Interactive Teaching Styles with CDROMs: Malaysian Perspectives

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Interactive Teaching Styles with CD-ROMs
Malaysian Perspectives

• Aizan Yaacob
• Universiti Utara Malaysia
• Sheena Gardner
• Birmingham University

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Presentation Outline

• The Malaysian Educational Context
• Review of the Literature
• Purpose of the Study
• Methodology
• Analysis of Findings and Discussions
• Conclusions and Implications

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Malaysian Education System Plans

• Malaysias aspirations to be a fully developed
  nation by 2020 are promoting major educational
  transformations
• The government will give priority to improving
  facilities and infrastructure and intensifying
  the use of ICT in all schools and
  institutions.Greater emphasis will also be
  given to raising the standard of the teaching and
  learning of Mathematics and Science and foreign
  languages. (The Third Outline Perspective Plan
  2001-2010, 200125)

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ICT in EYL

• English CD-ROMs were introduced by the Ministry
  of Education to
• expose students to greater opportunities to use
  English in an IT rich environment and
• provide the basis of literacy in the English
  Language (English Language Teaching Courseware,
  2003).
• Year 1 English CD-ROMs 36 units 3 major
  themes
• World of Family and Friends,
• World of Knowledge,
• World of Stories
• Animated stories with text, which students watch
  and read, followed by vocabulary and phonics from
  the story.

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Review of the Literature (1)

• Many studies on the use of technology in the
  classroom discovered the positive effects of
  computer on reading comprehension (Miller,
  Blackstock and Miller,1994 Reinking,1988
  Reinking and Schreiner, 1985) while others found
  no difference in terms of the best practices
  (Paterson, Jacobs Henry, OQuin, Ceprano and
  Blue,2003)
• The help features available in the computer
  mediated text can influence reading comprehension
  and comprehension increases when manipulation of
  the text is controlled by the children (Reinking
  and Schreiner,1985)
• Miller et al (1994) who examined the reading
  behaviour of 4 children aged 8 engaged in
  repeated readings of CD-ROM storybook reported
  that the assistance features seemed to enhance
  the childrens reading performance.

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Review of Literature (2)

• Computers are an excellent medium for delivering
  drill and practice programme (Adam Wild,1997).
• The drilling features can offer children who have
  difficulty with reading opportunities to practise
  symbol/sound manipulation (phonemic awareness)
  (Honig,1996).
• Multimedia technology provides many new
  opportunities for accelerating learning including
  language learning (Edwards, Monaghan, and
  Knight,2000)
• BUT
• Lack of studies that looked at the use of CD-ROM
  for whole class teaching in a teacher-fronted L2
  context.

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Review of Literature (3)

• Many studies on the use of interactive CD-ROMs in
  the classroom proclaim the positive effects they
  have on students interest and motivation, though
  critical reviewers caution that the evidence base
  of many of these studies is weak (English Review
  Group, 2003).
• Such studies are characterised as discussions of
  the benefits of using ICT based on assertions
  rather than empirical evidence (Plowman
  Stephen,2003)
• Studies which caution that the positive impact of
  technology does not come easily point out that it
  depends on how teachers use the technology in the
  classrooms (Kozma,2003 Paterson et al, 2003).

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Review of Literature (4)

• Paterson et al. (2003) criticized the drilling
  and repetition programme as benefiting the low
  level skills but not the higher level
  experiences.
• many of these systems stressed
  assessment of measurable, fractionalised
  behaviours emphasizing content rather than
  process and the mechanical rather than the
  meaningful (p.178)
• Computers alone did not promise best practices
  but the teachers who facilitated childrens
  active engagement in the activities produced an
  improvement in their reading and writing skills
  (ibid)
• There is the danger of set it and forget it
  syndrome when the computer is used in the
  classroom (Miller et al., 1994)
• Overall, computers viewed as a benign addition
  (Cuban, 2001) can be fun, but may not transform
  teaching

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Purpose of the Study

• Our study examines the impact of CD-ROMs on
  classroom interaction and practices in Year 1
  English classrooms where English is taught as a
  foreign language to classes of around 35 children
  aged 7.
• We focus on teaching styles used with CD-ROM
  storybooks.

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Methodology

• This presentation is part of a larger study on
  literacy practices in four primary schools from
  two districts in Kedah, Malaysia.
• A pilot study observed teachers of English,
  Bahasa Malaysia, and Arabic in four schools
• The main study of nine teachers from four schools
  were observed teaching English, Mathematics
  Science
• 26 English lessons were observed, of which four
  lessons from three teachers used CD-ROMs
• Nine teachers were interviewed
• Eight groups of four to five students were
  interviewed

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Analysis of Findings (1)

• Our study reveals how three teachers interact
  with CD-ROMs in their whole class teaching.
• We present extracts which illustrate five ways
  in which teachers used CD-ROMs
• 1) Passive Viewing of CD-ROM
• 2) Teacher Assisted Viewing of CD-ROM
• 3) CD-ROM Led Drill and Practice
• 4) Teacher-Led Drill and Practice
• 5) Teacher-Led Phonics Practice and
  Vocabulary Development

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F1 Passive Viewing of CD-ROM
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F1 Passive Viewing of CD-ROM

• Ext.1 shows an absence of interaction during the
  CD-ROM reading (SS and T watch passively, as at
  the movies, without making comments.)
• Teachers interview
• for students whothere are certain students
  who are not interested and we have to attract
  their attention by calling their names repeatedly
  then only they watch the LCD. Sometimes they
  appeared to be watching but their minds were
  elsewhere.
• 
  (Teacher C)

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F2 Teacher Assisted Viewing of CD-ROM
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F2 Teacher Assisted Viewing of CD-ROM

• Extract 2 shows the two way interaction between
  Teacher A and the CD-ROM as they teach together.
• The lesson follows the CD format, with the
  teacher contributing by drawing students
  attention to salient features of the pictures.
  The children are encouraged to be active viewers.
  
• The interaction is between the Teacher and the
  CD-ROM. Together they provide multi-modal,
  interactive comprehensible input using English
  (L2) and no Malay (L1).

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Teachers can select pictures for colouring and
lines from the story for printing for the
students use after viewing
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F3 CD-ROM Led Drill and Practice
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F3 CD-ROM Led Drill and Practice

• In this episode, Teacher B tells the students to
  repeat the phrases from the CD-ROM.
• Minimal interaction between the T and SS and the
  CD-ROM has taken the teachers role in the
  traditional drilling and repetition practice.
• Teachers interview
• it is true its very interestingyou dont have
  to say you just put it on and ask them to read
  the sentences in the CD-ROM

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F4 Teacher-Led Drill and Practice
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F4 Teacher-Led Drill and Practice

• This extract shows that CD-ROM is used by the T
  for drilling practice.
• T controls the pace, stopping and starting the
  computer by pausing whenever necessary to correct
  students pronunciation. She also jumps around
  the text selecting sentences for practice.
• Teachers Interview
• Its lighter with the use of LCD xxx for
  example with LCD we ask students to see from the
  big screen xxx its useful in a way that its
  lighter if not we end up doing everything,
  talking and showing this and that and do more
  talking especially with children its very tiring
  but with the LCD its a bit lighter XXX its
  helpful in teaching even though we dont use it
  in every lesson (Teacher A )

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F4 Teacher Led Drill and Practice Homework
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F5 Teacher-Led Phonics Practice and Vocabulary
Development
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Video (from Mousedeer lesson)
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F5 Teacher-Led Phonics Practice and Vocabulary
Development

• Teachers Interview
• yes really effective especially when teachers
  dont know how to draw and when pictures to
  explain the meanings of the key words are
  difficult to get for example when we teach
  adjective sad we can show our facial expression
  but theyll be more excited when seeing the
  cartoon character feeling sad. Besides they will
  remember better

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• Teacher and learner perspectives
• on using the CD Rom

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Teacher Issues on using CD-ROMs

• one thing my LCD sometimes can be used but
  sometimes cant. It was faulty the minute I
  turned it on from the time I got my lap top. From
  the beginning it went blackout.. this year I
  cannot use mine I have to borrow from other
  classes
• like me I have just started only learning how to
  use the LCD CD-ROM. Its a bit problematic it
  takes time. Like me I have to see what topic to
  teach and what comes after the story sometimes I
  didnt have time to review the lesson

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Teacher Issues

• We have just learned for two months (laughs)
  when its nearly the exam we wont use it anymore
  well be busy drilling them. Before that, we
  followed the plan syllabus and used everything
  like shared reading and all if for shared reading
  I use LCD
• With the overwhelming responsibility in the
  rural school I think I cant finish all of them.
  For me I dont have time to finish even now Im
  still at the beginning of the fifth CD-ROM.
  Sometimes when I was about to start the CD-ROM
  there was this function and that function going
  on. There are too many stories in them which
  sometimes are not quite relevant with our topic
  

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Learner Perspectives
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Learner Perspectives (2)
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Learner Perspectives (3)
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Discussions and Conclusions
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Conclusions

• 1. CD-ROMs were infrequently (4 out of 26
  lessons) used, but generally viewed positively
• Teachers claimed that CD-ROMs were interesting,
  useful and made their teaching easier.
• Learners claimed that they were fun
• (similar to Miller et al., 1994 Reinking, 1988)

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Conclusions (2)

• 2. Teachers used CD-ROMs in very different ways,
  with different results
• Passive Viewing of CD-ROM (Extract 1) was
  associated with negative comments from the
  teacher about students lack of interest and
  wandering attention.
• Student repetition of CD-Rom (Extract 3)
  reinforces the drill and practice teaching
  interaction patterns.

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Conclusions (3)

• When Teachers scaffold learning through the
  CD-Rom, they can provide rich multi-modal
  comprehensible input (Extract 2) and promote
  active viewing in L2.
• When Teachers control the CD-ROM, they can
  manipulate vocabulary features (sounds, phonics,
  images, words) effectively in context (Extract 5)
  

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Conclusions (4)

• There was little evidence of teachers using the
  CD-Roms as a springboard for discussion of the
  stories with the children the kind of
  interaction desired by the Ministry of Education
• The lessons tended to neglect important elements
  of a story such as the ideas, values and the
  pleasure of reading that they bring to children.

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Implications

• 1. ICT approaches work if they are precisely
  targeted (Brooks et al, 2002) as seen when the
  teachers took charge of the CD-ROM and could
  click on pictures, sounds and phonics/spellings
  as needed.

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Implications

• 2. ICT alone will not transform practice
• most of the literature points to ICT
  having been brought into educational
  environments as a useful supplement to existing
  resources. Its use does not transform practice.
  school teachers continue with their existing
  teaching styles rather than use the introduction
  of new technologies as an opportunity to examine
  and transform existing practice (Becker Riel,
  2000) in Plowman and Stephen (2003149)

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Malaysia is not alone..

• With the benefit of hindsight,
• it is clear that what explains the paradox of
  greatly increased provision combined with less
  than necessary utilisation is probably our
  inability to provide clear guidelines about how
  to use ICT Knowledge for teachers about what
  works has been lacking. (BECTA 2007)

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our study has begun to explore what works in the
Malaysian context

• End of Presentation
• Thank you