15 May 2015 Teaching with Blendspace A tool for incorporating ICT as a natural part of lessons Kandidat 36 & 55 UNIVERSITY OF TROMSØ “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.” Bill Gates Department of Education Bachelor LRU-2001 Class of 2012 Candidates: 36 & 55
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15 May 2015
Teaching with
Blendspace A tool for incorporating ICT as a
natural part of lessons
Kandidat 36 & 55 UNIVERSITY OF TROMSØ
“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working
together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
Sociocultural Theory ............................................................................................................................ 5
ICT in schools ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Digital citizenship ................................................................................................................................ 6
Digital natives, Digital settlers and Digital immigrants ....................................................................... 7
How sharing digital resources is changing the teacher landscape. ..................................................... 8
ICT’s effect on subject learning outcome .......................................................................................... 10
Action-learning and Action-research. ................................................................................................... 12
Methods used for gathering empirical data. ..................................................................................... 13
Class dialog ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Collaborative reflection groups ......................................................................................................... 15
Ethics and moral .................................................................................................................................... 16
Ethical experiences from teaching with Blendspace ......................................................................... 16
School economy and capacity ........................................................................................................... 19
ICT as a time thief .............................................................................................................................. 20
Focus on the pupil ................................................................................................................................. 21
A platform for adapted education .................................................................................................... 21
Final words ............................................................................................................................................ 28
Abstract This paper contains our reflections and experiences from using the digital tool Blendspace
actively in our lessons, as part of an action learning project. The purpose was to explore the
possible advantages from using Blendspace and gain new experiences on possible
applications of the tool. Our research thesis was: How will Blendspace as a digital tool make
it easier to use ICT in the classroom? Our main findings were that Blendspace did in fact
make the use of ICT easier, increasing the possibilities for adapted education, collaboration
and pupil contribution. It removed time thieves and increased pupil motivation through the
use of immediate response, peer assessment and increased content relevance.
Research thesis How will Blendspace as a digital tool make it easier to use ICT in the classroom?
Introduction Most teachers who have tried using information and communications technology (ICT)
actively in class know there are many unforeseen events that might occur and hinder,
sometimes completely destroy, their lesson plan. Yet, the same teachers can also have
wonderful experiences using ICT in the classroom. We believe that the deciding factor for this
variable is planning and digital competence. Even though we consider ourselves as fairly
competent users of digital tools, we also encountered some of the same problems during our
first practice. This made us wonder how a teacher could limit such unforeseen events by
finding an effective way of managing digital tools. This is when we found the digital resource
Blendspace, which allowed us to do so in an effective manner. This led to Blendspace being
the focus of our action learning project. This paper will present some of the underlying
theories and ICT research relevant to our action, as well as our own experiences and
reflections from teaching with Blendspace throughout the project.
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A short introduction to Blendspace Blendspace is a digital tool. It is a website that allows the user to create multimodal
presentations online. When a user creates a new Blendspace he/she is presented with a blank
canvas which is divided into tiles. Each tile can contain a single resource (even a resource
with resources). This could be almost any kind of media. Blendspace supports iframes and
general embed, which is supported by most 2.0 web applications. It also supports rich text.
The layout can be changed to have different patterns of tiles, making some bigger and other
smaller. The color of the tiles can be changed based on content, and it has the ability to turn
tiles into scrollable bars. Each tile can be commented on and liked/disliked. This gives users
an easy way of communicating their thoughts and opinions to both teachers and fellow pupils.
Blendspace is connected to multiple other digital resources, which can all be accessed through
the editing screen, making it simple and fast to use. Blendspace offer users the ability to
gather digital resources from many different sources, and compile them onto a single canvas.
This makes using digital tools in the classroom simpler for both teachers and pupils by
bringing the resources to them, instead of spending time having to go to every single resource.
This way, time can be used for learning instead of waiting. This ability to bring new digital
tools into a familiar one increases the probability of a successful lesson with digital tools, for
both teachers and pupils.
“Blendspace is like a map of digital resources,
helping pupils navigate a massive digital world. ”
- One of the authors
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Relevant pedagogical theory
Behaviorism Behavioristic theorists claim that an individual learns based on stimulus and response. They
believe reward and penalty forms the motivation for all human action. According to Imsen
(2012) this was transferred to the educational system by Burrhus Frederic Skinner, who
coined the term ‘operant conditioning’, which does not operate with reward and penalty as
terms, but positive and negative reinforcement instead. These reinforcements can be both
physical and mental in appearance: an individual might not be directly punished or rewarded
by an action, but his/her actions could lead to an outcome that is either conceived as a positive
or negative experience by the subject. (s.179-183). Being given a chocolate or a round of
applause are both examples of positive reinforcement that will most likely result in a positive
experience. On the other hand, negative reinforcement could be having to pay a parking
ticket, or a pupil receiving a look of disappointment from the teacher because he/she had
nothing to show for a presentation. The individuals would then try to correct their behavior in
order to avoid such negative experiences, leading to them take a different course of action the
next time they find themselves in a similar situation. “Positive reinforcement functions as
rewards when they are added to the situation, and negative reinforcement functions as a
reward because they remove something from the situation.” (Imsen, 2012, s. 184)
If we transfer this to the classroom it means that positive experiences from lessons would be
considered as positive reinforcement, whereas negative experiences would be negative
reinforcement. Behaviorism as a theory has developed further in recent years and increasingly
more common is that the expectations of an individual works as a motivator for an action.
“Principle of self-interest: The individual do what pays off in its own interest. Especially
seeking joy and avoiding pain are motivation principles that often recur.” (Imsen, Elevens
verden, 2012, s. 31)
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Sociocultural Theory Lev Vygotsky (1896 -1934) is unarguably one of the most influential theorists when it comes
to sociocultural theory. We believe his theory is highly relevant for group work, collaboration
and adapted education. According to sociocultural theory, learning is something that happens
as an interaction between individuals in a cultural setting. Language and social interaction
forms the basis of all learning. Vygotsky argued that “development must be understood as a
result of different development principles, and various principles could make itself applicable
with a variety of strength in different periods of life.” (Imsen, Elevens verden, 2012, s. 254)
This indicates that Vygotsky saw possible applications for many pedagogical theories, and
that a variety of methods could be used at different times to better further learning throughout
a pupil’s education. Vygotsky as seen in Imsen (2012) claimed that there is a limit to what a
pupil could be able to master on his/her own. We can illustrate what the pupil could master on
his/her own as a small circle. Outside of this circle is the zone of proximal development, a
larger circle that represents what the pupil could master with guidance from a teacher or more
knowledgeable peers through mediation. Mediation can be viewed as a combination of
response and stimulus. The greater the knowledge of the teacher or peers, the greater the zone
of proximal development (s.258-260). An important aspect of Vygotsky’s theories is adapted
education. In order to keep developing, the pupil needs to get slightly harder tasks than his/her
level, so that they can expand the borders of their zone of proximal development.
«In the theory of zone of proximal development lies as mentioned a solid awareness of
adapted education, specifically that the education shall not be on the same level as the
pupil already masters, but on a slightly higher level, so that the pupil must strive
slightly.” (Imsen, Elevens verden, 2012, s. 261)
Vygotsky claimed that language is the most important tool for learning. The social interaction
between individuals has its roots in the need for communicating complex thoughts. In order
for a pupil to learn and develop with his teacher or peers, and expand the zone of proximal
development, communication is paramount. It important to note that Vygotsky argued that
pupils could only learn from their teacher or a grown up through mediation: “If two pupils sit
and fumble their way to an answer through collaboration that is social constructivism, but not
mediation” (Imsen, 2012, s. 259)
There was an underlying idea that «Development stretches from a state where the child can do
things together with others, and to a state where it can do things on its own.” (Imsen, Elevens
verden, 2012, s. 255) Which in turn would create an independent individual that can mediate
others to help expand their zones of proximal development, as well as their own.
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ICT in schools
Digital citizenship Digital citizenship covers a wide area of skillsets related to the consumption and creation of
digital content, as well as moral and ethical challenges, and can not be defined in a single
sentence. What forms the basis for Digital citizenship is the use of Information and
communication technologies (ICT), which over the years has grown from encompassing radio
and television, to computers and the internet.
“ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella
term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio,
television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite
systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with
them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning. ICTs are often spoken of in a
particular context, such as ICTs in education, health care, or libraries.” (Rouse,
2005)
While the internet in theory is a place where one is free to do as one pleases, society, be it
digital or physical, requires some rules in order to function. We feel that teaching digital
citizenship to pupils is equivalent to teaching young children how to behave in social settings
and gain the required skills to survive in the world. This includes teaching digital literacy;
how to filter good and bad information, understand privacy, copyrights and use digital tools.
Australia’s Educational service defines Digital citizenship this way:
“The acceptance and upholding of the norms of appropriate, responsible behaviour
with regard to the use of digital technologies. This involves using digital technologies
effectively and not misusing them to disadvantage others. Digital citizenship includes
appropriate online etiquette, literacy in how digital technologies work and how to use
them, an understanding of ethics and related law, knowing how to stay safe online,
and advice on related health and safety issues such as predators and the permanence
of data.” (Education Services Australia, 2015)
Norway on the other hand does not use Digital citizenship as a term, but Digital Skills instead.
We believe that this will change in the future. Norway has already redefined the basic skill
previously called; “be able to use digital tools” into the new definition: “Digital skills”. As
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we see it this indicates that there is a common understanding, for the fact that a digital
curriculum needs to cover more than just the use of digital tools. At the moment Norway
defines digital skills like this:
“Digital skills means to be able to use digital tools, media and resources
appropriately and justifiable to solve practical assignments, collect and process
information, create digital products and communicate. Digital skills also means to
develop digital judgement through acquired knowledge and good strategies for
internet use.” (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2012)(Translated from Norwegian)
While there is no global agreement on what digital citizenship is, we have shown that the term
finds common ground in national curriculums and the ICT skillsets many countries aim to
teach to pupils. Norway’s government has through the Center for ICT in education created an
online resource with classroom modules that teach the ICT competence aims from their
national curriculum. (Senter for IKT i Utdanningen, 2014).
Digital natives, Digital settlers and Digital immigrants According to Gasser and Palfrey (2008) pupils born after 1980, when technology like Usenet
and bulletin board systems came online, are so-called digital natives. They use computers and
cellphones in their daily life, and many stay online for most of the day. The pupils are more
connected now than ever before, living in an information age where everything is just a click
away. They are connected through social networks and digital means of communication, and
often meet friends online before meeting in person. “Major aspects of their lives – social
interactions, friendships, civic activities – are meditated by digital technologies. And they’ve
never known any other way of life.” (Gasser & Palfrey, 2008, s. 2).
This brings with it many new aspects to teaching, and the schools have to adapt to the digital
native’s needs. Digital immigrants, born before the internet was in full effect, will have a very
different relationship to the digital world. Some might struggle to adapt to an increased
amount of digitalization and never truly understand the digital world the same way as a digital
native, while some will have no problem naturally adapting to this digital environment.
One important thing to note about digital natives is that even though they are born into
technology, it does not mean they are all naturals when it comes to incorporating digital tools
in their personal learning. “While some are online around the clock, some visit the internet a
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few times a week, and some rarely visit the internet and stay away from social media.”
(Lillejord, Manger, & Nordahl, 2013, s. 42) The ones that often go online are not necessarily
ICT experts either. They are above all consumers. Part of our jobs as teachers in this digital
age is teaching how digital tools can further learning and be used to create new content, not
just consume. We should function as administrators of knowledge, and teach them how they
can reuse what others have already created, how to continue to develop someone else’s work
and how they can use it to solve their problems and how their work can help others.
How sharing digital resources is changing the teacher landscape. The birth of the internet gave way to a whole new world of resources for teachers to use in
their classrooms, removing the limits of geographic location and individual creativity.
“Though we have shared knowledge through the wonderful medium of books, only a
fraction of human knowledge actually is published. Until the arrival of the computer,
sharing knowledge, an important basis of education, was more wishful than real.”
(Dhanarajan, 2002, s. 65)
We believe it is safe to claim that teachers share their lesson material more often now than
before the birth of the internet. This does not mean that the willingness to share has increased,
rather that it has become convenient to share due to how easy it has become. We need only
look to a few digital resource sites to understand why this claim is evidently true. YouTube
alone has an abundance of lesson material that could be used for flipped classroom lessons. It
also has explanations, tutorials and video lectures, just to mention some of the material it has
to offer. As an example, we search for the mathematical term “addition” on YouTube. At this
moment (20.4.2015) it yields 1.590.000 results. Let us say that one percent of these videos are
suitable for teaching addition. That equals 15900 videos. For a single teacher to make that
many different videos about addition during his career he would have to make 265 videos
each year for 60 years. The potential reach of a lesson is only limited by access to the internet,
and the cost of sharing is free or next to none. The current reach of the most viewed video
about addition on YouTube “Basic Addition by Kahn Academy” is at this moment
(20.4.2015) at 2,489,576 views. For a single teacher to reach this many pupils without video
(for the sake of the argument we pretend all the viewers are pupils) he would have to teach
113 different pupils addition every day for 60 years. That is on average 5 classes per day.
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When teachers make a digital resource, they do not have to make extra copies or set aside
time to show other teachers how to apply the material to their lessons. They are not required
to burn the media to a physical DVD for distribution and sharing with other schools does not
require the tedious process of burning multiple DVD’s. They can share their work with a push
of a button, choose to forget about it, or choose to get feedback from other teachers on how to
improve it. The fact that it is so cost effective and easy lowers the threshold for teachers to
share their lessons. Combined with the advantage that sharing works both ways teachers are
able to use each other’s lessons, which means the individual teacher does not have to reinvent
the wheel every single day in order to create variation and personalize learning in his/her
classroom.
It is common knowledge that teachers have to teach a wide variety of subjects, even subjects
in which they have little or no education. By being able to use material created by someone
who has extensive knowledge on the subject instead of providing an emergency alternative,
the teacher is able to provide the pupils with the best possible base for learning about a
subject. A study on elements that impacts learning outcome: “What makes great teaching?”
by (Coe, Aloisi, Higgins, & Major, 2014), indicates that “….the search for a relationship
between characteristics such as academic qualifications or general ability and student
performance has been rather disappointing: correlations are typically very small or non-
existent…” (Coe, Aloisi, Higgins, & Major, 2014, s. 18) We believe this goes to show that a
teacher can build “a road” for his pupils with “bricks” made by others, and be able to build a
better road than if he had built it using the “sticks” that he possesses. Even if the teacher has
no idea how to make bricks he can still build a road and help the pupils walk it. The point we
are trying to make is that sharing resources enables teachers to build strong lessons for their
pupils even without extensive knowledge and experience on the given subject.
We believe teachers know this. They know using others can help their pupils learn more.
They know that if they are going to teach genetics the pupils can learn more from a video
made by a PhD in genetics than from a teacher who attended a lecture or two on the subject.
“On one hand, the planet is filled with highly skilled and talented people in all fields
of human endeavor. On the other, critics of global educational systems constantly
bemoan the fact that, by and large, the academic talent needed in our schools,
colleges, and universities to enhance the quality of the learning environment beyond
perceived levels of mediocrity is in short supply.” (Dhanarajan, 2002, s. 62)
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When teachers find great digital resources they might bring them into their school, and
different teams. This could help establish a sharing culture at the school, which in turn helps
improve the base for organizational development. As a bonus, teachers get firsthand
knowledge on many of the aspects of Digital Citizenship, and having experience from
creating and consuming digital content in education provides them with a unique competence
which they can transfer to their pupils. Doing so can also help bridge the generational gap
between pupils as digital natives, and teachers (age 40+) as digital immigrants, making ICT
lessons highly effective for both adapted education and building teacher/pupil relations.
ICT’s effect on subject learning outcome As part of the national curriculum, the use ICT is in Norway today a part of the five basic
skills1 and must be incorporated into every subject. However, there is a global debate whether
it furthers learning outcome or not. Undoubtedly the most important part of teaching is
exactly this: the pupil’s learnings outcome. This is what we strive for as teachers, why we
adapt education, why we differentiate methods and content, all to increase the chances of the
pupil learning something in our lessons. “Learning outcomes describe what a learner is
expected to know, understand and be able to do after successful completion of a process of
learning.” (Education and Culture DG, 2009, s. 11) Computers and ICT is rapidly becoming a
part of every classroom, as in our closest school district: “Tromsø municipality has a high
focus on ICT in school. Every 8th grader receive a personal computer.” (Tromsøskolen,
u.d.)(Translated from Norwegian) this means that teachers have a wonderful opportunity to
use computers and ICT in their classrooms, but how much it should be used is still a question.
Why it is a question is easily understandable, as researchers do not seem to agree “The impact
of ICT use on learning outcomes is unclear, and open to much debate.” (InfoDev, 2015). Yet,
we compare this to how video was supposed to revolutionize schools and radio before that,
and we believe that as with any tool, the determining factor is how it is used. This is why we
think that much of the research being done at the moment has no validity due to the variations
in each teacher and their use of ICT. There are too many factors which could contribute to
unreliable data. To be able to determine the true learning outcome of ICT one would have to
improve reliability by having the same teacher teach the same lesson to a huge amount of
1 the five basic skills, namely orals skills, reading, writing. digital skills and numeracy.