The document discusses the iTILT project which aims to help language teachers make effective use of interactive whiteboards. It outlines the development of the project including IWB training for teachers, data collection on IWB use, and the creation of a website containing IWB resources. It also discusses the process of defining criteria for designing IWB-based language teaching materials, which was informed by literature on IWB use, analysis of teacher and student data, and teacher feedback. Criteria were developed across five key areas and will be validated through teacher surveys. The project aims to better support teachers in exploiting IWB technology in a way that is consistent with language teaching methodology.
Interactive Whiteboards in Language Education: Criteria for the Evaluation of IWB Materials
1. Developing criteria for the design and evaluation of
interactive whiteboard based materials: Intermediate
findings from the iTILT project
Euline Cutrim Schmid, Sanderin van Hazebrouck,
Margret Oberhofer – EUROCALL 2012
www.itilt.eu
2. Overview
www.itilt.eu
• IWBs in education
• IWBs in language teaching
The Current Situation
• Aim of the project, Partners, Duration
iTILT – Interactive Technologies in Language Teaching
• IWB training, Data collection, Website
Development of the Project
• Motivation
• Theoretical Framework
• Methodology
• Criteria
Defining Criteria for IWB Materials Design
Conclusion
4. IWBs in Education
www.itilt.eu
General trend
towards more ICT in
schools across
Europe
Clear increase of
IWB sales
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2010 2011
Belgium
Netherlands
UK
Future Source,
2010
5. IWBs in language teaching
www.itilt.eu
Rapid increase of
IWBs
Limited teacher training
materials and support for
the design, evaluation and
implementation of IWB-
based materials for the FL
classroom
6. IWBs in language teaching
www.itilt.eu
• development of training models
• examples of good practice
• Train language teachers to become
confident users of the IWB technology
and remain consistent with current
models of language teaching
methodology
Need
Aim
Gray et al., 2007; Cutrim Schmid, 2010
7. www.itilt.eu
Clear need for professional training
and pedagogical resources to
assist teachers in exploiting IWB in
the foreign language classroom
8. iTILT – Interactive Technologies in
Language Teaching
www.itilt.eu
The Project
10. Aim of the iTILT project
www.itilt.eu
Helping language teachers make the most of
interactive whiteboards
• produce effective IWB training materials for language teachers
• inform teachers of IWB best practice based on research
• provide a support network for teachers and schools
• bring together teachers from all sectors (primary, secondary,
vocational, tertiary) of education
• encourage the sharing of example lesson plans and resources
• promote reflective practice with IWBs
11. Website
www.itilt.eu
The final website will contain:
Video clips of IWB classroom episodes
Comprehensive training manual
Training materials in 6 different languages
List of publications on IWB in language
education
Links to helpful websites
List of criteria for materials design
16. IWB Training
www.itilt.eu
Aimed for language teachers
• emphasis on communicative language teaching
• explanation of strategies and procedures for designing and
implementing effective IWB materials
Training Resources
• Designed for teaching different languages (EN, CY, FR, ES, TR,
NL)
• various educational contexts (primary, secondary, vocational and
higher education)
• organized around the four skills, speaking, listening, reading and
writing and vocabulary and grammar teaching
17. The iTILT Training Manual
www.itilt.eu
introduction to IWBs
general tips on how to make the best use of interactive
whiteboards
criteria for the design and evaluation of IWB-based
language teaching materials
tips for the implementation and copyright issues of IWB
based material
examples of activities for teaching speaking, listening,
writing and reading with an IWB, plus grammar and
vocabulary
18. Electronic Flipcharts
www.itilt.eu
• description of the activity and
steps to be taken by teacher
and students
activity
• aim of the activity
• learning goals
aim
• explains how the flipchart
was designed
design
• potential of the activity in
comparison to former
methods
potential
20. Website – Learning Objects
www.itilt.eu
Learning
object
video clip
and short
description
Teachers’
and
students‘
comments teaching
resources
(e.g.
flipchart)
21. Website
www.itilt.eu
• More than 200 learning objects
• 6 languages (EN, CY, FR, ES,
TR, NL)
• different educational sectors
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26. Why the Focus on Criteria for IWB
Materials Design?
www.itilt.eu
The lack of appropriate materials for the interactive whiteboard
(IWB) from publishing houses leads to an increasing
responsibility for teachers as materials designers.
Research findings have shown that the technology has mainly
been used by language teachers to support stepwise
knowledge building, mainly through the use of drill and
practice exercises.
Lack of a design framework that focuses specifically on IWB
materials for language teaching.
27. Why the Focus on Criteria for IWB
Material Design?
www.itilt.eu
Aim of the iTILT project to support:
teacher autonomy: criteria help support reflection
on others' and own current teaching materials
teacher experimentation: criteria help teachers get
started making their own materials
teacher exchange and collaboration: criteria allow
teachers to check whether resources they might
consider submitting to the project website are likely
to constitute an effective contribution
28. Criteria as guidelines
www.itilt.eu
for the design of digital materials that exploit the
IWB technology as an effective tool for:
a) facilitating the structuring and visualisation of
concepts and ideas
b) assisting learners in engaging with and
understanding complex subject matter and
c) enhancing classroom interaction
30. Theoretical Framework
www.itilt.eu
Interaction - essential role played by pedagogical
materials in creating opportunities for enhanced
interaction, collaboration and negotiation of meaning
- Pica, 1994; Long, 1996; Müller-Hartmann, 2000
Desired features of tasks - Müller-Hartmann &
Schocker-von Ditfurth (2011)
Task features that support language learning:
Motivate learners to get involved
Complexity
Focus on form
Problem-solving in interactive scenarios
31. Methodological Principles of Task-Based
Learning – Doughty and Long (2003)
www.itilt.eu
1. Use tasks, not texts, as the unit of analysis
2. Promote learning by doing
3. Elaborate input (do not simplify, do not rely solely on
“authentic” texts)
4. Provide rich (not impoverished) input
5. Encourage inductive (chunk) learning
6. Focus on form
7. Provide negative feedback
8. Respect “learner syllabi” / developmental processes
9. Promote cooperative / collaborative learning
10. Individualize instruction (according to communicative
needs and psycholinguistically)
32. www.itilt.eu
Criteria for CALL Task
Appropriateness - Chapelle (2001)
Language-learning potential The degree of opportunity present for
beneficial focus on form.
Learner fit The amount of opportunity for
engagement with language under appropriate
conditions given learner characteristics.
Meaning focus The extent to which learners’ attention is
directed toward the meaning of the
language.
Authenticity The degree of correspondence between
the CALL activity and target language
activities of interest to learners out of the
classroom.
Positive impact The positive effects of the CALL activity
on those who participate in it.
Practicality The adequacy of resources to support the
33. Literature on IWBs in Education
www.itilt.eu
The IWB literature on material design has focused on
the following aspects (Jewitt et al, 2007):
Multimodality: harnessing a wide range of multimodal
resources in order to facilitate pupil learning (Levy, 2002;
Ball, 2003; Kennewell,2004).
Pace: increasing the pace and efficiency of classroom
delivery and therefore best use of teacher time (Ball,
2003; Miller, 2003; Becta, 2004; Smith et al., 2005).
Interaction: enhancing interactive whole-class teaching
(Glover & Miller, 2001; Ball, 2003; Becta, 2004; DfES,
2004).
Jewitt et al., 2007
35. Development of the Criteria
www.itilt.eu
Phase 1: a set of 10 criteria were included in the training
manual
criteria mainly drawn from previous research on IWB use in language
education (Cutrim Schmid, 2011)
Phase 2: The initial set was further developed into 35 criteria,
divided into 5 key areas.
- These criteria were based on:
analysis of video clips and materials developed by iTILT data partners
and
teachers’ feedback during training workshops
Phase 3: validation of the criteria in subsequent stages of the
project via a survey
questionnaires administered to experts in two or more rounds
(experienced practitioners and IWB researchers)
36. The Survey
www.itilt.eu
The criteria are divided into five key areas:
methodological principles, pedagogical activities,
learner engagement, tools and features, and
practical considerations.
Participants decide on the importance and relevance
of the criteria by awarding them a mark from 1 (not
important at all) to 5 (extremely important).
At the end of each of the sections participants will
also be asked if they feel any criteria have been
omitted from this list, or if a criterion needs to be
reformulated.
38. Criteria for the design of IWB-based Material
www.itilt.eu
Materials promote learning by doing as opposed to lecture
content
Materials allow learners to demonstrate understanding
and help teachers to evaluate learning
Materials create opportunities for learners to assess their
own performance without teacher intervention
Methodological Principles
39. Criteria for the design of IWB-based Material
www.itilt.eu
Activities have a clear language learning objective; they
are not only designed for enjoyment
Materials provide linguistic and/or cognitive support to help
learners understand input
Materials provide linguistic and/or cognitive support to
maximise learners' language production
Pedagogical Activities
40. Criteria for the design of IWB-based Material
www.itilt.eu
Materials include topics and activities which are likely to
motivate learners
Materials allow adequate space for learner
experimentation and discovery, or inductive learning
Learners' class contributions can have an impact on how
the lesson unfolds
Learner Engagement
41. Criteria for the design of IWB-based Material
www.itilt.eu
The materials include audio, visual and/or tactile input to
support teaching and learning
Pages and files are not overloaded with too much
information or too many different stimuli which may
overwhelm learners
IWB tools (e.g., spotlight) and features (e.g., drag and
drop) are used not only to support physical interactivity
with the IWB, but also cognitive interactivity with learning
content
Tools and Features
42. Criteria for the design of IWB-based Material
www.itilt.eu
The materials represent an efficient use of teacher time in
terms of preparation versus classroom use
Instructions are included which allow other teachers to
quickly understand the intended learner level, objectives,
and implementation of activities
The level of technological sophistication of the materials is
appropriate to the technology available in class
(connectivity, equipment, software)
Practical Considerations
44. Conclusion
www.itilt.eu
Such objective is best accomplished through the examination of
pedagogical practice , in close collaboration with teachers and in this
way strengthening the link between theory, research and practice.
The development of criteria for the design and evaluation of IWB-
based materials is seen as an important element of this overall
objective.
The overall aim of the iTILT project is to assist teachers in exploiting
the IWB in ways that are consistent with current models of foreign
language teaching methodology.
45. Thank you for your attention
Do you have any questions?
www.itilt.eu
46. References
www.itilt.eu
Chapelle, Carol A. (2001), Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cutrim Schmid, Euline (2010). Developing competencies for using the interactive whiteboard to implement communicative
language teaching in the English as a Foreign Language classroom. In Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 19(2), 159-
172. Routledge
Cutrim Schmid, Euline (2009). The Pedagogical Potential of Interactive Whiteboards 2.0. In Thomas, M. (Ed) The Handbook
of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning. IGI Global, USA
Doughty, C. & Long, M.H. (2003). Optimal psycholinguistic environments for distance foreign language learning. Language
Learning and technology 7, 50-80
Gray, C, Pilkington, R, Hagger-Vaughan, L and Tomkins, SA. (2007). Integrating ICT into classroom practice in modern
foreign language teaching in England: making room for teachers’ voices. European Journal of Teacher Education, 30 (4),
407-429
Jewitt, Carey; Moss, Gemma & Cardini, Alejandra (2007), Pace, Interactivity and Multimodality in Teachers' Design of Texts
for Interactive Whiteboards in the Secondary School Classroom. In: Learning, Media and Technology 32 (3), 303-
317.University of London, UK
Long, Michael (1996), The Role of the Linguistic Environment in Second Language Acquisition. In: Ritchie, William C. &
Bhatia, Tej K. (eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Academic Press.
Miller, D & Glover, D. (2009). Interactive Whiteboards in the web 2.0 classroom. In: Thomas, M. Handbook of research on
Second Language Leraning. IGI Global, USA.
Müller-Hartmann, Andreas & Schocker-von Ditfurth, Marita (2011), Teaching English: Task-Supported Language Learning.
Paderborn: UTB/Schöningh.
Pica, Teresa (1994), Research on Negotiation: What Does it Reveal about Second-language Learning Conditions,
Processes, and Outcomes? In: Language Learning 44 (3), 493-527.
Reinders, Hayo & White, Cynthia (2010), The Theory and Practice of Technology in Materials Development and Task
Design. In: Harwood, Nigel (Ed.), English Language Teaching Materials: Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 58-80.
Wall, K., Higgins, S. & Smith, H. (2005). The visual helps me understand the complicated things: Pupils’ views of teaching
and learning with interactive whiteboards. British Journal of Educational Technology 36(5), 851-867
