What is Digital Learning in the Classroom?

Digital learning is a shorthand term for the revolution in digital media that can be used in the classroom to enhance learning. It does not mean an end to handwriting or traditional work methods and subjects; however it does mean the introduction of easily accessible electronic resources for learning and a better development of pupils’ enquiry skills.  

These devices can be tablets, iPads, Kindles, e-readers, laptops or netbooks which are brought into the classroom beside the books and the pens and paper to offer an extra media for creative teaching and the development of understanding. In the past schools have been quick to adapt to the technologies on offer, such as interactive whiteboards, projectors and visualizers, and children have become accustomed to watching the teachers present and operate these to show video clips, interactive programs and 3D interactive books and materials. These have been a fantastic addition to the teachers’ armoury of tools, but are only able to deliver to all at the same time, reducing the potential for the children to engage independently in enquiry, for groups to work on different questions within the room to present back, or for faster and slower workers to manage the pace of their own engagement. Similarly, once the lesson ended there was no real opportunity beyond written homework for the pupils to continue to engage with the subject; to watch again, to check understanding or to follow up areas of interest by finding out a bit more using the same resources. These devices are not simply glorified browsers: the range of 3D material, interactive information, apps to watch or to write is seemingly endless. Teachers too are collaborating on finding the best quality resources and school librarians are fast becoming champions of a proper education in research and information management.

Digital learning therefore allows children to have a level of independence, to work and collaborate as teams and to carry on individually later. The transferrable skills that are developed can be used for life as the route to enquiry never really changes and is becoming more and more important for senior study, for university and for the world of twenty-first century work.

The resources available are easy to manage beside the paper and pen, and can be activated or perhaps more importantly deactivated, very quickly so that they become a resource to be used rather than the focus of the lesson. This change has happened quickly. When schools first embraced computers and set up computer rooms, as we did at Notre Dame Preparatory School in the late 1990s, the computers were a greater focus than the skills. Ten years on the skills and abilities of the pupils have outgrown even the notion of ICT (computer skills) lessons so that using a computer is embedded in subject lessons. This makes a nonsense of confining computer use to short sessions in bookable computer rooms as pupils will need to utilise the resources at different times, for different amounts of time and in a variety of ways.

In my own science teaching with Year 6 recently I have made use of DVD, search facilities and an app that is able to demonstrate the working of lungs under different conditions. These three small tools, just a tiny part of my lessons, have enabled me to communicate more fully with my pupils, and affords them an experience rich not only in my words (!) but also enhanced by visually attractive and clear interactive diagrams, easy to access from the classroom (and at home later if they wish) and engages them in a ‘what happens if?’ activity afforded by changing the variables on the easy to manage app. However the children also used paper and pen, group discussion, presentation with questioning and skills in communicating their hypotheses. For me, the digital revolution is a very exciting way of harnessing the children’s natural curiosity and their intuitive digital skills to create a buzz of excitement in the classroom that leads to real happy, exciting, memorable, meaningful learning. That, after all, is what classrooms are meant to be about!

Wildfire Learning

Recent bushfires in Australia illustrate how quickly and uncontrollably fire can spread from the tiniest spark. This is both awesome and terrifying. However, if the same is applied to learning, and a surge of knowledge, questioning or understanding spreads through a classroom, generating ideas, interest, enthusiasm and greater or new understanding, then it is exciting for both pupils and teachers, and makes the job of learning a far more meaningful and manageable activity.

Children learn in many ways: they learn best from hands-on experience, and at school this translates into activities and progressive tasks that enable them to gain, master, rehearse and hopefully have ready at their disposal, the skills and knowledge that we want them to have.

Children also learn from some of what we tell them, although this relies on their interest and memory capacity, and is generally less effective than active learning. At home this translates into your reminding them and helping them, even with simple tasks such as remembering to put a particular piece of muddy kit into a laundry basket, or repacking their homework into the school bag. If these activities need reminders, then think how difficult it must be for a teacher faced with a room full of pupils who are not predisposed to listening to or remembering simple instructions, especially those who are accustomed to being followed around and reminded at every turn at home. 

Wildfire learning however is when the class is given a tiny idea or question, and let loose to think, explore and report back. Through looking over each other’s shoulders, or listening to each other they are then are able to share the connections and ideas that are sparked. This quickly spreads as children copy each other’s ideas and add those of their own. Group tasks that make use of this style of learning work best if the children have easy access to knowledge beyond their own, such as that available in books, or on apps and websites, and are encouraged to develop questions and answers that connect to the knowledge in hand. Although this can make classrooms very buzzy (for which read active and noisy) the generated learning quickly spreads, like wildfire, from group to group, and comments called across the room such as: “Has anyone else found out that…?” or “Where did you find that site?” or “Hang on…. If this is right, then…..!” are all music to a teacher’s ears! This style of learning, when pulled back to a class focus at the end of a session will deliver far more punch in the learning, helps to develop independence, creates knowledge that follows interest and is therefore far easier to remember and perhaps most importantly captivates children to do and to want to know more. Classroom learning that is exciting, self-motivated, challenging, and carried out with friends and peers is a fantastic way to generate not only knowledge, but also a confidence and love of learning for the whole of life. What better can education offer?

Girls' Education

It is a commonly understood notion that girls perform better in single sex environments. This makes sense for several reasons, firstly girls tend towards a more communicative, articulate and less physical style of learning in the classroom, and secondly they are likely to be made self-conscious or shy by the more physical and assertive learning styles used by boys. Developmentally girls mature both physically and neurologically more rapidly than boys, with better fine motor control, and ability to concentrate on small tasks for longer periods of time, and a useful ability to listen actively whilst absorbing information. Single-sex schools for boys and girls make the most of these diverse attributes, and although children do not arrive with stereotyped personalities and skills, the differences are worth noting so that the styles of teaching can be tailored to suit. The gender stereotyping that can occur in mixed schools can be avoided, instead building on the genuine interests of the child and finding her true strengths rather than perceived ones. Girls mature emotionally faster than boys and although this often means there is a need to address the resultant issues head on, and to understand the anxieties, it does help to know that there is at least a level of emotional intelligence and some common ground among the peers that enable girls to develop emotional tools for the future.

Girls’ schools have a responsibility to develop the whole person, emotionally and physically as well as academically, and to create aspirations to head for the most highly sought after professions and places in society, so confidence is high on the agenda, with added sport, drama, dance and public speaking to allow girls to develop a sense of themselves and to become assertive in the right way when it matters.

The curriculum also needs careful management, so that subjects which in the past were considered ‘best for boys’ such as science, mathematics, design technology and digital technologies are elevated and introduced early and encouraged through the girls’ emotional, communicative and creative attributes – all of which come more naturally to girls as a group. At Notre Dame Preparatory School the girls are encouraged to undertake a combined humanities and arts approach to learning, using the tools of digital technology, including iPads, data-logging, and interactive whiteboards, as well as an education rich in the sciences which are taught practically, but with a curve towards the needs of society, for example, in Year 6 all our girls undertake the St John Ambulance Young First Aider Certificate, learn how to create and deliver presentations on technical scientific knowledge and learn to set up and manage a debate on ethical issues, as well as following the broader National Curriculum. This initiative is called TASK, with the T standing for thinking – certainly the most important thing for any girl to learn.

In the sporting arena the school offers a rotating ‘sport for all’ session, as many girls love participating in team or accuracy sports, but begin by being far less confident than their brothers about experiencing unfamiliar activities or trying out for a team. The idea here is that the more competitive children,  as well as those quietly competent, have the freedom to participate and to be themselves, which can spur the remaining few into enjoyment and success. The school is then able to offer both competitive and non-competitive sports for the girls to enjoy, and to develop life-long fitness and wellbeing, away from the enthusiastic proactivity of physically confident boys. Sports ranging from racket sports such as badminton and tennis, to team sports such as hockey, football, lacrosse and netball to activities such as golf or cross country are offered to bring out the best in each girl. Success breeds success and the girls need to be taught this in order to broach their reticence and develop their skills to reach out to try new things. The football clubs are particularly popular in girls’ schools, because there is no stereotype to confuse those who want to join in and have a great time.

Music and drama have a very immediate pull for girls and drama groups, choirs, orchestras, ensembles and class activities are able to pick up on themes in other lessons as well as teaching beyond the basic skills and giving them poise. The relative emotional maturity allows for thoughtful improvising and a nurturing of the different aspects of personality. Girls enjoy humour in the classroom but are less able to cope with sarcasm or jokes that put them into the limelight. Creative lessons allow them to explore this as well as leading to fantastic performances and success in the future. The idea is to capitalise on the feminine side and to develop the skills needed to become an all-round amazing person.

A fear often expressed to me is that girls in single sex schools will not have the opportunity to get to know boys – but I ask them to consider what that might mean for some girls: less chance to play stereotypical boys sports, a leaning away from sciences and certain technical subjects, a reluctance to be noticed in a classroom and often being uncomfortable in a physically active (and as many girls see it, aggressive) environment. Boys are a fact of life, and there will be plenty of opportunities throughout life to play and work alongside them, and schools are aware of this, taking care to present role models of successful male teachers alongside the women, but for some girls, the sanctuary of an all-female class offers the most positive and effective start to the educational journey.

Independence is about learning self-regulation

This week, in preparation for heading back to what we used to call ‘the chalk face’, I read a series of blogs on education. One that struck me particularly, by Shelley Wright focussed on Self-Regulated Learning. There is a growing amount of educational research that shows that pupils who can control and regulate their own learning do best of all in the classroom. This requires reflection, but reflection in a young child needs careful direction so that it becomes purposeful. Typically thinking about their work falls into the attainment model:  how good or bad was the result, how much higher or lower than a previous mark, or how the grades compare with another child. However these are not improving strategies, and to make progress, at hopefully an accelerating rate, children need to understand what can make the learning experience more effective or more positive next time.

So teachers need to try to focus marking on constructive supportive points for the future, and to find aspects that can be praised.  They should also ask children to consider what went well in the work and what might have needed more attention. Pupils typically start by being able to point to simple ideas such as ‘I didn’t learn it enough’ or ‘I didn’t read the question carefully’ allowing them to realise what will lead to success another time, but for the older pupils allows them to pinpoint in a more sophisticated way how to manage exam technique, when to ask for help and how to manage longer term projects in terms of time and resource management. All of these, with thoughtful facilitation by a teacher, will lead to real improvement in the learning process over time, and can be implemented even with the very young. Correcting every spelling or slashing red pen across written assignments is not a very effective way to make a child enthusiastic about her own performance, so over-marking is no longer encouraged, and draft work, note taking, considering the audience for the task and other skills that can be employed to make future assignments better are taught rather than the constant practice of ‘best writing’ that we all endured in the past. As a messy and reluctant young writer my books were covered in stern corrections (and ink blots), but my spelling has never improved – all I learned was a fear of wielding a pen in public (fervent thanks for computers and spell-checker!).

To help with developing self-regulated learning we can all ask very simple questions of our children to help them to become reflective, such as: ‘What did you find easiest about that task? How did you choose to record the information? What would have helped you to manage better? Would you do this activity the same way next time? How would you change this piece to make it better? Could you think of another way of presenting this? What do you think your audience will understand? What did you find difficult? Was there a better question?

Focus on the learning process rather than the results and allow the child to reflect for herself what works and what doesn’t, and what she needs to focus on, and her work can only get better..!