Topic 4 – Content Area 2 – Management of ICTs
Classroom mobile phone bans are a hotly debated topic as evidenced in the wide-ranging sentiments in the articles within and outside the topic content.
Prestridge and Finger (2017, p. 206) described not only mobile phone use but ICT in general as a “wicked problem”. They observed ICT literacy reducing despite greater device access from 2011 to 2014 (Prestridge and Finger 2017, p. 271). The immediate access to answers is also linked to a reduction in deep understanding and student ability to research beyond a superficial understanding of topic content (Zhang & Quintana, 2012).
Despite these alarming findings, Walker (2014) found strong student preference for personal device use to be permitted in classrooms for research and personal organisational management. Chris Presland, cited in Raper (2018) supports this view, adding that in an era in which STEM education demand is shaping new pedagogical practice, it is counter-intuitive to ban the use of mobile phone technology.
Rather than banning device use, perhaps the solution lies in finding ways to make our questions less superficial. Project-based pedagogical approaches require students to address complex real-life problems, requiring the application of critical thinking and analysis to find unique solutions (Buck Institute, n.d.)
REFERENCE
Buck Institute. (n.d.). What is PBL? https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl
Prestridge, S., & Finger, G. (2017). Using information and communication technologies. In D. Pendergast, K. Main, & N. Bahr (Eds.) Teaching middle years: Rethinking curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (3rd ed., pp. 265-285). Allen & Unwin.
Raper. (2018). Banning mobile phones in classrooms takes education back in time, experts say. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-05/debate-on-mobile-phones-in-the-classroom/9397898
Walker, R. (2013). “I don’t think I would be where I am right now”. Pupil perspectives on using mobile devices for learning. Research in Learning Technology, 21, 1-12.
Zhang, M. & Quintana, C. (2012). Scaffolding strategies for supporting middle school student’s online inquiry processes. Computers & Education, 58(1), 181-196.
Topic 6 – Content area 5 – Creativity – making math magic using Scribe videos
21st Century teachers have access to tools which allow exciting new opportunities for improved student engagement through multimedia learning which immerses students in contemporaneous stimuli of multiple senses in ways never before available under traditional, predominantly oral driven teaching (Mayer, 2021). Scribe videos are particularly effective in improving student retention. Wiseman (2018) observed a 15% increase in recollection when using the same audio track, presented in Scribe compared to a traditional lecture video. As Adams (2020) found, animation is particularly effective to support students in grasping abstract concepts, so for mathematics teachers, this media warrants particular attention.
It is not only the multi-sensory nature of Scribe or White board videos which underpin their success. Scribe video presentations unfold and reveal, like a magic trick, supporting students in uncovering understanding. They are therefore consistent with Understanding by Design pedagogy (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), widely used in Australian schools. Wiseman and Watt (2020) emphasised the effectiveness of educators who incorporated “magic trick” elements in their pedagogy to support students to discover understanding, resulting in not only improved cognition but also improved positive disposition towards a subject.
Consistent with Universal Design for Learning principles (CAST, 2018), Scribe videos also support learners who struggle with traditional text or oral communication by providing alternative forms of engagement, representation, action and expression.
REFERENCES
Adams, S. (2020). ANIMATE IT. Talent Development, 74(3), 40–45.
CAST (2018) Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved April 27th 2025 from http://udlguidelines.cast.org
Mayer, R. E. (2021). Multimedia Learning (Third edition.). Cambridge University Press.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005), Understanding by Design (2nd ed.). ASCD.
Wiseman, R. (Director). (2018). Richard Wiseman – the Psychological Impact of Video Scribing – a research study [Video]. Vimeo.
Wiseman R & Watt C. (2020, March 9). Conjuring cognition: a review of educational magic-based interventions. PeerJ 8:e8747 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8747