What is Four in Balance? - PDST

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at their own level and should motivate them to review the materialinformally, even in their own time. It should also be easy for teachers touse.Practice at one’s own levelOne advantage of practicing on the computer is that the software canadapt the material dynamically to the pupil’s knowledge, skills and needs.A pertinent example is the “Clever Cramming” software program [Slim-Stampen]. It is based on research showing that we remember facts best ifwe review them when we have almost forgotten them. The ideal momentdiffers from one person to the next and depends partly on the pupil’sprior knowledge. Software programs are able to identify that moment to afair level of accuracy. “Clever Cramming” uses a pupil’s reaction speed todecide whether or not an exercise needs to be repeated. Studies show thatpupils who work with this software do in fact remember facts better thanthose who decide for themselves when to study a list of words (Van Rijn,2009).A computer program is also better than a worksheet at providing pupilswith extra tutoring in areas in which they are weak. One example is ahomework program in language and math [Muiswerk] that not only givespupils exercises to do, but also offers them new material. It gives pupilsdirect feedback and keeps track of which material they have and havenot mastered. Small-scale quasi-experimental research shows that pupilsare capable of working on such exercises independently and completingspelling and reading comprehension assignments with the help of anassistant teacher (Meijer, 2009).22Informal learningPrimary schools are making growing use of Smart Boards (a brand ofinteractive whiteboard) or SkoolMates (computers designed especially forchildren), with pupils (including pre-schoolers) using them to completeinteractive exercises or play educational games. The pupils do notlearn any better than pupils who do not have access to these tools, butteachers feel that they enhance their lessons and extend their pedagogicalrepertoire (Luyten, 2011; Heemskerk, 2011).
2 - Benefits of using ICTOne good example of using ICT for interactive practice is an experimentcarried out at De Arabesk primary school in Arnhem. Pupils there workedin twos to complete math exercises on the interactive whiteboard. Thesums were designed to get pupils actively involved: they required them todrag parts of the equation from one place to another, take turns writingon the whiteboard, consult one another and figure things out together.They also required pupils to stretch out their arms in order to fill in ananswer or point to something. The study showed that pupils did indeedget actively involved in doing the sums, used inquiry-based methods,collaborated a great deal, and enjoyed working on the assignments. Theyalso performed better (Coetsier, 2009).A growing number of practice programs now use the same motivationtechniques applied in commercial games, for example tension andcompetition. This is proving to be successful. Children who practice theirsums on a gaming computer are better at math and do sums more quickly(Luyten, 2011b), and the results of the Farmville-like Math Garden gamealso look promising (Heemskerk, 2011). Both games have a competitiveelement and require pupils to work under time pressure (for example tocreate the nicest possible garden in the shortest time possible).Ease of usePrimary schools in Emmen compared tests given on paper with digitaltests and came to the following conclusions: digital tests are a reliablereplacement for tests on paper, save time, and are easy to use (Luyten,2011j).Underlying conditionsTeachers who have their pupils practice at their own level on the computerneed to know when those pupils require extra help or support and whenthey do not. After all, the advantage of computer software is that it is thecomputer that decides who is given what material to practice and when.Not every teacher likes that. Effective use of computers means that theteacher must familiarize him or herself with a new role, but it also meansthat the computer program must live up to expectations.23
Page 1: Four in Balance Monitor 2011ICT in
Page 4 and 5: ContentsMain topics 61 What is Four
Page 6 and 7: Main topicsThe Four in Balance Moni
Page 8: learning materials. That is 10% mor
Page 11 and 12: 1 - what is four in balance?In many
Page 13 and 14: 1 - what is four in balance?1.3 The
Page 15 and 16: 2 - Benefits of using ICT2Benefits
Page 17 and 18: 2 - Benefits of using ICTIn this ch
Page 19 and 20: 2 - Benefits of using ICTThe rest o
Page 21: 2 - Benefits of using ICTA good exa
Page 26 and 27: Pupils learn skills and acquire kno
Page 28 and 29: The debate concerning the importanc
Page 30 and 31: Competence-based professional envir
Page 32 and 33: • ICT can be conducive to knowled
Page 34 and 35: NumberThree quarters of teachers us
Page 36 and 37: The number of lesson hours in which
Page 38 and 39: 3.2 Teachers at homeVirtually all t
Page 40 and 41: Actual useHomework assignments that
Page 42 and 43: Learning at school and at homeWe se
Page 44 and 45: 4VisionThe way in which teachers us
Page 46 and 47: Pedagogical vision of ICT in PRIM a
Page 48 and 49: 4.4 Summary• Knowledge transfer i
Page 51 and 52: 5 - ExpertiseThe percentage of teac
Page 53 and 54: 6 - Digital learning materials6Digi
Page 55 and 56: 6 - Digital learning materials6.2 P
Page 57 and 58: 6 - Digital learning materialsTeach
Page 59 and 60: 7 - ICT infrastructure7.1 Computers
Page 61 and 62: 7 - ICT infrastructurelaptops with
Page 64 and 65: 7.3 ConnectivityWe make a distincti
Page 66 and 67: 8Collaboration and leadershipSchool
Page 68 and 69: SupportWhere can teachers turn if t
Page 70 and 71: Centralized visionSchools do not al
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Leadership focusing on material and
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9From ICT use to moreeffective teac
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for example, or learn skills in a s
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doing schoolwork at their home comp
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1080Bibliography• Anderson, R. (2
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82• DiGregorio, P. & Sobel-Lojesk
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84• Ict op School (2004). Vier in
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86• Marzano, R. & Haystead, M. (2
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88• Somekh, B., Haldane, M., Jone
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• Wopereis, I. & Sloep, P. (2009)
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