C h r o m e b o o k R e s e a r c h a n d P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t P r o g r a m m e

R o g e r B l a m i r eSenior AdviserEUN Partnership AISBL

W h a t w a s l e a r n t ?

1 : Overv iewAim: 1. Understand how Chromebooks support innovation in the

classroom and school as a whole2. Assess impact on pedagogical practices3. Identify management and technical issues and solutions

Qualitative approach: • Capture and analyse pedagogical practice and classroom

perceptions

Sources• Online questionnaires: April 2015: November 2015: • Teacher/student voice:

• Case studies, webinars, blogs, videos• Interviews with parents, student surveys

2 : Base l i ne da taSchools (6, Netherlands, Spain, UK):

Primary, lower and upper secondaryTeachers (9):

Eight have taught for more than 20 years, two less than fiveMost mention having good leadership support and being in a school that encourages and supports innovation

ICT experience and support: Six teachers have used ICT for more than 10 yearsAll already work with students using Chromebooks Most have good technical, pedagogical and CPD support

ICT provision:Generally good access to hardware, software and wifiMost don’t allow students to take Chromebooks home

I n ten t i ons a t s ta r t• Teachers intended to

focus on promoting collaborative activities• Also creativity, flipped

classroom, personalisation, enquiry- and project-based learning

• Wide range of digital age competencies targeted for development• Especially digital,

collaboration and communication skills

• Scenarios to develop these activities and skills

3 : Find ingsFrom a self-reporting, small number of schools, we found that:

• Scenario-based learning supported innovation• Think outside daily practice

• Activities promoted digital age practices and skills• In particular collaboration,

creativity, the flipped classroom, independent learning

• There was impact on:• The school• Learning• Teaching

Find ings : who le schoo l1. Impact across the whole school was achieved, by:

• Involving senior management and stakeholders in• Scenario designing workshops• “Plan carefully, set goals and only then procure“• Implementation: weekly meetings with head teacher

• Working in the Cloud • Using apps that do more than Substitute, e.g. Classroom• Choosing apps that teachers readily pick up, to achieve educational aims

2. Teachers, parents, students, all were engaged:• Targeted pedagogy-led, onsite, in context PD

• Walking the talk: creating Kahoots• Parents’ evenings• Google Experts Scheme

3. There were effective strategies for change• Focusing on a few curriculum areas e.g. English• Not trying to do everything e.g. “focus on just three apps at first”

4. Schools got the infrastructure right• Reliable broadband, wifi (and home too), devices and apps• Chromebooks liked: practical, technically robust, functionality suited to school,

fast and “always work”

Find ings : l ea rn ing1. Students developed their skills

“The possibilities of Google education tools are excellent for 21st century skills.” “Collaboration of pupils is much better than before “

2. … and adopted new ways of working“Children are getting good at evaluating each other’s work”“They can work wherever they have web access”“You can stay at home doing the homework with the group” (student)

3. Learning was more efficient“Effective learning time has increased enormously”“They don’t have to carry books back and forth” (parent)“Everything they need is handy” (teacher)“It isn't a very big computer, and I can do my homework without worrying, because the computer goes very fast”“You have all the information that you need in a computer. And you can share information with other people” (student)

4. There was more personalisation“Students work at their own level”

5. More collaboration was evident“They can easily work in teams, using the instant synchronization feature”“Thanks to the laptops, they don’t need our help to do their homework” (parent)

Find ings : teach ing1. Teachers adopted new roles

“Our teachers have learnt to change their role from teacher to coach”, ‘letting go’ of students “Students acquire more autonomy“

2. Teaching became seamless “Students are learning to use digital follow-up: flipping the classroom is no longer scary.” “On the Chromebooks the teachers can see what you are doing, if you are in class or at home” (student)

3. Teachers rated apps highlyGoogle docs: collaborative working anytime anywhereGoogle Classroom: to make different groups in the same grade, plan tasks, help students acquire organising skills and take responsibilityKahoot: interactive, competitiveScreencastify: recording voice, screen and imageStorybird: edit stories created by the students

I s sues /Recommendat i onsEquipment / learning resources• To take home or not to take home?• How to ensure sustainability and affordability?• How to work with non-native (English) language environments and apps? • How to ensure always on wifi?

• “Sometimes the wifi goes and we can't do anything” (Student)

Privacy• How much information to share?

Effective learning• How to provide variety in a digital learning environment?

• “With paper books we had more variety of work, more different activities than with Chromebooks” (student)

• “We spend 6h per day on the computer” (student)

Thank you!