Global study concludes that superb teaching
involving collaborative learning and complementary classroom
technology leads to more positive results among students
CALGARY, June 27, 2016 /CNW/ - SMART Technologies
Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT) (TSX: SMA), a leading provider of collaboration
solutions, has unveiled more detailed findings of their study
titled Teaching, Technology and Learning: Understanding the
Interconnection. The research uncovers the interconnections between
enhanced student social-emotional skill development, technology,
and teaching practices, and sheds light on the best ways to utilize
classroom technology to improve social and emotional skill
development in the classroom.
Impact on Student Outcomes
The impact of collaborative
teaching combined with technology is overwhelmingly positive: 76
percent of survey respondents reported that their efforts in
technology and collaborative learning pedagogy strongly or very
strongly improved their student's social and emotional skill
development.
Social and emotional skill development was chosen as a metric
for the study because fostering collaboration and communications
skills in students is a consistent theme from business and
government leaders. This is supported by almost all of the 400
respondents in the Teaching, Technology and Learning study who
indicated that collaborative learning is an important approach at
their schools (only 4% thought it unimportant).
The study's findings showed that when teaching that includes
collaborative learning is complemented by software and hardware, in
that order, the greatest improvement in social and emotional skill
development is achieved. Results also showed that outstanding
success is 3.4 times more likely to occur when collaborative
learning practices and technology are used frequently together in
the classroom.
Other key findings include the respondents' observations that
frequent (daily or near-daily) group activity in the classroom is
significantly and positively related to social-emotional skill
development and supportive metrics.
Compared to classrooms with moderate to low frequency (weekly or
less frequent), classrooms with frequent (daily) group activities
drive:
- 20 percent higher levels of social and emotional skill
development
- 13 percent higher levels of safety to contribute (in the
classroom, students feel safe to contribute their ideas, answers
and thoughts without hesitation)
- 16 percent higher levels of peer discussion (students discuss
their findings with each other).
- 23 percent higher levels of active engagement/rich discussions
(everyone is part of the lesson, everyone participates).
- 27 percent higher levels of interdependence (group work
involves all participants, not just some)
"We've suspected for a long time that without best teaching
practices, technology is not as effective in improving social and
emotional skill development," said Neil
Gaydon, CEO of SMART Technologies. "We conducted this study
to discover how the two are best used together. The results shed
light on great teachers as the unsung heroes behind improved
student success when technology is used in collaborative learning
environments. This study furthers our commitment to supporting
teachers and students with educational software and hardware," he
added.
"Prior studies contend that technology in classrooms is not
beneficial and sometimes counterproductive to enhancing student
skill development," said Giancarlo
Brotto, Global Education Strategist at SMART Technologies.
"Conversely, our study finds that the formula for improving social
and emotional skills requires proven, collaborative learning
teaching practices supported by frequent use of software and
hardware. We truly believe that success in the classroom begins
with great teachers, but this study shows educators may not be
tapping their full potential until varied technologies are
integrated into the classroom," he said.
Methodology
Conducted by Filigree Consulting on behalf
of SMART Technologies from December
2015 – January 2016, the study
included over 400 education professionals including educators,
specialists, administrators and education IT professionals from 32
countries across the globe.
About SMART Technologies Inc.
SMART Technologies Inc.
(NASDAQ: SMT, TSX: SMA) is a world leader in simple and intuitive
solutions that enable more natural collaboration. We are an
innovator in interactive touch technologies and software that
inspire collaboration in both education and businesses around the
globe.
Over 2.8 million K-12 classrooms in 175
countries around the world use SMART solutions and SMART
Notebook collaborative software for education to make
learning more interactive, engaging, effective and
fun.
With over 3.2 million SMART Board® interactive whiteboards,
interactive displays and interactive projectors installed
internationally, SMART has been a consistent innovator since
creating the first interactive whiteboard in 1993. To learn
more, visit smarttech.com.
SMT – M
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SOURCE SMART Technologies Inc.