It repeats how many lights were already there'

P2: 'Yes, that's right'. [Obs, WofNS, Dressing Table, ages16-17]

A phone is answered on the IV and the voice says 'one double six three'. Displays question: In what other ways could you say 1663?

The two girls say and write down: 'one thousand six hundred and sixty three, sixteen hundred and sixty three, one six six three'....

The cheque on the screen is accompanied by handout questions. The girls study the image closely and answer questions on the handout, debating which is the largest number. [Obs, Hundreds and Thousands, ages 9-10].

What characterises all these examples is the eventful nature of what is on the screen. Things are happening, and the children are sharing in an unfolding experience that demands shared communicative description. When the things happening require a mathematical description, then that shared communication will necessarily include some mathematical content.

Maths talk is especially encouraged by the video component of IV.

Use of the IV is naturally conducive to generating on-task talk: it is a collaborative learning situation, invariably involving at least pairs of children, unlike many classroom activities; it is engaging because of its interactivity, and so maintains attention on the task in hand; it attracts interest because of its audio-visual qualities allowing children to relate the task to their real-world experience. As long as the disc design can play its part by promoting discussion about something worthwhile, then it is likely to be effective.

Use of the IV is naturally conducive to generating on-task talk

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7.5. 'Situating' the learning of maths

One of the reasons that teachers value IV for maths teaching is that the detail of activity on an interactive task necessarily engages them in focused and meaningful talk abd reasoning about mathematics. The practical activities that abound on the discs provide a form of ‘situated learning’ of the relevant mathematics. Problems in velocity and relative motion are notoriously difficult to grasp, and teaching quickly moves into abstract representations in the form of graphs and charts, which often serves only to compound the confusion. If these abstract concepts can be related to specific real-world events - situated - then children can grapple with them in their concrete form first, using their real-world intuitions to assist and check their reasoning, and thereby establish a firm concrete understanding before moving on to tackle the abstract forms. In the following example, where the children are describing the motion of motorway traffic, they can maintain a clear sense throughout of the real-world situation the maths is relating to.

T: How can we measure the distance between the vehicles? Can you see any clues?

P1: The lines.

T: Yes, good boy. How can we use them?

P2: Count them.

P3 uses the slow speed facility so that they can all count the lines. All three are now working on it. P1 moves the car via the slow forward control. 10 white lines are counted.

T explains that 10 x length of line + 10 x length of gap will give the answer.

T: How long do you think the lines are?

Pupils estimate and agree on 2ft. [Obs, WofNS, Motorway from bridge, ages 14-15].

Where the video can show the direct relation between the mathematical representation and the physical reality, the opportunity for situated learning is even greater.

A quarter screen video shows a race being run while an accompanying graph follows the pattern of a winner’s race: stops video to work out which axes and line correspond to the progress of the race; checks her answer - this shows race being run and graph following pattern of winner’s race. ‘Very effective’ comments Nicola [Obs, WofNS, ‘Running, Jumping, Flying’, age 13].

The value of this feature of the IV is not confined to the older age-groups. Very young children, with encouragement from the teacher, are able to focus their attention long enough to make good progress on difficult concepts, because their interest is maintained by the attractive visuals, and thes relate directly to the concpets being taught:

T runs IV of pairs on washing line.

Children immediately talk about what they see and read off screen: ‘What pairs of objects can you spot?’

Socks etc are identified, and one child notices windows in the house. T immediately picks this up and through precise questioning and detailed observation gets children to identify 2 pairs of windows as being the same.

Children readily respond to the demand for attention to detail.

Children all count with teacher to find pairs.

T: Why are pyjama bottoms a pair?

Children: There are two legs in a pair of pyjamas. . .

T points out partnership of pony and rider.

All children read ‘How many partners and pairs can you find here?’

P1: I can see a car and a path in the background.

P2: I can see a tree and a window in front of it.

Very close observation in evidence here. . .

Eggs and eggcups on screen.

T: You couldn’t have an egg without its partner an eggcup.

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P3: You could have scrambled eggs.

T: What would you need then as a partner?

P2: A plate.

P3: Toast

T praises children. . . Screen shows 7 dominoes.

T: Can they be used on their own?

P4: No they have to have partners.

P5: It’s excellent, this computer.

Final image is sophisticated representation of pairs and partners as tessellated hexagons. Remarkably, children are still able to identify partners and pairs. [Obs, WofNP, 20 children ages 5-6].

The particular value of the audio-visual quality of IV, is this link it provides to the real world. Learning mathematics means learning the relationship between the world and a formalism, learning to manipulate that formalism, and learning to reinterpret the results in terms of their meaning in the world. Teachers of mathematics make valiant efforts to maintain the linkages between the form and content of mathematics, but it has always been a tough problem to crack for the majority of pupils. IV can help to bridge the gap, as it can provide manipulable presentations of the real world - manipulable according to the formal rules of mathematics - via interaction with the visuals. This means that programs can enable pupils to see the relationship between a mathematical expression or concept and its real world counterpart; and moreover to do this in the context of a self-accessed environment that goes at their pace, and under their control. In this way, as we have seen in several examples in this section, IV can help to give meaning to mathematics.

IV can help to give meaning to mathematics, by enabling pupils to see the relationship between a mathematical representation and its

real-world counterpart.

7.6 IV for staff development in mathematics teaching

Some schools in the project were given an interactive videodisc on 'Teaching Secondary Mathematics' (TSM), designed to support staff development activities in schools. This provided the opportunity for the evaluation study to look at a different kind of application of IV. The disc has four sections: 'Health', which develops a project in mathematics, based on a health topic; '100 Square Investigation', which looks at different ways of approaching this investigation; 'Circumference of a Circle', which discusses and analyses the lesson for a class working on the relationship between the circumference and diameter of a circle; and 'Issues in Teaching', which provides staff with an opportunity to discuss aspects of teaching such as planning, differentiation, etc. Each section can be used at one of two possible 'user levels'. The disc is supported by a user guide and notes.

More than half the teachers who responded to the questionnaire on this disc said they had been unable to use it for lack of time, even by the summer term.

Teachers who had used it were generally positive about their experiences with the disc. They found it easy to use, it was full of useful information, and it gave them some useful ideas. The principal design feature that teachers valued, as with the World of Number discs, was the stimulation of discussion afforded by the combination of good visuals, and easy access to them. There were many comments about how useful the video was for its provocative dramatisation of the classroom, promoting focused discussion on the teaching presented. This disc is not interactive in the sense that it can provide feedback on user input, but it does offer easy manipulation of the data - options to view alternative ways of teaching a topic, access to the resources used by the teacher, and comments from the children at key points in the lesson featured. This kind of access, combined with control facilities such as freeze action and replay options, means that it is very easy for teachers to use the material as a stimulus to discussion and debate. Teachers repeatedly comment that it is not interactive, but is an excellent stimulus to discussion, both points that are reminsicent of the comments on the World of Number discs. It would be possible to argue that the same material could be presented on videocassette, except that access to specific sections and options would certainly not work as well, and this could undermine the flow of discussion. Questionnaire ratings show that in general teachers believe that the disc allows them to work together better than they could without it, and that it provides a valuable staff development resource.

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Video of classroom events, easy access to information, and control facilities, combine to make IV ideal for stimulating discussion of

teaching for staff development purposes.

IV and the Teaching of Mathematics: Summary

• Teachers value the maths discs for their engaging qualities and their motivational effect.

• Pupils spend more time in follow-up tasks than in preparation for IV work.

• High usage correlates with low supervision for a disc section.

• Maths talk is especially encouraged by the video component of IV.

• Use of the IV is naturally conducive to generating on-task talk.

• IV can help to give meaning to mathematics, by enabling pupils to see the relationship between a mathematical representation and its real-world counterpart.

• Video of classroom events, easy access to information, and control facilities, combine to make IV ideal for stimulating discussion of teaching for staff development purposes.

7.6 Concluding points

The usage of IV for maths in this project has focused on group use. This is partly because one workstation per class invites group use, but also because the design of the materials supports interactivity between pupils, but not between pupil and program, a design feature that was equally prevalent for the TSM discs where teachers themselves became learners. Inevitably, therefore, the value of IV for mathematics is found in the general areas of motivation, and stimulation to discussion about mathematics, rather than in specific mathematical competences. This is not intrinsic to the medium, but is a feature of the design of the discs used in the project. In commenting on WofN sections they found particularly good, or particularly poor, teachers emphasised ‘engaging’, ‘challenging’, ‘interactive’, and ‘making real-life connections’ as being the features of good sections. This is why sections 9 and 15 are evaluated so highly by teachers. The converse descriptions, ‘boring’, ‘not stimulating’, ‘not interactive’ were the distinguishing features of poor sections. Appendix 3 details the ways in which teachers used what they considered to be the good sections, and demonstrates the specific mathematical competences that can be achieved in the context of particular ways of using the disc sections.

Perhaps the key finding, however, is that when IV is well-designed, making good use of both its visual and interactive qualities, then it can help pupils to concretise their understanding of mathematics, making clear links between the abstractions and the real-world events they correspond to. This is where a real mathematical understanding begins, and any medium that can support that process will be an important asset to mathematics teaching.

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8. Disc design

Teachers' and pupils' views on the quality of the discs were collected throughout the observation and interview studies, but in order to check these occasional opinions across a larger sample, the questionnaire included a section asking teachers to rate the discs they had used on each of nine features. Both qualitative and quantitative data is described in this section.

8.1. Ease of use

Most of the discs were thought to be easy to use and to navigate. Given the now extensive experience on ease of use from computer-based learning, however, there were some surprising lapses. Logic and transparency are vital for the learner. There were too many instances of "Now, why did it do that?".

It should always be possible to interrupt a sequence -

They select ‘epilogue and exit’ as part of browsing, but don’t realise that epilogue is the end. Fairly long section of commentary and images, but they can’t exit without letting it finish in full. [Obs, ‘Harvest of the Sun’, ages 11-12].

- to know what is available at any point -

No way of knowing which pictures have enlargements. This leads to some waste of time, selecting ‘play’ then discovering nothing happens except the text overlay is removed. [Obs, ‘Harvest of the Sun’, ages 11-12].

- to know how best to use the disc -

There are no instructions at all on the disc. They hadn’t seen a manual. They had learnt what to do (complicated graph drawing and measuring) based on a demo by the teacher and largely by trial and error. [Obs, Motion, ages 16-17].

- to be able to escape to the main menu at any point -

If things went wrong , and you got lost, you couldn’t easily return to the main menu. You usually had to re-boot. [Int, Primary teacher using Shopping Microworld].

- to have access to the meanings of key functions -

Teacher has to show them the menubar ... Teacher has to show them the menu again .... Where the menu is complex, the teacher can spend a lot of time explaining basic functions. One solution would be for the manufacturer to provide a summary card to keep next to the system [Obs, Secondary teacher using WofNS].

- all these features should by now be standard practice in disc design. The World of Number primary discs and the Smithsonian CD-I were highly rated by teachers for ease of use. For other discs, the fact that they were used at all testifies to their perceived value:

On the French disc they've been having problems for a long time, particularly when using the recoding facility (students can speak French and then hear it played back). The production company sent them a software up-date, but still they get crashes. However, the disc is so popular that they are willing to use it even though they know there's a strong chance of crashing. It's used more than once a week. [Int, Secondary teacher]

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8.2. Interactivity Many criticisms have been levelled at the present discs. Opinions are expressed in strong terms. Teachers experienced in IT feel that there are many computer assisted learning (CAL) programs with a better structure than any of the discs in use in this project. They feel the earlier lessons have not been learned, that the way information is presented and the responses handled is no better than CAL programs of the early eighties. Their strongest criticism is that the discs are not interactive enough.

Very well produced, but some sections have just the same features as a vcr. [Int, Secondary teacher using WofNS].

Disappointed IV not more interactive on all problems. Different orthographic projections worked well. You could flick through till you thought you had one that fitted, then test it at the end. That was completely interactive. [Int, Secondary teacher using WofNS].

Had liked Olympic sequence because it was more interactive and you could freeze-frame it, but the alcohol sequence could almost be a tv programme. [Int, Secondary teacher using WofNS].

Feels children don’t have enough opportunity to participate. Not interactive enough. Pupils not that keen on it. [Int, Primary teacher using WofNP].

The same complaint recurs throughout the questionnaire comments coming from teachers in the Extension study, who saw interactivity as coming only from interaction between the pupils:

This is what sets the material apart from other media. Its full potential is not utilised in the ‘world of number’ materials. [Qu're: Extension school teacher]

Materials are not interactive and so require much preparation to promote effective learning. [Qu're: Extension school teacher]

Much of it is too much like a video. Difficult to convince staff it is worth the effort. [Qu're: Extension school teacher]

I admit I was disappointed with this at first but it’s a different sort of interactivity ie between pupils or pupils/adults etc NOT pupil/machine. [Qu're: Extension school teacher]

None of the discs were rated highly for interactivity. The Energy disc was thought to do best in this respect. Those sections of the World of Number discs that are seen as interactive, i.e. ‘Dressing Table’. ‘Who Stole the Decimal Point?’ and ‘Labyrinths’ were especially appreciated, and were frequently mentioned as the exception to the charge of non-interactivity.

8.3. Use of visuals

The media used in this study all have the advantage over computer-based learning that they are capable of being more visual. This was certainly appreciated, and is reflected in good ratings on the use of visual stimuli for most of the discs. There were still many instances when teachers felt that designers had under-exploited the medium however.

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They can’t believe that the images where a triangle is divided into four smaller triangles with two of them shaded in are half and half. This would have been a good time to use animation, so they could see how the 4 triangles made up the larger one. [Obs, WofNS, Fractions, ages 6-7].

Doesn’t use its opportunity to use visual information as a way of explaining concepts [Int, Primary teacher using WofNP].

The Energy disc scored best here, though the World of Number discs, La Connection Française, Louvre, and Geometry discs all did well.

8.4. Support for pupils

This feature is strongly linked to the degree of interactivity provided by the disc - teachers' judgments of the two are highly correlated. There was very little use of printed materials by pupils, so support could only come from the system. Lack of support was a considerable hindrance to learning.

They start recording again.

P1: Try 1

P2: We've lost

P1: We lose when we move 3

P3: Excuse me Mr Computer, will you let us win?

P2: Computers - who needs 'em?

P3: Why don't we try blowing it up?

P2: I don't like this computer any more

P1: Shall we start this time?

P2: It's got absolutely nothing to do with who starts.

[Obs, 4 girls, using Stepping Stones, ages 12-13].

Sees it simply as ‘glorified video’. Not interactive. No machine response to child input, and lack of feedback means children can continue on the wrong track. Child doesn’t communicate with machine, so has to interrupt teacher for help and advice. Very time-consuming for teacher. [Int, Primary teacher, using WofNP].

Jumps from one stage to another too quickly - too much information, and inappropriate reading age [Int, Primary teacher using WofNP].

The boys took a long time to enter correct answers because they omitted or misplaced decimal points. The error messages are too brief and gave no help [Obs, using Shopping Microworld, ages 7-8].

They half-heartedly work through some of the experiments without knowing what they’re doing - there’s nothing in the way of system-imposed checks. [Obs, using Energy, ages 15-16].

The only disc to score well on pupil support was the Energy disc.

In the questionnaire, most teachers who commented would have liked more extension material such as worksheets. Worksheets can be designed to support different levels of student ability and allow the extension of IV related work and so better integration with existing teaching strategies. This also means that the teacher saves time in preparation and supervision. Some teachers also wanted better support for students of different abilites, with more on screen help and instructions.

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8.5. Support for teachers

The introduction of new technology to the classroom is necessarily a time-consuming process for teachers, and at a time when pressure of work is always increasing, they are acutely aware of anything that either takes more time than it should, or that saves them time. Most commercially-produced discs do little to support the teacher, via either indexing of contents, or advice on how to use them. The World of Number discs are extensively documented, and many teachers have been appreciative of this. Opinion is split, however, on the value of the documentation, and as a result, neither set scores well on this feature. While some teachers welcome the opportunity to go beyond the detailed curriculum requirements, many feel sufficiently constrained by them that they resent any material that does not make the links obvious.

The workcards accompanying the maths discs provide a list of resources needed and tasks to be performed before the lesson. ‘Very helpful for the planning and preparation phase of teaching’. [Int, Primary teacher using WofNP].

The way the maths disc is organised, and the fact that the other discs are not indexed or really aimed at school children means that there has been an enormous amount of expenditure for very little that couldn’t just as easily be done by other more traditional means [Report on Primary school].

Only the Energy disc is regarded as giving any real support to the teacher. Questionnaire data shows that there is a range of opinion on whether IV takes too much planning time, but there is a strong consensus that disc designers should provide a comprehensive index to the contents of each disc, including what it teaches, and to what level. It takes a lot of time to discern how best to use the material on the disc, and teachers feel that they would get most help from suggested lesson plans and explicit links to the National Curriculum, which they could then adjust for their own purposes.

8.6. Fit to the Curriculum

The lack of relationship between the discs and the National Curriculum has been a constant source of criticism, for the maths discs as well as the others.There is some appropriate material which is very good, but it needs searching out. It takes too much teacher time to determine whether ATs are being met.

Documentation for both maths discs would be considerably improved if it included details of the ATs being assessed during a particular task [Minutes of teachers’ meeting].

Complaints from Maths dept (also from Maths at another school) that it is not easy to link disc with National Curriculum [Report on Secondary school using WofNS].

‘We evaluated the discs, and found them totally unsuitable’. He had already contacted NCET who had promised to send a catalogue of other discs. ‘Teachers would be dismissive of the software, as being more entertainment than specific educational issues’ [Int, IT co-ordinator, Secondary school, using CD-I]

Some areas don’t match up to the NC at all. ‘Where was the quality control on that?’ Worksheets almost useless. No sense of designing appropriate materials for young children. [Int, Primary teacher using WofNP].

As teachers become more familiar with NC programmes of study and attainment targets it will be easier for them to associate these with material they find on the disc, and much of it fits well, once they find it, e.g. 'Hundreds and Thousands' is valuable extension work to meet specific attainmaent targets in primnary school; 'React!' is used for measuring reaction times to two decimal places to produce frequency tables; 'On The Move' is used for working out which graphs fit particular events to achieve attainment targets in number and algebra. It is possible to find a good fit between the NC and the discs, therefore, but teachers would prefer not to have to hunt for it.

Some of the Maths disc material has been used to meet requirements elsewhere in the curriculum, such as the use of the Perspectives topic on alcohol for Personal and Social Education, and the Olympics topic for Physical Education. Similarly, IT targets, e.g. ‘discuss the social, environmental and ethical issues raised by information technology’ - were met by using ‘The Money Game’.

The CDTV materials were considered in the main to be risible. The strong American influence of the history and cookery discs was disliked strongly. One teacher used the Asterix materials as light relief for her French classes and, although it was enjoyed by her classes, she felt that it was of limited use and weak pedagogically. Children also liked the 'Timetable of History' disc more than their teacher.

8.7. Enjoyment

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One teacher asked his top maths group of 29 fourteen year-olds to complete forms saying what they did and did not like about ‘Who Stole the Decimal point?’. The three most popular good points were the challenge provided by the puzzles (“just tough enough to be enjoyable”), the visuals (“the graphics were superb”), and the learner control (“it was good how you could skip through the rooms and do whatever puzzles you liked first instead of doing them at a set pace”). There was remarkable agreement about the dislikes, the three most commonly mentioned being the acting (“the acting was really bad, and the children annoyed me”), the lack of support (“they didn’t explain anything very well. I didn’t understand the pig puzzle at all and we had to give up on it”), and the disappointing end (“when finished didn’t congratulate for doing it”). Whenever groups of pupils have recorded their opinions of the disc design features, their 'enjoyment' ratings of the discs have always correlated closely with their ratings for 'interactivity' and 'good visuals'.

Irritated by the guide who says ‘That was fun’ at the end of each section. They laugh at it because there’s no way they’re finding it fun at all. [Obs, using Radiation, ages 15-16].

They seem particularly irritated by the slowness with which things happen [Obs, using WofNS, Disc Valley Journey, ages 14-15].

Enjoyment is the feature that most of the discs score well on, though it must be said that these are teachers' views. Pupils' opinions expressed via these ratings are always significantly more critical than those of teachers, though following a similar pattern. They hate to feel patronised, and even the youngest children react against things they consider 'babyish'. They enjoy the challenge of material beyond their capability, such as the 'Solar System' video, which entrances children, so that even if it does not contribute immediately to understanding, it may awaken a curiosity for knowledge, which is a most valuable beginning. Designers of materials for schoolchildren would do well to aim for being much less patronising and much more challenging.

8.8. Learning effectiveness

In earlier sections of the report the evidence is offered for the design features that make the discs effective. We have presented the observational data that shows productive interactions taking place with IV. There are also clear examples of unproductive work. As with any teaching method, it is capable of being both highly effective, and completely ineffective. And as we have shown, effectiveness is a function of the disc design, and the way the teacher uses it. If the question is put 'is this an effective learning medium?' and we consider just the characteristics of the medium, rather than the particularities of the materials and their use, then it is clear from its nature that it should be. The engaging quality of interaction, and the attractiveness of the audio-visual presentation guarantee interest and motivation for learners at any level. It is not necessary to launch an evaluation study to investigate this. Instead, a study is needed in order to understand how greatest learning effectiveness is achieved, and how best to exploit the unique qualities of the medium. The answers to these questions permeate the whole report. As to the particular discs involved in the study, in general, teachers are agreed that most of these discs help pupils to learn.

8.9. Teachers' views of disc design

The quantitative evaluation data on teachers' opinions of the discs was calculated from their ratings of each of three discs they had used on each of the features listed above, according to the extent that they agreed or disagreed that the disc possessed that feature. This could only be done for the Core schools, the only ones to receive a variety of IV discs. Tables 8a and 8b below show the ratings, where features and discs are in rank order. Several discs were selected for comment by only a few teachers, and have been omitted. Quantitative data is difficult to amass here: there are small numbers of teachers and several discs so only 2 or 3 people commented on some discs. Those in Table 8a attracted comments from at least ten. CD-I discs had even less use, and Table 8b reflects at least 3 teachers' opinions. There is good agreement among the responses for those that have been included, but inevitably this data becomes more reliable as more teachers offer their opinions. However, for the World of Number discs, when the Core data (e.g. WofNPC, from 20+ teachers) is compared with the Extension data (e.g. WofNPE, from 80+ teachers), we can see that in fact there is remarkable similarity in teachers’ judgments, and the small sample data is shown to be a valid predictor for the larger population. The Extension schools are slightly more enthusiastic in their positive responses to the discs.

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Pupils Easy Good Pupils Up-to Pupil Fits Teacher Inter-

Disc enjoy to use visuals learn -date support NC support active

Energy ** ** ** * * ** O * *

Conn Fr ** ** * ** ** O O • O

WofNPC ** ** * * O O O O ••

WofNPE ** * ** * * O * * ••

WofNSC ** ** * * O • • • O

WofNSE ** * ** * * O • O •

Louvre * O * O O O * O ••

Geometry O * ** * • O O • •

Shopping * O O * • • * • O

Radiation • * • • • • •• • •

Table 8a: Teacher's opinions of features of IV discs.

Pupils Easy Good Pupils Up-to Pupil Fits Teacher Inter-

Disc enjoy to use visuals learn -date support NC support active

Harvest O * ** O O * •• ** *

Fr Impres ** ** ** O •• • • O ••

Smiths'n ** ** • O * •• •• • •

Mozart •• * •• •• •• •• •• •• ••

Table 8b: Teacher's opinions of features of CD-I discs. ** = most strongly agree disc has this feature, * = most agree, 0 = neutral,

• = most disagree, •• = most strongly disagree

Throughout this report, many complex and contrasting views on the quality of the discs thave been expressed and it would be difficult to distil from all the qualitative data a clear impression of how good they were overall. The value of this kind of quantitative data, based on replies from over 100 questionnaires (plus over 200 for the combined Extension Phase study), is that we can gain an impression overall of considerable success on some features, and much work to be done on others. We can see from the rank ordering of the features that, for example, discs are most likely to be enjoyable and least likely to be interactive, a result obtained in both Pilot and Extension phases. An encouraging result is that overall, teachers believe pupils learn from them.

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Disc design: Summary

• Most of the discs were thought to be easy to use and to navigate.

• Teachers' strongest criticism is that the discs are not interactive enough and do not exploit the technology fully.

• Good visual stimuli provided on the discs were highly appreciated.

• Discs lacked good pupil support in failing to be interactive or adaptive.

• Few discs provide good teacher support.

• There is a strong consensus that disc designers should provide a comprehensive index to the contents of each disc.

• Teachers feel that discs should be explicitly relevant to National Curriculum requirements.

• Most discs score well on pupil enjoyment.

• Disc design for children should be much less patronising and much more challenging.

• In general, teachers are agreed that these discs help pupils to learn.

• The NCC Maths discs were appreciated particularly for their enjoyment value and ease of use, and also for their visual quality and educational value. Teachers were less enthusiastic about their degree of pupil/teacher support, their fit to the National Curriculum and their level of interactivity.

8.10. Concluding points

On the key parameters of enjoyment, ease of use, good visuals, and pupil learning, the discs used in the evaluation study do reasonably well. On the other key parameters of fit to curriculum, teacher and pupil support, and interactivity, they do much less well, and this has been confirmed by the Extension study data. It is apparent from the teacher views expressed in this section that the design process for educational discs lacks good quality control: the successful design features of earlier courseware have often not been incorporated, the capabilities of the techology are not fully exploited, developmental testing has not remedied key design faults, the disc content does not always address its users' needs.

The educational software design industry will have to take much more seriously the full exploitation of the new technology, and the formative evaluation of its designs, if it is to make any real impact on the quality of learning, and thereby increase its appeal to teachers.

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9. Operational characteristics

Operational problems are inevitable when educational technology is introduced, but in general pupils have found the hardware and software straightforward to use, and teachers have found logistical problems surmountable. For the technology to reach its potential, the operational characteristics of these systems must not hinder the process of teaching and learning, so the focus of the evaluation shifted to looking also at how potential problems could be avoided or minimised.

9.1. Pupils easily learn to handle discs

Pupils of all ages are confident with new technology. The effect of technology at home has been changing their responses over the past few years. Of course, each set of discs is different and some have proved difficult to use for adults as well as pupils. Where instructions are clear, the pupils follow them easily and correctly. They are also keen to teach each other, and to be left by the teacher to do it themselves, often volunteering to set up the system.

She leaves them to work through the worksheet. They are happy controlling the machine and seem to work together easily. Don’t ask for further help with content or operation. [Obs: ages 6-7]

First of all, they have to take out the Solar System disc and then put in Tell Me Why. They'd never done this before, but they swap discs successfully and get it playing OK... It starts with doorways of different shapes, but there doesn't seem to be anything to tell them what's behind each door. They wander through various options and eventually find a card catalogue. They don't know what it is, but they recognise that as it has letters of the alphabet on it, so it should be useful. They go to 's' and eventually find 'solar system'... They choose 'tell me more' when they have solar system and watch the sequence. Then, while they're on 's' they decide to look up 'space' and 'sun' but neither of them are there.[Obs, on first time use of CD-I, ages 6-7]

This kind of observation data has been confirmed by the questionnaire data: all teachers strongly agree that “children are quick in learning to work with the discs” - primary teachers even more so than secondary (1.2 and 1.9 on a 1 - 5 scale).

Primary and secondary teachers agree that pupils quickly learn to work with the discs.

9.2. The optimal working environment

Pupils quickly learn keyboard and mouse operation, though some teachers regard the absence of this for CD-I and CDTV as a particular advantage. In a cramped working environment, the mouse presents more problems, however. It is harder to pass it around as the cable tangles with limbs and furniture; it has to be passed around with a flat surface to make it work; in extremis pupils operate the mouse by moving the ball with their fingers. When there is a group of students using the technology, the mode of input can be quite important in deciding who will take an action. A mouse can be commandeered or scrabbled over; a keyboard lends itself to interventions by different users, although in a larger group it cannot be passed around.

An additional benefit of keyboard input is that it gives pupils the opportunity to practise keyboard skills, which are now seen as essential, even for the young.

Some of the value of IV work derives from the written work carried out at the time (see ‘Impact on Learning’). There is no optimal desk arrangement for groups of 3 to 6 children, however. Even small groups of 1 or 2 frequently find they have no desk space either side of the IV system as most classrooms seem short of space. In these circumstances they balance paper and books on their knees - clipboards become essential. A narrow desk in front of the workstation trolley is sometimes used, which provides a place for writing and for placing worksheets for easy reference.

Groups larger than 3 sit in a semicircle or a cluster - either way some children will be straining to see the screen clearly, or read the small-font texts, or hear the sound above the ambient noise, or gain access to the input mechanism. The maximum size of a group is 3 for comfortable working.

Many classrooms have not been designed with technology in mind, and lack power points in convenient places. This needs urgent consideration in all future classroom provision, as location of the equipment is important for creating the right learning environment in a classroom.

The optimal working environment requires small groups (say 3), sufficient space, provision of clipboards or suitable desks, well-

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located power points, and use of the keyboard in preference to a handset or mouse.

9.3. Advantages of bar-codes

For the primary systems, bar-code readers were provided. These enabled teachers to create their own worksheets for children, using bar-codes to input commands to the system. Teachers can photocopy bar-codes corresponding to commands and chapter positions, cut them up, and insert them into printed instruction sheets. A worksheet could begin, for example, with an instruction to 'Start' linked to the particular bar-code associated with the chapter number at which the teacher wished the children to begin, and would continue with further instructions to play, pause, complete answers on the sheet, etc. Thus with a bar-code reader, the teachers were able to control what pupils did. Random searching and browsing was not possible. Bar-codes also have the advantage of being easy to learn to use for both teachers and pupils, requiring no specialist knowledge.

The advantage of using the bar-code reader is that one simple action is all that is required. Other forms of control need more knowledge on the part of the user. [Int, primary teacher].

It is very easy to access the system via bar-codes. This is important for less able children who don't need to learn complex key-in sequences. [Int, primary teacher].

Children used barcode reader to move one frame at a time to get the still positioned exactly so they could write down numbers eg car number plate, number on uniform. Good level of control. [Obs. WofNP, ages 8-9]

Bar-codes are easy to learn to use. They enable teachers to control what pupils do.

9.4. Disadvantages of bar-codes

Bar-code readers are easy to learn, but not easy to operate. The light-pen action proved tricky to master, and any imperfections in the paper bar-codes rendered them useless. Teachers laminated the printed sheets containing bar-codes, and kept master photocopies of the bar-codes, but the failure rate was still high. Pupils helped each other with the precise swipe action, and displayed amazing patience, but too often the principal discussion point was how to get it to read the code, distracting attention from the task in hand.

The teacher couldn’t get the bar-code to work properly and it was very slow freezeframe in reverse. Children enjoyed seeing this, but she got frustrated and used the handset instead. [Obs, ages 5-6].

Real problems with bar-code readers - either not working at all, or working but source of difficulty for children. [Report on Primary school].

Handsets were much more reliable, and easier to share if the group was a co-operative one, and primary pupils were skilled operators. Bar-codes require more reading, and this both creates its own problems, and takes attention away from the screen.

Handset better because many children are used to remote control for TV, Nintendo. etc; feel more in control and get immediate response. [Int, Primary teacher].

The bar-code is better when the teacher has arranged a pre-defined set of pages and activities. Worksheets prepared by the teacher, including the appropriate bar-codes, have the advantage that random searching by pupils is not possible. For bar-codes, the more expensive torch readers were much more reliable than light-pens, with no flex to get in the way, and being more tolerant of human or material variations, and therefore worth the money. The rollerball input is better for CD-I than the joystick, which skids too fast, or the remote control, which pupils instinctively point at the screen rather than the player. The lack of a keyboard was considered a serious disadvantage for Story Machine on the CD-I as text inputting was very clumsy and time consuming. Cursor control was not fine enough to select letters easily. In general, however, both CDTV and CD-I have been highly praised by both teachers and pupils for their ease of operation.

Many teachers prefer to use handsets for IV, or at least torch-readers for bar-code input.

It is advisable to laminate the bar-code worksheets, and to keep a master copy of the bar-codes to replace those that get worn.

CDTV and CD-I are seen as being easier to operate than IV.

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9.5. How valuable is printer hard-copy?

Printer hard-copy can be very helpful when students are using the resource as a substitute for library work and as part of their project activity. It is used a lot with CD-ROMs in some of the schools we saw, where collecting printout seems to be a normal part of the activity. The CD-I and CDTV materials in use on the project had no facility for hard-copy and this was perceived as a disadvantage. For IV it is used mainly for the Science discs, Motion, Radiation and Energy, although it is not always clear when printing out is possible, and pupils spend time copying text from the screen. There is concern that it is not possible to print out from Story Machine on CD-I.

While some benefits accrue from the facility to print out hard copy the pitfalls are also significant. There is evidence of children using the printer but not looking at output at all.

Hard copy was used for pages of text from the Radiation disc, but meant that the children didn’t bother reading it or trying to assimilate it because they knew they could put it in their folder as it was. [Field report, ages 15-16]

Some pupils realised in peer discussion that printing out hard-copy might lead to plagiarism.

As more information is gathered manually one pupil mentions the advantage of the CD-ROM, which can print out information. This leads to a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of producing hard copy. Some see this as saving time but one pupil says that you have to put it into your own words anyway. They then realise that one pupil has printed out a paragraph from the CD-ROM and reproduced it in his project. The majority of them see that it is not really his work. (Obs, The French Impressionists, CD-I, ages14-15)

In this context CD-I is more likely to encourage pupils to make notes, to synthesise data and to put it into their own words.

Pupils decide to print out the information and are annoyed that they cannot. They complain about having to write notes. They do however read the information off the screen. The teacher encourages them to read and make notes. They quickly adopt an effective synthesising technique, taking turns with reading and writing and employing the idea of one reading off the screen while another makes notes from what is read. The librarian endorsed the point made about note-taking and synthesising information, as against printing out hard-copy: 'They leave and have achieved something rather than having photocopied something out of a book. They enjoy this and learn better'. (Obs, Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, CD-I, ages12-13)

Absence of a print-out option has the benefit of requiring pupils to take their own notes.

Hard copy works best when it is used to facilitate memory and working out for complicated calculations.

They want to start adding up the kjoules, but the calculator obscures the text and can’t remember figures properly if keep flicking between text and calc. Teacher comes over and suggests they print out. They use the printout to keep track of calculations and make notes next to some figures. Printout is very useful. [Obs, ages 13-14].

Use of the printer seems to be mainly secondary-based, and even where available the facility seems underused for IV.

Pupils need explicit instruction on when and how to use hard copy. It is better to have printouts that need filling in, or elaborating in

some way to make sure they use it to best effect.

9.6. IV takes significant time to set up and plan

In the Pilot phase, teachers were divided on whether IV is too complex a medium to learn to use, given the time they have. Core schools are still divided on this, even now, but the Extension schools tend to disagree that “it takes too long to become familiar with these systems” (mean of 3.6 on a 1 to 5 scale). This appears to be because they had the advantage of having done the bulk of the trouble-shooting and preparatory work during the summer. Time spent on setting up and trouble-shooting do not go down very much, however, and seems to remain stubbornly fixed at 2-3 hours per term. Familiarisation takes the most time, but this of course decreases noticeably over the year. If the Core schools experience is typical, we have to expect that time spent on familiarisation has to be renewed at the beginning of each year, due, perhaps, to teachers' class changes, or to curriculum changes. The final row in Table 9 indicates the percentage of preparation time spent on lesson planning. Teachers expect preparation time, but they are used to this being spent largely on

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lesson planning itself. The percentages are improving with time, but how will they feel about spending 60% of their precious preparation time on activities peculiar to this technology? This figure is bound to be higher than what they are used to for other kinds of teaching method.

At present, however, teachers are still undecided on whether time spent on preparation is unreasonable, neither agreeing nor disgreeing with this statement. Time spent on familiarisation is undoubtedly the most important factor here, and this is difficult to reduce, given the nature of new technology. It has to be recognised as one of the costs of introducing it.

Core /ExtensionSchools

Autumn 92 Spring 93 Summer 93 Autumn 94 Spring 94

N=35 N=54 N=31 N=37/188 N=27/96

Setting Up 3 3 1 3/3 2/4

Familiarisation 10 7 2 9/9 5/5

Trouble-Shooting 3 2 1 2/3 2/3

Lesson Planning 4 4 2 8/5 5/6

% spent preparing lesson

20% 25% 33% 36/25% 36/40%

Table 9: Average hours spent on aspects of planning IV use

Teachers need adequate time for familiarisation with the system (approx. 10 hours initially), and for lesson-planning.

Operational characteristics: Summary

• Primary and secondary teachers agree that pupils quickly learn to work with the discs.

• The optimal working environment requires small groups, sufficient space, provision of clipboards or suitable desks, well-located power points, and use of the keyboard.

• Many teachers prefer to use handsets for IV.

• Torch-readers are better then ‘pens’ for bar-code input.

• It is advisable to laminate the bar-code worksheets.

• Keep a master copy of the bar-codes to replace those that get worn.

• CDTV and CD-I are seen as being easier to operate than IV.

• Absence of a print-out option has the benefit of requiring pupils to take their own notes.

• Pupils need explicit instruction on when and how to use hard copy.

• Printouts that need filling in encourage more attentive work.

• Teachers need adequate time for familiarisation with the system (approx. 10 hours initially), and for lesson-planning.

9.7. Concluding points

Operational problems were rarely insurmountable. It is encouraging that teachers and pupils alike found the hardware and software easy to use once early difficulties were sorted out. The support provided by NCET in the early stages was clearly greatly appreciated by teachers, and was undoubtedly a key factor in getting many schools up and running in reasonable time. It will be important to continue this kind of support whenever new techology is introduced; lack of such provision is a false economy.

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10. Access

One aspect of the evaluation was to look at use of the materials with respect to equal opportunity issues and individual characteristics. Were any groups or types of children more likely to be denied access? To what extent were teachers aware of possible access problems? This is an aspect of classroom management in general, of course, but we were interested to see if new technology presented particular difficulties, and if its benefits were fully available to all children.

10.1. Children with learning difficulties

The more able children in a class could easily commandeer an attractive new medium, but we always found that teachers were very even-handed in their management of access across the ability range. Interactive media easily engage pupils’ interest, and this is especially important for those children who normally have short concentration spans. Less able children who normally manage about five minutes work in traditional mode have been spending much more time in concentrated attention to the material presented to them on the IV system. This ratio has been estimated at more than ten to one on some occasions.

Material was quite difficult for this group, but sustained their interest and they had a go at answering questions [Obs, low ability pupils using WofNS on Fractions, ages 8-9].

Slow learners in a primary class respond very well to the opportunity to use the IV system. Their reading and arithmetic was not being compared with the better ones in the class and their attention to the task in hand showed a degree of perseverance not achieved with other methods. [Obs, Shopping Microworld, ages 7-8].

For low ability pupils the game elements on the discs can provide the ideal motivation to practise reading or maths. In one class of slow learners the use of IV enabled the teacher to get around all the class more effectively than previously.

You need to read all the signs. If you go through a wrong door you might find that the thief has stolen some oranges. Then you have to collect more. [Obs, SEN pupils, using WofNS, ages 11-12].

Teachers recognise that low ability pupils are likely to need more supervision, and need more structure for their work than other pupils.

Used ‘Labyrinths’ with low ability group. They were unsystematic, which led to frustration so I had to give them a lot of help to get them started. It would be better if they had a HELP button or something to support them when they’re not getting anywhere. [Int, Secondary teacher].

The pupils themselves recognise the value they get from these programs:

A good way to learn about doing sums.

It explains so you understand it.

One boy said he could have ‘played it for hours’.

Got frustrated but it’s great when you manage to do it in the end.

Not like a computer, it’s real.

[Interviews with secondary pupils designated SEN]

IV benefits slow learners by engaging attention and increasing concentration.

The teacher must be very familiar with the materials if they are to match up appropriate IV sections and preparatory work for different groups of children. This becomes particularly important for children with special needs. Even with some teacher supervision and prior preparation, the need for adequate feedback from the disc is apparent.

Preparatory work has been to use multilink cubes to make different shapes for a partner. They have to draw plans and elevations showing the shape from different views.

Teacher explains the cube towers task on the IV to them briefly.

They try to build it with their own cubes, but have little concentration and don’t get very far. Other than using ‘test’ there’s no guidance on how to do it - and that just tells them if they’re right or wrong.

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P1: “How do we know if we’ve done it right?”

They need teacher intervention and haven't got much patience. They can’t sustain work on one aspect but flit about. There’s not enough feedback for them

Teacher gets them to build it. They don’t sort it out by lunch break and don’t seem to have particularly enjoyed it. [Obs, Perspectives, Low ability group, ages 11-12].

This task was a good one to choose, because the children could match the shapes on the screen against the models they were using in the classroom, and there was a clear relation to the real world. The teacher had prepared them well with tasks using the physical models, and also provided some supervision. But in working on the IV they only received the reward of the image rotating on the screen if they got it right, and no help at all if they got it wrong. Without appropriate feedback there was insufficient motivation to concentrate for long enough to solve the problem.

Children in low ability groups need support from the discs as well as from the teacher.

10.2. Effectiveness of the discs for children with special needs

There were several opportunities within the course of the evaluation study to observe the use of IV for children with special educational needs. The motivational qualities of the medium should be especially valuable for children who normally experience barriers to learning. It was important to assess the validity of this.

In one case, a group of twelve pupils, ages 14-15, attending a moderate learning difficulties special school worked regularly with WofN secondary discs. Their difficulties centered on slow-learning, reading/writing problems, poor memory retention, lack of concentration and immaturity. Most had been transferred from mainstream schools at various ages. The IV was perceived by the teachers of these pupils as being especially good because, "this technology, which SEN pupils can easily access, provides equality of opportunity. Its facility to pause, rewind, slow and fast forward offers plenty of opportunity for revising and re-checking information and concepts".

Their interest in the tasks set seemed to be related to the pupils' sense of ownership and confidence, which was encouraged by the teacher giving all pupils a chance to operate the IV system. In addition the teacher established clear procedures to ensure methodical use of the IV. These procedures helped to optimise the search and retrieval of information required to answer the questions.

The user-friendliness of the IV, commented upon both by pupils and teachers, means that pupils can work confidently and successfully with this technology. This is particularly good for the self esteem of such pupils, often branded failures. [Report, WofNS, SEN pupils, ages14-15]

Such a highly structured approach was also important given the objective for these pupils of, "Working towards total independence... We start with a routine, a structure, set up the scaffolding, then remove it bit by bit". As skills need to be taught with a high degree of specificity and broken down into small steps, routine and structure is vital for SEN pupils. IV meets this requirement very effectively.

One pupil observed that, 'I learned that maths is not just work out of a book'. This sense of maths being of the real world and a part of life was also evident in the way in which other pupils saw it helping them with life skills such as being able to plan a route, or read a timetable. The work with the IV thus helped to cross some boundaries and to teach Personal and Social Education as well as the specific maths skills. [Report, WofNS, Life Doesn't Run Smoothly, Motorway from Bridge, and Toast, Ages14-15]

Interactive media of this type create an importantly different learning environment for children who are used to failure in the normal classroom.

Teacher commented that one girl in group saw psychologist as she has behavioural difficulties. She was stunned to see the girl doing all the writing down of numbers for the group and was fully involved and cooperating. Usually she refuses to write, or even to see the special needs teacher. Teacher wasn't sure what had motivated her, other than the visual stimulus and it not seeming like typical school work. It offers an opportunity for very focussed activities and perhaps is less intimidating as it isn't book or text based. [Obs, WofNP, ages 8-9].

From the questionnaire data, teachers are quite clear that it is the visual qualities of the discs that are most important in providing motivation for these children (1.8 on a 1 - 5 scale), with interactivity also important, but less so.

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The ease of operation and motivational qualities of the IV provide a rewarding learning environment for children with special needs.

At another Core school, a study on the differentation of curriculum materials was being carried out ('differentiation' is adjusting teaching to meet the needs of different pupils). The study aimed to consider whether the WofN materials are useful for differentiation of work for children with all levels of ability, and for children with specific learning needs, such as reading difficulties, hearing impairment, and behavioural problems. This was done by considering whether the materials are flexible enough to support a range of pupil groupings and allow variation of content, structure, pace, level and sequence; what variations in access and response are allowed; and the extent to which they motivate and relate to pupils' interests.

Observation of individual children working on the IV showed that for the early key stages there was little structure in the materials and the examples given were unrelated and isolated, with some screens crowded or ambiguous and occasional inappropriate language, such as 'objects'. The materials were varied enough to maintain interest, but the presentation style necessitated a lot of teacher input - 22 questions for one chapter. On the other hand, the IV system diffused the intensity of a conventional relationship between teacher and pupil:

The IV allowed Sarah to react and respond in a way that might have been inhibited in a face-to-face situation. Sarah was able to respond to most of what she heard and saw and develop the concepts involved. This was demonstrated as she began to ignore the soundtrack and comment spontaneously on new material. She developed her ability to verbalise her thoughts and her concepts of pairs and partners. [Extracted from Report by Sarah Earl of Manor CP School, Uckfield].

Although there is some progression within the WofN materials (eg the chapters on 'fractions'), the lack of overall structure hinders the teacher in specific differentiation and in relating it to the National Curriculum. The thorough differentiation of learning materials is a teacher-intensive task, and the lack of structure in the discs and the accompanying materials, and the lack of explicit reference to the National Curriculum, make this more onerous.

Differentiation of materials for special needs requires explicit structure in the discs and the accompanying materials.

At one of the Extension schools, we were lucky to be able to observe pupils working in a unit for the hearing impaired. This provided the opportunity to document some of the special problems that these children encounter with new technology. The pupils and their teacher wear radio aids. The school has a policy of not signing, but using verbal communication.

They use the handset for control. The light pen is no good for hearing impaired because they can't hear the bleep that it's registered.

They love the section showing lots of sheep and a dog rounding them up, and start making barking noises. Lynsey enjoys counting out the numbers as she sees them appear on screen, and seems to enjoy the act of talking at the screen. Other than this, the talk is all via the teacher rather than to each other, but she explained this is difficult for them to do, although as they get more confident they will talk to each other more.

On the step section, the teacher uses the whiteboard just behind the system to write up tens and units and encourage some working out. One step includes 100s and they haven't done this before. Then they want to look at the whole section again. It keeps their interest. [Obs, WofNP, Tens and Hundreds, ages 7-8].

In this context it becomes apparent that the sound quality on the discs is very poor. It hisses, which makes using the radio aids quite difficult. Sub-titles are not a satisfactory alternative because the reading age of hearing impaired children is often behind that of other children, and because it is important to encourage talking and listening. A further problem is that the commentary often provides links between visual images, but as they cannot hear it properly, it is much more difficult for the children to make sense of cuts from one scene to another, eg it cuts from pictures of sheep to people in a tube station. Without the commentary it is difficult to see what the connection is.

The visual element is excellent for these pupils, however, as long as they know context. On balance, therefore, it is a useful resource as a visual stimulus, but very demanding of teacher time.

Disc design features do not take account of the needs of children with hearing impairment.

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10.3. Gender

In earlier studies of computers in the classroom, gender differences were found to be important because the boys too easily wrested control from the girls. Either girls have become accustomed to negotiating their right of access, or teachers are more aware of the issues involved, because we did not see much evidence of this particular behaviour in our observations. This was confirmed by questionnaire data from the teachers, of whom 70% felt there was no siginificant difference between boys and girls in their use of the IV. Underlying this general view, there was an interesting contrast between primary and secondary teachers: 84% primary teachers, compared with 60% secondary teachers who felt there was no difference. It remains to be seen whether this contrast reflects a cultural change over time, or a developmental change within the children. It is nonetheless encouraging that the girls do not seem to be seriously disadvantaged by the use of new technology.

Girls and boys do exhibit different approaches, but they can peacefully co-exist. Many teachers solve the problem of differential behaviour styles by separating boys and girls. In small group work generally, we noticed that gender segregation was very common. Both girls and boys seemed to prefer same sex groups.

He pointed out that while both girls and boys seemed to enjoy using the discs, it was necessary to separate them. The boys needed to work in a more formal environment since there were always some boys who were ‘stirring it’, whereas the girls could be left to work in a more informal setting. [Int, Secondary teacher].

She considered that gender was not as much of an issue in use of the system as exposure to other computers and general personality. [Int, Primary teacher].

The difference in the ways in which male and female groups worked was a striking feature of some observation sessions.

The girls were disciplined and sharply focused in their searches, while the boys were much more inclined to be all over the place. In addition, girls used the word processor to collect information while the boys did not. The girls also discovered more sophisticated search facilities, including use of Boolean operators, while the boys at times proved to be inefficient, not using the facilities to focus their searches. [Obs, CDTV Timetable of History, ages 10-11].

These differences may not relate to gender, and we do not have enough data to show that they do, but it is certainly clear that some pupils appear more likely to be under 'stimulus control' than others, more likely to respond to the immediate stimulus than to keep to their initial agenda. Those pupils will need more teacher support if they are to get the most out of using the systems. If there are gender differences of this kind, then boys will be disadvantaged by their more casual approach.

Gender is not really an issue, although segregated groups allow boys and girls to pursue their preferred learning styles.

10.4. Group co-operation

Personality styles have as great an effect on access as gender. We saw many instances of good group co-operation and a clearly established culture of sharing among pupils, but where this did not exist, the less forceful pupils were effectively denied access.

One girl plaintively asked nine times whether she could have a go, while the rather bossy little girl who had control just murmured ‘in a minute’ each time. [Obs, Secondary pupils, 4 girls].

They had a system for letting each have a go with the mouse, which seemed to change hands very regularly every 7 minutes. [Obs, Secondary pupils, 3 boys].

J immediately takes the handset. S:’He’s going to hog it again’. [Obs, Primary pupils, 3 boys].

Given the importance of personality styles, it would be absurd to insist always on single gender groups. The less forceful pupils of either sex need their rights protected, and teachers are clearly sensitive to this. The majority of small group work in classrooms does not require the sharing of limited access to control, as a computer system does, however, and teachers have to be especially vigilant here, in a way that is not normally necessary.

Teachers have to be especially vigilant that the limited access to control offered by IV/CD is shared among all pupils.

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Access: Summary

• IV benefits slow learners by engaging attention and increasing concentration.

• Children in low ability groups need support from the discs as well as from the teacher.

• The ease of operation and motivational qualities of the IV provide a rewarding learning environment for children with special needs.

• Differentiation of materials for special needs requires explicit structure in the discs and the accompanying materials.

• Disc design features do not take account of the needs of children with hearing impairment.

• Girls no longer seem to be disadvantaged in getting access to new technology.

• Segregated groups allow boys and girls to pursue their preferred learning styles.

• Teachers have to be especially vigilant that the limited access to control offered by IV/CD is shared among all pupils.

10.5. Concluding points

We can conclude from this section that pupils with learning difficulties can derive particular benefit from new techology, if properly supported, and may need positive discrimination to increase their access. Disc designers should take steps to ensure that they exploit fully what the new technology can do for children with special needs, and do not further disadvantage them. In particular, they need to make special provision to differentitate materials according to the kinds of special needs some children have.

The issue of access to new technology must remain salient for teachers, although the groups requiring special attention may change. Teachers are quite clear, for example, that girls are not especially disadvantaged as a group. Pupils that may be disadvantaged are those with less home access to computers, and those with less strong personalities.

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11. Customisation

The evaluation study set out to assess the perceived value and usage of authoring tools provided for the systems. It is expected that teachers will want to be able to customise the discs to suit their style and sequence of teaching, and indeed we saw many examples of this in the form of worksheets, and explicit instructions to pupils on what to study on a disc. Questionnaire data shows that teachers agree it is reasonable to expect them to customise discs to their own requirements by creating worksheets. Authoring tools allow a more sophisticated approach to customisation, as they encode the teacher’s preferences for the way the interaction should proceed between pupils and program, but the questionnaire shows that there is little enthusiasm among teachers for this type of customisation (mean of 2.7 on a 1 to 5 scale).

11.1. Bar-coding

When they work, bar-codes have the additional value of allowing the teacher control over pupils’ activities. Teachers can create their own worksheets using a set of bar-codes, each of which is associated with a different control, such as play, step, etc, or with a chapter on the disc. The language used to describe the action of each bar-code can then be controlled by the teacher, who can adjust it to the reading level of their pupils. They can also determine the sections of the discs accessible to the children, and the worksheet-based tasks they have to carry out.

Bar-codes provide a cheap and easy form of customisation for those systems that use bar-code readers.

11.2. Opensoft and KeyAuthor

We have not seen any lessons using materials created with either Opensoft or KeyAuthor. Authoring tools of this kind are perceived as too time consuming, although teachers can see the advantages of customising materials. Those who saw it demonstrated at the Grantham session did not seem to be very impressed.

Authoring tools for authoring are seen as too time-consuming for teachers to be able to use.

11.3. i-Media

Following the disappointment with Opensoft, a new system was introduced for some schools in the Extension phase. The i-Media system uses a Macintosh computer and a Hypercard stack for authoring frames which can then be overlaid onto frames on the disc via a ‘smart card’ which stores the teacher’s stack. Teachers can create their own indexes to the materials, create labelling or captions for particular frames, and introduce their own interactive multiple choice questions. Teacehrs were excited by the prospect of being able to counter the lack of interactivity on some parts of the discs, and indeed sometimes succeeded in this.

The Step sequence definitely generates more talk with the text questions overlaid by the i-Media system than is usual. Normally children just rush through them, unsure what they’re meant to be looking at or for. [Obs, WofNP, Repeating Patterns, ages 7-8]

Given the criticisms many teachers have of the lack of structure and feedback on some of the discs, they had good reason to greet this system with enthusiasm. They welcome the opportunity it gives them to provide more guidance and feedback on those sections of the discs that they consider offer inadequate support.

He decided to use 'Motion: a Visual Database' because they had used it a bit but it needed a lot of teacher input. The materials on it were very useful though (like cars crashing in slow motion, walking on the moon). He chose to program a 'forces' module and started with a menu with 10 choices on it. This is particularly useful because 'force' is 'dry old boring stuff' and he felt this brought it alive. They're definitely getting more use out of the disc than they did before. It makes it easier for children to use the disc unsupervised. [Int, Secondary teacher]

Smart cards can be copied, and used by other teachers via a simple card-reader, so that those not wishing to author can benefit from other teachers’ work without having to purchase a Macintosh. However, the whole point of customisation is that individual teachers want to author materials differently from each other. The system must be easy enough for a teacher to use it as they would a worksheet.

The main criticism of the iMedia system is its complexity. This derives partly from hardware difficulties and partly from the very nature of customisation itself. There have been problems with bar-code readers, printer connections to the Mac, and faulty card-readers. None of these is intrinsic to the system. A further problem is the amount of equipment and cabling it entails, which is, at present, inevitable. These teething problems have been surmounted, but have delayed the start of sustained use.

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It is noticeable that using iMedia requires extra paraphernalia in addition to the bulk of the IV system - ie another smallish box to take the card, a book of barcodes, extra cables. This was commented on and contrasted with the neatness of CD-I by the teacher. [Int, Primary teacher]

The complexity of the customisation process is a different matter. Some teachers have clearly found it difficult and time-consuming to carry out the procedure involved, and feel somewhat overwhelmed by the number of bar-codes necessary.

The book of codes is quite unsuitable for small children - it is intimidating to have to look through pages and pages of barcodes to try and find what they want. It would necessitate the teacher preparing each sequence with a different photocopied page, which would be quite time consuming. [Int, Primary teacher]

They thought it would be 'universal panacea' because it was a quicker route to customisation and better than Opensoft. But, in its own way, "it's just as complex". [Int, Secondary teacher]

Teachers are also enthusiastic about the idea of the 'audit trail', because it can show what a pupil has done on the disc, and with a marking scheme added, can be used for assessment of their work. Again, teachers have been deterred by its complexity.

It is more complicated than one would want. It means not only programming in the appropriate text and activities, but also interpreting the audit trail data. [Int, Primary teacher]

Of course, it is difficult to see how else an audit trail could be used by teachers. They have to decide what they wish to record of a pupil's work with the disc, and they have to look at the results. One teacher who used it produced a record of the interaction that could show, for example, what answers pupils gave to questions, and how much time was spent on each one. This is, probably, more than they really need to know about the interaction, and it would be better used to record marks for particular answers, which would then provide a form of automated assessment. However, it will take time for teachers to discover how best to use such a flexible process. There is little that could be done to simplify the process without diminishing the essential quality of customisability.

Teachers need time to find out how best to use customisation.

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11.4. How important is customisation?

There is a strong desire among teachers to be able to customise materials - if it can be done quickly and easily. The fact that so many teachers have spent a lot of time on creating worksheets as a way of customising shows that if it can be done efficiently, they will do it.

Another indication of teachers' interest has occurred with the announcement of the 'National Educational Micromedia Awards', which has invited entries from schools according to different age-groups. All the schools in South Glamorgan which entered were given a copy of MM-BOX, a Windows-based authoring tool for creating multimedia presentations. This very supportive initiative resulted in fourteen of the schools entering the competition. If products such as this become available in schools, then multimedia authoring may well assume a new importance as a tool for pupils to use as a form of expression, rather than for teachers to use as a form of customisation.

We would expect customisation to be seen as important, given teachers’ views that the IV materials are so variable in their level and appropriateness. However, discs need to have detailed index and categorisation systems, as well as a user-friendly authoring tool, to facilitate customisation. The essential ingredient is time - teachers need sufficient undisturbed time to familiarise themselves with the contents of the discs and to relate the materials to their teaching.

Teachers see customisation as important, as a way of keeping control over what is taught, and as a way of improving the quality

of the disc material.

Customisation: Summary

• Bar-codes provide a cheap and easy form of customisation.

• Programming tools for authoring are seen as too time-consuming.

• Teachers need time to find out how best to use customisation.

• Teachers see customisation as important.

• Customisation is a way of keeping control over what is taught.

• Customisation can improve the quality of the disc material.

11.5. Concluding points

There was too little evidence of customisation during the project to be able to draw many firm conclusions about its value. Teachers see customisation as important because it is a way of keeping control over what is taught. It has been shown that it can improve the quality of the disc material, and reduce the need for supervision. The iMedia system was perceived as meeting a need, but more time is needed for a proper evaluation of its potential.

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12. Management of innovation

12.1. Within-school models

From the eighteen-month study with the Core schools, it is apparent that there are marked differences in effectiveness in terms of the management infrastrucutre in operation at a school. The least effective appears to be one in which there is one teacher or a small group primarily responsible for use of IT. Contributory factors are: an individual's lack of time, their absence or transfer, cornering the IV resource in a single classroom, the lack of transfer of their skill and knowledge to others. This contrasts with an effective structure, in which there is a coherent policy within the school. In this case, there is a specific, serviced location for educational technology, with well-organised booking systems throughout the school for teachers and pupils; IV and CD-ROM systems are are grouped, so that a critical mass of educational technology raises awareness, and contributes to an attitude that this resource is to be taken for granted as a means to accomplish a task, instead of being an end in itself.

A well-structured framework for use depends on management decisions about strategy and resources. The more effective the framework, the more the use of the technology becomes routinised as a natural part of the work of the school.

Resource management of multimedia

In the present educational climate, in which money is tightly controlled, it is essential that a comparatively expensive item such as IV equipment should be utilised as fully as possible and that it should be effectively managed as a resource. A key element in the management of this resource is that it should be available to anyone who wants to use it, subject only to the constraints of an agreed timetable. As users of the equipment encourage teachers in other departments to consider the possible benefits of using IV, demands increase and problems of access emerge. The limited multimedia resources cannot easily be shared by departments in different locations. The issue is potentially a divisive one. The key elements of resource management are access, mobility, and security, none of which are easily solved. Schools will need advice on how best to achieve equitable resourcing for multimedia applications.

Purchase of courseware is another contentious issue. Many teachers would prefer to buy computers than IV equipment. Further expenditure on IV discs is difficult because there is no government incentive, as there is for CD-ROM discs. It is also difficult because they have no opportunity to view the discs available. There is a need for a central resource where teachers can see discs before investing in them.

Continuing support is needed for teachers interested in maintaining IV.

Senior management support

This is essential if teachers are to maintain their commitment to an innovation. Heads and deputy heads need to feel they know what is happening in their schools, and although their active involvement is not necessary, they need to be fully informed, and involved in any new initiatives.

Management support is not a sufficient condition for success, however. Commitment is most likely to be sustained through the involvement of a critical mass of staff in the school. All staff need to be aware of the new development, and should be satisfied that it fits with a co-ordinated school policy on new technology. All staff who are interested should have the opportunity to find out about the new technology, and to have some degree of access to it. Without this collegial approach to innovation in a school, new technology can be too easily ‘ghettoised’, or seen as an irrelevant toy of the ‘techno-freaks’.

One important way in which senior management can signal their support for innovation is to recognise the work that teachers put into these initiatives. Questionnaire data shows that teachers do not agree that there are any career rewards for involvement in technological innovation (mean of 2.9 on a 1 to 5 scale)

Ensure the support, if not the direct involvement, of both senior management and the school staff.

Staff development strategies within schools

At the start of the evaluation when the equipment was first delivered to the participating schools there were only one or two teachers designated to deal with it and who had attended a course on how to use it. However, many of the schools were keen from the start to ensure that the use of the equipment extended beyond the original teachers.

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At the beginning this was not always an easy task because it soon became apparent that there was reluctance by some of the teachers, particularly the older ones, to get involved in anything to do with computers or technology. As one frustrated primary school teacher who was keen to get people involved said at the time: 'Unfortunately, most of them can't even programme their own videos at home'. However, with patience, this initial resistance has been broken down. From the questionnaire data, it appears that each teacher participating in the scheme can claim to have introduced the system to 6-7 others, and estimates 3-5 new recruits within their school since the September start. If this level of interest is sustained, it will soon engender a keen demand for more technology-based resources.

A turning point was the provision of funds by NCET for INSET days to allow the designated and committed members of staff to teach their colleagues how to handle the equipment. In one primary school, so that this newly acquired knowledge would not be wasted, one of the designated teachers took an extended assembly of the whole school for five consecutive weeks while the rest of the staff went into her classroom and took it in turns to be teacher and pupil using the equipment. No exceptions were allowed and everyone was involved, as a result everyone can now use the equipment competently and the original anxiety has disappeared.

Provision of staff development has been crucial for bringing more teachers into the use of new technology.

In one small country school which could not afford any staff time the headteacher, who was keen that the system should be available to everyone, hit upon the idea of using the children themselves as trainers. She enlisted the help of the County IT Advisor to train some of the children, not only in setting up and using the equipment but also in how to troubleshoot. These children then disseminated this knowledge to the teachers in the infant section. This system has been so successful, she had two of the children speaking at a conference of teachers.

One secondary school which had got off to a very bad start and looked as if it would drop out of the project altogether was turned around by one keen and committed teacher acting as a catalyst. Starting basically from scratch he went round knocking on doors and asking if he could be of help. He was also given strong support from the school management. The result of this enthusiasm is that IV is now being used not only in the Maths Department but also by French, English, Drama, Art and RE. New systems have been bought with school funds and the school is now setting aside money solely for the use of IV.

In another secondary school, an experienced teacher ran IV familiarisation and training sessions for other teachers in the Maths department, and offered suggestions about how the materials could be used in support of teaching with the various year groups. As a member of the school’s IT Group, he has made a presentation to other interested staff about the IV equipment and materials, drawing attention to potential uses of the resource for other subject areas.

Another model was to give an allowance to one of the language teachers with a brief to encourage use of IV within the school or, in the words of the deputy head, "market it across the curriculum". The teacher looked at all the materials they had, and then talked with relevant members of each department to show them materials which might be of interest. As a result of this, he has set up links with a local business so that 6th form Business Studies students can make use of some training materials on IV which they use.

NCET's role in offering INSET time for teachers seems to have been very well used by schools. It is clear that different school contexts require different staff development models, but that additional supply of resource to allow it to happen has always proved to be very valuable, and will continue to be important if all schools are to emulate the widespread teacher involvement found here.

In general, questionnaire data showed that the most popular model for both primary and secondary schools was organised INSET, with one person being repsonsible for organising it. This contrasted with the Grant Maintained schools, where individual initiative was the preferred model. We also asked which model would be best for learning about new technology, and primary and secondary teachers again chose 'organised INSET', but this time the Grant Maintained teachers chose 'self-help groups', the second choice of the secondary teachers. The latter does seem to be happening, and would certainly foster a within-school sense of commitment to the new technology, which will be important for its continued success.

The provision of staff development support for teachers to learn about and use IV will continue to be important.

Training should not be confined to teachers using the technology. It is important for the management and decision-making groups within schools to realise that a change in the technology of teaching and learning has the potential to alter the traditional structures within schools. Recent management thinking on the best

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procedures to employ in order to survive in current chaotic and complex contexts is as applicable to schools as it is to industry. There can be valuable guidance to schools from generalising their experience, rather than attempting to explain unexpected or undesirable situations in terms of personalities or local small-scale conditions. In order to promote understanding of this new managerial requirement, opportunities for discussion of issues by senior management in schools should supplement the training offered, so far almost exclusively, to teachers actually using the technology.

Senior managers in schools need training in the politics of innovation.

Contact between active teachers

A mutually supportive group of teachers in a school helping each other is an ideal environment for an innovation to thrive. Enthusiasm and energy from at least one teacher is vital to keep the innovation operational, and a group of enthusiasts will help to sustain them. Regular contact between the active teachers is important because experiences and problems are shared, and the community learns together. There are frequent frustrations in the early use of new technology, and the realisation that others are having the same frustrations can comfort and even stimulate the innovating teacher.

Arrange regular meetings for participating teachers.

The time-frame over which IV usage develops

The pattern of progress of IV usage has been similar in many of the schools we visited. There is an initial reluctance on the part of most of the staff to get involved in something which they regard as being too challenging and technical. A common element of all the successful schools was the presence on the staff of a committed and dedicated teacher to act as a catalyst to get things moving.

Once the initial reluctance to get involved has been overcome, and enthusiasm for the system engendered, this enthusiasm can feed upon itself, if teachers are given the opportunity to work together and share their exploration of how to use the system. At this stage they need time for familiarisation, on average around 9-10 hours per term (see Table 9). With adequate support and good planning, a staff development programme can be developed that will be capable of involving the whole school. In the Core schools it took a year for schools to establish their use of IV. In the Extension schools it has been similar, if we take into account the early delivery of their equipment. Now we can begin to see how regular long-term usage is likely to work out.

It takes approximately one year for schools to establish interest, enthusiasm, involvement and routine in the use of IV.

12.2. LEA models

Some of the schools which are least active are located in those LEAs which are less supportive. Supportive LEAs tend to have very committed and highly active use of the systems in their schools, so we have tried to identify the key elements in good LEA support.

Eliciting commitment

One LEA asked interested schools to bid for the privilege of being part of the Pilot phase and there was a great deal of interest across the county. Schools had to undertake some dissemination and show how they were going to get the most out of the technology. The successful bid was from a family of schools - a secondary school and four feeder primaries - which already had some links and were closely located. They were keen to encourage both cross-curricular and cross-phase links. This has been a very successful model, maintaining the commitment of the schools involved, with the links becoming more strongly established, and providing a valuable local network of knowledge and experience. The teachers involved continue to emphasise how important this support has been to them. It is no coincidence, perhaps, that these have been the most active schools in the project.

This process contrasts with LEAs which selected schools without asking for bids, or for any other form of commitment from them, which has coincided with low usage in several of those schools.

The bidding process does not guarantee high usage, however. Some low-usage Core schools have nonetheless been very successful in a bidding process, not just for IV, but also for the i-Media systems, and even the new lap-top project. This suggests that decisions about location of equipment should be a combination of judgment by LEA Advisers who are knowledgeable about usage in the local schools, together with a good bid from the school itself.

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It is important to promote commitments to the innovation among participating schools.

Communication

Some LEAs commit substantial advisory time to the project (around 10 days, for example), and at the initial training day in Crawley some advisory teams were well represented. They also allow time for teachers from different schools to visit other schools in the region for the purposes of trouble shooting and information gathering and dissemination.

In one very active LEA, there is a school based coordinator who convenes meetings for participating teachers at least once a term and sends out minutes to those involved. These are also sometimes attended by advisory staff. At these meetings there is a school by school report of activity and general sharing of problems and ideas, including anything they want referred back to NCET. These meetings are well attended considering they are held after school. The schools have also acted as demonstrators for other schools within the LEA who have expressed an interest and frequently receive visitors.

It is valuable to establish a relationship between nearby schools using the innovation

Staff development and support

Some LEA Advisory staff are very active, making frequent visits to the schools, sorting out hardware and software problems, and running INSET courses, which now include IV as a standard. Schools find this kind of support invaluable for the smooth introduction of the technology. Teachers Centres allow the opportunity for continuing discussion and up-dating, which is essential in such a rapidly developing field.

Expert support and staff development are both highly valued by teachers when provided by the LEA.

This contrasts with those LEAs whose resources have not allowed them to establish contact between their selected schools, or whose advisory staff are not experienced in interactive video systems, and so cannot support the innovation.

Implementation of new learning technologies is not likely to go smoothly or reach its full potential if it operates solely on teacher goodwill. There are so many demands on teacher time that they need to feel that there will be some pay off for their investment of time and energy in terms of more stimulating lessons, or reduction in requirement for teacher supervision. Not only does LEA support offer time for INSET, it also confers status, so that teachers can feel they are involved in something worthwhile from the points of view of the children, the school and the LEA. Schools which have opted out will need to establish similar support systems for their staff.

LEA advisory staff, knowledgeable in interactive systems, should be involved at all stages in supporting an innovation.

Management of innovation: Summary

• Continuing support is needed for teachers interested in maintaining IV.

• Ensure the support of senior management and all staff in the school.

• Provision of staff development has been crucial for bringing more teachers into the use of new technology.

• The provision of staff development support for teachers to learn about and use IV will continue to be important.

• Senior managers in schools need training in the politics of innovation.

• Arrange regular meetings for participating teachers.

• It takes approximately one year for schools to establish interest, enthusiasm, involvement and routine in the use of IV.

• It is important to promote commitments to the innovation among participating schools.

• Establish a relationship between nearby schools using the innovation.

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• Teachers value expert support and staff development from the LEA.

• Where possible, involve LEA advisory staff at all stages of an innovation.

12.3. Concluding points

Innovative teaching methods stand or fall not just by the quality of the materials, but also by the quality of the management environment. This section has documented the importance of the support provided at all levels, regional, local and institutional. Previous sections have also referred to the importance of national support from NCET in the transfer of support materials, in the provision of training, and in support for operational problems. It is a common finding in educational evaluation that new methods fail because of poor management. Support was good within both the Pilot and Extension phases of the project. If interactive media are to continue to prosper and to deliver their potential, there will need to be a similar level of management support to achieve the same degree of success.

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13. Conclusions and recommendations

13.1. The value of interactive media

As should be evident from this report, the project has been valuable for clarifying the value of motion video and high quality audio and visuals, the features that take these media beyond what was already available on standard microcomputers. The enthusiastic response of pupils and teachers to these aspects of the materials, and the sustained attention they elicit from pupils of all abilities, have been notable for most of the discs. Furthermore, when these features have been exploited to assist pupils' understanding of the relation between classwork and the world outside, this has been regarded as very successful, and a unique feature of this kind of medium. This suggests that systems that can support at least some audio and video are highly effective for education.

13.2. The World of Number discs

Both sets of discs received good overall ratings from teachers, only one other disc was rated higher (the Energy disc). Several sequences were thought to be excellent, exploiting the visual or interactive features of the medium very well, and teachers were able to make good use of them, as is shown by their reports in the 'Teachers' hints . . .' section. Yet there was an undeniable sense of disappointment that this high standard was not maintained throughout the discs. They have been used, as the designers intended, as a valuable resource, with teachers maintaining considerable control over what pupils got out of the discs. However, teachers expect to have the option not to have to do this. From their knowledge of what interactive technologies can do, they expect that the system will offer feedback, or help of some kind, so that the pupil is supported without continual teacher supervision. They know, and the evaluation team has observed, that pupils can easily become frustrated if the task is not clear, or that they may misinterpret something and persist in a misconception. Where interactive media technology goes beyond computers, it must be at least as good as standard computer-assisted learning (CAL).

The same point applies to the low-level interactivity offered by the primary discs. Menu-selection can still offer branching as a way of providing adaptive feedback. A help button could offer an explanation or commentary on request to further support the learner.

It was a deliberate design decision to make the discs relatively open-ended, and to eschew the right/wrong feedback of earlier CAL designs. However, there are wrong ways to do many of the activities on the discs, there is useful advice to be offered about how to approach a problem if pupils get stuck, and teachers find it unreasonable that they should have to provide this kind of support when the technology is capable of doing it. The reality of the classroom today is that teachers need methods that ease their burden. The reality of much of the IV used in this project is that teachers had to spend more time in preparation and supervision than they would on more traditional methods. Teachers appreciate control and flexibility, but designers must find ways of offering this without also under-utilising the key benefits of interactivity.

13.3. Resource discs

Some discs are explicitly designed to make data available in the form of pictures, graphics, or text, providing only access to the data, so that interactivity, or adaptivity is irrelevant. The resource disc is especially attractive to developers as they can exploit the particular information banks they happen to have, and do not need to spend time on an expensive user interface, which interactivity undoubtedly demands. This type of disc will proliferate, at least in CD form, possibly also in IV form.

Both teachers and pupils clearly appreciate the opportunities that these discs open up, for project work, creative writing, going beyond the curriculum, etc. These are welcome but they demand another kind of teacher preparation. The absence of such extensive opportunities in the past makes teachers unpractised in the art of teaching and monitoring the multitude of information handling skills now required. They must teach pupils the skills of: setting goals, searching, investigating, selecting data testing findings, evaluating the quality and status of the data, assembling the findings, editing, balancing contrasting findings, presenting argument and evidence. Moreover, teachers must have some way of judging for themselves the validity of what pupils have found - not an easy task if the database is so large. These are exciting possibilities, and vital preparation for learners emerging into a world where the information explosion has gone beyond the human scale.

This is perhaps the most important skill that school can teach. The cross-curricular nature of IT in the National Curriculum puts information handling in its proper place, and provides the beginnings of how it should be taught at school level. But the rapid advance of resource discs into schools, and the enthusiasm for this type of work, means that this area needs urgent reconsideration, and may require a specific staff development initiative if teachers are to cope adequately with the new possibilities.

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13.4. The context of use

The success of an educational innovation is invariably determined as much by the contextual conditions within which it operates as by the quality of the material itself. This project, from the initial development of the maths discs through to the implementation at classroom level, has been managed with careful attention to the context. Discs were designed in collaboration with teachers, they were developmentally tested in schools, they were sent out with support materials, they were disseminated to schools that had made a case for being able to use them well, practising teachers were given initial training and ongoing support, hardware and software support was continually available to schools, and the implementation was evaluated. The evaluation reported here shows that good usage figures were achieved, and the pupils were thought to have benefitted from using the discs. This project is therefore the most successful IV project in the UK to date. This is a vindication of that careful attention to the contextual conditions at all stages.

The conditions of successful and unsuccessful use recorded by the evaluation team show that the local contextual conditions within each school are similarly important, and these have been reported in the main report as advice and recommendations to teachers and managers. Effective use is always dependent upon these organisational factors being in place.

13.5. The optimal medium for education?

Comparing the media means comparing their features, as we argued in the main report, and these are essentially: interactivity, moving video, adaptivity. All these technologies share interactivity as an advantage over print. IV has the greatest capacity for high quality moving video. Computer-controlled IV and CD-ROM both offer adaptivity at a higher level of interactivity than is achieved by CD-I or CDTV, i.e. the link to a program allows feedback and guidance beyond the capacity of the simple branching structure of CD-I and CDTV. How important are these features? Does the evaluation study provide the basis for deciding what the optimal workstation would be?

Moving video is important for its motivational qualities, and for its greater ability to link the academic world to the world of experience. But very small chunks of video are used in this way. Stills are good enough for many purposes. The video must be good quality, and digital storage systems still do not match the quality of IV. The enthusiastic reception of the CD-I and CDTV discs by pupils show that good sound and stills are also good motivators.

Clearly, the teachers' dissatisfaction with the level of interactivity on all the discs suggests that their experience of computer-assisted learning creates an expectation that an interactive medium should offer this higher level of adaptive feedback and guidance. The use of these media for resource-based learning requires only low level interactivity, but this is a special application. For concept learning, problem-solving, investigations, etc. pupils need more support than this.

The optimal medium for education will therefore probably be one that provides interactivity, at least some moving video, high quality stills, sound and graphics, and computer-controlled adaptivity, i.e. the next generation of digital storage of audio/video on a personal computer. The optimal medium for the industry will be one that relies on low-level interactivity, avoiding adaptivity as being too expensive and difficult to provide. Without special pressure from education the latter is more likely to become the norm that education is forced to accept.

13.6. Where should interactive media be targeted?

Pupils of all age ranges and all ability levels were enthusiastic about interactive media and able to make good use of it. Its particular qualities have been put to good use in all curriculum areas - the link between abstract and concrete, and the repetition and self-pacing for maths; the control and manipulation of realistic experimental set-ups in science; the practice of language in realistic situations in French; the access to large visual data stores in creative and project work - it can enhance and extend the learning experience in all these areas. The decision about where to target interactive media does not need to be made from the point of view of the medium, therefore.

All the experience in the project so far, and elsewhere, suggests that IV and associated media will be costly to resource and maintain, and targeting is therefore necessary. Given that it can benefit all types of pupil and all curriculum areas, ideally it should be targeted where it will make most difference, and add most value. That decision could be made from the point of view of the pupil, or the curriculum.

The motivational value of the medium suggests that it should be targeted on low ability pupils for whom it makes significant differences to their interest and attention span. For these pupils it can often make the

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difference between learning something and learning nothing, whereas for higher ability pupils it makes a much smaller proportionate difference to how much they learn.

The learning effectiveness which interactive media can achieve suggests that it should be targeted on those topics from any curriculum area that are both important and particularly difficult to teach, and where the presentation or practise of the topic requires high quality audio-visuals. From that point of view, 'number' was a good choice for the NCC development. 'Modern Languages' would be another key contender, as pupils need repeated adaptive practice with high quality sound, and at least some realistic video. Some of the fundamental concepts in science still need attention, in spite of successive curriculum developments, and simulated experiments can alleviate pressure on expensive lab equipment.

Undoubtedly, interactive media should be targeted if used, but the curriculum development decisions should first consider the optimal pedagogic design, and select the medium accordingly - interactive media may not be the optimal choice. The difficulty is that pedagogic design rarely precedes the choice of medium.

13.7. What would ensure success?

There can be no doubt about the potential of new technology for education. As the evaluation study has shown in this report, when disc design is good, and the contextual conditions are right, it works very well, and achieves better concentration, higher motivation, and longer attention spans than other learning methods. If it does not always achieve better learning, it may nonetheless achieve different learning, as some observation studies in the main report documented.

In spite of the potential, however, new technology has still not made the hoped-for radical improvement to the quality of learning in schools. It remains peripheral to other methods, and high quality software is still hard to find in any quantity. Why? One obvious answer is that new technology for education requires an industrial model for its development and implementation, to achieve the standards of excellence and the economies of scale it needs to be worthwhile, and yet it has always operated on a pump-priming cottage industry model for development, and a limited case study model for implementation. While this was appropriate for the early years of the innovation, we cannot expect to achieve significant widespread benefits on such a basis. These will only be achieved as the educational system moves towards large-scale long-term integrated usage of new technology.

The infrastructure that needs to be in place to support the optimal development and implementation of new technology in schools touches every level and aspect of the school system, much of it outside direct Government control. Nonetheless, Government can influence the structures put in place by others if the strategy and long-term intentions are clear. Much of what needs to be done requires little in the way of resource. It is rather a matter of the different agencies in the system recognising what must be done, and working together to achieve a coherent long-term strategy.

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Appendix 1 Hardware used in the project

Manufacturer Processor Genlock Player Barcode reader

Primary (Key Stages 1 and 2)

Research machines 386 DVA4000 Pioneer 4300D Pioneer

Nimbus

Philips CD-I

Commodore CDTV

Secondary (Key Stages 3 and 4)

Philips SSD315-40 386 DVA4000 Philips VP380

Acorn Archimedes ARM2 Hyperactive Philips VP406

Junior

Philips P3345-104 (including Vektor voice recording kit)

Elonex 386 n/a Philips VP406

Philips CD-I

Commodore CDTV

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Appendix 2 Discs used in the project

Des Images pour la Géometrie

Visual resource database of video sequences and stills of transformation geometry, symmetry and solids in the environment. (KS 2 and 3)

Audio track in French , but not necessary.

£195.00

Energy; Radiation; Risk and Probability

Three double-sided videodiscs.

Energy is relevant to the science curriculum and has applications for home economics, design, social studies and cross-curricular themes.

Radiation offers a tour of Torness in Scotland and is followed by a simulation exercise on the siting of a nuclear power station.

Risk and Probability concerns small business simulation, market analysis, control and monitoring. (KS 3 and 4).

£100.00 each

How Money Works in Business

The videodisc includes extracts of interviews with entrepreneurs, a quiz, two case studies, a database and a module summary. Part of a series, finance for Non-Financial Managers.

£770.00

La Connection Française

One of three parallel discs for training in modern languages: French, German and Spanish, for business skills and survival skills. (KS 3 and 4)

£1,950.00

Louvre disc 1

Paintings and drawings from the Louvre Museum in Paris.

PAL version in French and English, NTSC

version English only. Close-up analysis of each picture possible. Suitable for all key stages, although the commentary is quite advanced.

Motion: A visual database

A collection of short film sequences of moving objects from the real world and from controlled lanboratory experiments. Raw data can be read off the screen and plotted on screen or on a plotter or printer.

£85.00

£120.00

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Musée d’Orsay

A guide tour of the museum which is presented chronologically between 1848 and 1914.

In English and French.

Contains information on the Impressionists, therefore suitable for KS 2 and 3, but commentary is of an advanced language level.

£85.00

Regard for the Planet

A visual database of still images which allows the user to take a visual journey to distant cultures and continents through the eyes of one French photographer, Marc Garanger. Suitable for all Key Stages and for individual authoring to fit into a particular theme or project.

£70.00

Shopping Microworld

Allows pupils to carry out simulated shopping activities without leaving the classroom. Issues relate to life skills, language and mathematics. Two approaches are offered: an open access facility to enable teachers to develop their own ways of using the material and a structured approach through a series of exercises.

£299.00 + VAT

World Alive

Presents over 100 species of wildlife with spectacular photographic footage. reference material suitable for individual authoring.

£39.00

The World of Number

(NCC Primary Maths Disk)

Two videodiscs which support the teaching and learning of maths at KS 1 and 2.

£149.00 per disc

The World of Number

(NCC Secondary Mathematics Disks)

Three videodiscs to support the teaching and learning of maths at KS 3 and 4.

£149.00 per disc

Teaching Secondary Mathematics

£299.00

CD-i discs

Harvest of the Sun

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Renaissance in Florence

Mozart - A Musical Biography

The French Impressionists

The Smithsonian

CDTV discs

The Hutchinson Encyclopaedia

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

New Basic Electronic Cookbook

Timetable of History - Science

The Heroic Age of Spaceflight

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Appendix 3 Teachers’ hints on getting the best out of the discs

Teachers who were highly critical of some aspects of the discs in the project could also be very enthusiastic about their use of particular sections of discs. As a way of tapping this focused enthusiasm, and also as a way of communicating some of their practical experience, we asked teachers replying to the questionnaires to select sections of discs they had found particularly useful, and to describe their use, in a standard format. These have been edited to produce a compendium of teachers' experiences in their own words. Most come from the mathematics discs, but there also example of use of the discs for science and technology, creative work, and language.

Mathematics

Counting

To introduce and revise basic number topics, use World of Number (P), Disc 1: 'Early number experiences'. Value: pupils are free to slow down/speed up the development of the ideas, and hence regulate

the material to their own needs.. Visuals used: for moving/flashing numbers - wonderful - not possible on paper. Interactivity: discussion and collaborative work, not with computer. Preparation: worksheets. Supervision: introduced to the whole class, not to much after that. Follow-up: a little.

Pairs and partners

To show the difference between pairs and partners, use World of Number (P), Chapter 3: 'Pairs and Partners'. Value: ideas were simple and easily understood by the children; good discussion; showed they

understood what they had learnt by using work sheet correctly and by identifying pairs and partners in school.

Visuals used: as a picture resource for discussion. Interactivity: little with the "machine" but the children discussed work with their partner. Preparation: gave out individual worksheets. Supervision: introduced as a class discussion - then children worked with a 'chosen' partner. (i.e. I made

a list). Follow-up: none.

Pairs and partners

To introduce the concepts and differences between pairs and partners via a wide range of examples, use World of Number (P), Chapter 3: 'Take Your Partner!' Value: pupils are very well motivated, examples are difficult to set up. Visuals used: as introduction. Interactivity: not important. Preparation: pupils had been working on sharing, pairs, etc. Supervision: children managed it with ease eventually, following demo. Follow-up: this chapter only begins that learning process.

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Tens and units

To provide stimulus for manipulating tens and units, by showing how things can be grouped in tens and units, use World of Number (P), Chapter 17: 'Tens and Hundreds'. Value: opportunity to count things on screen, see how units change into tens. Visuals used: as stimulus for discussion, questioning. Interactivity: very important; if there were no interaction very little would have been learned. Preparation: must be able to count, know order of numbers, count in units and tens. Supervision: I did have to be there all through the chapter to initiate discussion at appropriate points. Follow-up: counting, grouping real objects.

Money handling skills

To practise money handling, information handling, estimation, unit pricing, via practical activities, use Shopping Microworld: 'Maths Activities'. Value: a chance to employ skills in a realistic situation. Visuals used: integrally - children needed the display to find answers. Interactivity: very important. Preparation: very little. Supervision: very little. Follow-up: ideal as a base for work on money, data handling etc.

Mental arithmetic

To give children the opportunity to use mental arithmetic via activities on money - data handling etc.- use Shopping Microworld: 'Maths Activities'. Value: encourages children to be independent, confidence in money handling. Visuals used: to check answers. Interactivity: very important. Preparation: very little. Supervision: very little after initial run through. Follow-up: more practical use of money in particular.

Mental arithmetic

To give children the opportunity to assess other people's mental methods, use World of Number (P) Disc 1: Later number experiences (Patterns in calculation)'. Value: reinforces confidence to use and articulate own mental methods and gives time to discuss. Visuals used: to stimulate discussion of which methods used and why. Interactivity: between children working in groups. Preparation: very little. Supervision: some was necessary. Follow-up: a lot of time spent on similar activity in the classwork.

Number patterns

To the representation of number patters, use World of Number (P) Disc 1: Later number experiences (Additiona square)'. Value: engages children's attention better than a class lesson would have done. Visuals used: to build up the addition square and highlight number patterns. Interactivity: between children working in groups. Preparation: none, though this was only successful for the more able and enthusiastic children. Supervision: some was necessary. Follow-up: used ideas from the the folder for the worksheet follow-up, and a whole class presentation

following work in groups.

Fractions

To give children opportunities to see fractions in ways which would be impossible without modern technology, use World of Number, Chapters 16-18: 'Growing Herbs'.

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Value: ability to repeat often and easily; it has helped them understand fractions which it has been difficult to achieve in the past; independence - time to go over and over until they really have developed the concept.

Visuals used: effectively. Interactivity: important ,as they could step back and forward where necessary, or they could skip bits

they understood. Preparation: I prepared 5 worksheets - halves quarters, fraction board etc - there was a lot of work in

splitting up a garden. Supervision: it is such a good section that I can leave my children to get on in pairs knowing that they

will benefit from it. They can stop - go back etc if one of them doesn't understand. I kept an ear open the first time they used it to ensure there were no misconceptions being formed.

Follow-up: children proceeded to some investigations and discussed pattern work.

Fractions

To introduce fractions through real life situations, use World of Number (P), Chapters 1-5: 'Fractions'. Value: stimulates interest; use of a bakery to introduce fractions was an excellent idea. Visuals used: to stimulate discussion. Interactivity: there's not enough interactivity! Preparation: practical - written work on fractions. Supervision: this section becomes too complicated too quickly - showed sequence to whole class as

conclusion to this topic. Follow-up: no further follow-up necessary.

Fractions

To introduce and extend the concepts of fractions, use World of Number (P), Chapters 1-5: 'Fractions'. Value: many good ideas; helps children build sound concepts. Visuals used: to help children who could not group the concepts so easily. Interactivity: not very important. Preparation: a lot of preparatory work on fractions. Supervision: used as whole class demonstration. Follow-up: continued practice with the concepts.

Numbers

To help pupils see how useful numbers are, use World of Number (P) Chapter 1: 'World without Numbers'. Value: illustrates something imposible to illustrate normally, pupils well motivated; they see how

useful numbers are. Visuals used: to highlight use of numbers. Interactivity: was not really interactive. Preparation: none. Supervision: used as a teaching aid to whole class. Follow-up: a variety of work could be used, but not necessary.

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Numbers

To get children to think for themselves and to interact with numbers, use World of Number (P) Disc 1: 'Pre-Number Activities'. Value: new, exciting way of learning. Visuals used: brought interest to the child, stimulating. Interactivity: lots of discussion, planning, co-operation. Preparation: none. Supervision: quite a lot to begin with. Follow-up: not necessary.

Numbers

To alert children to the existence of numbers in the world around them, use World of Number (P) Disc 1: 'Pre-Number Activities'. Value: gives children a desire to seek out numbers around them and therefore learn to deal with

numbers. Visuals used: as the basis of the work, very important. Interactivity: lots of discussion, between children, child -teacher, and child-parent. Preparation: none. Supervision: some was necessary for a while. Follow-up: the children's enthusiasm was sparked into telling each other about numbers they had seen,

and led to them learning spontaneously their own house numbers and telephone numbers.

Counting large numbers

To teach counting large numbers by putting 10 sheep in pairs to indicate tens and units, use World of Number, Chapter 17: 'Tens and Hundreds'. Value: clearly shows the need for tens and units and the way the tens are separate from units; year

2 children enjoyed it; younger children enjoyed counting the numbers to 100. Visuals used: as a teaching aid, introducing the children to a new concept. Interactivity: questions posed were good but had to be answered on a worksheet I prepared. Preparation: class discussion and introduction; work with an appropriate worksheet. Supervision: little. Follow-up: after this chapter had been seen by all my year 1 and 2 we used multilink to make 10's and

played "parking" the sheep. They understood the ideas which had been demonstrated in this chapter.

Solving puzzles

To teach maths through solving puzzles in a mathematical adventure game, use World of Number (S), 2A: 'Who stole the Decimal Point?' Value: stimulates an enthusiastic approach, logical thinking. Visuals used: to provide background and setting for the problems. Interactivity: very important. Preparation: very little. Supervision: simply watched. Follow-up: none.

Problem solving

To provide interesting, problem solving activities, use World of Number (S), 2A: 'Who stole the decimal point?' Value: motivates pupils, problem solving techniques, working together. Visuals used: to play major role as a stimulus. Interactivity: very important. Preparation: none. Supervision: little. Follow-up: none.

Problem solving

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To provide challenging problem solving activities, use World of Number (S), 2A: 'Who stole the decimal point?' Value: pupils find the problems challenging. Visuals used: made it an enjoyable and different resource. Interactivity: entering codes to be able to open the door. Preparation: none. Supervision: very little. Follow-up: a lot - pupils regularly come back at lunchtime and after school to carry on using it.

Problem solving

To provide challenging problem solving activities, use World of Number (S), 2A: 'Who stole the decimal point?' Value: motivating, exciting, it stimulates mathematical-logical thinking, working in groups,

pupils fascinated by the program, good for lower groups also who can work through the program by trial and improvement.

Visuals used: to motivate, because it looks interesting. Interactivity: mostly stimulated to solve the problems in groups, so interaction is between pupils. Preparation: very little. Supervision: quite a lot. Follow-up: pupils came back at lunchtime to continue work.

Three-dimensional representation

To help pupils create a 3-dim maze from a 2-dim plan, use World of Number (S) Disc 3: 'Numerical Labyrinths' Value: they created something very professional in appearance. Visuals used: are very impressive. Interactivity: very important - they could explore the maze as soon as it was created. Preparation: working in groups, as part of a project. Supervision: a lot - the logistics were very difficult as it took a long time for all groups to put their

maze on the computer and have time to explore it. Follow-up: done as part of their project work.

Powers of Ten

To provide puils with a feel for very large and very small numbers, use World of Number (S), Disc 3: 'Powers of Ten' Value: the can cee what high powers of ten, and low (negative powers) stand for. Visuals used: very important for watching the sequence of changes as powers change. Interactivity: mostly not important; some students used the 'treasure hunt' to find certain positions, but

quickly got bored with this. Preparation: covered the topic of standard index form first in class. Supervision: showed the sequence at the end of the class work. Follow-up: using the sequence as a follow-up it class work was very useful, the cideo makes a good

demonstration to watch.

Applying maths

To apply maths in a practical situation, to estimate sensible alcohol consumption, use World of number (S), 1B: 'Perspectives'. Value: shows practical maths; shows how 'average' drinker can underestimate consumption;

better understanding of need to be moderate in use of legalised drug. Visuals used: crucially as pupils listen to the 'famous name'; second sequence showed ordinary people

they could relate to. Interactivity: none. Preparation: used worksheet beforehand, and during the sequence. Supervision: very little. Follow-up: none needed.

Arithmetic and logic

To gain practice in arithmetic, and training in logic, use World of Number, 3B: 'Labyrinths'.

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Value: practice in mental arithmetic; pupils enjoy it. Visuals used: essentially, to guide wombat through a maze, but looked like computer graphics, not

video. Interactivity: very important. Preparation: none. Supervision: very little. Follow-up: designing a maze would help with work on compass direction.

Geometry

To explore the geometry of mosaics in different situations, use World of Number (S), Disc 3: 'Human Mosaics'. Value: working as a team. Visuals used: to simulate 3 dimensional shapes. Interactivity: good use of the tools for angle measurement etc. Preparation: very little. Supervision: some, initially. Follow-up: designing a mosaic.

Measurement

To encourage an investigative approach to measurement, use World of Number (P) Disc 2 'Measurement'. Value: children felt they were in control of their learning. Visuals used: the visuals acted as a springboard for co-operative discussion. Interactivity: very little. Preparation: some is necessary. Supervision: very little. Follow-up: similar tasks away from the IV.

Measurement

To broaden pupils' concept of distance through real-world examples, use World of Number (P) Disc 2 'Measurement'. Value: examples and deiscussion points extend pupils' concepts of distance beyond those

normally available to children. Visuals used: to provide the stimulus to think about it and extend their own thinking. Interactivity: discussion between children and teacher. Preparation: done as part of normal classwork. Supervision: the teacher needs to monitor discussion, otherwise it could be at only a superficial level,

and result in little extension of pupils' thinking. Follow-up: quite a lot, in the form of class discussion.

Multiplication

To encourage children to become more familiar with multiplication tables, and looking for patterns in multiplication squares, use World of Number (P) Disc 1 'Later Number Experiences'. Value: children could see, easily, the patterns in the multiplication squares. Visuals used: to show something which can be flat and uninteresting in a child-friendly way. Interactivity: very little. Preparation: some is necessary. Supervision: quite a lot. Follow-up: they found the follow-up work on paper interesting and exciting.

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Fractions To stimulate discussion and observation of practical fractioning, use World of Number (P) Disc 2 'Fractions'. Value: gives pupils a greater understanding of 'real' fractions. Visuals used: to stimulate and maintain interest. Interactivity: only discussion. Preparation: some is necessary. Supervision: a lot of supervision was necessary for this. Follow-up: related investigations.

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Science and Technology

Problem-solving

To teach problem-solving via mechanisms that need modifying, use World of Number (S), 3B: 'Mechanisms'. Value: gives pupils ideas, stimulates problem-solving. Visuals used: to stimulate discussion, planning, learning. Interactivity: very important - adapting mechanisms. Preparation: pupils needed to choose discuss and plan work. Supervision: none, but they explained their plans and we discussed modifications. Follow-up: work away from the system, further thinking and learning - it's all follow-up.

Periodic table

To teach properties and structure in the periodic table, use Radiation: 'The Periodic Table'. Value: pupils can test grouping theories using the whole range of elements. Visuals used: only to present material. Interactivity: not very important. Preparation: used as part of on-going module on Periodic Table; familairsation with equipment. Supervision: limited. Follow-up: normal scheme of work.

Periodic table

To explore elements of the periodic table, and become familiar with chemical symbols, use Radiation: 'Periodic Table'. Value: pupils can research on their own, but seem to stay on task better than with book work;

they enjoy it; they become familiar with chemical properties, and see experiments not easy to perform.

Visuals used: to make the material more interesting, as something is always happening. Interactivity: brings to life what can be a dull piece of work. Preparation: brief demonstration of how to explore the table. Supervision: very little, having explored one element, they learn what to do and what to look out for. Follow-up: this should be part of exploration of the properties of elements combined with other

practical and assignment work.

Radioactivity

To run experiments on radioactivity conveniently and safely, use Radiation: 'Radioactivity'. Value: pupils can generate experimental data for half-life calculations. Visuals used: as a vital part. Interactivity: essential for giving pupils the ability to control the apparatus. Preparation: little. Supervision: little. Follow-up: analysis of results.

Inertia

To show the effects of inertia, use Motion - a Visual Database: 'dummy in the car'. Value: pupils take measurements and try to make sense of them, can measure deceleration of

dummy; they see that forces are a lot larger with dummy and act for a very short time. Visuals used: to allow measurements, using integrated software package on screen. Interactivity: not really interactive. Preparation: 20 minute demo; worksheet to accompany the task. Supervision: none. Follow-up: recap on what found.

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Potential and kinetic energy

To teach potential and kinetic energy, use Energy: 'Fairground - the Roller Coaster'. Value: pupils love the sensation of the ride; can use software to take measurements of potential

and kinetic energy. Visuals used: to stimulate interest and make the work really enjoyable. Interactivity: not really interactive. Preparation: none. Supervision: they needed to be kept off the fun elements and told to get on with the measurements. Follow-up: teacher-led theory of transfer of energy; energy loss due to friction.

Forms of energy

To teach forms of energy by 'energising' a black room, use Energy: 'Nothing', 'The Black Hole'. Value: pupils have to think carefully about the different types of energy; they enjoy learning this

way. Visuals used: as a major part. Interactivity: pupils were told if they were wrong and could try again. Preparation: teaching on the various forms of energy. Supervision: none. Follow-up: none as it was used as consolidation of earlier teaching.

Light

To teach the composition of light, use Radiation: 'Colours of Light'. Value: demonstration works perfectly; helps to make clear that white light is composed of

different colours. Visuals used: to present the experiment and data. Interactivity: vital since you are doing a simulated experiment. Preparation: very little, brief introduction and explanation of the work sheet. Supervision: checked their conclusions from the observations they made. Follow-up: this is part of investigating the properties of light.

Heat loss

To investigate heat loss, by investigating fuel bills for a house with different heating and insulation methods, use Energy: 'Home'. Value: pupils enjoy exploring the system; they acquire a knowledge of where heat is lost, how to

reduce it, and the cost and savings involved. Visuals used: to help pupils assimilate problem and results more quickly. Interactivity: very important as pupils can change parameters and tailor the problem to their choice. Preparation: demonstrated to the class as a whole to see how you work through different rooms and set-

ups. Supervision: very little, a worksheet with a particular problem to solve or explore was sufficient. Follow-up: pupils can be asked to make suggestions to improve the school's energy use.

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Creative work

Discussion and imaginative writing

To promote discussion and imaginative writing, by browsing through 50,000 colour photographs, use Regard for the Planet. Value: thought provoking and aesthetic. Visuals used: very powerfully. Interactivity: not very important. Preparation: familiarity with software to run the disc. Supervision: for work to collect "captured images". Follow-up: possibilities are endless - open-ended.

Discussion and creative work

To stimulate discussion and creative work based on choice of 50,000 pictures from around the world, use Regard for the Planet. Value: stimulates discussion; motivates some children in ways conventional materials do not. Visuals used: to stimulate the children to write descriptive text about a number of pictures. Interactivity: not important. Preparation: demonstration of the use of the handset, mouse and description of task. Supervision: none. Follow-up: none.

Language

Situation-specific language

To familiarise pupils with situation-specific language, by seeing language in use in real situations, use La Connection Française. Value: allows frequent repetition with subtitles in French and English; increases their vocabulary. Visuals used: to place language in real and useful situations. Interactivity: very important as pupils could control the speed of their learning. Preparation: familiarisation with the equipment. Supervision: initially they need a lot of help; later it helps pupils with comprehension if teacher also has

input. Follow-up: the scenes lend themselves to further individual/group development; pupils have access to

a wide variety of greeetings/demands for help.

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Appendix 4 Recent relevant publications

Chambers P, Riding R, and Waite D, (1989) An exploratory study of the school use of a CD-ROM database, Faculty of Education, Birmingham University.

Eraut, M and Hoyles, C (1988) Groupwork with computers. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 5 (1), pp.12-24

Kirkwood A (1990) Report on the Evaluation of the British Telecom 'Appraisal and Counselling' Training Package: Phase 3 - The Impact of the Training on the Workplace, Distance Learning Unit, BT Management and Commercial Training Department.

Kirkwood A (1991) Interaction upon interaction: Combining interactive video and group sessions in management training, Computers in Adult Education and Training, 2, 3, pp.174-185.

Laurillard D M (1987), Pedagogical design for interactive video, in D M Laurillard (ed) Interactive Media: Working Methods and Practical Applications, Ellis Horwood Ltd.

Laurillard, Diana (1993) Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology, London: Routledge.

Norris N, Davies R and Beattie C (1990) Evaluating new technology: the case of the Interactive Video in Schools (IVIS) programme, British Journal of Educational Technology, 21, (2), pp.84-94.

Plowman L (1989) Learning from theories: An overview for designers of interactive video, Interactive Learning International, 5, (4) pp 165-174.

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