Secondary School Teacher's Perceptions of

Secondary School Teacher's Perceptions Of Interactive Whiteboard Training Workshops: A case study from Taiwan In the study Secondary school teacher's perceptions of interactive whiteboard training workshops: A case study from Taiwan (Lai, 2010) a qualitative investigation is made into the adoption of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) by Taiwanese junior high school teachers using two observations and six interviews. While highly qualitative, the study provides insights into the key success factors that must be addressed for the adoption of IWB technologies in Taiwanese schools.

The intent of this analysis is to synthesize and critique the article, including a discussion of research design, key findings and critique of the key strengths and weaknesses of the qualitative research study. Critical Analysis of the Article While qualitative in methodology, the study captures several useful insights and lessons learned for educational administrators looking to adopt IWB systems throughout their districts.

The study also provides useful insights on how to tailor specific learning materials and course programs to ensure instructors gain a mastery over the system and how to use it. What is most valuable about the results generated however is the clear message of creating information management roles around the IWB that foster autonomy, mastery and purpose. The need for the instructors to master the system is seen in the willingness to attend trainings to understand the intricacies of the system.

Autonomy of being able to use the software on their own and be component in the use of this new technology in front of their classes is also a very strong motivation implied by the responses of those who participated in the study. All instructors also showed a clear sense of purpose in how they approached the learning and use of the IWB as well. Also seen is the potential for creating coordinated, highly targeted learning opportunities for each class and within a class, each group of students.

This is a teaching technique called scaffolding, and is very effective in making technologies highly effective in classrooms. What emerges from the findings is a potential framework of autonomy, mastery and purpose, which are the core building blocks of personal motivation and long-term commitment to learning. In conjunction with autonomy, mastery and purpose, the analysis of results indicate that teachers are most interested in customizing the systems to their specific needs in the classroom.

This approach to group-based scaffolding has been shown to significantly increase learning effectiveness and mastery of subjects. Not surprisingly the educators are also enthusiastic about workshops, knowledge-sharing and collaboration, which is to be expected from a group of teaching professionals. Discussion of Research Design and Methodology The qualitative research design is skewed toward women with four of the six respondents being female, and math, as 30% of respondents teach this subject.

Teaching experience levels vary significantly across the spectrum from 2 years to 16 years, and no instructors have been included from disciplines that are innately analytical and abstract. All subject areas are the fundamental disciplines of a junior high school curriculum. None of the instructors have been screened for their level of technology expertise, or for their previous use of presentation technologies. As a result of these wide variations in the sampling frame, no statistical extrapolation of results can be done with any measure of statistical confidence or assurance.

Key Findings of the Study The study found that the respondents most valued having training workshops so they could get up to speed with the new system, gaining mastery over the technology quickly so they can use it in their classrooms. It is not surprising that as instructors they greatly value in-depth, very focused training on these technologies, as they are inherently interested in learning due to their choice of professions.

It is also expected that they would find the collaborative freedom that IWBs provide a major teaching advantage, as they often struggle to keep their classes at the same level of academic achievement over the long-term. Third, the findings also suggest the level of collegial knowledge sharing across the instructor base is stronger than originally anticipated from the results. The instructors genuinely are focused on helping each other, as evidenced by the experience sharing finding of the study.

Finally the reusability of the system and its efficiency is also critically important and the ability to continually learn, which is another core attribute of this group of respondents. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Qualitative Research Study The strengths of the qualitative research study are that the open-ended questions can provide greater insight into teacher's motivations for learning about the IWB, uncover the unmet needs and requirements they have for the system, and see how critical the areas of collaboration and communication are. Arguably these strengths.