MANAGING ICT Technology that adds up


Margaret Allen speaks to two teachers who have been


using technology in their maths lessons to capture learners’ attention and encourage enthusiasm


education, students are usually required to gain at least a C-grade in maths. As such, and in light of Ofsted’s findings that 51 per cent of UK students are not making good enough progress in the subject, raising student attainment levels in maths is a key challenge faced by secondary schools. Many students perceive the subject as “boring”,


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which significantly impacts on their motivation to learn, attention during lessons, and subsequent progress. Challenging this perception is the first hurdle


teachers need to overcome. Technology can be a valuable tool in achieving this, providing teachers with flexible and exciting opportunities to engage, motivate and assess learners. Maths, in particular, can benefit from the use of interactive technology to bring to life numerical concepts and functions, as some concepts, such as rotating shapes and calculating angles, can be hard to illustrate on a traditional board. The use of an interactive whiteboard and handheld


response devices can enhance students’ motivation and performance, and give educators much greater opportunity to tailor teaching to individual learner requirements and abilities. In line with the government’s Assessment for


Learning initiative, and with the debate about the excess of examination in schools increasingly coming to the fore, the use of interactive technology not only allows for less intrusive year-round assessment, but for the review of up-to-date data on students’ progression. Two schools that have made good use of technology


in maths are Archbishop Tenison’s Church of England High School and Heathland School. I spoke to teachers Peter Manns and Claire Webb about their best practice on how to capture learners’ attention and encourage enthusiasm in the subject.


Archbishop Tenison CE High School


Archbishop Tenison’s in Croydon has explored creative ways of delivering maths lessons through the use of an interactive whiteboard. The use of the interactive whiteboard is offering


teachers a powerful means of engaging students, and assistant headteacher and maths teacher, Claire Webb, believes this increased participation lies at the heart of its impact on learning. She explained: “The interactive whiteboard and


accompanying software enables you to really bring concepts to life and deliver the curriculum in a creative way, translating graphs, rotating and reflecting shapes and showing images to engage students. Equally, handheld devices allow every student in a class to participate, and almost effortlessly probe quite complex concepts and equations.” The experience of the technology in maths lessons


has led the school, which has specialist status in mathematics and computing, to extend its use across the entire curriculum, resulting in a notable impact on the school’s results. Last year, 74 per cent of students in year 11 gained


five grades at C and above, well above the national average of 30 per cent. Even more encouragingly, 84 per cent gained A* to C in maths. At A Level, the school is ranked in the top 10 per cent nationally, with 73 per cent of A level grades at C and above in 2009 and 48 per cent at B and above. Ms Webb continued: “I often pre-prepare


interactive flipcharts for the 6th-formers so they can take it in turn to teach the lesson, while I watch and prompt them on what they have to do to accurately solve the problems. This task generates debate, enables the students to take responsibility


SecEd • June 24 2010


for their own learning and allows me to gauge their understanding.”


Heathland School


Heathland School in Hounslow, a co-educational comprehensive school for students aged 11 to 18, has pioneered the use of learner response systems in maths lessons. Bringing a new level of interaction into the classroom, the technology has increased students’ interest and enthusiasm for maths. Peter Manns, assistant headteacher, director of


e-learning and a maths teacher, explained: “In an age where children and young people are obsessed with the internet as well as the latest game consoles and mobile phones, it is crucial for schools to stay ahead by bringing technology into the classroom. “The learner response system has allowed teachers


to fire questions at the whole class, picking up the pace of lessons, encouraging discussion about their answers, and ultimately raising and maintaining attainment levels in maths throughout the school. “The concept and immediacy of learner response


systems effectively grabs and retains students’ attention, but it is not a gimmick – it has given me valuable insight into what my students do and do not understand.” Teachers can easily incorporate the handheld device


at any point in the lesson, allowing ad hoc questioning with minimal preparation and enabling them to revise any topics which students have not fully understood. Displayed instantly on the interactive whiteboard, results from these sessions provide a useful discussion point as to how students arrived at their answers. Results can be quickly exported to a spreadsheet, helping teachers to create records of pupil progress at the click of a button. Mr Manns continued: “For example, I might put a


mathematical equation on the interactive whiteboard and ask my students to text in the value of ‘x’. Rather than pinpointing the right or wrong answers, I then use the results to encourage my students to discuss their workings-out and to decide on the correct answer as a group. This helps them to develop a much deeper understanding, and makes the learning process more interesting and fun.” Mr Manns believes that learner response systems


will play a pivotal role in boosting attainment levels in maths. The range of built-in response formats, such as true/false, alphanumeric text, multiple choice, and sliding scales allow versatility in providing assessment-rich activities. The ability to instantly assess progress means that teachers are able to adapt lessons accordingly to the needs of the class, ensuring that everyone has fully grasped the topic before moving on to the next. Furthermore, the ability to record feedback anonymously removes peer pressure, encouraging all students to participate in the lesson without fear of getting the answer wrong.


Beyond the classroom


In addition to providing powerful learning tools for students, the use of interactive technology provides many benefits for teachers. Interactive flipchart content can be saved, annotated and adapted as lessons evolve, and electronic resources can be shared


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among colleagues, increasing the efficiency in lesson preparation. Mr Manns added: “In my former role of head of maths


at Heathland, I decided that the department should make all of its resources electronic and invested in the creation of online schemes of work for maths, which both students and teachers could see. Covering all topics for all year


groups, teachers can use these resources during lessons on the interactive whiteboard, and can pick out key questions to use in interactive learner response sessions.”


SecEd


• Margaret Allen is head of European market development at Promethean. Both the schools above use Promethean interactive technology.


ATHS PLAYS a fundamental role in students’ academic development, equipping them with crucial lifeskills such as numeracy, reasoning and problem-solving. Moreover, to pursue further or higher


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