Studying Teacher Orchestration Load in Technology-Enhanced Classrooms
Teacher orchestration of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) processes plays a major role in students’ outcomes, especially in face-to-face classrooms. However, few studies look into the fine-grained details of how such orchestration unfolds, the challenge
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bstract. Teacher orchestration of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) processes plays a major role in students’ outcomes, especially in face-to-face classrooms. However, few studies look into the fine-grained details of how such orchestration unfolds, the challenges and cognitive overload that using technologies at a classroom level pose for teachers. This paper proposes a mixed-method approach to the study of orchestration cognitive load, combining physio-behavioural (eye-tracking) and subjective measurements (questionnaires, stimulated recall interviews). We illustrate the approach by applying it to study the orchestration of two technology-enhanced geometry lessons, by a secondary school teacher. The results of our mixed-method analyses highlight the difficulty of classroom-level (as opposed to individual- or group-level) interactions, especially in modelling students’ progress and understanding. Such insights can be useful in the design of new classroom technologies, and to focus researchers’ attention on critical orchestration episodes during their evaluation. Keywords: Orchestration load · Eye-tracking Cognitive load · Classroom studies
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Stimulated recall
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Introduction
Teacher facilitation of the learning process plays a crucial role in students’ learning outcomes, especially in co-located settings (see, e.g., [14,19]). TEL researchers have recognized this importance, and the unique challenges that practitioners face when applying technological innovations to their everyday practice, under the term ‘orchestration’ [22], often defined as “the process of productively coordinating supportive interventions across multiple learning activities occurring at multiple social levels” [11]. Although the term ‘orchestration’ has rapidly gained traction within the TEL research community, its current use is rather varied, even confusing (e.g., [22] identifies up to eight different aspects TEL researchers refer to when talking about orchestration). Taking the metaphor of orchestration as “classroomlevel”, or “third circle” usability (individual and small-group usability being c Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 G. Conole et al. (Eds.): EC-TEL 2015, LNCS 9307, pp. 268–281, 2015. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-24258-3 20
Orchestration Load in Technology-Enhanced Classrooms
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the first two [12]), we find that classroom-level technology usability studies are still in its infancy, undoubtedly due to the technical and logistic difficulties of doing research about such a complex activity, within the multiple constraints of authentic classroom conditions [25]. Current studies on the orchestration of novel educational technologies are normally based on ad-hoc quantitative measurements of efficiency (e.g., [1]), or on the combination of keen researcher observation and subjective questioning of the actors (e.g., [17]), majoritarily looking at whole sessions as the unit of analysis (i.e., “did the lesson work well?”). More recently, there have also been attempts to do finer-grained quantitative analyses of orchestration, usi
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