Young students using iPads: App design and content influences on their learning pathways
Introduction
Since the introduction of computers to education over 30 years ago, much has been written about their promise to help improve, and in some cases transform, teaching and learning. However as authors such as Cuban, 2001, Postman, 2000 and Oppenheimer (2003) point out, few of these promises have materialised to the extent expected. Despite this, hardware and software developers continue to promote new technological devices – most recently tablet-based computers such as Apple's iPad - as ‘magic bullets’ or ‘game changers’ to stimulating everything from major educational reform to helping raise student achievement, and schools and other educational institutions continue to be seduced by this rhetoric. Some schools have even gone as far as insisting parents procure for their child such a device, in much the same way as purchasing books on a stationery list (Ihaka, 2013).
Yet scant evidence exists beyond perceptions-based studies or observational accounts and teacher stories, evaluating how this new round of technology innovation is affecting students and their learning, and if indeed it is living up to the hype and rhetoric surrounding it. While some studies have been carried out (eg., Banister, 2010, Brand and Kinash, 2010, Burden et al., 2012, Crichton et al., 2012, Hutchison et al., 2012, Lynch and Redpath, 2012, Manuguerra and Petocz, 2011, Saine, 2012) these have mainly been qualitative accounts exploring factors such as student learning engagement and motivation, cost-effectiveness gains facilitated by the use of e-books in place of traditional texts at university level, improved administrative efficiency through technology-supported moves towards paperless administrative systems, or ‘learning convenience’ advantages linked to mobile device capabilities to deliver ‘anywhere, anytime’ learning. Such studies can be valuable for providing insights into users' perceptions of how these devices might add value to their particular circumstances. However, an extensive search of academic databases has failed to reveal any empirical studies that analyse more deeply student interaction with the devices and their software, to determine if and what ‘learning value’ they are gaining from them.
This article has three purposes. First, it introduces briefly an innovative methodology developed to record data from a study of iPad use with a class of five year old primary school students. Second, it describes how these data were analysed and presents insights into how the design and content of apps affected the quality of students' learning pathways. Finally, it uses this analysis to argue the need for a closer and more critical look at app design, and for researchers, teachers and developers to work more closely to improve the quality of apps used in young students' learning.
Section snippets
Research questions
Data collection and analysis were guided by the following research question:
How do design and content features of selected apps used on iPads affect the learning pathways of young students using them independently for problem solving tasks?
Fads, fashion and technology in education
It has been suggested that education has a history of “lurching from one fad to the next” (Masters, 2002, p. 1), and that this tendency has contributed in a substantial way to a failure to make progress on much-needed systematic reforms. Maddux (1986) described this as the “pendulum syndrome – in which educational innovations seem doomed to follow a cycle of unrealistically optimistic expectations followed by disappointment, disillusionment, and abandonment” (p. 27). In a later paper, she and
Research context and participants
The study took place from June–December, 2012, and involved a class of 18 year 1 (5 year old) primary students and their teacher, from a semi-rural school in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The principal of the school had approached the researcher expressing interest in a study exploring if and how iPads could be used to support the learning of young students, as he was considering the establishment of what at the time he called an ‘iPad class’ in 2013. Using a small research grant from
Methodology and data collection
The research adopted a case study method located within an interpretive theoretical framework. Data were collected over a period of six months from July to December 2012, with the researcher spending up to 90 min per week in the research classroom, at different times of the day and week. A variable schedule was developed to reflect more accurately normal classroom use patterns and range of use conditions. Sufficient devices were made available to enable one per two students, and they were used
Data coding
The researcher and a postgraduate research scholarship assistant independently blind coded a sample of 4½ hours of video capture. This represented the interaction of seven unique pairings who during that time accessed 10 different apps. Completing this provided initial insights into content and design features, and other observable influences, on the students' learning pathways. The sample was purposively selected to include a range of apps across the learning focuses detailed previously,
Findings
Analysis of data revealed three broad themes relating to the influence of app design and content linked to the six codes listed inside the dashed box in the framework. These were design and content:
- a.
that supported learning (eg., scaffolds, some types of feedback, some types of instructions);
- b.
that were impediments to learning (eg., some types of feedback, game/learning imbalance, restricted content, some types of instructions);
- c.
that placed parameters around learning (or not). These were subtly
Content and design features supporting learning
Data indicated apps containing features or were of designs that scaffolded students' interaction with content or ‘stepped them through’ learning concepts in a systematic and organised manner, generated more evidence of responses indicating learning than those that were primarily learning game or game/practise-based. Interestingly, the most effective examples of this were found in apps that more closely resembled a traditional teaching model, often involving video of a ‘real’ person teaching
Summary and conclusion
This study strongly argues that careful attention should be paid to the design and content of apps, if the undisputed motivation from using devices such as iPads is to be transformed into thoughtful engagement and productive learning. It identified the importance of apps:
- a.
communicating learning objectives in ways young students can access and understand;
- b.
providing smooth and distraction-free pathways towards achieving goals;
- c.
including accessible and understandable instructions and teaching
Acknowledgements
The researcher gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Research Committee, The Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, for the purchase of iPads to use in this study.
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