The Platform Futures Research Project supported a student research group @ St. Katherine's School in Bristol.
Their aim was " to discover whether or not digital media could be put to better use and increased in order to improve learning within a classroom environment".
Five sixth-formers Olly, Brendan, Ryan, Tracey and Hannah designed and carried out a school survey and interviews with students.
Survey Findings
DIGITECH surveyed 10% of the school population ranging from years 8 to 12 about their use and ownership of digital technologies outside of school. They found that -
98% had a mobile phone
79% had some sort of gaming device (of those that didn't 85% were female)
98% had a MP3 player
96% had access to a computer
77% edit photos on their computers
55% edit videos on their computers
96% had access to the internet outside school
79% have online profiles
87% use instant messaging
59% play games online
73% shop online
98% had a mobile phone
79% had some sort of gaming device (of those that didn't 85% were female)
98% had a MP3 player
96% had access to a computer
77% edit photos on their computers
55% edit videos on their computers
96% had access to the internet outside school
79% have online profiles
87% use instant messaging
59% play games online
73% shop online
http://www.wordle.net/
DIGITECH produced a data report and one of the team produced a video about the research. Through making the video and learning new creative skills he is working towards gaining an arts award. The award can be used as an accreditation that counts when applying for jobs or further and higher education courses.
Video Analysis
The video reports that young people are using a wide variety of technologies outside of school and want to bring that 'outside' technology into school. However digital technology is not being used enough for learning in school and in ways that allow students to explore their creativity.
The learning research group at St. Katherine's put these ideas into practice by creating a student-made blog. They see the blog as a flexible platform for expressing their ideas, interest and experiences.
Making the blog posed challenges such as concerns over child safety e.g. cyber bullying/protecting student's privacy AND dealing with teachers' tendencies to talk a lot when students want to take decisions (which we're told were problems that were overcome!)
Video producer Olly concludes that
"If the innovative use of digital technology for learning is to be more widely adopted in schools, there needs to be - more resources, we need to train teachers in using digital technology to support our learning, we need to rethink the relationship between student and teachers to create a more equal learning environment, and finally we need to teach student's the dangers of misusing digital technology rather than letting teachers maintain total control and crushing student's creativity".
The learning research group at St. Katherine's put these ideas into practice by creating a student-made blog. They see the blog as a flexible platform for expressing their ideas, interest and experiences.
Making the blog posed challenges such as concerns over child safety e.g. cyber bullying/protecting student's privacy AND dealing with teachers' tendencies to talk a lot when students want to take decisions (which we're told were problems that were overcome!)
Video producer Olly concludes that
"If the innovative use of digital technology for learning is to be more widely adopted in schools, there needs to be - more resources, we need to train teachers in using digital technology to support our learning, we need to rethink the relationship between student and teachers to create a more equal learning environment, and finally we need to teach student's the dangers of misusing digital technology rather than letting teachers maintain total control and crushing student's creativity".
