Summary of findings (analysis)

The summaries of findings in this section are collated from evidence from the interviews with staff, students and WickED management and from student workshop surveys. Due to the difficulty in locating both teachers and students to interview and the small number of teacher and student users ultimately involved in contributing their opinion, the data provided and the conclusions reached are indicative only.

The report comprises the following sections.

• Student perceptions of WickED
• Teacher perceptions of WickED
• The quality of service provision
• Immediate learning for young people
• Alignment and transfer of learning for young people
• Learning for providers, teachers and schools

Student Perceptions of WickED

a) Level of independent general computer-use by the age group of students

The following information was retrieved from evaluations provided by students attending WickED workshops provided by TKI staff. WickED was designed and intended to be used as an independent resource by younger, primary students (aged 7 – 12 years). Figure one below shows that the greater majority of students attending the workshops felt they could use a computer independently. Some 10% felt they still need a little help.

Figure 1: Shows the level of independent use of computers by the age-group targeted by WickED (n=49)

b) Locations where students were able to access computers

The great majority of students (92%) who attended these workshops indicated they could access computers both from home and school. Few of these children (approximately three in total) did not have a computer at home and relied on school computers for access. Only one child relied only on a home computer for access. According to the Nielsen NetRatings Report (Dec 2006) this is level of access that is slightly higher than average for the 7 – 12 age group¹.

Figure 2: Common locations where student had access to computers (n=49).

c) Level of students’ awareness of WickED

The extent to which students attending the workshops had any previous knowledge of WickED is indicated in Figure three below. The majority of students (86%) had not previously been aware of the resource prior to the workshops. A few students (about 4 students in total) indicated they did know a little about WickED and some three students indicated they knew WickED really well prior to attending the workshops. There is some indication from various data that the WickED resource may not be widely known about, and repeat use is limited, by both students (Nielsen NetRatings, 2006, p 30), and teachers (Nielsen NetRatings, 2006, p 57 & 58)

Figure 3: Level of students’ awareness of WickED prior to their introduction to the resource at the workshops (n=49)

d) Students’ general impressions of WickED

Students were asked to choose which of the elements (from a list that was provided in the survey) they liked best about WickED, and the results are illustrated in Figure 4 below. Thirty-five percent of these students indicated they liked the games² that were featured best, but 24% indicated they also found the site ‘interesting’, 17% enjoyed the colourful nature of the site, and 11% enjoyed the sounds.

Figure 4: Students’ general impressions of the WickED site (n=49)

e) Students’ impressions of particular types of interactive features of WickED

Students’ impressions of particular types of interactive features³ are illustrated in Fig. 5. 44% percent of students indicated they liked the games best. 24% percent indicated they enjoyed the Hangi interactive and 14% indicated they liked the gallery.

Figure 5: Students impressions of particular types of interactive features of WickED (n=49)

The hangi interactive is one of a number of similar interactives about general aspects of Maori culture. Because so many of these students had not previously visited WickED is assumed that the hangi interactive was specifically included in the students’ listings because it had been featured in the workshops while other interactives had not.

In Table 1 on the following page, some selected comments from student focus group interviews are provided that illustrate those elements of WickED that were popular with students. Focus group students comprised year 5 – year 8 students; that is students at the higher end of the targeted age group – those aged approximately 10 – 13 years.

Table 1: Elements of WickED that were popular with students

Students were very positive about the interactives, which are the most popular feature of the site with this group of students; these are what drew them to the site and they believed they learned from these (for example Maori language; times tables; vocabulary). Interaction, particularly in the form of highly visual games, were an important key attractant to the site⁴. As well as enjoying the digital interactions, students felt they learned a lot.

Immediacy is a high priority for users. The children interviewed here are not interested in waiting for any feedback. They prefer immediate interaction, as opposed to the Any Questions site, which requires waiting for a librarian to get back to them.

Students appeared to like the fact that the site was not wholly text-based. If they wanted to find information about a topic, they didn’t necessarily need to read large amounts of written material – they could choose the more interactive option.

f) Elements of WickED that students’ felt helped with their learning

Those elements of WickED that were considered by these students to be most helpful with their learning are shown in Figure 6 below. Students appear to have found value in all areas of the site, with a concentration of value being found in the themes, the interactives and mathematics areas.

Figure 6: Students’ perceptions of WickED content areas they felt helped them with their learning

One quarter of the students considered the ‘Themes’ area to be of most value for learning with over one in five considering that maths was useful and 17% considering that the interactives (or quizzes)⁵ were valuable. Interactives were located within all three of these areas as well as spelling (9%), literacy (7%) and Maori content (1%). It is interesting that 10% of students found the scientific information useful for learning but students who were interviewed indicated that they considered the science area was too static and needed more interactives. (SeeTable 3 below).

g) Elements of WickED that were less popular with students

In Table 2 below, some selected comments from student group interviews are provided that illustrate those elements of WickED that were less popular with students.

Table 2: Elements of WickED that were less popular with students  

Students disliked the ‘hosts with no faces’ function. This was an element of WickED that felt odd to them. One student described her confusion when she first saw them, thinking that there might be something wrong with her computer or internet connection. There was no information on the site about the hosts, making it difficult to find their names and find out something about their personalities and what their purpose was intended to be.

The focus group students indicated they wanted more movement, for example one student suggested the science page was too static. Several suggested that a ‘game’ would increase engagement and draw them in.

The students interveiwed were used to using social software where they could customise and control the look of the interface, for example they could personalise it by changing the theme and colours and other aspects.

The Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) training session was key to helping students better understand the site and how to use it, but without this they felt it very difficult to navigate and use. The training was also where schools found out about the site. No students had discovered it on their own though some used it once they had been shown it.

As a tool for inquiry, WickED was considered by students interviewed to be unsatisfactory, and despite the site being a place to find resources, students did not like using it as such. They expressed preference for internet search engines such as Google where it was easier to find the very specific links they were looking for.

h) Student suggestions for improvement of WickED

In group interviews, students demonstrated a considerable level of sophistication in their knowledge and understanding of the principles of web design, based on their experience as internet users. In Table 3 below, some selected comments from student group interviews are provided that illustrate ways in which students felt WickED could be improved.

Table 3: Ways in which students felt WickED could be improved

Students were able to provide comparisons with features on named sites they thought could be incorporated into the WickED site, such as the activities on the ‘Maths Week’ website which provides games and also quizzes with rewards provided in the form of a cumulative activity log which deals with budgeting and money management, allowing the user to build up points. There was also the ‘Bebo’ website where students were able to personalise their web presence. Students said they found many other sites that were often superior to some of the links supplied by WickED.

It was not clear to students that they could contribute to the site. They either did not know about the forums or they did not want to contribute to them at school because of the warnings they had received from teachers regarding chatroom use. They feared getting into trouble and therefore kept away. Many schools also blocked access so students were unable to contribute.

Teachers’ perceptions of WickED

a) Examples of teachers use of the WickED website

Teachers were interviewed about their perceptions of WickED and the ways they were using WickED with their students. Table 4 below illustrates some of the ways teachers were using WickED with their students.

Table 4: Ways in which teachers were using WickED with their students

Examples of embedded uses of WickED by teachers in curricular activities and classroom themes were quite limited. Reasons for this may include limited access to enough computers in the classroom for students or teachers simply being unable to use the resources for whole class activities because they do not have the means to show the activities to the whole class via a data projector or interactive whiteboard.

Although several teachers indicated they were using WickED with their classes (see examples in Table 4), other teachers viewed WickED as an educational resource that they left their students to use quite independently of what was happening in the classroom. Several examples were offered where WickED was used for independent homework practice activities where students were known to have access to a computer and internet at home.

b) Elements of WickED that were popular with teachers

Table 5 provides a list of those elements of the site that were more popular with teachers.

Table 5: Some popular elements of WickED with teachers

The level of interactivity, the fun and brightness of the site, the level of language used and the fact that resources recommended on the site could be trusted were all positives for the teachers who were using the resources.

c) Barriers to teachers use of WickED

Table 6 provides some examples of comments teachers offered about the barriers to use of the WickEDsite they had experienced.

Table 6: Some barriers to use of WickED for teachers 

Many of the barriers experienced by teachers were of a technical nature and it is not known whether the causes were the result of technical issues within their own schools or whether the reasons lay within the WickED site itself. Interestingly members of the research team did come across broken links and interactives that only partially worked when they explored the site.

There were differences expressed between teachers on their opinions of the quality and usefulness of the training in use of WickED. Some teachers were very positive but several felt that it did not assist them to find ways of using the site with students in their particular context.

There is also some evidence of a lack of familiarity with the internet coming through in some of these teachers comments as they appeared to be unaware that some links from WickED took them beyond the WickED site.

The usefulness of WickED for new pedagogical approaches in classrooms was also questioned. Teachers apparently considered it was not always suitable for inquiry-based learning and felt that other sites offered better services where specific resources or information could be more easily targeted. Web resources that were commonly used included, ‘How Stuff Works’, ‘Ask Jeeves for Kids’, ‘Deep in Spaces (Games)’, ‘Creative chemistry,’ ‘CountOn’ (for maths games) and more.

Some teacher suspicion about role of and value of games for a more serious educational purpose is evident and is highlighted in the final comment in Table 5. This issue is raised and considered in more detail in the final section of this report.

Several teachers raised the issue of exactly how well many children actually related to WickED activities.There is some evidence of this when the numbers of students who make return visits the site are considered. There are a large number of students who do not choose to return after their initial visits to the site. If students convey an, ‘I’ve been there and already done that’ attitude towards the site, teachers are unlikely to recommend their students revisit site.

d) Teacher’s suggestions for improvement

Table 7 below provides a list of comments from teachers about aspects of WickED that would improve the usefulness of the site.

Table 7: Teacher suggestions for improvements to WickED

Both teachers and students recommended better search tools for WickED because finding materials was proving difficult. Both groups also suggested expanding the resources available or links to them on the site. Where students wanted more interactivity teachers were keener on having resources better linked to curriculum and ability levels and being informed about new resources in advance to aid incorporation of the site into planning.

One teacher indicated the need to better target niche groups for whom English is a second language.

Footnotes

1. Nielsen NetRatings Report, Dec 2006 p.23 states that 87% of New Zealand 7 – 12 year olds have access to the internet at home.
   
2. Throughout the discussions with CWA staff, teachers and students the terms “games””, “quizzes” and “interactives” were used interchangeably to describe the interactive online activities that were available.
   
3. ‘Interactives’ is the overarching name given to a range of digital resources where children can manipulate objects or provide answers to the website and receive immediate feedback as to the correctness of their choices. This includes manipulating game pieces, providing text answers to quizzes, crosswords, and multiple-choice questions and uploading personally created content. In some of the raw data used for this report, interactives have been referred to by such terms as quizzes and games.
   
4. Students used the words ‘interactives’, ‘games’ and ‘quizzes’ interchangeably in the interview data and adults tended to use the terms interchangeably in the survey questionnaires.
   
5. The term ‘quizzes’, as bracketed and illustrated in Figure 6, was applied in the original question in the children’s survey about WickED.
   
6. Reference to the Hell Pizza company website that includes some interactive, fun features