| dc.description.abstract | The 20th century has provided a number of significant technologies that have transformed education, with the introduction of the overhead projector, Schools TV, the whiteboard, personal computers, video projectors and access to the World Wide Web. The latter part of the century has furthermore provided us with mobile technology, virtual learning environments, learning platforms and augmented reality/virtual reality. The Irish governments' first national education policy to address the increased emphasis on Information Communication Technology (ICT) within Irish schools, Schools IT2000 initiative was first launched in 1997. This ?40 million investment had aimed to ensure the distribution of 60,000 multimedia computers to Irish schools by the end of 2001, with each school assisted in acquiring at least one multimedia-ready computer system with Internet access, before the end of 1999. A further subsequent provision of teacher development in relation to ICT for at least 20,000 teachers nationally was also deployed within a schools support initiative (SSI), providing information and support via an online website available at www.Scoilnet.ie Previous literature has shown us that the embedding of new technology in many schools in Ireland has previously been typically provisioned without any formal government support or initiatives (Lee, 2010). For a number of years, both primary and post-primary schools have embedded new technologies via school investment and donations from parents. The reform of the Junior Cycle key skills framework in 2011 was primarily developed for post-primary schools to develop students' knowledge, and attain the necessary skills and attributes for future learning and to face the myriad of challenges presented in today's world (NCCA, 2011). Following on, the recently published Digital Learning Framework (DES, 2017b), aligned with the earlier Digital Strategy for Schools initiative in 2015, holds particular promise, in supporting the embedding digital technologies into teaching and learning practice based upon adopting constructivist principles that foster a learner-centred approach to teaching, learning and assessment (Education & Skills, 2015). As a reflection of earlier comments, once again society has led the way with education playing catchup in relation to the demand for students to attain the necessary skills required in the context of 21st century workplace. The developing discourse related to technology and its potential role in 21st century learning, depicts the proliferation and ubiquitous nature of today's mobile devices and subsequently provides education with a unique opportunity to harness the potential of their unique affordances within an educational context. The overall aim of this study was to explore how digital devices such as a tablet pc (iPad) can contribute to the realisation of the aims from within the Junior Cycle Framework (NCCA, 2011) through an intervention, based on the Bridge 21 learning model, developed across three case studies in three unique post-primary schools within Ireland. This study reports on the findings of a survey and case study approach on the pedagogical impact of adopting tablet devices affording students the ability to create and collaborate in developing content in line with required Junior Cycle key-skill competences. The key finding from the evidence suggests a significant increase in confidence levels in relation to 'Motivation' across all three case studies, with further increases in 'Engagement', 'Collaboration' and 'Communication' across a number of the studies. The convincing evidence further suggests a change in pedagogical practice that has subsequently provided students an opportunity to take ownership and responsibility for their own learning as they create and collaborate with their peers. Evidence from the intervention clearly articulates a link between the affordances of mobile devices and the new Junior Cycle key skill competences, whilst furthermore assessing the impact of changing dynamics within each classroom. In contrast, the lack of adequate resources/experience, challenging ICT issues and time management have played a dominant impact on the overall findings. In relation to government policies and initiatives, this study has used empirical findings to show that national policy initiatives such as Schools IT2000 have unfortunately not made the anticipated impact in Irish schools. This research supports the need for schools to adopt a social constructivist, technology assisted project-based approach to their teaching, learning and assessment that facilitates engaging students as life-long learners while meeting the needs of a 21st century society. | en |
