DANISH DEFENCE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE LAPTOPS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE LECTURES - PEDAGOGICAL CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS LECTURER RIKKE HAUGEGAARD DANISH DEFENCE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE ISMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE, VIENNA 2014, WG 9 MILITARY EDUCATION  

About danish defence language institute Education and training of military linguists in Arabic, Persian and Russian 32 students in a 2 year programme, starting with 4 months training in sergeant school Research and education in ’Culture as operational enabler’ 3-year research project on OPERATIONAL CULTURE Master in Military Studies: ’CULTURE AS OPERATIONAL ENABLER’ (Flex module, 1 semester) Course training PEOPLE SKILLS (2 hours to 3 days)

EDUCATION of danish military linguists in CULTURE ANALYSIS CHALLENGES: The students’ use of laptops in the classroom: Support tool for learning – but also a source of distraction Asymmetrical warfare in ’technoscape’ – our access to technology vs. local actors’ use of technology in mission areas

My research questions: ‘In which way does the use of laptops in the classroom challenge the teacher’s role as a facilitator of learning processes?’ and ‘what type of reactions from the students will we observe in the classroom, when the teacher to a wider extent will plan and control the use of laptops?’ In this presentation, I will focus on the second question.

The use of laptops in the classroom Opposition to the teacher’s control of the use of laptops – how can it be explained? Danish researcher Knud Illeris – ’daily routine schemes’ Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of ’habitus’: ’a feel for the game’ – pragmatic, action-oriented perception schemes

The pilot test – planned sequences with and without pc TYPE OF LEARNING SEQUENCE USE OF PC DURATION PRESENTATION BY TEACHER/STUDENT YES 15-30 MINUTES PLENARY DISCUSSION NO 10-30 MINUTES GROUP WORK NO 20-30 MINUTES RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET YES 05-15 MINUTES WATCHING FILM CLIPS NO VARYING EXERCISES AND FIELD WORK SOMETIMES VARYING

TEST RESULTS: EVALUATION OF THE TEACHER’S CONTROL WITH THE USE OF LAPTOPS CRITICAL VOICES: ’it has become a longer process – writing notes twice – first by hand, then on the PC’ POSITIVE REACTIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF CHANGE: ’It is good for our class, we are more focused and concentrated’ ’we are listening to each other’s points of view’ ’I have become better at taking notes’ ’I am not hiding behind my PC anymore’ ’I can remember more of our class discussions’ ’the lectures have become more varied and exciting’

CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVES Selective use of PCs in the classroom facilitates a better learning environment with a perceived higher level of concentration and increase in students’ participation Future research areas: The link between handwriting and memory? Student ownership of planned sequences without PC?