Caribbean Studies

Internal Assessment
Topic: To determine how technology can positive impact the grades of
students.

Name: Kevaughn Hewitt

Teacher: Ms Burke
School: St Jago
 Acknowledgement
 It is my humble privilege to record the names of the persons who helped me in the completion of this

project. Firstly I would like to thank God for giving me the strength to complete this project. I would also

like to express gratitude to my subject teacher Ms Burke for giving us such a wonderful project which is

related to our syllabus and helped to improve my knowledge. I am also grateful to my family and friends

who provided assistance.

 Introduction and Purpose of Research

Research topic: Technology

Problem Statement: To determine how technology can positively impact the grades of students.

Aims/Objectives:

What devices can be used in the education process?

This research is tailored towards determining if the use of technology can positively impact the grades of

students at St Jago high. The 21st century is often referred as the "technology age" and boasts many

technological advances which can be used to aid teaching. Many schools and learning institutions have

used these advancements and have garnered positive results. Amidst this there are institutions that are

still using a century old method of teaching and have not adapted the "21 st century method". This

research seeks to highlight the benefits that can be gained from the implementation of technology

within the teaching process.

Definition of key terms:

Technology- machinery and devices developed from scientific knowledge used to make tasks simpler.

Teaching/teaching process- the act of imparting skill or known using various skills and techniques.

Technological devices – Computer devices that can be used to complete various such as word

processing.
 Literature Review

Over the past few years technology has grown exponentially and has spread its borders to include

advancements that are applicable to the education sector. Technology has completely revolutionized

the education system and have shifted teachers from the sole providers of knowledge and information

to facilitators of the education process.

Technology has progressed past the traditional chalk and board to the use of different audio-visual

equipment to further engage students and to also provide them with a better means of understanding

difficult concepts. It is widely thought that the integration of technology into the education process is

the way forward. An article written by Tom Kaneshige senior writer for a popular website

networkworld.com states that three out of four teacher think that technology positively impacts the

education process. An article on website techhub.com share the same sentiments but goes further to

say that technology improves the retention rate of students. Other benefits of technology in the

education system include wider access to information and more interactive teaching lessons.

St. Joblin high school is one of the many schools who have moved away from the traditional method of

teaching to a more technology focused method. The institution has implemented a system where books

are replaced by laptops. The students receive notes in soft copy and also electronic textbooks books are

used. In an interview with a writer from futureofworking.com a student from Joblin high stated that the

use of the laptop gives her access to more resources which she can use to her advantage. She went on

further to say that prior to this new system she was limited to the textbook and her teachers notes

which often times was very limited. Another student highlighted the fact that the use of soft copy notes

increases the efficiency of teaching as time wasted writing notes is greatly reduced. St Joblin high also
installed smart boards as a part of their new system. These smart boards can be used to display

presentations, animations and can also be used to connect to the internet.

Here in Jamaica the government have implemented measures to promote the use of technology in the

education system. An Article posted on the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) website stated in March of

2015 the ministry of education distributed tablets in 38 schools which encompassed 28,000 students

and 1,200 teachers receiving the devices. when asked about technology in schools Ronald Thwaites said

that "the venture will rebound to benefit the country". The government also invested 1.2 Billion in and

online interactive educational based website which seeks to aid high school students with subjects such

and mathematics, physics and chemistry. The JIS article also states that the government will continue its

investment in Information and Communications Technology(ICT) as a means of improving the quality of

education and enhancing the learning experience.

Although the use of technology in education is generally applauded the disadvantages of this venture

cannot be ignored. One of the main drawbacks of technology in education is distraction the devices that

are used may cause. According to a study done by technology giant Microsoft since the advent of

smartphones the average attention span of humans has fallen by 20%. This fall in attention span can

greatly affect technology integrated classrooms. In an interview with teachers from St. Joblin high school

they pointed out that since the replacement of books with laptops student distraction has been the

most reoccurring problem.

It is widely accepted throughout the world that the use of technology as a part of the education system

can improve the learning process and that implementing measures to properly integrate this should be

the way forward for all educational institutions.

 Data Collection Sources

For this research, the researcher decided to employ both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

The qualitative research method that will be carried out is observation. This will be done by randomly

selecting a class and observe its proceedings mainly looking for the use of technology by the teacher. For

the quantitative research method, the researcher will distribute questionnaires amongst students. The

questionnaire consists of 10 closed-ended questions which ask participants about their views on

technology, their access to technological devices and their experiences using technology to supplement

what is taught. The sample size is 30 students. In order to get a general representation of the entire

school population five students were randomly chosen from each block.

These two methods of research were chosen because they were the most suitable to find out if

technology is currently being used and to also determine if it is feasible for it to be implemented.

Additionally, these methods were also chosen because of the advantages they possess over other

research techniques. Observation provides unbiased data and gives a first-hand experience of how

teachers and students interact in a classroom setting. Questionnaires on the other hand provides data

from a larger sample therefore the general consensus of the population can be represented.

Newspaper articles, internet articles, books as well as interviews provided secondary sources of

information.
 Appendix

1. Do you think technology can positively influence the grades of students?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

2. Do you think technology is being adequately used during the teaching process?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

3. Do you own or have ready access to a technological device? eg laptop, computer, tablet, phone.

Yes [ ] No [ ]

4. If yes, are you able to use that device as your primary studying tool i.e your note book

Yes [ ] No [ ]

5. Do you have internet access at home?

All the times [ ] sometimes [ ] Never[ ]

6. How often do you search online for school related material/information

All the times [ ] sometimes [ ] Never[ ]

7. If Yes, do you find the information helpful

All the times [ ] sometimes [ ] Never[ ]

8. Have you ever utilized a virtual learning environment eg E-Learning

Yes [ ] No [ ]

9. If yes, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest how would you rate the experience

_____
 Presentation of Data

15%

10%

75%

Always Sometimes Never

Figure 1 shows response to the question, ”Do you have internet access at home?”

10%

90%

Yes No

Figure 2 shows response to the question, ”Do you think technology can positively impact the
grades of students?”
Figure 3 shows response to the question,” Have you ever utilized a virtual learning
environment eg E-Learning?”

20%

80%

Yes No

Figure 4 shows the response to the question, “Do you think technology is being
adequately used during the teaching process?”
 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Yes No

Figure 5 shows response to the question,” How often do you search online for school related
material/information?”

Never 75%

Sometimes 15%

All the times 10%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 90%
100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30
10%
20

10

0
Yes No

Figure 6 shows the response to the question, “Do you own or have ready access to a
technological device? eg laptop, computer, tablet, phone”.
 Data Analysis

The questionnaire consists of ten close ended question that will ask participants about their access to

technological devices and how they feel about the integration of technology into the education system.

Figure 1 shows that 90% of participants responded yes when asked "Do you think technology can

positively influence the grades of students". This positive response to the question show that students

are enthusiastic about technology, therefore incorporating it within the teaching process can

revolutionize an ageing process. Amidst their interest only 20% of participants think that technology is

being adequately used in the classrooms.

27 out of the 30 participants ticked yes when asked "Do you own or have ready access to a technological

device. eg laptop, computer, tablet, phone". Additionally, 18 participants said they were comfortable

using the device as a means of receiving notes. This finding is quite interesting as while carrying out

observations it was noted that most of the class time was spent writing notes rather than teaching and

explaining. It can be seen that many students have the medium to receive notes in soft copy which could

reduce notes taking time and increase productivity during class sessions.

The internet possesses an enormous vault of knowledge which can greatly help both teacher and

students to complete their respective tasks within the learning process. 75% of participants said they

always have access to internet, while 10% sometimes and 15% never. Additionally, only 25% of

participants say they search for school related information online. Of the 25% percent all of them

reported that the information was helpful. Amidst all of that my observations only saw one teacher

encouraging students to use the internet as a source of more information which indicates that teachers

are hesitant to encourage students to use the internet.

When asked "Have you ever utilized a virtual learning environment eg E-Learning", many of the

participants were ignorant of the term virtual learning environment. Of the 30 participants only 5 ticked

yes and all 5 persons rated the experience a 10 out of 10. This highlights that fact that although there

are many free services which can greatly help students many of them are not are of said services.
 Discussion of Findings

It is widely accepted that the use of technology in and out of the classroom is the way forward. The

hypothesis seeks to determine the positive results that can be gained by employing such measures. The

research revealed that most students believe that integration of technology within the system can

positively affect their performance. This is the same view shared by Tom Kaneshige senior writer for a

popular website networkworld.com. The Jamaican government also sees technology in classrooms as

the way forward as they have invested 1.2 billion to provide students with tablets and have said that it

will continue its investment in Information and Communications Technology(ICT) as a means of

improving the quality of education and enhancing the learning experience.

The questionnaire revealed that many students have access to devices which can be used to receive

notes. The use of soft copy notes rather than allowing students to write notes during class session will

grant teachers more time to facilitate learning. This was highlighted by a student of Joblin high school

where teacher notes is given to students in soft copy.

Majority of the participants of the questionnaire were not aware of e-learning Jamaica which is a free

online based education platform. Amidst the fact that 85% of students have internet access at home

only 16% said they have used the system. The e-learning system provides users with a vast library of

books, presentations and videos which can be used to supplement “in the class learning”. This system

can greatly assist students. Of 5 persons from the questionnaire who used the system gave it a 10 out of

10 rating.
Both the observations and questionnaire revealed that the use of devices such as projectors is lacking.

While observing only teacher was seen using a projector to enhance the lesson. The projectors could be

used to display presentations and also animations which could help students to grasp complex concepts.
 Conclusion

In doing this research the researches was able to make a few conclusions:

 Technology is not widely utilized at the institution where the research was conducted.

 Provisions are not in place for students to utilize technological devices for educational

purposes.

 Students are not informed about educational platforms and other systems available to them

free of cost.
 Limitations

There were a number of problems that were faced while completing this research. These problems

include:

 Difficulty in distributing questionnaires to persons in different forms because the researcher has

different break times from students in other forms.

 Persons reluctant to answer questionnaires.

 Difficulty in obtaining permission to observe teaching sessions.

 Difficulty in performing observations due to schedule of teaching sessions.

 Recommendations

Based on the research the following recommendations can be made:

 There should be a campaign to make students aware and also encourage them to use free

online educational platforms such as e-learning.

 Notes giving during class time should be reduced to a minimal and other mediums such as

sending notes should be utilized.

 Bibliography
10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from Future of Working:
http://futureofworking.com/10-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-technology-in-education/

Kaneshige, T. (2015, March 9). Can tech help teachers teach and students learn? Retrieved from Network
World: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2894246/tablets/can-tech-help-teachers-teach-
and-students-learn.html#tk.rss_all

Tablets in Schools Programme Will Not Be Halted. (n.d.). Retrieved from Jamaica Information Service :
http://jis.gov.jm/tablets-in-schools-programme-will-not-be-halted-rev-thwaites/

TOUCH TABLETS IN THE CLASSROOM: WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES? (n.d.). Retrieved from Emedia:
http://blog.econocom.com/en/blog/touch-tablets-in-the-classroom-what-are-the-advantages/