ICT and distance learning for traveller pupils
Summary
With the help of laptops with access to email, the internet – and increasingly, to learning platforms – learners from traveller communities can be supported by their base schools by distance learning.
Organisational information
Name: Ken Marks
Organisation: Department of Educational Studies, University of Sheffield
Project overview
In England, around 12,000 school-age gypsy and traveller children miss a significant part of their schooling because their families follow a mobile pattern during their main working season. The E-learning and Mobility Project (ELAMP) has been exploring the potential of ICT to support these learners since 2004, and currently supports approximately 500 mobile learners from 30 local authorities.
This article looks at some of the lessons learned from the project, in which over 90 per cent of the learners were felt to have made ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ progress on their return to school.
Introduction
A survey undertaken in 2004 suggested that approximately 12,000 school-age gypsy and traveller children across English local authorities miss a significant part of their schooling because their families follow a mobile pattern during their main working season. These pupils normally attend a ‘base-school’ during the winter months and while some travel away for relatively short periods, others may be away for up to eight months of the year. Clearly such travel patterns pose a major challenge in terms of learning continuity and affect the progress which pupils are able to make.
A series of ELAMP initiatives, funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and co-ordinated by the National Association of Teachers of Travellers (NATT), has set out to explore the possibilities of supporting learners through ICT, and around 500 mobile learners are currently supported across 30 local authorities. These learners are mostly drawn from Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. Equipped with wireless laptops, GPRS and 3G mobile telephone networks, they are able to communicate, to access learning resources online, and email completed coursework back to their base school, while they are on the move or based elsewhere in the country. Since September 2008, ELAMP has also begun to explore the overlap with the Home Access programme by including a focus on ICT support for non-mobile gypsy and traveller pupils.
The ELAMP approach
The approach builds from the learner's base school and the objective is to provide continuity of learning. ELAMP has focused its efforts on children who miss a significant part of their schooling – usually more than six weeks during the academic year, although some young participants have been away for shorter periods.
Work at school during the winter is supplemented by the preparation of distance learning programmes which may use traditional distance learning pack, but increasingly make use of interactive materials and web-based communication. School preparation is normally supported by local Traveller Education Support Service (TESS) staff.
An effective school-supported distance learning approach requires clear commitment from schools to invest time and effort in responding to this challenge.
Barriers and enablers
ELAMP highlighted a range of factors for success in supporting these learners whilst away from their base schools.
A clear structure in school
If the school is to develop distance learning support for these learners, someone at an appropriate level needs to have the overall responsibility, and someone needs to handle day-to-day coordination. Within ELAMP this worked best where a member of the school management team had a proactive role and another member of staff, often a teaching assistant, was given time to keep in contact with families and liaise with relevant teaching staff. The day-to-day co-ordination role was especially important in secondary schools, where a number of subject-based teachers might well be involved.
Effective home–school links
Communication flow turned out to be a critical factor. If families didn’t hear from their school and teachers at regular intervals, or if teachers didn’t provide supportive feedback, motivation could wane very quickly. In the same way, if pupils didn’t return work at agreed intervals, busy teaching staff began to question the extra effort they had made to prepare materials. Checking on this flow, and following up gaps, proved to be a critical part of the coordination role.
A clear ‘learning agreement’ with parent and learners
Parents need to know what is expected of their children so they can supervise sessions in the home effectively, and here learning agreements proved a useful tool, which could also consolidate family commitment to the process. In ELAMP the framework for such agreements varied across schools but generally set out targets for:
- time to be spent on school work
- amounts of work to be completed
- sending completed work back to school
- keeping in email contact with school at agreed intervals.
These agreements also had a section setting out targets for the school, in terms of how work would be made available to the learner and at what intervals, as well as commitments to providing feedback and keeping families informed. In addition the agreement would have a space for school and family contact details.
Such learning agreements were normally put together by the school but then discussed with parents before being finalised and were signed by pupils, parents and a member of staff. Some schools have also designed a log to go with the agreement so that families can record work done and time spent, and these logs can be returned to schools at agreed intervals.
Realism in what can be achieved
It is important to be realistic about the role of distance learning both in consolidating work which has already been covered in class, and in extending to new areas. A number of factors need to be taken in to account and these include the experience of the school, and individual teachers, in supporting distance learning, as well as the experience of the pupil and the family.
Within ELAMP it became clear that it was important to start by prioritising key areas, especially those which would reinforce literacy and language skills, and to plan from a baseline of expecting the pupil to spend ten hours per week on their schoolwork. Numeracy was also a key focus. In the secondary context this time-commitment often built up fairly quickly to embrace a range of subject areas, especially where pupils were in, or approaching, Key Stage 4. However, personalisation was an important factor and the level and nature of increasing commitment proved very dependent on the progress of individual learners.
The other major aspect of realism concerns the nature of the curriculum, especially where it involves practical activity. The range of courseware and web-based materials which have increasingly become available means that pupils can now continue work in areas like modern foreign languages and science, although they may need to catch up on practical aspects of their work when they return to school.
Planning resources
There proved to be two dimensions to the challenge of providing effective support. The first was the identification of suitable learning material and the second was the commitment to active communication with pupils, with a focus of stimulating and reinforcing learning activity. Clearly materials need to be at a suitable level for the pupil, and it is an added advantage if they are specifically designed for independent use. The proliferation of interactive courseware is opening up an increasing range of options, but there are also continuity advantages if some of the material allocated to the distance learner remains the same as that used by classmates, even if it remains fairly traditional. Activity packs may also be especially important for primary pupils and to support practical aspects of some secondary work.
Planning for communication
The second dimension, active communication, has proved just as important. The key here is for the teacher/tutor to think about the learning process from the perspective of the distant learner. Are there significant teaching points to be conveyed before the learner can use the materials on their own? What practical instructions are needed before the learner gets under way with each task? How will the work be ‘chunked’ into units which the learner can handle over time? What arrangements are there for the family to make contact if the learner gets stuck with a piece of work? How will work be exchanged and how will feedback be provided?
Planning for families and staff
Once a school has decided on the framework of a plan to begin to support and coordinate distance learning for these learners, it is clearly important to think about preparing the ground.
In ELAMP, local TESS staff often played a key role in supporting schools, especially at this developmental stage. They also became involved in helping to organise initiatives to prepare pupils and parents. Parents need to be aware of internet safety issues, and the health and safety considerations inherent in family use of ICT equipment. They need an overview of what their children will be expected to do, and which curriculum areas will be covered. They need to know about targets for returning work and keeping in contact with school.
Impact, outcomes and sustainability
The various phases of ELAMP have been monitored and evaluated by the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Sheffield. The evidence confirms that school-supported distance learning can be made much more effective by ICT enhancement, with schools providing a range of courseware and access to web-based materials, as well as exchanging work and feedback with pupils. Some schools are also beginning to use their learning platform to support the process, by providing access to teaching/learning spaces which are specifically designed to encourage independent and home-based learning.
Most of the ELAMP schools started out in simple ways, some with just email exchanges and selected disk-based courseware. However, as they have gained experience, ICT has been critical in creating effective communication bridges between home and school, as well as giving pupils access to a broad range of learning materials, and to the web as a major learning resource. Whilst most schools have then kept to a pattern which involves an exchange of work via email attachments, others have also begun to use learning platforms, and one or two have experimented with possibilities like videoing and transmitting lessons.
The good news from ELAMP was that making a start in simple ways often had an immediate impact on pupil progress. In particular it wasn’t necessary to rely on identifying sophisticated interactive materials. Using normal classroom resources, like worksheets and textbooks, could be very effective, provided the teacher planned for, and maintained, a flow of teacher–learner communication to underpin the learning process through the use of email and attachments. Active communication and support from teachers was probably the most powerful motivating factor for these young isolated learners.
Effectiveness has mainly been explored by tracking the first year progress of the 140 learners who joined the project in 2006, and by a series of case studies, including studies of learners who have been supported by their schools for at least four years. Over 90 per cent of the 2006 cohort were felt, by teaching staff, to have made ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ progress when they returned to school at the end of the travelling season, and these figures correlated with their impressions of the impact which ICT enhancements had had in supporting distance learning activities. The case studies also highlight ways in which interactive materials and access to web-based sources can encourage very positive learner engagement. In addition they show encouraging evidence of the effectiveness of the approach over time, with these young learners developing their independent learning skills, and becoming increasingly self-motivated and self-directed.
Clearly, as with any new undertaking, expertise in offering distance learning support to pupils develops over time. Teachers need to gain experience of the support process and to become familiar with a range of useful ICT materials. Confidence with ICT may also be a developmental issue for some.
The evidence collated for the project further suggests that effectiveness is dependent on active linkage between parents and schools. This was reflected in efforts by schools to engage parents in planning processes, prior to the travelling season. However, feeling part of the school community, even whilst away, seems to be an even more powerful parental motivator. Families particularly valued being kept in touch by email, both to share information and school news and to seek advice or express concerns.
Voice of the learner
Thomas and Jade are part of a Fairground family which travels extensively from February to September each year. Both started with ELAMP in 2004, when Thomas was in Year 6 and Jade in Year 3, and were supported by their local schools in Cambridgeshire. As well as using email and attachments to exchange work with school, and to receive feedback, they also kept in touch with ‘buddies’ whilst at junior school by swapping emails.
Jade says, “Computer-based work is just more enjoyable,” whilst Thomas (now in Key Stage 4 and preparing for exams) emphasises the value of the internet as a research tool. He also appreciates being able to contact teachers "If I'm stuck on something or a bit confused.”
Chantelle joined the project in 2005 when she was at middle school as her family travelled away from their Northumberland base for relatively short periods. Her ambition is to be “a lawyer for Gypsy Traveller people” and she has gone on to be the first member of her extended family to transfer to the local high school.
Chantelle finds that “The computer makes you want to do more….you do more without realising it, especially writing things”. If she doesn’t immediately understand school work, her first thought is to use the internet. She also likes “getting a head start”, so if a teacher mentions a future topic in school, she does some web-based research in advance.
Conclusions
Over 150 schools across 30 local authorities are currently working with mobile traveller pupils in order to provide continuity through school-supported distance learning. Approximately half of these schools are supporting primary-age children, and the rest are supporting secondary pupils.
ELAMP has been valuable in identifying factors which are important for the successful support of groups of pupils who have to miss part of their normal schooling. These included having a clear structure in school which reflects a commitment to the challenge. They also focused on the key area of parental engagement, especially important as it is parents and carers who need to provide day-to-day supervision and support for home-based learning.
To be successful, schools needed to take the initiative wherever possible by preparing parents in advance, by listening to their concerns, by introducing learning agreements, by having a known and named member of staff as the hub of communication, and by ensuring a communication flow which made both learners and parents feel that they were still part of the school community. Once parents were involved, and as their confidence developed, it was encouraging to see them becoming active partners, especially in the primary sector.
The other message from ELAMP has been that schools need to be realistic in terms of what can be achieved via distance learning support, and also need to develop the skills necessary to support the process over time.
Much has depended on the school and the extent to which technology is integrated with pedagogy, and this seems likely to continue to be a crucial factor if school-supported distance learning is to become an option for all pupils who might benefit during periods of absence. Learning platforms in particular have the potential to encourage both planned educational home use of ICT and the development of the self-directed learning skills which are important in the distance learning context. The Home Access programme should also go some way to addressing the digital divide and further encourage schools to build home–school thinking into their everyday teaching and learning processes, making a more immediate platform from which to support absent pupils.
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