Pupil and staff perceptions of the introduction and use of iPads and cloud services in an inner London primary school

Abstract

In this research project, I carried out an ethnographic study that took place in an inner London Primary school. In this study, I explored the perceptions, feelings and thoughts that the pupils and staff held on the introduction and use of the iPads and the cloud services in the school. Further to this, I wanted to document and gain insight into how the grappled with these technologies; their successes, failures and what they felt could be done to improve the implementation of these technologies in the school. When I first started this study because I observed that whilst there was a fair bit of research on the subject matter, most of it was done in countries such as North America, Sweden, Japan, Australia and Finland. Very little was done in the United Kingdom. Further to this, most of the research done was actually done on the technology itself and the potential benefits that it offers as opposed to the feelings and perceptions of educators and pupils. More specifically, their feelings on matters such as the suitability of the technologies, is it worth the investment, how it compares to the tradition ways of doing things, is it actually effective or is it a gimmick? In my research, I am yet to find another study that offers this where a deprived inner city school is concerned. One with a very limited budget where research such as mine could aid them in determining whether at this time it is worth investing in the technologies and if they do decide to invest in it, my research will offer guidance as to what the general feelings are about it.