Online resource-based learning environment: Case studies in primary classrooms

As revealed from the interviews and content analyses, the teachers had given careful consideration to selecting online resources. Not only did the teachers give deeper thought to how the online resources could be used to promote pupils’learning, but they also matched the resources with appropriate tools for information or data manipulation and took into account the scaffolds needed. This confirms the framework’s role and purpose in supporting teachers to design lessons with online resources, helping teachers to link authentic practices to educational technology research. Differences shown in the teachers’attempts to design learning environments with online resources for the three science-related topics also seemed to suggest that the RBeLEs framework could be flexibly implemented. Further study on the applicability of the framework such as across grade levels and subjects is recommended. It would also be meaningful to study the range of learning outcomes brought about by the implementation of the RBeLEs.

Results of the pupil interviews indicated that the pupils were generally in favour of learning with online resources, saying that the lessons were made more interesting. Nevertheless, challenges in interacting with the online resources and using the tools were also mentioned, such as failing to locate the information needed. The teachers also admitted that they had over-estimated pupils’ ability in handling the online resources and make meaning out of the information or data collected. These findings warrant attention to both the extent of scaffolds needed and the level of resources and tools selected, reminding teachers to take into consideration pupils’ information and communication technology capacity when designing learning activities with online resources. Moreover, though the use of online resources were reported to be motivating, a systematic measure of pupils’ motivation and cognitive engagement in the RBeLEs with a representative sample size would be helpful in evaluating the effectiveness of the RBeLEs in promoting learning.