Abstract
Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have taken Gauteng township schools by storm, and teachers are left with no choice but to adapt to the new ways of teaching and learning. This change came with both opportunities and challenges for the grade 12 Life Sciences teachers. These opportunities include embracing the IWBs and taking full advantage of its affordances. Not much training has been provided to teachers at both provincial and district levels on how to utilise the new technology of IWBs. To this end, this research study was founded on whether the teachers were utilising the affordances accorded by IWBs to enhance the teaching and learning of Life Sciences. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and skills of the grade 12 Life Sciences teachers when utilising IWBs for teaching and learning purposes with the aim to design a professional IWB training and development programme. It was envisaged that the results emanating from such an assessment would lead to development and designing of a professional intervention and development programme considering that the researcher was the Life Sciences Subject Facilitator. To achieve the purpose, the following research questions were set: 1. What are grade 12 Life Sciences teachers’ experiences when teaching using interactive whiteboards? 2. How do teachers utilise the interactive whiteboards when teaching Life Sciences to grade 12 learners? The study followed a generic qualitative approach. The sample consisted of four grade 12 Life Sciences teachers purposively selected from four different Ekurhuleni township schools. The participants were selected based on the performance of their schools in grade 12 Life Sciences examinations in the past three years (i.e., 2016 to 2018). All the schools where the selected teachers ply their trade have consistently achieved a pass rate of at least 80% during the aforementioned period. Data collection involved an analysis of two lesson plans, observation of two lessons and a single virtual interview for each of the teachers. Analysis of the data using content analysis allowed the data to be classified under specific categories and themes. Data generated from the interviews was used to answer the following first research question was: What are grade 12 Life Sciences teachers’ experiences when teaching using interactive whiteboards? Findings from the interviews suggest that teachers are aware of the advantages of using the IWBs to teach Life Sciences. In addition, the teachers acknowledged that the IWBs simplify their planning and preparation of lessons. Some of the affordances that accrue from a streamlined and simplified lesson planning and preparation process ranged from time saving emanating from once-off preparation and storing lessons for future use, and capturing the vi learners’ attention, to simulation of experimental investigations. The teachers acknowledged that they were not using the IWB to its maximum capacity because of challenges such as technical problems, connectivity issues and insufficient training. Data collected through lesson observations was used to address the second research question, namely: How do teachers utilise the interactive whiteboards when teaching Life Sciences to grade 12 learners? It is evident from the findings of this research that teachers have embraced the versatility and multimodality of IWBs and were, therefore, using it: to project PowerPoint presentations and images; to play videos; and, for assessment purposes. The research findings also indicate that learners were not actively involved in the teaching and learning process because they were not even afforded an opportunity to interact with the IWB. The whole class teaching strategy, a pedagogical strategy that is more focussed on the teacher than learner, appeared to be prominent in all lessons. Recommendations that materialised from the findings were intensified professional development programmes that are subject specific so that pedagogical practices are addressed. It is recommended that the Gauteng Department of Education should review the elements that underpin the sixth pillar of ICT in Education, one of the ten pillar programmes for transformation, modernisation, and re-industrialisation of education in the Gauteng province. The suggested review should be targeted at improving Internet connectivity, ICT training and development of the teachers, and technical ICT support to ensure full utilisation of IWBs by the schools.
M.Ed. (Science and Technology Education)