E L ANÁLISIS DEL MEDIO Y DE LOS PROCESOS DE PRODUCCIÓN

Teachers were interviewed individually so they could speak freely about their experiences. Post-lesson interviews were conducted with teachers when tablets had been used in class. It was important to consider their plans, views and reflections on using tablets with their pupils in the classroom. Interviews with teachers were of a mixture of formal and informal conversational elements (Cohen et al., 2000), as informal interviews have the advantage of increasing the relevance of questions that emerge directly from context and observations. As Cohen et al. (2000) state, every type of interview also has its own weaknesses and this evidently applies to both formal and informal ones. Therefore, I prepared an interview schedule (Table 8) to guide the process of interviewing the different participants and to ensure a systematic exploration of the issues raised with each of them. The interview questions were driven by the research questions, based in turn on issues identified during the review of literature.

The schedule was designed to include questions on aspects of activity theory such as tablets (Artefacts), teachers and pupils (Subjects), Roles and Rules, and the Community. In order to avoid leading interviewees, essential questions were designed to be on relatively general topics and to give interviewees the freedom to express themselves. However, a column for further questions was added to cover specific areas raised in the literature, such as the nature of Activities

conducted with tablets or the difference between classes with tablets and those without. Since interviews were planned to occur during post-lesson observation, a third column was added for probing questions, such as teachers’ use of educational games, using tablets to connect to the internet in classrooms, using apps on tablets, teachers’ and pupils’ motivation to interact and the technical support which the literature reported teachers and pupils as demanding. Some modifications were also made to the schedule in response to the findings of the pilot study and to suit the Omani school context. Finally, different versions of the schedule were prepared to accommodate the differences among teachers, pupils, administrators and parents as interviewees.

I was able to conduct a total of ten individual interviews: one with the head teacher, two with the ICT teacher responsible for the tablet introduction project and seven with participating teachers. The plan was to use audio recording in order to capture all of the interviewees’ words as they were spoken and to allow the conversation to flow naturally, thus helping participants to connect their ideas more easily than would have been the case if I had asked them to speak slowly so that I could take simultaneous notes. All participants except one gave their consent to my use of an audio recorder during the interviews. One teacher had reservations and her opinion was respected. I had to ask her to speak slowly in order for me to take notes of the points she raised. This was challenging, as I had to spontaneously identify, capture and summarise different points that might have relevance to the research questions as the teacher was speaking. I found that it was not easy and that I needed to do more work immediately following the interview to unpack the summarised points in preparation for data analysis.

Table 8: Interview schedule

Research Question Essential Question Further Question Probing Q

1- What are the contextual factors mediating the use of tablets in the classroom?

3- In what way does the use of tablets affect teaching practice in the classroom?

Artefact direct impact (Tablets):

1. What difference does the introduction of tablets make in the class?

1- What happens when tablets are used in primary class?

2- What happened to pupils learning?

3- What happened to your teaching?

Influence to :

o Your school situation? o Curriculum?

o Pupils’ motivation?

1. What difference have the tablets made in the classroom

environment?

2. What about the school environment?

3. What is the nature of tasks used with tablets?

4. What types of activities are used?

Any change in classroom activities?

o Seating arrangement? o Pupils’ Movement? o Use of other tools? o What about lesson

timing?

Time Saved? /Disturbed? o Use of educative games?

Connection Required? o Individuals? Or group

work? internet in class? or out of class?

Impact on subject (Teachers ) 1. Has your teaching been

influenced by the

introduction of tablets? In what way?

1. How do you use tablets in your teaching?

2. Tell me about preparing tablet lessons.

o Has your teaching changed? In what way?

Research Question Essential Question Further Question Probing Q

2. What did you need to know in order to use tablets in

classes?

Impact on subject (Pupils) 1. Have tablets influenced pupils’

learning? In what way? 2. How do you see the ratio of

tablets and pupils’ relations?

1- Have you tried observing other teachers using tablets in their classes?

o Have you had formal training opportunities? What do you think of it? o What have you learned?

o Anything else you would like to know about using tablets in classes? Support?

1- What happened to pupils’ interactions?

2- What about pupils’ motor activities?

3- How would you describe pupil- pupil interaction when using tablets?

o Pupil-pupil / teacher-pupil o Their attention?

o Readiness to learn?

o Skills? Any new skills? o Group work?

Research Question Essential Question Further Question Probing Q Impact on Division of Labour

1- Who plays a role in preparing and implementing a lesson with tablets?

1- What roles do pupils play?

2- Have you learned (anything) from pupils in using tablets?

o Who gets involved? And how?

o What roles do pupils play?

o Has it happened? Any possibility?

Impact on class rules

1. What are the rules associated with using tablets in class / school?

1. Any change to classroom culture?

Norms? Any restrictions?

Impact on Community 1. What influence have tablets

had on the school community? 2. What comments have you

received from parents regarding tablet use?

1. Has the introduction of tablets influenced teachers’ willingness to take up technology? In what way? 2. As tablets are kept in the Learning

Resource Centre, what

implications does that have for other classes?

Research Question Essential Question Further Question Probing Q 2- What are the

impacts in terms of the roles and responsibilities of the agents

involved in using tablets in the classroom?

Artefact direct impact (Tablets):

1. What factors do you think affect tablet use in class? 2. What would help to improve

the current situation?

1. What factors do you think determine the frequency of your tablet use with pupils?

2. What factors determine the choice of apps?

o What

facilitates/obstructs? o Who plays a role in that?

Impact on subject (Teachers ) 1. What do you think teachers

require for tablet use?

2. How do you think teachers can make the most of tablets in class?

Impact on subject (Pupils) 1. How do you think pupils can

make the most of tablets in class?

1. What factors may support them?

o Training? o Resources?

o Change in teaching hours?

Research Question Essential Question Further Question Probing Q Impact on Division of Labour

1. Who do you think can provide support for tablet use?

1. Who can support teachers work? 2. How can support be provided to

pupils?

o How/in what way?

Impact on class rules 1. What do you think of the

school rules for tablet use? 1. If you were to amend the rules, what changes would you suggest? Impact on Community

1. What are other school teachers’ views of using tablets in class?

2. What are parents’ views of the use of tablets in class?

1. What would you expect from parents?