Innovative teaching not technology alone has ’greatest impact’ in the classroom

Digital technologies in the classroom must go hand in hand with innovative teaching to have a true impact on educational achievements, research involving academics at The University of Nottingham has shown. The academics from Nottingham's Learning Sciences Research Institute , in collaboration with the London Knowledge Lab , say that — just like traditional school resources — the key to success is the way in which digital technologies like interactive whiteboards, laptops and tablets are used. This new research suggests we need to ask more meaningful questions about technology and learning. The traditional approach asks whether a type of technology helps learning and always finds the answer is "it depends". So instead we need to ask what are the most effective activities for learners and then find ways that technology can support them. Director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute in the University's School of Education, Professor Charles Crook , said : "The good news is that this question can be answered with clear and compelling answers. Educational research has shown that children can be engaged with computer programming when they are given a tool that allows them to write code that generates simple animations".