AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SMARTBOARD TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AT HORIZON INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN HANOI VIETNAM

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************** JACOB MICHAEL ADAMS AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SMARTBOARD TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AT HORIZON INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN HANOI, VIETNAM (2013-2014) Đánh giá việc sử dụng bảng thông minh đánh giảng dạy Trường song ngữ quốc tế Horizon Hà Nội M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI, 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************** JACOB MICHAEL ADAMS AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SMARTBOARD TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AT HORIZON INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN HANOI, VIETNAM (2013-2014) Đánh giá việc sử dụng bảng thông minh đánh giảng dạy Trường song ngữ quốc tế Horizon Hà Nội M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 SUPERVISOR : Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh , P.H.D HANOI, 2015 DECLARATION This thesis is a compilation of my original research work Every effort was made to clearly indicate the contributing individuals, with specific reference to the literary review This thesis was completed under the guidance of my supervisor, Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh, P H D at the University of Languages and International Studies, VNU Student's Name Jacob Michael Adams In my capacity as supervisor of this candidate's thesis, I certify that the above statements are true to the best of my knowledge Supervisor Đỗ Tuấn Minh, P H D Date: Hanoi, 2015 i COMMITMENTS: I entrust that the contents of this thesis be used for the benefit of the use of SmartBoard technology in teaching students at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam….now and in the future ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to thank all of the teachers and students who taught for and attended Horizon International Bilingual School (H.I.B.S.) in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their participation allowing me to conduct this thesis in a professional manner I would like to thank all of the teachers and students who answered questions to the surveys honestly, thus allowing for high quality results in advancing this research that I have begun I would also like to thank former Principal Abdil Karakoc, whom without his support; this project could not have been possible I would like to further thank Nguyen Thanh Thuy for translating documents that needed to be phrased into the Vietnamese language for my studies, including the abstract iii ABSTRACT This research thesis is an evaluation of how SmartBoard technology was used at Horizon International Bilingual School (H.I.B.S.), in Hanoi, Vietnam during the 2013-2014 academic year H.I.B.S has classrooms equipped with the latest in technological learning devices, such as the SmartBoard This thesis will show how this technology is viewed and used by students and teachers alike at H.I.B.S I used anonymous surveys to collect qualitative data results, and respectively used qualitative analysis to show how this technology was used and viewed by individuals who taught for and attended H.I.B.S during the 2013-2014 academic year The main point of this thesis is to improve the use of modern technology in teaching, especially in the use of the SmartBoard, at H.I.B.S in the following years to come KEYWORDS: (SmartBoard, H.I.B.S., education, technology, teachers, students) iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .iv v PART A INTRODUCTION The innovative practice that H.I.B.S has chosen to aid in the advancing of the educational process for the students at Horizon International Bilingual School (H.I.B.S.) with their education in ESL, and other subjects, is the incorporation of the use of the school’s SmartBoards in the daily lessons to help stimulate the minds of the students in all grades at H.I.B.S White-boards have been our traditional method of transposing classroom language, and have helped greatly in giving visual aids in the classroom Today’s classroom technology keeps growing and growing Now, many schools throughout the world, including H.I.B.S., are using SmartBoard technology SmartBoard technology uses a touch-screen interface through the use of a projector, all finally being operated by a computer, which is in turn operated by the teacher The first SmartBoard broke into the educational market in 1991, and has continued to develop its technology into the model that arrived on the market in 2003 These interactive whiteboards are available from a growing number of companies and are becoming very popular with both teachers and students They offer a situation where the students can be in control of learning while the teacher plays the role of the mediator in case of confusion These SmartBoards combine the use of words, pictures, sound and video in a way that the students can interact with the lesson itself A teacher can use materials provided by the educational company that they purchase their books from, find materials and lesson plans online, or make their own SmartBoard lessons utilizing one of many computer programs that have been developed for the use of this technology The location will be at H.I.B.S Hanoi, Vietnam campus to secondary and high school students The context will be used in the ESL classroom setting using supplementary programs provided with the ESL textbooks for the 2013-2014 academic year, plus the use of any additional resources that the individual teacher chose to use H.I.B.S.’ secondary and high school has been using Oxford ‘Aim High’ ESL Books (student book, workbook, teacher’s book, iTools interactive SmartBoard program, as well as the student’s DVD ROM), levels through H.I.B.S intends its teachers to utilize all of these materials in class to help bridge the gap between theory and practice Rationale My rationale for incorporating the use of the SmartBoards in H.I.B.S is mainly for the fact that H.I.B.S has SmartBoards in almost all of the classrooms, but as a teacher, I don’t know how other teachers and students feel about this technology and its use I want to take a closer look at the use of SmartBoard technology used at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi The only classroom without a SmartBoard was 12th grade’s classroom, which is getting it installed in the immediate future, and now has been installed since I first began researching this project In years past, H.I.B.S has had SmartBoards, however not many teachers used them because of lack of knowledge or lack of good software I have observed this myself through theory and in practice, while teaching for this school since the beginning of the 2011 academic year This year H.I.B.S has aimed to train the teachers on the use of SmartBoards, although the training was only part of two mornings, and has supplied the teachers with program materials to be used on the SmartBoards H.I.B.S hopes that all teachers now have the necessary skills needed to make use of the SmartBoards H.I.B.S has resources from the publishing company that they have purchased their educational books from H.I.B.S also has attempted to train its teachers on how to create simple SmartBoard lessons I tried to incorporate the use of the SmartBoard more into the lessons that I prepared for teaching to high school students in Horizon International Bilingual School, although I’m not sure if I feel that I have been trained enough I not know how other teachers feel about using the SmartBoard This thesis will show the teachers and students’ views of the use of SmartBoard technology in teaching at H.I.B.S during the 2013-2014 academic year and show suggestions to improve its use, based on my observations and data gathered and analysis Purpose: The students that I taught while teaching for H.I.B.S were at many different levels of English competence In some of the classrooms that I taught, the student body consisted of learners from several different countries, who could not fully express themselves in the English language as of thus far Therefore, in a situation such as this, some communication barriers are put up between some students who really want to talk with each other, but cannot I have personally seen that when the students use a SmartBoard, they are more interactive with learning and cooperating with each other and looking at each other with expressions that can be understood without the use of too much formal spoken communication However over my years of teaching at H.I.B.S (three academic years from 2011-2014), I have been wondering about the effectiveness of the utilization of this technology in teaching at H.I.B.S., considering many issues that I have seen during these years In a localized context-sensitive approach, it will be with the use of Oxford iTools programs, for secondary and high school students, which are supplied to the teachers at H.I.B.S.; therefore the subject matter presented in the textbooks will be reproduced to give the students an extra advantage on memory retention The information covered in the student’s book and workbook will be presented in a third way in the use of audio-visual interactive programs The same information will be presented, but in a more interactive way to promote the retention of the topics or points learned In the beginning this was my thought: Practicality, or the way in which teachers could intend to overthrow the unequal power relationship between theory and practice, may be seen by the students being more active in class and using what they’ve learned proudly in front of members of their peer group This would mean “Pros: More focus More professional Cons: Not good for eyes Expensive.” “Pros: More focus Easy to see/watch More professional Cons: Not good for eyes Expensive Need cable to connect.” And another which was the same as the last I also received responses including: “I use ActiveBoards They look beautiful, professional, and easy to use.” “Well, it’s a touch board, which you can use the pen to solve math puzzles, it’s funnier!” “I like the SmartBoard, because it is more useful and you enjoy with the electric pen, so it keeps the SmartBoard clean.” “I can use the SmartBoard to draw and write better It’s the same for me when learning with the SmartBoard or whiteboard.” “For games, it is best, but for study its worst because I can’t understand anything.” “I like drawing and writing on it It helps a lot with my learning and English skills.” And “Helps: Understand better in subjects like Chemistry, Physics and Biology Hurts: It’s not about learning It’s not good for our eyes if we stay/sit near the SmartBoard.” I finally received seven more student responses as listed here: “I think that the SmartBoard has a lot of benefits It helps us a lot The only thing that’s not good is that it takes a lot of time to start.” “I think the SmartBoard can help you something that your computer can’t do, and you can see movies on it But if you many things like that, then your eyes or the SmartBoard will die.” “SmartBoards show me everything It has a bigger screen than a computer, so the teacher can easily use the SmartBoard It’s not really complicated, everyone can use it It helps me a lot with learning I can see videos, pictures, and play games on a very big screen.” “The best thing about the SmartBoard is that it makes the lesson more exciting because it can combine images, sound and videos about the topic that we learn This makes us understand easier and the lesson will be more interesting.” “What I like best about the SmartBoard is that I can see clearly at the back of the class It helps me to be better at learning because when the page is full, we can just move to another blank page instead of erasing them all.” “I think the SmartBoard is very modern and helpful It helps the teacher a lot But when I study, if they are using the SmartBoard, I feel very sleepy in the lesson Because, when you’re using the SmartBoard, you have to 27 turn off all the lights, and when it’s dark, the students will easily fall asleep.” And finally “SmartBoards help us a lot in studying The teacher can show the video about the lesson which helps us to understand the lesson better We also enjoy doing the work on the SmartBoard But also there is a disadvantage that when we try to copy the work from the SmartBoard, it’s hard to see because it’s kind of hurting our eyes And sometimes, the words on the screen turn blue, so it’s pretty hard to copy the notes down.” 28 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Data Analysis Now that I have all of my concrete data shown, I will a comparative analysis of the data gathered through these surveys that were completed by nine teacher and thirty students, who taught for and attended H.I.B.S during the 20132014 academic year 3.1.1 Phase The above data shows that the teachers’ and students’ answers correlate with each other involving the interest, engagement, and motivation in learning When comparing the usage rates of the SmartBoard both the teachers and students answered respectively with similar results This helps me have more assurance in the following answers to the questions I posed, using the questionnaires, to the teachers and students involved in this study The majority of the students agreed that they participate more when their teachers use the SmartBoard in their lessons Eight out of the nine teachers questioned reported positive results in the students’ interest and engagement in their classroom setting During class I have observed these same findings Students did seem to participate more when the SmartBoard was being used Students who are usually shy would come to the board with more interest than compared with that of their general level of interest when they were called to write an answer on a traditional whiteboard or chalkboard Almost all classrooms at H.I.B.S are equipped with a SmartBoard and a pull-down erasable whiteboard, so teachers have the choice of which board to use during their particular lessons 3.1.2 Phase During the first week before the academic year begins, all teachers are required to attend a group of training seminars during which time they are briefed 29 on the upcoming year During this week there is a morning dedicated to training on the use of the SmartBoard, and the next morning the concepts were quickly shown again There were two teachers who demonstrated different ways to make lesson materials on the SmartBoard During the year, I was also able to observe a lesson taught by the use of a SmartBoard by a current teacher for H.I.B.S I also used the Smartboard throughout the year in some of my lessons, but not all I did use Oxford iTools for lessons that I had when using the Oxford Aim High series of textbooks for ESL students I found it very helpful to have the information from the textbooks, with audio, presented on the SmartBoard so that all students could clearly see, even from the back of the room However my largest class was 20 students, so the back of the room was not too far Every time the SmartBoard is used, the lights have to remain off During these times of use, I would observe some students become lethargic and unwilling to study, and at other times students would become excited and active I attributed this to many factors In the morning’s first class period, from 8am to 8:45am, I noticed the students still normally being sleepy from the previous day and night’s studying In this first class I did not find the SmartBoard to be effective in the learning process However the first class of everyday that I taught was a general English class that was more meant for speaking and listening rather than reading or writing In other classes, the SmartBoard could have been very effective I believe that it depends on the subject matter of the lesson itself If the lesson was uninteresting to begin with, I not believe that the Smartboard would make it any more interesting The darkness of the classroom combined with the students’ energy levels due to the previous night made the SmartBoard ineffective most mornings that I observed its use Between 8:45 and 9:10 the secondary and high school students had breakfast or break time When the students returned to class at 9:10, I would see a huge rise in their energy levels, and the students would seem to wake-up and really become more alert From 9:10am till 10:50am, during 2nd and 3rd class periods, I would observe the students become more active and ready to study and learn In contrast, 30 in the class right before lunch, from 11am to 11:45am, I would see the students become more interested in socializing about eating rather than learning I observed this pattern daily in the classes that I taught I cannot say the same for other teachers, but this seemed to be the general pattern of behavior for all students from the start of the day till mid-day At lunchtime, I would go home every day because these were my contracted work hours I was at H.I.B.S from 7:50am till 11:45am Monday through Friday, and teaching for a good number of these hours, although I had off time during four class periods per week to work on other things and prepare more for lessons that I was teaching I have taught nearly the same lessons for the last three academic years, using the same textbooks and materials, but I always wanted to further adapt my lessons for today’s ever so quickly changing world and students learning in today’s climate of society, with so many global issues developing during these times Throughout this last school year H.I.B.S has faced more issues about the Smartboards than in the previous two years that I taught for H.I.B.S A major complaint from teachers, as well as from students was about the connector cables not working or being damaged, and at times the projector not working at all The SmartBoards and other equipment were transported from H.I.B.S.’s old location of the secondary and high schools over to its new location in Tay Ho, Hanoi After construction was completed, there were many issues that arose about the SmartBoards Some of them only properly worked from time to time; many of them constantly needed repairing I believe that a suggestion from the survey handed out to teachers that there should be a fixed (non-movable) computer in each classroom so that the teachers not have to use their personal computers, is a fantastic suggestion Not only would this solve the problem of broken cables (most cables get damaged from the non-stop insertion and removal done by every use of the SmartBoard), but it would also solve another issue that arose about the time it takes to set up the computer to use for each class Having a stable computer in each classroom could add an extra minutes of study time average per class First the 31 computer needs to be plugged in and powered on, then the projector needs to be turned on and the cables need to be connected to both the computer screen and the computer’s audio system, next it has to be calibrated and finally the lights need to be turned off and the projector put in focus, if needed Having a stable, fixed computer in each classroom could save time and money The cords and cables would permanently be in place, the computer already calibrated the projector in focus The only thing that would be needed would be to turn the system ‘on’ in the morning class Like I stated previously, the 1st class period is kind of a wake-up time for students currently, but if this fixed computer system was put into place, then the SmartBoard could be turned on and used for the lessons that it was needed for, but could also be turned on for standby for the next teacher to use, thus saving time again The projectors would always be working too if proper maintenance, like changing bulbs, was completed regularly The teachers would only need to bring a USB storage device, CDs, and/or DVDs to class, making life easier on teachers too I believe this could also be a small cause of stress amongst teachers, so having these fixed computers would solve many problems 3.2 Implications for Further Research Those are the issues that I saw about the technology itself However I was unaware of the students issues such as not having enough light to take notes and it hurting their eyes Many of the students wear glasses to begin with, so if SmartBoards damage their eyes, they should be used less, or the technology developed, such as inventing an extra-large touch screen LCD TV with interactive computer built in software and hardware, allowing the board to be used to its highest potential while not needing darkness in able to utilize it Although another listed by some of the students was that this current SmartBoard technology is expensive I imagine my thought of an extra-large LCD/computer touch screen hybrid would be much more expensive to develop, but with today’s quickly improving technology, who knows? Maybe some of these current students learning 32 from these SmartBoards will learn from the technology itself to be able to further advance its technology in the future Another main issue was the training and ease of use by the teachers I previously described the teacher’s training The responses to the survey have been reported Seven of nine reported having been trained, and I had training as well Although like five of these teachers, I also not feel that I’ve been properly trained on utilizing the SmartBoard I would like to know how to use it to its fullest extent, but I not believe that a morning and another half-morning of training is enough to understand how to use it fully and thoroughly Some of the students questioned reported that it was easy to use and made things easier for the teachers Some students seemed to understand the technology better than some teachers questioned All of the teachers wanted to know more about the different features of the SmartBoard Possibly training could be an ongoing thing with regular workshops on the use of the SmartBoard offered I believe that this would also make all teachers feel more comfortable asking questions about the use of the board, while at the same time gaining confidence in utilizing the board and making lessons on the board, with simulated student interaction if wanted I believe that the SmartBoard can have many benefits in making students interested in studying while making studying easier, if using the right software or websites designed for the use of SmartBoard lessons and educational games It does make it easier to return to previous lectures, display media, and seems to attract most students (more than 50% as shown in above statistics) Smartboards can also hurt in taking away classroom learning time for the setting-up of the system The board hurts students’ eyes and makes it difficult for them to take notes, while putting other students to sleep 33 PART C CONCLUSION The next step is to learn from these findings and implement some actions Firstly, I propose that H.I.B.S installs stable, fixed, permanently attached computers to the SmartBoards which are permanently wired and calibrated I also propose that the administration takes measures to make sure that the projectors are properly maintained I further propose that H.I.B.S makes sure that all provided software is pre-installed and working, ensuring the ease of teaching, which in turn helps students As for the issue of hurting the students eyes, I propose the installation of a lighting system that makes it so that there can be comfortable, minimal light, allowing the students to take notes more easily as well I believe installing completely new systems would be much too costly for a school of H.I.B.S.’ size, so H.I.B.S should utilize the expensive systems that they currently possess in the most efficient ways of implementation I also propose that teaching times on SmartBoards are kept to an average amount of hours agreed upon by teachers, parents, administrators and students Students should be encouraged to give anonymous feedback and suggestions concerning the use of this fairly new tool to assist with the learning process Lastly I propose that H.I.B.S holds ongoing training seminars on the utilization of the SmartBoard so that all teachers can feel 100% comfortable when using this technology, and be able to produce their own lessons that they have designed for interactive use on the SmartBoard The beginning of the academic year’s training is not enough I see this technology as having a lot of potential in the ability to more easily facilitate the learning of complex issues combining auditory, visual, and touch features There needs to be more research about this topic Teachers and students should be given opportunities to provide more personal feedback so that the teachers can be able to adapt more easily to their students’ needs I suggest H.I.B.S continues the research that I have started on their use of modern technology in the classroom to further utilize this technology to its fullest capacity H.I.B.S is doing 34 a great job in providing teachers and students with the latest technology, but further ongoing research should be implemented to adapt to its actual use in the classroom 35 REFERENCES The History of Smart Board Technology | GTeach (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.gteach.com/the-history-of-smart-board-technology.html Preston, C., & Mowbray, L (2008) Use of SMART Boards for teaching, learning and assessment in kindergarten science Teaching Science, 54(2), 50-53 Aljabre, A (2012) Beginner Adult ESL Education in the Age of Technology International Journal of Advanced Information Technology, 2(1), 1-10 Naylor, C., Erickson, G., Clarke, T., Lim-Fong, B., Brook, D., Cassie, L., Cyr, H., Fong, M., Robins, R., Watkins, D., Zubke, S., & Wong, G (2008) "My teaching took off sideways": The unexpected impact of SMART Boards and the emergence of a professional learning community within an elementary school Retrieved from British Columbia Teachers' Federation website: http://www.bctf.ca Scholz, H (2010) Second Language Learning in the 21st Century Classroom BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, 2(2), 32-36 Retrieved from http://www.brandonu.ca 36 APENDIX A SmartBoard Education Survey: Teachers at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam (2013-2014): 1) What grade(s) you teach? 2) What subject(s) you teach? (Please circle one) 3) How often you use the SmartBoard in your classroom? Never A couple times a week Several times a week Everyday 4) Have you been trained to use the SmartBoard in your classroom? Yes No 5) Do you feel that you have been properly trained to use the SmartBoard in your classroom? Yes No 6) How has having a SmartBoard in your classroom affected the interest and engagement of your students in the desire to learn in their classroom setting? Not at all A little Somewhat A lot 7) Do you include the use of the SmartBoard into your lesson plans to facilitate learning activities in your classroom? I Yes No 8) Do you feel comfortable using the SmartBoard in your classroom? Yes No 9) Do you use the dry erase tools on the SmartBoard (Promethian ActiveOffice Tool Yes No 10) Do you utilize websites on the SmartBoard? If yes, please list the most used Yes No 11) Do you utilize materials provided by the school (HIBS)? (Oxford iTools) Yes No 12) Do you feel comfortable helping other teachers use the SmartBoard? Yes No 13) Do you feel comfortable asking for help when you need it, in the utilization of the SmartBoard? Yes No 14) How confident are you in using the SmartBoard in your classroom? Not at all A little Somewhat Very Writing 15) What benefits you see in incorporating the SmartBoard into your lessons? II 16) Why you think our school’s director wants to use SmartBoards in the classroom? 17) What drawbacks you see from using the SmartBoard during your lessons? 18) What features of the SmartBoard you want to know more about? 19) How can Horizon improve the use of SmartBoard technology in the classroom? 20) What else can you tell me from your experience in using the SmartBoard during your lessons that you teach at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam? (Please use the back if necessary.) III APENDIX B Education Survey: Students at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam (2013-2014): SmartBoard Questionnaire 1) What grade are you in? 2) How often your teachers use the SmartBoard for teaching lessons in class? Always Sometimes Rarely Never 3) How has your level of interest in learning been affected because of having a SmartBoard in your classrooms? A lot Somewhat A small amount None 4) Do you think that when your teachers use the Smartboard, you have a better understanding of the subject matter? 5) You have become more motivated to learn because of the use of the SmartBoard in your classroom Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree IV Strongly Agree 6) You look forward to, and enjoy your lessons when your teacher uses the SmartBoard Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree 7) You participate more during lessons when your teacher uses the SmartBoard Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree 8) You pay more attention to lessons when your teacher uses the SmartBoard Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Writing 27) What about the SmartBoard you like the best/worst? What about it helps or hurts your learning? V ... for further study and implementation of the use of SmartBoard technology at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam This thesis sought to examine these goals and to investigate some... educational process for the students at Horizon International Bilingual School (H.I.B.S.) with their education in ESL, and other subjects, is the incorporation of the use of the school? ??s SmartBoards... how other teachers and students feel about this technology and its use I want to take a closer look at the use of SmartBoard technology used at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi The