Programación del toolbox

Punch (2009) points out that interviews allow the researcher to access individuals’

perspectives, meanings, and construction of reality. Kvale (1996) defined interviews as “an interchange of views between two or more people on a topic of mutual interest”(p. 14). He saw such interchanges as central for knowledge production. Interviews can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured depending on the aims of the researcher (Punch, 2009).

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Structured interviews are often used when the researcher is fairly certain he or she has covered all the key areas and wants all participants to follow the same sequence of

questions. Bryman (2001) agrees that a structured interview is easier to analyse, but at one extreme it could end up being a questionnaire and the benefit of face-to-face interaction will be lost. Semi-structured interviews differ from structured ones by allowing the

interviewer to ask follow-up questions and not be so restricted. The questions are generally more open. Unstructured interviews have only a very loose schedule or sequence of

questions. This type of interview is often used when the researcher has little knowledge or preconception about the topic or is trying to ‘bracket’ knowledge and preconceptions. In my study, I used semi-structured interviews first with the Classera director and again in the third stage of my study with heads and teachers. I decided to use semi-structured ones because through my reading and through my knowledge of the context I judged that the areas to cover were adequately known beforehand. On the other hand, I did not want interviewees to feel constrained. In practice, the interviewees were often keen to talk about their teaching and their use of technology and the semi-structured questions were used flexibly. The interviews gave the participants the chance to talk about the use of technology in their daily lives and their use of Classera and then to follow up any other less expected issues that arose. Nearly all the interviews were conducted in the first language of the participants, which was Arabic: this was an obvious choice because many of the teachers were not confident in English and they could express themselves much more fluently in Arabic. It had a disadvantage for me because my thesis is in English and so it required me to translate quite a lot for the benefits of a wider readership. Two colleagues did choose to speak in English, feeling confident because they were teaching in the medium of English language. In fact, these teachers were from India and were not confident of speaking in Arabic in any case.

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Administering the interview of the teachers and heads

In carrying out the interviews, heads and teachers were informed about the purpose of the study and were assured that the data would only be used for research purposes.

Additionally, permission was taken from each of the participants for recording the

interviews. Most of the interviews were recorded digitally. The interviews with both heads and the teachers followed clear guidelines. Firstly, I discussed with each of them about the best time and place to conduct the interview. Then, after time and place were established, the purpose of the study was introduced and a description of the questions was provided. A total of 14 teachers and 5 of school heads were interviewed. In each school, three teachers were interviewed. However, one of the interviews was interrupted because the interviewee’s class was about to start.

I recruited a sample of teachers by asking for three volunteers to participate when visiting the staff room. I could have recruited more, as teachers were happy to do this. I felt by accessing the staffroom that I could access typical teachers with no special interest either way in Classera. Of course, their willingness to talk could indicate they might be more confident than other teachers in terms of using technologies, but from comparing the interview and survey data this did not seem to be the case. Most of the interviews lasted around40 minutes.

The first phase of the interview (interviewing Classera director)

The interview with the Classera director was conducted online over Skype, after an initial visit when I was in Saudi Arabia. The interview itself lasted around 55 minutes. According to O’Connor et al. (2008), adopting online research methods is valuable where it allows the researcher to complete the study in spite of distance between him or her and interviewees. Mertens (1998) suggested that appropriate time for the telephone interviews and the use of the online medium should be negotiated and agreed upon with the participants before

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carrying out an interview. Additionally, participants should be informed at the beginning of the interview about the interview’s purpose, a description of the questions and the

confidentiality of data that will be gathered and whether a voice recorder was to be used for research purposes. In this study, all of these recommendations were considered and after gaining permission to record, the interview was carried out. I found the interview went very well and it felt comfortable talking through the Skype; clearly the participant was very used to talking through Skype due to the nature of her work. In establishing a rapport, it helped that I had already visited face-to-face.

The interview questions were divided into four main sections. The first part focused on general information about the programme, including who developed Classera, their reasons and aims, what other software the company was selling, the countries they were aiming to sell in and what future development they foresaw. The second section was focused on the benefits. Questions in this section included: ‘What benefits are there for the learners’; Do you think the learners will find learning more fun using this programme; What does a teacher tell you are the benefits of using this programme?’. The third part dealt mainly with take up including: ‘Are you especially interested in the school sector? Or higher education; Type and number of schools that are using Classera portal, to what extent the programme is being used in the schools that have adopted it?’ The last section was focused on support. This covered the nature of training courses they offered for schools, the difficulties schools faced through taking up the use of the programme, the support schools received. I also asked permission to have help in finding schools in which to see Classera used (see appendix C).

I was aware that some of these questions may have been commercially sensitive. However, the Classera director also knew this and only spoke about plans in very general terms. I

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gave a record of the interview back to the director for checking to see if there was anything she was not happy with. I felt that the director was trustworthy and did not try to praise her product over the other products. However, clearly she represented the commercial interests of the company.

The second phase of interviews (teacher interviews)

These interviews were conducted face-to-face when I was visiting Saudi Arabia. I felt the teachers would be more comfortable with face-to-face interactions, compared to the director, who was someone who worked in the technology and industry. Most of the interviews lasted around 45 minutes. I thought the interviews went well. I felt comfortable talking with the teachers and the teachers did not seem stressed or unhappy about taking part. They were not in a hurry to finish the interviews.

The interview schedule was divided into 12 themes. The first six parts covered: general information about the teachers themselves; their use of ICT and Classera; what they liked and disliked about Classera; their learners’ use of Classera; their beliefs towards Classera use; their beliefs about teaching and learning. The next four sections focused on: their schools and the infrastructure of ICT in their schools; training courses they attended; ICT policies; the nature of leadership in their school. The final two sections concentrated on: opportunities and constraints teachers experienced while using Classera; their attitudes towards some of the culture beliefs as using internet in schools and communicating with learners at home through email and discussion board. Some prompting questions were added under each main section (four to five additional questions), in order to guide me if teachers did not have anything to say through the interview (see appendix D).

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Third phase of the interview (headteacher interviews)

The interviews with headteachers were also face-to-face. The headteachers were open and responded in a candid manner to all of the question that I wanted to ask. However, I felt interviewing the headteachers was more stressful for me and that might have been because they were in important positions in the school hierarchy. The headteachers were very busy and although they gave me time they were interrupted by teachers with pressing questions. The interviews lasted around 30 minutes. The interview schedule was designed to cover: general information about their schools and why they thought to use VLE; what

encouraged and discouraged the school; what were their goals and visions; what was the Ministry role towards VLE implementation in schools; their use of ICT and Classera; their beliefs toward leadership (see appendix B).