Does MS Photo Story 3 Make a Difference? The Views and Experiences of a Group of Norwegian Secondary School Teachers

Gerd Wikan,Rafael Hope,Bjørn Faugli,Terje Mølster

doi:10.7577/seminar.2463

Gerd Wikan, Rafael Hope + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.7577/seminar.2463

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Journal: Seminar.net	Publication Date: Nov 27, 2010
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Institute of Information Science

Abstract

This paper examines views and attitudes of secondary school teachers on the role of MS Photostory 3 as a learning-enhancing artifact. The examination is based on the analysis of empirical data, collected from an ongoing project involving teachers and pupils at a Norwegian secondary school. Two teams, numbering a total of 9 teachers, participated in training programs from August 2007 to June 2009, with the objective of enhancing the teachers’ ICT competence. They agreed to use MS Photo Story 3 as a presentation tool in a number of subjects for a period of two years. In parallel with conducting training programs for the teachers, qualitative data describing teachers’ views and attitudes were collected during regularly conducted focus-group interviews with teacher teams, by studying teacher-produced reflection notes and by participant observations of teachers and pupils in classroom activities. A main finding is that it was necessary to upgrade the teachers’ computer skills on a very basic level in order to give the teachers confidence to use ICT in their teaching. Insufficient ICT competence and low confidence among the participating teachers has considerably hampered the utilization of the ICT’s learning potential.

Highlights

During the past decade, Norway and many other countries have experienced that efforts to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into most aspects of school practice has received massive attention
In view of the criticism of the unbalanced implementation and use of ICT-supported learning systems and the large amount of resources used to promote the use of ICT in schools, it is of great importance to gain more insight into and a better understanding of ICTsupported learning processes
In particular it is of paramount interest to investigate and examine the role of school teachers as both ICT-system users and mentors for learners involved in ICT supported learning processes

Summary

Introduction

Norway and many other countries have experienced that efforts to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into most aspects of school practice has received massive attention. The plans for introducing ICT in Norwegian schools is motivated by the assumption that the active use of ICT is a goal in itself but a means of supporting pedagogical processes which will contribute to an enhancement of learning outcome in most subjects.

Results

Conclusion