Making hard topics easier to teach with ICT: Key outcomes

Key outcomes

The following themes emerge from the case studies:

The ICT element in the teaching of hard-to-teach topics

• was effective in supporting and encouraging both independent learning and collaborative learning;
• fostered individual creativity;
• brought real audiences and real purposes into play;
• enabled and encouraged reflection and evaluation, including self-assessment and peer-assessment;
• allowed teachers to respond to students swiftly and to reflect on the effectiveness of teaching and learning;
• provided anonymity in exchanges and contributions, leading to a much wider degree of participation and a much deeper level of analysis than hitherto achieved;
• encouraged teachers to become more experimental;
• gave both students and teachers confidence and increased motivation.

What else has the project taught us?

The aims of the project were firstly to identify problematic areas of English, subjects or topics that were difficult to teach – or difficult for certain groups of students – and secondly to explore the capabilities of ICT to address those difficulties. The approach was by definition experimental and tentative, and the outcomes uncertain.

As we toured the country observing the resultant practice and as we read these case studies, it was evident that the fresh impetus and the special qualities of some forms of ICT – especially the then new Web2.0 toolsthose which facilitated interactivity between users – have produced remarkably successful results. The ICT did not substitute for good teaching but enhanced and extended the impact of their lessons, indeed frequently creating motivated, autonomous learners that continued pursuing learning in their own time as a direct result of the project. We were particularly impressed by the collaboration and the sense of ownership conferred on students by activities such as wikis, blogs and podcasts.

Organisation of the project

NATE recruited teachers for this project on the basis of open advertisement through the website, local authorities and the National Strategy.

Twenty-two teachers from nineteen local authorities attended a conference at Elm Bank Centre, Coventry, in March 2008 with the following agenda:

• What do English teachers consider to be hard-to-teach topics?
• Which areas of ICT seem appropriate in tackling these topics?

Attendees also discussed the kind of project they would wish to undertake in their schools. Each was allocated a mentor from NATE. Between March and July, NATE mentors visited and advised the teachers involved in the project. Email support was also available as well as a dedicated website.

A follow up conference was held in July 2008 where the work of each of the delegates was shared and further advice was given with regard to the writing of case studies, which were written up by the end of the Summer term. Of the twenty-two initial delegates, seventeen completed case studies and one wrote two.