ecer 2011: agency of classroom settings: the influence of ict
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Agency of classroom settings:The influence of ICTIntroductionIn the history of education, the material environment is studied frequently. In the nineteenth century classrooms we see clear pedagogical objectives. There was the blackboard, the school desks, didactical material stored in the cupboards, and the didactic plates covering the walls. This specific material setting was orienting pedagogical practice. The blackboard oriented the space and was the privileged place of knowledge transfer. Recently, ICT is influencing the way the educational process is organized spatially. The educational space and educational practice is transformed by the new didactic means such as digital projectors, smart boards, computers and the internet. Some of these transformations are perceivable in the classroom as a physical material setting. In his influential essay ‘Art and Agency’ the anthropologist Alfred Gell explained how artifacts and the physical surroundings act upon human beings. His anthropological theory makes clear that we not only act upon the inert, material environment, but also inversely. The physical surroundings also act upon the users of the environment. Purpose and methodIn this study we investigate how ICT as a new didactic means restructures the classroom as a material and spatial setting. In this manner, we examine how ICT reorganizes educational practice. Specifically, an exploratory case study attempted to examine the relationship between ICT and the classroom setting in 12 primary schools in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. Based on the pictures of the classroom setting in the sample schools, the aim of the first phase is to determine different types of classroom settings. Second, based on this typology, teachers are selected and interviewed about their perceptions of the link between the educational use of ICT and the classroom setting. FindingsFor the presentation, we will first present the special setting of ICT in the different classrooms. Second, the results of the interviews will be linked to these settings. The first results indicate 1) that the place of ICT is in transition: from computer labs towards in-classroom provision of ICT 2) that the position of ICT in the educational space is clearly linked to the school level and 3) the finding supports the idea that the specific positioning of ICT in the classrooms affect the use of ICT in learning activities. The question to what extent ICT in the spatial layout of a classroom affect the activities conducted in that setting will be the starting point of the discussion.References A. Gell, ‘Art and Agency. An anthropological theory’ in: Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.12-22 especially p.18Lawn M., Grosvenor I., Rousemare K. (ed.) (2005) Silences and Images: the social history of the classroom. Oxford: Symposium Books; and Lawn M. (ed.) Modelling the Future: Exhibitions and the Materiality of Education. Oxford: Symposium Books;TRANSCRIPT
Agency of Classroom Settings: The Influence of ICT
Jo Tondeur*, Maarten Van Den Driessche, Ellen De BruyneGhent University; *Research Foundation Flanders
Susan McKenney Twente University
ECER 2011 / Berlin
Exploring how ICT restructures the
classroom as a material and spatial setting
Exploring how ICT restructures the
classroom as a material and spatial setting
If we speak about a traditional classroom, we presuppose a straight rectangular room,
a blackboard in front of strictly arranged school desks, old fashioned didactic plates covering the walls,
a small step in front of the class symbolizing the author of a teacher instructing his pupils
Theoretical background
• The location‣The material or geometrical form of the room
• The infrastructure ‣An arrangement of sub-architectural apparatuses
• A setting ‣The spatial direction of actions, behaviors, perceptions
• A situation ‣Space as a context for institutional practices and regimes
Theoretical background
« The social agency can be exercised relative to ‘things’ and social agency can be exercised by ‘things’»[1]
“The social agency can be exercised relative to ‘things’
and social agency can be exercised by ‘things”*
*A. Gell, ‘Art and Agency. An anthropological theory’ in: Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.12-22 especially p.18
Research questions (RQ)
Steps Description
Selection of the schools
Based on: 1) Educational network, 2) degree of urbanisation, 3) age of the school building
Pictures of classroom
settings and ICT
12 primary schools, 115 classrooms, (6 grades) , 10 computers labs, ICT infrastructure (hall, staff room, etc).
Typological classification
Based on the position of furniture and physical elements in the classroom (see Betoret & Artiga, 2004) + Place of ICT
Semi-structured Interviews
2 interviews / each type of classroomBased on the amount and place of ICT
Method
School Urbanisation Educational network
Year of construction
S1 Urban 1 1905 S2 Urban 1 1960S3 Urban 2 1979S4 Urban 3 1950-1960S5 Rural 1 Old buiding: unkown
New buidling: 2003S6 Rural 1 Old buiding: unknown
New buidling: 2007S7 Urban 2 1924; Partly rebuillt in 2010
S8 Rural 2 Rebuilt in 1975; New building: 1975.
S9 Rural 1 1976S10 Rural 1 More than 150 years oldS11 Urban 3 1953S12 Urban 2 1875 (monastery before)
(1) publicly funded, privately run schools; (2) publicly funded, publicly run education; (3) GO!In bolt: Schools selected for interviews; In Red: cases presented in this session
Results: A typology of classroom setting
1: front-facing singles 2: front-facing pairs 3: front-facing rows 4: groups 5: u-shaped 6: combination7: square
2 4
Results: Place of technology
14 different places/combinations
In front and the back of the class (46%)
In front > PC for the teacher (IWB)
In the back > PC’s for pupils
Choice of location is determined by cables > Lap tops / wireless?
More variety in Type 4
Results: Case S9C4a
Classroom grade 4 , 26 pupils, Type 3 [1 PC class+ “digiclass]Teacher: age: 28; 8 years teaching experience; Sex: F
“The choice of location is determined by the PC
internet cables”[Teacher S9C4]
Results: Case S9C4a
“"Thanks to the “digi class” and the PC lab, we have variety and the children are raised with new media"
[Teacher S9C4]
> The school is much more complex than just the classes as separate structures” [Van Den Driessche, 2008]
Case: S2K6Classroom grade 6 , 20 pupils, Type 4 [1 PC class]Teacher: age: 47; 24 years teaching experience; Sex: M
“This setting invites my pupils to use computers
during classroom practice”[Teacher S2K6]
“I would like to maintain group cohesion when
the PCs are being used ”[Teacher S2K6]
Case: S2K6
Discussion
• From one central display (blackboard) to multiple screens
• The dispersed class room
• Towards new school buildings?
[email protected] http://ugent.academia.edu/JoTondeur
“THE SPACE SHOULD REFLECT THE PEDAGOGY”
MYERS (1993)
Papers ? Information ?
Collaboration ?