Stepping up a notch: Quality research as the key to educational innovation

Stepping up a notch: Quality research as the key to educational innovation

Einstein once said: “problems cannot be solved at the level of awareness that created them”. Tablet PCs cannot solve all of the problems that the Thai education system faces at the moment. However, they can help us in raising the level of awareness if one is willing to utilize it in the right way. Unfortunately for us educators and all of the students being subjected to the frequently changing policies of the ministry the tablets are not going to be used in this way, at least not in the near future.

On the 21st of February the first preliminary findings of the tablet PC pilot research project were published and in all honesty they were disappointing. Not in the least because of the outcome of the findings but foremost because of its lack of focus and poor design. It is observed that text books used are neither a good fit for the needs of the better developed schools nor for the schools in less privileged positions, that the battery life is limited to only 2 hours, and, that schools may face electricity shortages. There is absolutely nothing new or revealing about these findings other than that it is all mere common sense and observed in a wide body of locally published research. To me, the disappointing part of it is that research projects of this caliber and design are typical examples of exploratory undergraduate projects, not ministerially mandated research. There is an abundance of research freely available on the internet and it reports on a wide body of issues in making the paradigm shift to the digital classroom. Dozens of countries have preceded Thailand with similar issues and published their findings, flaws and pitfalls in well documented articles. Literally thousands of schools are organized in international networks on the net sharing findings and experiences on a daily basis. One would be rather surprised if the officials responsible for this project at the ministry have not taken the time to look into this wide network of knowledge available at just one mouse click away.

 The current approach to educational innovation forgoes the core principle of establishing a paradigm shift in pedagogical practice. Scanning textbooks and uploading them onto second rank devices with limited battery life is similar to building new fancy school buildings with the expectation that learning achievement will increase as a logical result. It has been mentioned in dozens of publications over the last year; the problem lies in the fact that we are not reaching the core of the issue, but we are working in the periphery.

So what is the core of the tablet PC project and how do we reach it? Two answers, the core is the paradigm shift to a pedagogy for learning in a digital age, and, awareness and subsequent action is how we reach the core. We have to ask ourselves if we really understand what it means to go through a paradigm shift. Recently, at a guest lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, Dr. Groves from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, addressed this issue and compared it to playing chess and checkers. Both are board games but played with different pieces and different rules. Trying to play chess with checkers rules makes you lose and leaves you frustrated in the end because you don’t understand why you lost. It takes the combination of three factors, ability, willingness and readiness to accept the difference and this is where Thailand is seriously lagging behind. A digital classroom is not simply using (second rate) electronic devices to access the same learning materials being delivered through the same pedagogical practice. It comprises a whole different type of learning, teaching and materials.

So the question remains, how do we create higher levels of awareness? The answer is simple: through research addressing better formulated questions and carried out at a higher level of awareness of the issues at stake than our current practice. Investments in research do pay off and are far more sustainable than buying 800,000 tablets. In the case that the current quality levels cannot meet the requirements needed to raise the awareness of the problems created today, it might well be worth to hire resources from outside to carry out the research in collaboration with local researchers. These external resources have a fresh look on the issue and at the same time Thailand can seize the opportunity to become better connected to the international research community. I for one reach out a helping hand.

So where do these tablets PCs come in? They are the instruments that can enhance didactic work forms to establish more effective learning and teaching, but they are not the core element responsible for increased learning achievement. However, we can only start using them effectively if we understand the rules of the new game. As long as we don’t firmly grasp those, the tablets are going to be exactly what everyone fears they are going to be: from the students’ perspective a welcomed distraction from current classroom practices.

Freek Olaf de Groot
M.Ed. TESOL Programme Leader, Asian University.

freekolaf@gmail.com