Public interactive displays in schools : involving teachers in the design and assessment of innovative technologies.

Abstract

The introduction of an innovative technology in schools has the potential to change the education system, bringing major changes in the way teachers work, students learn challenging the way schools are managed. Informed by literature that sustains integration of technological innovations in educational contexts is influenced by instrumental factors such as school leadership and organizational structure (Dix, 2007) and using a development research approach, three hands-on workshops were conducted with a criterion sample of teachers of a secondary school from the north of Portugal in order to elicit expectations towards the use of digital displays to viewing videos, explore possible features for the system design as well as the management of the technological device in the school system. Development research methodology showed to produce usable findings that were born out of the collaborative partnership between researchers and stakeholders focused around inquiry that is of interest to educational leaders and teachers with the intention to inform and transform pedagogical practices. In sum, the development research approach allowed, for one hand, the conception of a new tool pedagogically adjusted to students learning needs as well as to the school organizational rules and structures. On the other hand, our methodological approach aimed to foster the acceptance of the tool as a useful pedagogical instrument for other teachers and for the whole school ecology.