Research

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Laptops in the Classroom

This is a piece of research I completed part way through the establishment of our 1 to 1 laptop programme. It is based on data collected from one Grade 11 Economics course, after six months of immersion.

Constructing knowledge using web 2.0 in a geography classroom

Louise Starkey, Victoria University of Wellington

Andrew McCarthy, Queen Margaret College

Presented to Australia Computers in Education Conference, 2008.

ABSTRACT

Digital technologies were integrated into a New Zealand year 12 geography classroom to help students construct an understanding of urban processes within their own urban setting and Sao Paulo. This involved the use of an online learning environment, student developed blogs, interactive quizzes and an interactive whiteboard. The aim was to help students to construct their understanding of geographical concepts. This paper explores the responses of the students to the use of the digital technologies to construct knowledge. It was found that while the teacher introduced a constructivist approach to the way that learning occurred in the classroom, many of the students remained focused on completing notes and memorising the ‘right’ information for exams.

Full Paper available here – StarkeyMcCarthyACEC2008