Benetou, Evdokia (2013) Personalising the learning of young children with the use of ICT : an action research case in a Greek primary school. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis is an account of an action research project undertaken in a Greek
primary private school. The project aimed at personalising the students’ learning
with the use of ICT. The project ran for three consecutive school years and involved
students (twenty-six in year 1, sixteen in year 2, and fifty-one in year 3) and, their
parents (in years 1 and 2). The students were eight-years old when the project
started. The focus of the innovation concerned the teaching and learning of English
as a Foreign Language.
The project was an attempt to create a partnership with students and to offer
opportunities for students to make choices in their learning. In year 1 teaching
methods, including argumentative processes, learning task design and assessment
processes, were re-designed and students were encouraged to engage in
collaborative learning. All these changes were sustained in year 2 and the use of
ICT, including online discussion, was introduced to enhance and extend
collaboration and learning. The use of on line ‘chat’ was extended to parents as a
way of communication with school. All these innovations were sustained in year 3
and further exploration of students’ and parents’ perceptions of learning with
technology carried out.
Action research is employed as a methodological approach in this study. In
particular, the study reports on cycles of implementation and reflection carried out
over three years. A variety of methods were used. Diaries were selected to record
situations, questionnaires to access the perceptions of the children and parents, and
chat logs and interviews used to explore these perceptions in greater depth. The mix
of methods enabled comparison and contrast not just between data derived by
different methods but by different sources as well, i.e. parents and children.
The main theoretical concepts explored in this thesis are Personalised Learning, ICT
use, and Collaboration. This research project sees Personalised Learning as the
‘focal innovation’ and ICT use as embedded within personalisation. Collaboration is
considered a fundamental construct in both personalisation and the embedded use
of ICT. This thesis asks whether personalisation is a coherent concept and whether
it can be sustained with the use of ICT. It finds that personalised learning can offer a
coherent organising principle for pedagogic reform, and can be defined by its
concern for collective co-production of knowledge, student voice, assessment for
learning, learning-to-learn strategies, and student centeredness. Personalised
learning and ICT are recognised as a good match and personalised learning is seen
to need ICT in order to be sustained. However, innovation requires time and
evaluation of outcomes is value laden. The thesis finds action research to be an
appropriate methodology for curriculum reform.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Education, Elementary -- Greece, Information technology -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Greece, Information technology -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Case studies
Official Date:	March 2013
Dates:	Date Event March 2013 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Institute of Education
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hammond, Michael, 1956-; Wray, David, 1950-
Extent:	xiv, 369 leaves.
Language:	eng

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