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Learning with technologiesStudents views from Australia and The Netherlands

Dr Kathryn MoyleAssociate Professor

University of CanberraAustralia

Dr Guus WijngaardsProfessor

INHolland UniversityThe Netherlands

Support

The Netherlands

Australia

Literature review

o Research informed by a literature reviewo Review of studies published since 2002o Students voices:

o Schools – primary and secondary students o Vocational education and training (VET) o Pre-service teacher educationo International students

o And early career teachers

Who are the learners?Australia• 14,500 pre-schools, primary and

secondary schools • 3.3 million full-time school

students• 1.7 million students enrolled in a

publicly funded VET courses• 397,400 apprentices and trainees • 984,100 FTE students enrolled in

higher education courses– 61% of these students aged under 25– 100,100 in undergraduate and post-

graduate education• 111,463 commencing overseas

students in higher education – 20.8% of overseas students

commencing in the field of education

The Netherlands

o 6. 913 Primary schools with 1. 552.548 pupils

o 658 Secondary schools with 941.469 pupils

o 73 Intermediate Vocational Education schools with 513.257 students

o 587.105 students enrolled in higher education courses

What the literature showed

Access and use

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006

• 92% used a computer either at home or at school– 90% used a computer at

school, and – 89% used it at home – 37% occurred at another

person’s house and – 12% reported using a

computer in a public library

• The Netherlands

• Students ‘work at school quite often with computers’: Primary 49%, Secondary 40%, Vocational 48%.

• 99% used a computer at home

Access and usePISA

Australia• Almost all students have

access to computers at school and home

• More than 50% of students are accessing home computers on a daily basis, with

• Over 90% have home Internet access

The Netherlands• Almost all students have

access to computers at school and home

• Almost 50% of students are accessing home computers on a daily basis, with

• 99% have home Internet access

400,000 students in 57 countries- Major focus on scientific literacyICT survey optional- 356 schools and over 14,000 students

Learning environment and ICT skills proficiency

Australia and The Netherlands• Students value the opportunity to use

technologies in their classrooms as they enjoy the collaboration with other students

• Students cited a major focus in classrooms on regurgitation of information and little opportunity being provided for them to ‘really use’ technologies to explore, think and learn.

Cognition and student learning

Deep learning through engagement, and student-centred approaches

• Little Australian research• Aspirational rather than evidence• Generally students indicated that their educational institutions focused on surface learning and technical aspects of technologies

Cognition and student learningStudents indicated their preference for • active learning and that the inclusion of technologies in their

learning provided opportunities for students to have more control over their learning;

• to collaborate with other students and to use the teacher as a facilitator rather than transmitter of knowledge.

Computers provide opportunities for • hands-on learning through controlling the mouse; using

different software applications; • exploring the Internet through prompts and comprehending

what was on the screen; and • thereby engaging in developing their cognitive skills.

Gaps

• Lack of cross-sectoral research• Very little recent research• Quantitative information about access and

use• Qualitative research on issues such as:

– Whether ICT assists students learning– Uses of ICT outside of school for learning– Roles of emerging technologies in learning

Data collectionOnline surveys + Focus groups

• Primary• Secondary• Vocational education

and training• Trainee teachers• Early career teachers

ParticipantsPARTICIPANTS SURVEYS FOCUS GROUPS TOTAL

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 502 230 148 20 650 250

Secondary 152 465 61 34 213 499

VET 70 998 32 18 102 1016

Trainee teachers 235 308 25 8 260 316

Early career teachers 100 117 27 8 127 125

Total responses 1059 2118 293 88 1352 2206

Initial findings

• Access and use of technologies• Online and computer games• Social networking• Learning styles and educational value of

technologies • Support for learning with technologies• Future expectations

Access and use of technologies

Majority of students access and use of the Internet from home at least 1-2 weekly – older students, everyday

Reasons for using the InternetAustralia

• Searching for information (range 91%-100%)

• Finding locations (range 59%-94%)

• Talking with friends using Instant Messaging (IM) (range 64%-94%)

• Downloading music (range 42%-86%)

• Contributing to social networking sites (range 40%-69%)

The Netherlands

Searching for information(range 82% - 100%)

Finding locations(range 45% - 76%)

Talking with friends using IM(range 73% - 89%)

Downloading music(range 48% - 81%)

Contributing to social networking sites(range 42% - 84%)

Functions used on mobile phone

% of responses from the

respective cohorts

Phone calls TextMessaging

Games

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 84 82 70 68 77 73Secondary 90 98 94 97 50 55VET 97 99 92 98 17 16Trainee teachers

97 99 98 97 30 12

Early career 100 100 97 92 25 7

Functions used on mobile phone

% of responses from the

respective cohorts

Photos Video Music listening

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 77 70 60 47 54 64Secondary 50 86 51 63 60 72VET 17 63 22 28 20 46Trainee teachers

30 68 26 29 22 47

Early career 25 58 31 17 24 28

Online and computer games

• All cohorts in both countries reported a level of interest in playing games online and on mobile phones

• School students showed the most interest in playing online games

• Over a third of all respondents indicated they have played an online game with over 95% of school students indicating they have played an online game

• A majority of school students indicated that playing computer games assists them to learn how to solve problems

• Fine motor skills (learning to be quick with their fingers) was reported by over 40% of all cohorts as a benefit of playing computer games

• Some lack of surety was identified by the adult cohorts about the value of online and computing games for educational purposes

Degree of interest

%Interested &

Very Interested

Actiongames

SportGames

Driving games

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 76 64 72 78 69 72Secondary 60 59 44 49 59 47VET 30 49 24 32 30 41Trainee teachers

23 15 19 19 24 19Early career 34 7 25 17 28 12

Across all cohorts generally, most interest was expressed in strategy games. Action and strategy games were reported as being of most

interest to primary and secondary students

Degree of interest

Degree of interest

%Interested &

Very Interested

Role Playgames

Strategygames

Flight simulators

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 44 22 67 39 52 29Secondary 46 54 55 41 32 20VET 30 25 42 37 21 14Trainee teachers

28 9 50 20 13 5Early career 36 10 52 14 25 7

Across all cohorts generally, most interest was expressed in strategy games. Action and strategy games were reported as being of most

interest to primary and secondary students

Degree of interest

What’s learnt?By playing computer games I learn to …

% responses

Strongly agree or agree

MakeDecisions

Concentratebetter

Workwith

others

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 57 27 49 30 46 30Secondary 44 40 38 35 35 43VET 20 21 28 20 18 21Trainee teachers 35 23 26 23 21 23Early career 37 21 32 21 28 23

What’s learnt?By playing computer games I learn to …

% responses

Strongly agree or agree

Solve problems Get on withpeople

Be quick with my fingers

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 54 20 41 26 72 48

Secondary 54 32 30 34 63 56

VET 26 21 16 15 41 31

Trainee teachers

39 24 16 22 40 23

Early career

39 25 23 19 48 31

Should computing games be used for learning?

% responsesStrongly agree or agree

Education and training institutions should use more computing games for students’ learning

Australia The Netherlands

Primary 49 36

Secondary 58 61

VET 28 23

Trainee teachers 45 19

Early career 40 21

Social networking

• All cohorts indicated interest in sites such as You Tube and Flickr

• A majority of primary and secondary students responded they use MSN for learning purposes

• Pre-service and early career teachers indicated they had used Facebook to support their learning

• There were differing views expressed by the respective participant cohorts about the value of social networking and online media sites for students’ learning

Social sites for school or not?Australia & The Netherlands

Sites like YouTube and Flickr are for fun- not for learning

Social sites for school or not?Australia & The Netherlands

Sites like YouTube and Flickr are for home - not for school/training/university

Social sites for school or not?Australia & The Netherlands

Sites like Hyves and instant messaging are for fun - not for learning.

Social sites for school or not?Australia & The Netherlands

Sites like Hyves and instant messaging are for home - not for school/training /university

Learning styles and educational value of technologies

All cohorts in both countries indicated • they prefer to learn using a variety of styles

that are appropriate for the outcomes required

• they like learning that includes technologies• ‘learning with technologies’ is one form of

‘hands-on-learning’• their learning experiences include working in

groups, solving problems and using technologies

Learning styles and educational value of technologies

• Students’ learning experiences includes a lot of the time listening to teachers provide information

• ‘Good’ teachers were seen to be those who have strong interpersonal skills with their students

Experiences of different teaching & learning styles

% Strongly

agree/agree

Most of the time we have lessons where the

teachers giveinformation & students

sit & listen

Work a lot with computers

Work in small groups

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 59 69 59 49 52 59Secondary 63 61 48 40 52 60

VET 45 62 82 48 69 69Trainee teachers

82 63 47 31 72 63

Experiences of different teaching & learning styles

% Strongly

agree/agree

Do problem solving for learning

Feel views are taken seriously by

teachers /lecturers

Feel it is important to have a say about

what is being studied

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 60 58 50 75 65 49

Secondary 59 53 56 63 67 65

VET 82 79 73 66 87 70

Trainee teachers

73 66 62 54 85 67

Educational value of technologies

Rests in the assistance technologies provide to undertake both 1. higher order or more complex activities (eg solving problems and analyzing information), as well as 2. lower order activities (eg presentation of assignments and practicing skills).

Use of computers and the Internet to present work in a neat and tidy manner

Use computers and the Internet to practice skills

Ways in which students use technologiesI use the computer & Internet to …

%responses Agree most or all of time

Make concept maps of ideas

Reflect on thingslearnt

Plan study Be creative

AU NL AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 14 30 24 34 25 22 42 65

Secondary 17 53 25 49 32 35 44 78

VET 25 25 47 20 48 45 52 38

Trainee teachers

25 31 39 37 46 57 62 35

Early career 45 34 45 40 75 74 69 42

Ways in which students use technologiesI use the computer & Internet to …

%responses Agree most or all of time

Communicatewith teacher/

lectureroutside of

class

Communicate with other

students outsideclass

Work with other students on an activity

For specifically designed tasks

AU NL AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 9 16 42 49 22 45 21 30

Secondary 22 35 59 84 31 70 25 70

VET 50 44 50 60 46 56 59 31

Trainee teachers

64 57 60 70 45 64 42 29

Early career 72 60 34 14 59 31 64 26

Support for learning with technologies

% responses

Agree most or all of time

There are enough people to assist me with technical

issues at school/training/university

My teacher/lecturer is able to support my learning with

computers and the Internet

AU NL AU NLPrimary 63 50 57 46

Secondary 73 59 51 37

VET 59 61 64 39

Trainee teachers

58 93 28 68

Early career 57 77 36 56

Support for learning with technologies

% responses

Agree most or all of time

My teachers'/lecturers skills with technologies are good

My teachers' /lecturers’ technical skills could be

improved

AU NL AU NL

Primary 54 55 28 17

Secondary 54 40 44 30

VET 63 40 22 41

Trainee teachers

33 69 50 83

Early career 30 59 45 86

Future expectationsIn the next year I expect I will …

%Yes

response

Email a teacher Email anotherstudent about my

studies

Create apresentation

Useinteractive whiteboard

AU NL AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 32 14 66 49 68 53 65 49

Secondary 72 41 82 70 86 50 56 38

VET 44 - 82 19 68 71 45 39

Trainee teachers

73 12 39 49 88 60 67 64

Early career 91 19 63 63 91 64 66 61

Future expectationsIn the next year I expect I will …

%Yes

response

Use a digitalcamera

for studies

Accessa podcast for

studies

Take part inonline class

Text messageother

studentsabout

studies

AU NL AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 56 17 27 9 19 7 38 22

Secondary 69 44 44 30 20 22 58 55

VET 51 43 32 8 66 50 54 70

Trainee teachers

80 85 59 7 75 58 67 49

Early career

90 82 62 8 77 63 73 43

In the next year I expect to…

% responses

most or all of time

Take an onlinetest

Bepart of

chatroomdiscussion

aboutmy studies

Contributeto awiki

AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 48 22 43 50 22 10Secondary 61 21 56 34 24 26VET 41 30 51 17 38 9Trainee teachers

29 17 69 25 16 5

Early career 48 18 51 21 37 11

In the next year I expect to…

% responses

most or all of time

Checkgrades online

Checkstudy

requirementsonline

Access anexpertonline

Use social networking sites

AU NL AU NL AU NL AU NL

Primary 29 19 38 19 21 17 36 44Secondary 29 62 52 57 21 14 61 66VET 76 81 79 79 54 28 31 44Trainee teachers

43 43 32 16 48 20 41 33

Early career

63 66 52 19 57 19 49 18

Support for learning with technologies

• All cohorts in both countries indicated they feel – they are safe online within their education institution and – their private online information is safe at the education

institution• No cohorts indicated major concerns about online bullying or

the receipt of unwanted emails at their education institution• About third of participants in all cohorts consider the Internet

speed at their education or training institution is not fast enough

• While about half the adult students indicated they are able to receive assistance from their lecturers outside of class via the Internet, less than 20% of the school students indicated this to be the case.

Qualities of good educatorsImportance of educators to be able to:• form constructive relationships with their

students • give simple explanations • structure relevant learning experiences for the

outcomes to be achieved • use learning styles appropriate to both the

content and the learners • ensure different learning styles are met • support students to learn the answers for

themselves• encourage activities that include technologies

both for learning and assessment.

Challenges

• Educators across all sectors with good skills in teaching and learning with technologies

• Wide variations in students’ experiences of the quality and speed of access to technologies within education and training institutions across Australia and The Netherlands

Challenges

• Variations across jurisdictions and sectors of 24x7 access by students to their respective education or training institution’s intranet to be able to access lectures; assessment tasks; course materials; the library and so on

• How to increase students’ engagement and achievements where their learning includes technologies (eg half of the adult respondents agreed that improving lecturers’ knowledge of online games would improve students’ learning).

Professional learning• School leadership strategies to foster

ongoing teachers’ learning and development about teaching and learning with technologies

• Development of teacher educators’ about ways in which technologies can be meaningfully included in their programs and courses

• Teachers development of how technologies can be used to improve the quality of their teaching and learning

Implications

School leaders• Build a culture of collegial learning to support all

teachers in improving their technology skills and confidence, including relevant application of technologies to support student learning and cater for individual requirements; and

• Critically examine appropriate and effective technologies to meet local demands and increase access and maintenance support as relevant to the context.

Questions?

Reports

Australian report available from:http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/DigitalEducationRevolution/Resources/Pages/Resources.aspx

The Netherlands report available from:http://www.inholland.nl/elearning