Impact of Technology on the Tyndale Community

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1.I agree to complete this survey for research purposes and understand that educators may view the data collected from this survey in an amassed and structured format.

2. I understand the survey involves questions about my experiences concerning the introduction of technology to the classroom and the effect it has on my education.

3. I understand that my survey responses will remain anonymous.

Education institutions can use the results of this study to improve and reform the way students interact with technology in the classroom and improve technology services and programs.

Methodology

Surveys, interviews and literature reviews were used as the methodologies for this research. I had to carry out a thorough investigation of analyzing various secondary sources to add to the foundation of my own knowledge.

For this research project, 2 primary sources of data were used, the years 9-12 were surveyed (appendix 1) and an Interview that I conducted with Mrs. Dillon on her opinions on technology and its introduction to Tyndale and the way it has affected her as a teacher and students (appendix 2).

From this I developed a questionnaire with specific questions to be able to answer it. The use of questionnaires was the core of my primary methodologies and was vital in either proving or disproving my question.

Prior to selecting the research methodology, it was considered that ethical issues will arise for example; questionnaires ask Due to this I formulated a contract (refer to Appendix 3) for the interview with the student as well as the surveys that would be handed out: assuring participants that they would remain anonymous unless they explicitly noted otherwise, allowing participants to feel more confident and less hesitant to provide reliable answers.

Questionnaires were chosen as research method as questionnaires would be able to obtain a large amount of quantitative as well as qualitative data that could be easily collated and presented in graphs and tables, that could be used to support the key findings from both primary and secondary research used in this study. The questionnaire consisted of both open and closed questions.

Participants were selected using both cluster and convenience sampling methods. cluster sampling was used to break the population of Senior School into smaller groups, as it would be inefficient to survey every student in senior school due to the differences in class schedules as well as chasing down teachers and or students for their completed surveys.

One English class from each grade were selected as the sample groups. Questionnaires were then distributed to a total of 96 people in order to collect primary data for this research, of which 87responses were received:

Year 9: 24 received

Year 10: 21 received

Year 11: 23 received

Year 12: 19 received

A convenience sample was then used to select the participant of the interview I conducted.

I decided that the next class I attended I would ask the teacher to participate in an interview. Mrs. Dillon was substituting for my regular English teacher, I asked if she would participate and she agreed, although I had forgotten to ask her to sign a participation contract, we had a verbal agreement that confirmed that she understood that her opinions and thoughts would be used in this report, she also agreed to not being kept anonymous.

In order to collect sufficient information for this research topic a variety of secondary sources of data were analysed. It was expected that this research methodology would provide a large amount of both qualitative and quantitative data on the research topic as technology is a current hot topic with the it constantly evolving and being updated and just how pinnacle of a role it plays in Australian Education.

Secondary Sources of Data:

- News Articles (online, paper)

- New Segment (video)

- Statistics (online)

Literature Reviews

According to the article entitled, 1“The reality is that technology is doing more harm than good in our schools' says education chief”, written by Eryk Bagshaw, featured in the Sunday Morning Herald. Discussing the negative impact technology has on students, stating his argument, “that laptops were not necessary in class and that more traditional teaching methods were more effective…” and agreeing with St Paul's Catholic College principal, Mark Baker’s comment that, "Computers have been oversold [by education institutions] and there is no evidence that it improves [academic] outcomes… The problem is maturity… They [students] are very good at using technology for social interaction but not for learning…” referring to statistics gathered from a survey held by Optus showing that of 1000 young adults 39% obsessively compare their life and achievements to others on social media.

In my questionnaire I posed the question “In a typical day, approximately how much time do you spend actively engaged in each of the following online activities?”, it was discovered that as the level of education increased, time spent on social media decreases and time spent studying increases immensely

example:[pic 2][pic 3]

Bagshaw’s statement that laptops are not necessary and that students are more accustomed to using technical devices when it comes to social interaction rather than learning, is supported to a certain extent by the results gathered from the data collated from the surveys, as the problem is not technology per say, but rather the lack of sufficient training on how it can be used as an education tool and student targeted education on the correct and appropriate use of social media. Nevertheless, I agree with Bagshaw’s belief that “…removing the centrality of the laptop in the classroom might be the first step…” in restoring balance in the classroom.

Sean Coughlan, education correspondent for BBC New states in his news report “Computers 'do not improve' pupil results, says OECD”

Coughlan refers to a study that was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), whose results has raised some some concern on whether technology has