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Tablets for Quality Education
Abstract
The department of education has decided to set aside funds for financial start-ups for chartered schools. These funds would be crucial for the implementation of system where students use pads for their daily learning activities. A tablet is a machine whose features are greatly advanced to meet those of a computer and are easy to transport or move with. They help in making work easier and they will be effective in the school because students are now finding books bulky either in transportation or in travelling with them.
Tablets give students opportunities to travel with their work and safely keeping it in case it is needed for reference. This paper deliberates on how funds from the department of education can be accessed and used to effectively boost the grades of capable students without remediation.
Introduction
A request for qualification should be sent to the education department with an attachment for the potential of the institution with the money. This study in important to people who run non-performing institution and have recently acquired funds to be used towards student development. The paper will assist institutional managers with a solution on how the funds acquired can be used to promote student grades. Schools have many capable students who fail in their exams because they lack the resources to be used in their studies.
These students either fail because of lack of commitment to their studies or fail to get enough access to resources that can boost their learning. With the funds gotten from the department of education, the students will have a platform to enhance their learning skills and teachers will be awarded the opportunity to enhance their teaching skills (Hattie, 2009).
The primary goal, therefore, is to implement the use of tablets for all students regardless of their grade. The introduction of these devises will help make both teaching and learning easier. The major problem in learning institutions is the lack of sufficient funds that can be exerted to help boost the learning conditions. A change in the teaching strategies should occur to do away with the old teaching habits, which even after being applied are leading to low performance among students.
The major purpose of this study is to provide teachers or institutions in general with an idea of what they can do with funds that they get to enhance performance among students. At the same time, it tries to figure out how tablets can be incorporated in the education sector to boost performance among students thus eliminating low grades in the school system.
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Literature review
According to the European Schoolnet Academy, tablets are affordable, simple, have potable speed and are because of the wide variety of applications they have are greatly gaining recognition in European schools with most teachers already experimenting with them (Scimeca et al., 2009). The organization goes ahead to claim that institutions that have already started using tablets have registered a raise in their mean grades.
This is a positive issue for the purpose of this study in that it asses other areas that are already implementing this type of teaching and gives a positive report on the implementation of these devices. The firm also alleges that with the upcoming generation better teaching methods will have to be introduced as the generation prefers tablets to books. The main goal behind the introduction of the devises is because most students were complaining of having to carry large books home and the stress of borrowing books from the library.
Students complained that they were not being given adequate time with the books that they had borrowed from the library. This gave the institutions a challenge because providing test books for all the students seemed costly. The management of these organization preferred tablets to administer education because it simplified teaching and learning.
The BBC also argues that 70% of schools in Europe have implemented this style of learning although it has not provided evidence for the improvement of students using the devices. According to a study that they did most students admitted carried their devices to bed in order to continue with their social media conversations.
The institutions are relying on the tradition that has been adapted by the young students to effectively administer learning. One a student has carried the device to bed they can even go through their assignments before retiring to sleep. This is good as they carry knowledge to their beds and can learn or remind themselves a thing or two before sleeping which will on the other hand boost their performance.
Ethical issues
Certain issue may arise in the course of the study and may interfere with the research. For example, teachers are against the implementation of this type of learning claiming that it gives students the opportunity to become lazy. Some are claiming that the old teaching methods have always been successful to serious students while others are claiming that it would be unfair to the poor kids. This is very genuine concern because children who originate from poor families might have the challenge of purchasing these devices. The funds that will be acquired will ensure that the children are provided with free tablets upon registering at the institution.
The tablet has many applications, which the younger generation is quite conversant with. This will also provide a challenge as teachers will have to be trained to effectively use the devices. Another challenge comes up in the applications that the tablet has many of the teaching staff are concerned that the devices will promote other kind of material in classes. For example with the help of the tablet students can send text messages to each other during class session. Other student might start playing games on their devices while the teacher is teaching. This is an essential concern but the devices will be customized for educational purposes only.
Type of data collected
The study is relying on qualitative data from all the concerned parties. This type of data was chosen because it is easy to analyze and can be done by even non-professionals but it is advisable to get professional for this type of study as one cannot rely on incompetence. The data collected will be critically analyzed with the sole purpose of identifying the exact department that will be allowed access to these privileges as not all subjects can utilize the tablet.
Participation methods for the interviewees will be simple in that they will be required to answer questions that will be in form of interviews and questionnaires. Getting feedback from all the parties is essential towards development. The interviewees might offer other solutions that may not include remediation. Remediation is effective where applied with extreme caution because it can also lead to non-performance among students.
Answers retrieved form the teachers are essential for student development as it is teachers who know the needs of the students. Data from the parent is also essential because it will determine if the students are allowed to carry the devices home. Parents who are objected to poverty might feel the need to sell the devices to provide for their children so interviewing the parents is important to ensure that the institution does not waste the funds provided.
The students also play a significant role in the implementation of this program. Nowadays children are very conversant with electronics and have knowledge that their teachers have no knowledge these devices. Thus, getting their feedback is essential because it will determine the type of applications to block on the tablets to ensure that they have maximum concentration in class without the interference of any software or application that might distract them.
Data collection methods and their limitations
The most suitable type of data collection for the purpose of this study would be interviews and administration of questionnaires. Interviews would be conducted on all those who are involved that is teachers, students and the parents to assess the advantages and disadvantages that this type of teaching would have. Data collection would be important to understand the type of attitude all of the above mentioned have towards this method of learning.
The interviews will only apply to teachers and parents because they are the ones who know how their children behave and can give answers that are more accurate. It will also be advantageous because information from both sides will be achieved and the concerns that both parties have will also be addressed.
The questionnaires would be handed out to students to fill them. The main reason behind administering questionnaires to students is that students have the capability of lying if it is towards their benefits. Giving them questionnaires will limit their answers and only important questions will be asked. The form of answering the questions will be yes/no with a little space provided on the paper where students will offer additional information.
The data collection methods will be used to try to know the areas that are most affecting the students and the solutions they think should be applied. Parents and teachers know the strongholds of their students and they will offer the information through interviews. Several days will be set aside to ensure that the data collected in sufficient and truthful.
These types of data collection come with their own limitations for example during interviews parents can offer false information to protect their children. Poor interviewing skills may get insufficient information/data that cannot be used in the study. Badly answered questionnaires will also be a challenge in that the data collected may be incomplete hence becoming of no importance to the study. The questionnaires will have clear and simple questions that are expected to be truthfully answered by students. Because students will never say no to such a proposal (learning through tablets), it is important that professional skills are applied in the data collection.
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Data analysis
Professionals, to avoid confusion and incomplete analysis, will do analysis of the data provided. The participants of the analysis will be required to gather in a room to give their final report and each member must participate. The analysis will be directed towards understanding the context of the matter. This is where the political, social and economic issues regarding the matter will be retrieved.
It will cover other environmental and organizational factors that influence education and affect the implementation of the devices. Understanding people is fundamental to gain their experiences with tablets and the type of impact that they had on their lives. Previous experiences will be helpful in that the effects of the devices will be known and also ideas will be gathered on the best ways to implement them.
The best way of analyzing information collected form interviews is looking at all the answers and marking the most common ones. Using this type of data analysis is very effective in that the most common answers, which are, probably the correct answers will achieved. This will be very useful towards understanding the effectiveness of the study and to gauge whether it can be used for educational purposes.
Understanding the interaction of the participant is very important because it offers a view of how the system will be and whether it will be a success or a failure. The primary reason for choosing the data analysis methods is that they provide accurate answers if properly conducted and it is also simple compared to quantitative method which requires a lot of calculations
Another reason for choosing this type of data analysis is that it is broad and flexible. For example if something was left out there is the option of adding it to the final results without the need of conducting the whole investigation again. Quantitative method of data collection and analysis can have its disadvantages, in that: if something has been left out the calculations have to be started again afresh to incorporate the forgotten data/information.
The answers from the questionnaires will analyzed in a different manner for the interview answers this is because they contain simple yes/no questions with a space of providing additional information. The questions that receive ‘yes’ answers will be put against those with those answered ‘no’. Doing this will give a clear view of which was the dominant side and the in the implementation of the program the winning side will be awarded more priority.
Significance of study in research
The study will be beneficial to those interested in introducing tablets to the education system. The forms of data collection provided in the paper will be of significance importance to researchers as they will be aware of the most effective method of data collection during this type of research. It will also be suitable for teachers who want to know how to go about such type of research and the advantages that are associated with it. Parents can also use it to try to understand how tablets can be implemented in the learning system and the advantages that are associated with it.
Other institutions can also adapt it in the implementation of tablets in school programs. The department of education can also recommend this type of data collection and analysis to schools that want to adapt tablets or rather they can be recommended to use this study in their implementation of the program.
Conclusion
It is important to note that lack of tablets in institutions is not the only contributor to poor grades, and, that there are other factors that need to be looked and implemented to ensure top performance among students. Tablets will however boost student teacher relations because unlike a book, which has to be shared among several students. This is supported by the fact that each student will own a tablet so the teacher can concentrate on performance from an individual level.
Work will also be made easier because no paper work will be required in that upon completion of an assignment the student will send it via email to the teacher who will mark and respond via email. This will also help the institution to reduce on its expenditure and the funds used to acquire papers will be directed towards other duties that are of much importance. Students will benefit a great deal since they can get access to all the books that are in the library on their tablets free of charge. The institution will make sure that they are customized to include all the textbooks that are available in the library. The tablets will also offer additional sources of information for the students because of the availability of the internet.
Reference
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, NY: Routledge.
Scimeca, S., Dumitru, P., Durando, M., Gilleran, A., Joyce, A., & Vuoriraki, R. (2009). European Schoolnet: Enabling school networking. European Journal Of Education, 44(4), 475-492.
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