Rather than just supply critical feedback to each other’s research, Linda Hartley suggested we might write each other’s conclusions, based on the idea that somebody other than the researcher closest to the research, may be in a better position to see some of the impact and draw conclusions. So these are my conclusions from Linda’s data about her research with the Classroom Displays Blog
Conclusions.
Linda’s research has yielded tangible and lasting results of a very real nature. This is no abstracted or hypothetical achievement, she does not say “this shows what might be possible if only…” but “This is what I have made, and made happen”.
Setting out to explore the potential of using simple but powerful new web based services and tools for communications, the Classroom Displays blog exceeded all expectations by becoming one of the best examples which leading edge commentators provide when they wish to demonstrate an inspirational case of new educational technology already being applied in practice.
TA Forum
When Linda sought out and discovered the TA Forum, she had the theoretical understanding to appreciate that despite initial appearances, this was no idle chatroom but the beginnings of a self-organised community of practice. What happens when substantial numbers of people who could all answer the question “I am a….(Teaching Assistant)” gather together on a regular basis? Why, they will chat about their work, exchange stories, form bonds of solidarity and begin to exchange tips ideas and resources to help each other solve some of the daily challenges. (Incidentally, this is a great example of the first type of CoP – the workers’ CoP as opposed to the corporate CoP defined in my proposed proletarian/bourgeois taxonomy.)
Postcards
And so it was possible to take the opportunities presented and skillfully relate them to immediate needs in the classroom with the postcards cycle, which used the internet to give children who often grow up in a very small world, a very real glimpse of other places and other lives. This is the kind of thing which may have been in the minds of policy makers when the funding was provided to increase the ratio of computers per child, and to install broadband “always on” connectivity. The National Curriculum even suggests building links with other schools and in no way prohibits the kind of inspirational lesson designs which Linda manages to construem, and yet very very few primary class teachers ever manage to build these exact kind of links which the TA forum people have managed. Instead, they seem to have been trained to view the web as a place from which you can download ready-made and “safe” lesson plans for printing out.
impact
Within the data, there is evidence that a functioning many-to-many link has been set up: “Great to hear other people’s feedback” thus providing a powerful resource which has a widely disseminating impact, not just an immediate or local one. And the impact very quickly multiplies by reaching the recipients’ students as well: “After I saw your poster, I gave my online students a link to a multicultural diversity test”
The fact that the classroom displays site is well optimised for search engines means that this collective resource does not languish unnoticed in some cupboard or online backwater, but is emminently findable by people worldwide who are actively seeking just this kind of thing, and the statistics show that they do so.
blocked
One negative finding which Linda importantly highlights, is the tragic side effect from badly executed internet access policies, namely the false positives or blanket blocking which results from over zealous filtering systems. “What a great use of a blog and flickr, I just wish we could see flickr in school”
Perhaps another impact from this pioneering project will be to provide one more compelling reason for why these blocking policies need to be revised. The publishing of this research should help to bring that day nearer, so that children and adults can benefit from the positive aspects of internet communications, armed with the knowledge and confidence to manage their own safety without being deluged by exaggerated fears and bureaucratic interference.
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