Case studies

So far this week you have engaged with the research evidence around learning that sticks and how technology might support these practices.

To help you explore some of these ideas further and see how schools have approached them in practice, we have collated a variety of case studies for you to explore across a range of contexts. You don’t need to explore all of the case studies in this section, just choose one or two to spend your time on this week (you can always return to the other case studies at a later date).

Think back to the statements you reflected on at the start of the week:

1. My pupils are able to retrieve previous learning easily when they need it
2. My pupils make connections between their new learning and existing knowledge to consolidate it
3. My pupils have established effective revision strategies at home.

You might like to focus on the one or two case studies that seem to fit the areas above which present the most challenge for you. When you’re watching or reading the case studies, you should focus primarily on the teaching and learning practice the case study portrays, rather than the specific technology used. It might be possible to achieve the same result as portrayed in a case study, even if the tools they’ve chosen won’t be suitable for your own context.

Case studies in this week of the course include:

Learning that sticks: Plickers in primary (1) – In this video, we take a look at how a low-technology approach where only the teacher requires a device can work in a primary setting to review previous learning.

Learning that sticks: Plickers in secondary (1, 2) – In this video, we take a look at how a low-technology approach where only the teacher requires a device can work in a secondary setting to retrieve previous learning.

Learning that sticks: Revision emails (1, 3) – In this video and associated journal article, we discover how one school is emailing retrieval questions to parents to support effective spaced revision at home.

Learning that sticks: language teaching (1, 3) – In this video, we see how online quiz tools can be used to encourage independent retrieval of learning.

Learning that sticks: Socrative (1) – In this video, we take a look at how a technology tool that provides a variety of question formats can be used for retrieval practice.

Learning that sticks: Kahoot (1) – In this video, we see how a multiple-choice quizzing tool can work in the primary classroom to review previous learning.

When you are ready click the ‘Mark as complete’ button below and then select ‘Plickers in primary’ to see the first case study. Just keep clicking until you arrive at a case study you’d like to focus on this week.