Can Students’ Smartphones Replace Data-show Inside the Classroom? Action Research (AR)

Abstract

Due to the shortage of adequate data-show and projectors at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait, smartphones and their accompanying apps provide a platform which, if exploited appropriately, could benefit both teachers and students. This research focuses on the use of smartphones as a technological alternative to inadequate data-show and projectors. Furthermore, the use of smartphones as a platform for pursuing collaborative work amongst pre-service teachers is explored here. For this purpose, action research (AR) was applied as a methodology, with several different approaches and technologies being adopted by the teacher and participants, i.e. collaborative learning (CL); group discussion; lectures; relevant video material (via personal data-show and smartphones); a summative activity through ClassMarker; an e-survey on SurveyMonkey, and finally, WhatsApp to connect participants with each other outside the lecture hall. Text messages from WhatsApp were analysed using interaction analysis (IA). In addition, two methods of data collection and analysis were applied, namely participant observation and an esurvey. Within AR, these allow for the ongoing and immediate analysis of data in recurring cycles of planning, data-gathering, evaluation and action. The findings show how smartphones and their accompanying apps can represent a suitable technological alternative to data-show for displaying relevant educational videos in the classroom. There is evidence to suggest that the majority of participants in the present study accepted and appreciated being able to use their own smartphones and accompanying apps (in this case, WhatsApp), both within and outside the classroom. These were used as a means of communicating with peers and for accessing relevant educational videos. Overall, it was believed to be a useful practice. Moreover, most of the participants were satisfied with the combination of teaching methods used in this study (i.e. video material presented via different means, such as on smartphones or through data-show; CL; a summative activity; group discussion, and lectures) and collaboration with peers was generally favoured by the participants, as they thought it offered them the chance to increase their understanding and knowledge. However, further research is called for to be able to fully understand the real impact of educationally relevant videos on the training of pre-service teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]