Analysis

As Safia had spent only four minutes in reminding the pupils of the previous lesson and had then immediately asked them to open their tablets, I concluded that that the lesson comprised one main part preceded by an introductory linking task, so that it would be appropriate to analyse it as a whole, using the principles of activity theory.

Collectivity: Apart from the warm-up task, tablets were used throughout the lesson, in an Activity lasting until the end of the lesson. To construct a general understanding of their use in the lesson, it is necessary to examine in detail how they were used throughout this time. At various points during the lesson, the use of tablets can be seen differently, as each occasion presented aspects illustrating certain issues related to the introduction of tablets. There were incidents where tablet use triggered general issues, such as Safia and her pupils requiring technical support from Mariam. This support was not limited to the difficulty in opening the file, but paved the way for Ibtisam and Mariam to be involved in several other incidents during the lesson. On the other hand, it was obvious that the pupils were enthusiastic about using the tablets, paying close attention to the lesson and participating strongly. These issues are discussed further in the following paragraphs.

Multi-voicedness: Different viewpoints were represented within the Activity. First, Safia asked the pupils if they wanted to prolong the lesson into the break, showing her willingness to continue the lesson and to give up her free time to

do so. However, recognising that the break was also meant for the pupils, she decided to ask their opinion. Although only a few said that they wanted to take the break, she recognised that not everyone wanted to continue and decided to stop the lesson, not wishing to deny those who did not want to continue their right to a break. Interestingly, maintaining eye contact with other teachers as she gave her final decision made it appear that she was seeking their opinions and their approval of the decision that she was about to take. The second point concerns the pupils’ enthusiasm about using tablets in the lesson and their desire to make progress, shown by the observation that some offered to help their classmates once they had learned how to open the file. Their enthusiastic involvement in the lesson and the use of tablets was reflected in the fact that they did this without being told. As to the teacher, she made no objection to their moving from their seats and accepted that some pupils had the chance to share what they knew, thus helping their teacher by helping the other pupils.

History: The development of the tablet Activity is evident when the Activity is viewed in relation to its history, which is to be viewed both as development within the Activity and as the overall history of the Activity. As this was my first observation of Safia’s use of tablets in the classroom, no overall history of her teaching with tablets existed. However, Safia had attended the lesson that I observed a week earlier, where Ibtisam used tablets, and there were evident similarities between these lesson which are discussed in the summary of phase one (Section 4.4.7).

As to history within the Activity , there was a noticeable change in the pupils’ level of enthusiasm during the lesson, which began with them moving normally and listening attentively to the teacher as they waited for her instructions on what to do next. When they were asked to use the tablets there was a sudden burst of energy as they rushed to open the PowerPoint file, assuming that it would as usual be an easy task that they could do on their own, but they were faced with the first challenge which restrained their impulse and forced them to stop and wait for support. Not all pupils stopped for long and many actively continued using their tablets as the teachers helped individual pairs. Although

the pupils were asked to work in pairs, they did not care only about success within their own pairs, as those who had learned how to solve the problem went to help others. Their passion for using the tablets did not make them inconsiderate of their peers who were not able to start. The pupils remained alert throughout the lesson, following Safia’s instructions and answering her questions. The whole class called out in response to her question about the first picture and when she disapproved of this and asked them to raise their hands for permission to answer, the pupils did so, demonstrating their enthusiasm by calling “Teacher, teacher”. This continued with every slide and when the lesson ended before they had seen them all, a majority of the pupils were ready to give up their break time to continue the lesson. Furthermore, the fact that five pupils preferred to take a break does not indicate that they had not enjoyed the lesson.

It is notable that Safia stopped as soon as she was faced the first challenge, as she was unable to suggest how to open PowerPoint on the tablets. In fact, she did not even try, but instead immediately turned to Mariam for help. There were other examples, as Mariam and Ibtisam continued to support the pupils throughout the lesson and Safia appeared to depend on them in monitoring and supporting several pairs.

Contradictions are visible in attempts to resolve disturbances within an Activity. Although not every disturbance will necessarily lead to a contradiction, it was again important to begin by identifying the following disturbances that occurred during the lesson in relation to the introduction of tablets.

- The need for technical support required the ICT teacher to be present in the lesson.

- The PowerPoint presentation was shown on the smartboard, although pupils had the same material on their tablets.

- Pupils’ movement round the room was restricted by the tablets being connected to keyboards.

- Safia continued to talk to the class as a whole, regardless of the fact that they were working in pairs, and in return they replied together with one voice.

- Enthusiasm made Safia hurry through a session of rapid questions and answers to cover as many slides as she could within the limited time available. The pupils rushed to switch slides.

- The use of a PowerPoint presentation on devices with highly sensitive touch screens resulted in several pupils accidently changing slides at the wrong time by touching the screen while discussing a photo.

It is not clear why there was no use of educational apps, but Safia decided to use what was available, which was a PowerPoint presentation that had already been prepared. Despite minor problems such as multiple touches causing unwanted multiple slide changes, the pupils engaged strongly with the lesson. The use of tablets gave every pupil the chance to participate in controlling the PowerPoint slides, instead of them being entirely controlled by the teacher. Safia made use of her pupils’ engagement by involving them in a question and answer session, asking them open questions to elicit their knowledge of the topic and relate it to the photos provided.

On the other hand, the fact that Safia decided to show the PowerPoint slides simultaneously on the smartboard projector while the pupils viewed them on their devices, thus using two teaching technologies at the same time to present the same photos, appeared to be a strange approach to the task. However, it became apparent that this was useful for pupils who had lost track due to inadvertent slide changes to know which slide the teacher was talking about. On several occasions I observed pupils checking that they were in step with their teacher by looking at the smartboard.

Transformation: The pupils were not only following the teacher, but also controlling the display of slides on their tablets and referring to the smartboard display to keep in step with the rest of the class. Safia empowered the individual pupils through their use of the tablets to control the display of the

PowerPoint slides. As they were working in pairs, all pupils had the opportunity to change the slides by touching their screens. Safia’s use of the smartboard projector to provide a reference for pupils meant that while controlling their own slides, they could keep track of the lesson progress and discuss slide together as a class.

Almost all pupils participated in the whole class discussion with Safia, but they also had many small-scale discussions in their pairs. They thus engaged actively in discussing each photo in two ways. Safia asked them a rapid series of questions and they competed to answer first. However, those who were not given a chance to answer aloud were able to discuss their ideas with their partners. Safia was as active as her pupils, throwing out questions one after another. This action was useful for the discussion that she led, which was meant to engage every pupil in the class. However, the speed of this process meant that the pupils did not have much time for further discussion in pairs before the next question.

Safia lost a few minutes at the beginning of the lesson when the use of tablets was interrupted by a technical problem. It was not only a matter of lacking knowledge or experience; Safia did not waste time, which she knew was limited, on trial and error but turned directly to Mariam for help. Having offered some initial advice, Mariam gave further support by helping some of the pairs to open the file and Ibtisam also came forward to provide what support she could. Finally, the support that Safia received was not limited to her colleagues, as some pupils also helped to support their classmates.

Safia allowed the pupils to leave their seats to help each other without permission from her, but later in the lesson she told them to ask permission before giving answers to her questions. In a situation where both pupils and teacher were hurrying through the lesson, with rapid questions being answered immediately, Safia had to decide what was acceptable and what was not, in other words, whether to allow the pupils to continue to depart from the usual rule that pupils would need permission to move from their places or speak out loud. There were other occasions where Safia had to take

challenging decisions, such as asking pupils if they wanted to continue the lesson during the break, which indicates that she was willing to break the normal rule regarding the daily timetable. Finally, by making eye contact with her colleagues, Safia showed that she was consulting them and involving them in a major decision about her lesson.