ICT - Tool or Object?

1. ICT - Tool or Object? Tay Lee Yong – Beacon Primary School A/P Lim Cher Ping – Edith Cowan University, Australia Abu Naeem & Tan Pau Cheng – River Valley Primary School

2. Overview/Background • Re-engagement of academically at-risk students with a 3D Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) in an after-school programme • Game-like Elements such as avatars, 3D environment, reward system, and digital artefacts • Improvement of academic performance

3. What is Quest Atlantis (QA)?

4. What is Quest Atlantis (QA)?

5. What is Quest Atlantis (QA)?

6. What is Quest Atlantis (QA)?

7. Why QA after-school programme Evidences from research studies • After-school programme can be effectively used to engage students in school related work • Students are attracted to video games • QA processes certain game-like elements • Learning environments that are nurturing and supportive develop students’ sense of confidence and self-determination

8. Implementation of the QA programme • After-school Programme (after-school hours) • Part of the school’s remediation programme • Weakest students of the Primary 5 cohort (14 students – both boys and girls) • Basic deliverable is to improve students’ academic performance

9. Outcomes of the QA after-school programme • Students more engaged in their learning and especially in the learning of ICT related skills • No significant difference in academic performance • Programme started off with irregular attendance (74%, 84%, 85%, 89% from Term I to Term IV) • Attendance improve gradually over the weeks and attracted other Primary 5 students • Role of ICT has to go beyond the role of a mediating tool • Cultural-Historical Activity Theoretical (CHAT) framework adopted for the analysis of this programme

10. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory • Object-orientedness - All human activities are directed toward their objects • Internalization-externalization - With mental processes versus external behavior and inter-psychological versus intra-psychological • Mediation - Given the interaction between people and their environments, the principle of tool mediation plays a central role in Activity Theory • Development - Activity Theory proposes that human interaction with reality should be analyzed in the context of development

11. Motivation of Students for the after-school programme • Attendance rate of students improved gradually over the year-long after-school programme • Teacher as the authority figure to enforce the rules during the initial phase of programme • Students were not automatically motivated and attracted to the after-school programme as well as the QAMUVE

12. Disturbances • Tools: • Computers & other Technological Peripherals • QA MUVE • Outcome: • Attendance at the QA after-school programme • Non-attendance at the QA after-school program Object: To attend or not to attend the after-school programme Subject: Students • Rules: • Selected students to attend the QA after-school programme • Behave according to the expectations of the teachers, parents, and the school to complete quests that were assigned Division of Labour: • Community: • Teachers • Parents • School • Peers

13. Engagement of Students on Quests • Students not automatically attracted to Quests • Of the 19 Quests assigned by the teachers, students attempted an average of 9.6 Quests, and an acceptance rate of 4.6 Quests. • Students engaged with the 3D environment (avatars), lumins, cols, and digital artefacts, etc. • Students also engaged with their favourite Internet sites.

14. The avatars &lumins

15. Disturbances • Tools: • Computers & other Technological Peripherals • QA MUVE Object: To attempt or not to attempt the quests • Outcome: • Engagement in non-academic related online fun & games • Engagement in academic related quests Subject: Students • Rules: • Rules & expectations of the school to attend the after-school programme • Rules & expectations of the after-school programme teachers to do quests • Community: • Teachers • Parents • School • Peers Division of Labour:

16. Disturbances • Tools: • Computers & other Technological Peripherals • QA MUVE • Outcome: • Access favourite Internet sites & explore QA’s 3D Space • Submission of quests to earn lumins & cols to change their avatars, luminate, and exchange for digital artefacts within the QA MUVE Object: QA 3D space, collection lumins, cols, & digital artefacts Subject: Students Division of Labour Community Rules

17. Main Findings / Learning Points • Importance of the Teacher • Motivation of the Students towards the QA programme • Importance of Social Mediators (Engestrom, 1999) • Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation (Lepper & Henderlong, 2000) • Is QA a tool or an object? (Engestrom & Escalante, 1996) • Engagement is paramount to learning success (Herrington, Oliver, & Reeves, 2003) • Elements that enhance Students’ learning attitude (Lim, 2004)

18. Issues • MUVE – costly? • Engaging elements – challenge, curiosity, control, fantasy, competition, cooperation, recognition (Malone & Lepper, 1987) • Games or Game-like Learning Environment is Schools? • Iterative approach (action research approach) • ICT – a tool or an object?

19. What’s next? • RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Programme) • After-school programme for students with social-behavioural problems • Useful as a tool to engage the students • English ENABLE programme • Enhance students’ engagement in writing tasks • Integration of ICT into the teaching and learning

20. Thank You! Tay Lee Yong – Beacon Primary School tay_lee_yong@moe.edu.sg; tay.leeyong@bcps.sg A/P Lim Cher Ping – Edith Cowan University, Australia c.lim@ecu.edu.au Abu Naeem & Tan Pau Cheng – River Valley Primary School abu_naeem_b_hairon@moe.edu.sg, tan_pau_cheng@moe.edu.sg