The Effect of Electronic Scaffolding for Technology Integration on Perceived Task Effort and Confidence of Primary Student Teachers

Abstract

Forty-one primary student teachers were divided into two groups and were instructed how to integrate certain Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in learning activities. Only one group was guided to use Filamentality, a fill-in-the-blank interactive Web site, and to organize Internet information in a Hotlist and a Scrapbcok. Questionnaires were administered to collect data related to students' perceived task effort (PTE) as a result of integrating ICT in the learning environment, and their confidence levels in using ICT tools, while their initial attitudes toward ICT and its integration in the classroom were taken into consideration. The results indicated that Filamentality effictiveh• scaffolded partzcular aspects ofiCT integration in !earning and instruction, and significantly reduced learners' amount of PTE, but there was not always a significant effict on learners' self-reported confidence !evels. (

Developing Preschool Children's Computational Thinking With Educational Robotics: The Role of Cognitive Differences and Scaffolding

“…The findings showed that in Phase 3 children in both scaffolding groups outperformed the children in the Control group on the holistic measurement of computational thinking and the skill of sequencing. These results are consistent with previous work by Jonassen (1992) and more contemporary work by Angeli and Valanides (2004b) that showed the necessity of using scaffolding techniques, such as, external memory systems, to facilitate young students' learning with technological tools. However, when the external memory systems were withdrawn during Phase 4, no significant differences were detected between the scaffolding groups and the Control group on the holistic measurement of computational thinking and the skill of sequencing.…”

“…Only FDI was found to be a statistically significant main effect in Phase 4, indicating that FI children were better in computational thinking than FD learners. This finding is consistent with previous research, which showed that FI learners outperformed the FD learners in self-directed problem-solving tasks and that FD learners needed support and scaffolding to succeed (Angeli & Valanides, 2004a, 2004b. In conclusion, the findings of this study strongly indicate that FD learners need scaffolding to succeed in problem-solving tasks with robotics and that teachers need to consider learners' cognitive type to ensure that all learners can learn with robots during classroom activities.…”

Developing Preschool Children's Computational Thinking With Educational Robotics: The Role of Cognitive Differences and Scaffolding

“…The findings showed that in Phase 3 children in both scaffolding groups outperformed the children in the Control group on the holistic measurement of computational thinking and the skill of sequencing. These results are consistent with previous work by Jonassen (1992) and more contemporary work by Angeli and Valanides (2004b) that showed the necessity of using scaffolding techniques, such as, external memory systems, to facilitate young students' learning with technological tools.…”

Student Effort, Media Preference, and Writing Quality When Using Print and Electronic Resources in Expository Writing

“…This echoes the findings for integrating strategy instruction with the use of a computer tool to facilitate the writing process (Cochran-Smith, 1991;MacArthur & Graham, 1993;MacArthur et al, 1995). However, Angeli and Valanides (2004) noted less perceived task effort when using a technologybased scaffold in learning how to integrate information and communication technology tools in instruction. Students in the current study perceived increased effort in using electronic resources in their writing activity that included Internet resources, coupled with their preference for using them.…”

“…Although low efficacy may be associated with more time on task (Kuo et al, 2004), alternatively, students with a higher selfperception are more likely to be successful learners and therefore may expend more effort and experience to ensure better learning success (Bialo & Sivin-Kachala, 1996). Angeli and Valanides' (2004) study of 41 primary student teachers enrolled in a course on how to integrate information and communication technology tools found that the group who was provided instruction on using Filiamentality, a Web site that supports learners in doing Web searches and gathering information, reported less perceived task effort in use of the Internet and Hyperstudio. In addition, those student teachers instructed on use of Filiamentality had more confidence in their use of the information and communication technology tools than those who did not have the instruction.…”