21 Century Learning -Teachers' and Students' Experiences and Views of the Bridge21 Approach within Mainstream Education

Abstract

Bridge21 is an innovative approach to learning for secondary education that is team and project based and that takes place in a technology mediated environment. Bridge21 was conceptualised and structured initially as an outreach intervention whereby participants attended workshops at a dedicated learning space within a third-level institution leading to refinement of a particular model of technology-mediated group-based learning. This paper reports on the current expansion of the Bridge21 project to mainstream schools at a time of proposed Government led reforms for lower secondary education in Ireland. Data were drawn from case studies with two participant schools over the course of academic year 11/12. Student experiences and views were captured by means of questionnaires which amongst other items asked students to create a visual depiction of their Bridge 21 experiences. Teacher experiences and views were gleaned by means of focus group interviews. Overall students reported positive experiences of the programme. Teachers were also positive but reflected the challenges of implementing a new approach to learning in the context of existing norms with respect to pedagogy and assessment. The application of visual research methodologies provided an innovative and useful complementary insight into students’ experiences of the intervention