Research Methods & Interactive Whiteboards
As part of the Research Methods course we have to work in a group criticizing a research paper. Basically, it’s a collaborative dry-run of what we’ll do individually in the assignment for the module.
My group has settled on a paper by a Middle School teacher in the USA which was published in 2001. How it got published I don’t know. It’s not very good, but then that’s good for us as it means we’ve got lots to criticize! :)?
As regards Interactive Whiteboards and my thesis, I might want to include the research done by a team at Newcastle University last year which found that IWBs have little or no effect on the achievement of primary school children. We didn’t study it as a group as it runs to 73 pages…
I think I’m going to need to do some kind of analysis of quantitative data in my thesis, if only to show that I’m able to do it. Looking at, and analyzing, papers such as that one will help me to that end. At the moment there’s not a lot of research about the effects of IWBs as the rationale and justification for their use is largely anecdotal based on motivational factors. I’m not sure that’s my focus, however – I want to somehow look at how ICT in general can lead to organizational change and a shift in the teacher-learner dynamic. All within a wrapper of policy implementation. Not entirely sure how I’m going to do that!
