Boys vs school

Olivia Sbarra N0377113 Fashion Communication and Promotion Negotiated Project Stage 1 FASH30001 1.

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Introduction

Background Context Methodology

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Who are Generation Z? Boys VS Girls

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Why are boys failing?

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What’s already happening?

The future of learning Lifelong learning

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47 Conclusion 53 Recommendations 55

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Gamification

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Fig.1

The children of generation Z are the future of our society.

With more technological advancements in recent years than ever before, they have an undisputed power to completely shape the world as it stands today.

Naturally, the quality of education they receive at the beginning of their lives could have a monumental impact on the progression they make throughout the rest of them.

Although education is such a powerful tool, for decades now some boys have been struggling with some of their major subjects and many are still not fully engaged with their learning.

During this report, I will attempt to establish the main problems schools face when teaching boys and why some of them are falling so far behind girls of the similar prior attainment.

I will use the boys of generation Z as my consumer by conducting research to try to understand who they are as people and how their education needs to develop in order to keep them interested and engaged. I will also look into why this educational issue is so apparent with boys and what is already happening to try to improve it.

One part of my research will be to examine future trends that we can expect to see within education, whilst simultaneously discussing developments seen to be emerging outside of the classroom. The purpose of this will be to discuss the changes that need to take place when trying to engage this digitally savvy generation.

I will look into retail as a way to explore some of the current engagement strategies being used to build relationships with men, especially using technology.

Parallels will be drawn between the examples found within retail and how they can be used to influence the engagement of boys in the classroom.

Although there is much debate surrounding this issue, why should our education system resist technological progression instead of embracing the interactive nature of modern technology and use it to an educational advantage?

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Background context title page

Background This educational gender gap has been apparent for decades but the problem of underachieving boys remains an issue (Bloom, 2009). I understand that many different methods have been used to try to improve this problem but the information I have found during my research proves that there is a need for yet more improvement.

In 2007 the DFES found that although the gender gap was visible across the whole curriculum, it was larger in English than it was in Mathematics and Science. They found that this gap was apparent in boys from the Foundation Stage all the way up to GCSE.

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Context

I am aware that this topic has been discussed many times before, so my aim is to approach the problem in a new and innovative way, linking this with my interest in Fashion Communication and Promotion. Recently we have seen massive technological advances emerging in other sectors like medicine, travel, hospitality, entertainment and retail in order to make people’s everyday experiences more enjoyable and convenient (DFES, 2013). I feel that with something as important and far-reaching as education, similar advances should be taking place in this area too.

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Methodology 7.

To achieve timely and relevant research for my dissertation, I have gathered primary, secondary, qualitative and quantitative data.

In order to gather unbiased information, the interviews I conducted were with teachers working in different schools in various areas of the country and teaching children with a wide range of abilities.

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Primary research

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Secondary research

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As I am focusing on the generation Z age group in particular, an important part of my research was to learn to understand this age group and what they require in order to develop and make progress in school.

I wanted to provide a context and to look at the main social events and technological advances that have happened in their lives so far. I did this research to try to understand this age group as consumers in order to use this information to investigate ways to engage them.

Infographic, own image

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This generation is known to feel a sense of social justice because their Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds are constantly updated with news and photographs of events that have happened during their lives such as recession, war and global warming (Anatole, 2013). As they are constantly connected, they are continuously reminded of such issues.

The children of generation Z have been brought up in a world where everything is digital. They are constantly connected to their friends and peers via the internet and social networking sites (Renfro, 2012). Most children in this generation have an online life as well as a physical life. Their online life provides them with the option to document their day-to-day experiences on a digital platform and share them with friends. This is a trend we have seen expanding with the release of popular photo-based social networking apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.

A digitally savvy generation

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Learning

A Generation of learners

The children of Generation Z expect their education to follow the format of the online games they play in that their learning should involve constant feedback, continuous grading, challenges, rewards and clear goals (Renfro, 2012). Their education should mirror the digital platforms they are used to experiencing outside of their education; their learning shouldn’t be left in the past.

This is also the case when it comes to customization; their online lives are personalised to them and their needs (Hudson, 2010). Their education should reflect this, allowing them to get the best outcomes from their learning.

Each child is different and they all possess different levels of skills. They will not benefit from an education that does not cater to their individual needs (Clarke, 2013).

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Marketing

In an attempt to understand this generation, I tried to find out how brands target this age group. This is something that a lot of brands aim to do because targeting consumers from an early age has the potential to provide a loyal customer for life (Cooper, 2010).

I found that in the same way that marketing strategies are used to target children, when applying this theory specifically to boys and their education, a fundamental part of re-engaging them is to understand their basic developmental, social and emotional needs (Media Smarts, 2013).

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to this generation

An example of when this information would be beneficial is when deciding how to communicate with this age group. It has been proven that they find it easier to communicate to their peers and brands on a digital level rather than through face-to-face conversation (Palley 2012).

I also found that marketers use ‘buzz’ marketing with this generation. Buzz marketing is an updated way of passing on a message by ‘word of mouth’. With platforms like YouTube being so influencial to this generation, asking a few children who are regarded as ‘cool’ amongst their peers to post online about a particular film or product would generate interest around it (Media Smarts, 2013).

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Fig.3

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I recently made contact with Mrs Brewer, Headmistress of a primary school in Milton Keynes, who was able to help me when thinking about the gender gap in schools. I asked her some specific questions about this topic and her responses gave me an insight into her school and how this issue is addressed. She also gave me access to student performance statistics so that I could see the difference in average point scores between girls and boys in reading, writing and mathematics from year 1 to year 3 (See appendix D and F).

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Gifted and talented

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The work

Mrs Brewer also shared with me some examples of children’s work which highlighted the differences in standards between a girl and boy of the same age (See appendix E).

The children whose work I have analysed are both at foundation level. The girl in question is able to write sentences independently and is confident with her letter formation. She writes clearly and is aiming to read and understand simple sentences.

However, the boy is currently working on his letter formation and is beginning to develop an effective grip on the pencil. He is able to form words but cannot yet form simple sentences.

Mrs Brewer indicated that this was very common in her classes. Therefore, although they form a very small sample, these examples support the research which identifies that the gender gap in English is particularly strong. The difference in writing ability between these two particular children is quite stark.

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Focus group & Questionnaire

When I began my research and in discussions with teachers, I focussed on differences in the ability and behaviour of boys and girls. Although I was receiving helpful responses about work and behaviour at school, Teachers were not able to give me much information about the home lives of the children. This made me realise that in order to understand the children and their habits better, I should personally interview them.

I started by conducting an online questionnaire targeted at the older boys in generation Z. I used an online platform because my previous research regarding marketing to children indicated that this was the most appropriate way to communicate with them. I also recognised it as a way to get quick responses which was an important factor, given time constraints (See appendix B).

I found that I didn’t get as many responses as I wanted from the questionnaire so I decided to ask the younger boys similar questions. However, contacting this audience via the internet would have been more difficult so I set up a focus group of twenty four children instead. I chose to use both boys and girls in this focus group so I could get a better understanding of how their educational attitudes and goals may differ (See appendix A).

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Fig.4

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After gathering all of my research together, I chose to focus on four main reasons as to why I think boys are falling behind in education.

The first contributory factor to the failure of boys in the classroom is, I believe, the feminine teaching methods that boys experience in school.

Throughout my research, I found that schools reward skills that are typically feminine like organisation and neatness (Paton, 2013). However, skills like competitiveness and leadership that generally come more naturally to boys are not celebrated or practiced in school (Gurian, 2010).

In my interview with Y6 teacher Mrs O’Meara, she reported that she has to try to adapt her teaching to keep boys engaged.

When asking a maths question, she might use a context of a local football team to grab their attention. She also adapts writing tasks and has recently composed an assignment where the children wrote about myths and legends to maintain the boy’s interest. Research has shown that one of the reasons why boys struggle in literacy is that they are not interested in what they are writing about (Sommers, 2013; Connelly, 2013). According to Mrs. O’Meara, the task she carried out was successful and the boys enjoyed doing it, proving that keeping the boys interested in the subject matter of their work is pivotal to their engagement (See appendix C).

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Teaching methods

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Male role models

The second contributory factor to the disengagement of boys in the classroom is, I believe, the lack of male role models in primary schools. According to a study by the TDA (Training and Development Agency for schools) 50% of men would describe a male teacher they have had during their education as a fundamental role model in their life (Guardian, 2008).

The government have realised that this is an issue and have made extra efforts over the past four years to train more male primary school teachers. The aim of this is to satisfy children’s need for positive male role models in their lives. Both boys and girls that do not have male role models at home would benefit greatly from the relationship they could create with a male in the classroom environment.

Since the government began this initiative, the numbers of men training to be primary school teachers has risen by at least fifty percent (Guardian, 2012).

Nevertheless, although this is a significant improvement, one in four schools in the country is still without a single male teacher (BBC, 2011).

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Support from home

The third contributory factor is the level of support boys receive from home. There is only so much parents can expect schools to achieve in terms of educating their children.

In fact, Mrs O’Meara told me that giving children learning support at home is hugely important and in her experience, the biggest problems stem from children who are not read to from a young age. (See appendix C) This was substantiated by my interview with Mrs. Brewer who told me that reading at home with adults allows children to make progress in all subjects. (See appendix D) Parents are a child’s first and most influential teachers.

They have the power to help their children with learning by engaging them in educational activities at home. If this educational stimulation isn’t given, engagement and success at school is likely to suffer (BBC, 2013).

In the past year, my work experience placement took me to a primary school in Tamworth where I observed a lesson in which parents and grandparents were invited into the classroom to work alongside the children. The aim of this programme was to provide free education for the families of the pupils. However, I noticed that having parents in the lesson improved the work ethic of the children from the previous lesson and even the most troublesome of children tried harder when their parents were present in order to impress them.

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Lastly, an important part of understanding how this gender gap has developed so drastically is to look back into the history of education.

In the past, due to societal expectations of the wife as the homemaker and the husband as the breadwinner, a good education was deemed undesirable by many women (Bryant 2010). However, we now see many professional women who are putting their career first and are very proud of their jobs and their successes in the workplace.

The education system had to keep up with this social shift and we saw the government’s attempt to change the curriculum in order to improve the chances for girls.

Although this shift needed to happen in order to provide equality for women, it is argued that boys’ education was neglected and they are now suffering as a result (Hulbert, 2006).

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The ‘backlash’

After further research into the gender gap, I realised that this is infact a global issue.

Although I found that the gender gap exists in many countries, I looked specifically at Shanghai, China and found their education system particularly interesting.

I focused on an article from the New York Times (Farrar, 2012) which begins by following one particular boy’s educational experince. In the article he explains that he feels that his female peers are favoured by his teachers and that this puts him at a disadvantage. As the Chinese education system requires students to work for fifteen hours a day, this appears to have detrimental effects on young boys, denying them the basic developmental, social and emotional needs of children of that age.

According to research conducted in order to write the article, the academic gap between girls and boys is very pronounced in China and is getting wider. Using technology to try to engage Chinese boys is not considered a successful strategy; technologies are very rarely used in Shanghai schools (Yung, 2010).

Shanghai, China

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Fig.5

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In the classroom

The schools I have worked with during my research try to overcome the gender gap by using in-school programmes to help boys progress with their learning. During my interview with Mrs Brewer, she told me that her school host small booster groups that are often boy-heavy. This is in order to provide them with the extra help they need to catch up and improve (See appendix D).

In Mrs Brewer’s school, use is made of online learning packages such as Mathletics. Mathletics is a site that can be used by children to improve their mathematics skills.

It uses interactive worksheets with animated tutorials to teach children about topics they find challenging. Teachers encourage pupils to use the school’s own online learning platform. Pupils email each other and their teachers through their profiles. The school encourages the students to upload photos to the platform and to share experiences with each other (See appendix D). When researching this, it appeared to be similar to a social networking site or blog aimed specifically at the children of that school. This platform reflects the advances we see happening within the wider experiences of this generation and is something they will be used to using in their spare time. The use of such online platforms will therefore come naturally to them.

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An expert who has tried to address the problem of the gender gap is Gareth Malone. He was asked to go into a school that had a significant gender gap with the aim of trying to re-engage the boys in new ways. In his report, he revealed a lot of valuable information about this issue and provided a first hand account of what the problem is and how he attempted to resolve it (Malone, BBC, 2010).

He noticed that the boys in that school were significantly behind in their reading and so he invented a ‘reading world cup’ where the boys were given four books to read in four weeks. They were then asked to compete with their peers in a quiz about the books they had read. He noticed that the competitive nature of this task encouraged the boys to read more and even found some boys reading in the playground instead of playing. His report from the task shows that boys were complaining when the book they wanted to read was not available and were even fighting each other for their favoured titles (Malone, Telegraph, 2010).

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Gareth Malone

Gareth also adopted experiential learning methods to see how the boys responded to learning in a different environment to the classroom. He set up their own woodland classroom and sat around a campfire in the school grounds.

The boys responded very positively to this hands-on kind of learning so Gareth decided to invite their fathers along to read ghost stories to them, proving to the boys that reading can be ‘cool, rewarding and fun’ (Malone, Telegraph, 2010).

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As well as celebrity figures and in-school programmes, I have also looked at companies and brands that have used education as a platform for targeting generation Z. They have gone into schools to try to influence the younger minds, whether it be around a social problem like self esteem for young girls or to improve specific areas of learning.

After speaking to staff in a number of different schools, I learnt that this is something that happens regularly in primary schools. However, the Deputy Headteacher at Wilnecote School in Tamworth, made me aware that schools are particularly wary when deciding whether to let companies like this into their school. The safety of the children is their main priority and they are extremely careful about who is allowed into the school to communicate with the children. The school has to be sure that improving the children’s education is the fundamental purpose of the visit.

After researching these examples, I found that none of the programmes specifically targeted boys with an aim to narrow the gender gap.

Companies in schools

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Fig.6

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The future of the classroom

As a part of my research, I wanted to look into what is already happening in terms of moving classrooms forward with technology and how schools are adapting to this new need for an injection of interactive technologies in education.

If schools are not prepared to keep up with these young learners, we could begin to see a disconnection from their physiological needs due to the strong relationship they have with technology in their lives (Kimani, 2013). I have outlined and discussed some of the new trends we can see emerging in order to give us an idea of what we can expect from classrooms of the future. I have chosen to write about the trends I think would be particularly engaging for boys.

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Immersive classrooms

We have recently seen the introduction of immersive classrooms created by a company called Osborne technologies.

The idea of this future classroom is that instead of a standard room with desks and blackboards, when screens are switched on it will become an interactive space to introduce new and up-to-date learning activities. Teachers can use video projections and teach their lessons from an interactive, online platform. According to my research about how boys learn and their need for digital learning, this appears to be a natural progression in the attempt to reengage them in lessons (Osborne technologies, 2013).

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BYOD

Another trend I have been researching is ‘BYOD’ which stands for ‘Bring Your Own Device’. The idea is that children are allowed to bring their own digital device into school on a particular day. There will be an allocated time slot in the lesson where the children can use their device to aid their learning (Panagos, 2012).

Although there would be many benefits to using these devices in the classroom environment, Mrs O’Meara brought a few issues about this to my attention. Her school is situated in a particularly deprived area and she knows that the families of the majority of children she teaches wouldn’t be able to afford these expensive devices. Nevertheless, she told me that the school is taking delivery of a set of ipads in the near future for use in classrooms (See appendix C). This would allow all students equal access to these kinds of devices with no social stigma attatched.

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As well as looking into future technologies in the classroom, I have also been linking this issue to retail. There is always an on-going growth in technologies being used to enhance the retail experience and engage the consumer whilst in store.

Research has shown that similarly to education, it is men in particular who need to be kept engaged whilst shopping (Sender, 2011).

Urban Outfitters is an example of a brand that has tried to tackle this male engagement problem with technologies and gamification. They have fitted old school arcade machines and vinyl players downstairs in selected stores in order to keep male customers entertained. They have also placed Apple computers outside the changing rooms for customer use.

Topman has also recently collaborated with Yr store and introduced a technology where male shoppers can customise their own garments and have them printed. This is a way of engaging males of all ages in the brand to provide them with a personalised approach to shopping with them. This idea of customisation technology could be used to inspire the future classroom and is a current way to engage males in activities they wouldn’t otherwise choose to do.

Retail

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In Fashion Communication and Promotion, information about a consumer taken from real time can be very important when getting to know who they are and what they need. Research has been conducted to prove that if teachers can use real time feedback in the classroom to track individual progress, this could revolutionise the way teachers understand their children’s learning (Goodwin and Miller, 2013). Using this immediate information could allow teachers to know where help is needed and attempt to provide pupils with the skills they need to improve. We have seen something similar to this with an online learning site called ‘Khan Academy’ which I will address later in my report.

Real time feedback

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Fig.7

Video learning

There has been a recent emerging educational trend in lifelong learning. This is where people of any age can use online platforms to learn about topics of their choice or study courses pre, during or post compulsory education.

There has also been a recent rise in video-learning recently.

These videos might focus on topical issues and used as a starting point for discussion or even for pupils to watch in order to gain knowledge. Using this interactive learning technique would be beneficial for boys as they are already used to using the internet as a way to gain information (DFES, 2013).

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One website that uses this approach is ‘Moocs’ which stands for ‘Massive Open Online Courses’. Although this platform is primarily aimed at university students, any person at any stage of life can log onto this website and study a higher-education course of their choice. This can also be used as a post-education choice to aid intellectual stimulation and to provide constant opportunities for new learning (Hughes, 2013).

This style of learning is particularly popular since it enables the user to access online technologies at his or her own convenience.

MOOCS

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“A free, world-class education for anyone anywhere” is how Khan Academy, another online website that providing this kind of education, describes its service in its mission statement (Kahn Academy, 2014). Khan Academy has a similar function to the afore-mentioned Moocs but is suitable for younger students and has a library of resources available to anyone wishing to use them.

One particular benefit of encouraging a child to learn in this way is that all learning is done online. This then allows parents and teachers the ability to monitor the children’s progress and which areas are still in need of improvement. By logging on to a particular user’s profile, data and charts of the scores achieved can be viewed (Khan Academy, 2014).

Khan Academy

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Fig.8

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Game-based learning

There has also been a growth in game based learning within education. However, educators are in debate as to whether this is a positive progression or whether crossing the boundaries between learning and playing will have a detrimental effect on the curriculum (NFER, 2013).

An argument in favour of allowing children to learn through play is that there is evidence to show that children will persevere with a game until it is completed. It is an enjoyable way to learn and with 97 % of children aged 8 to 17 playing video games, it is an engagement strategy that would be appreciate by students (Phillips, 2012).

On the other hand, a documentary featured recently on television called ‘Too Young for Technology’ addressed concerns about children being exposed to too much technology from an early age. In the documentary, a survey was conducted on two thousand parents with children under the age of three. The results showed that 40% of their children have regular access to a device and 17% own their own device. This results in at least 70% of children being able to use laptops, tablets and smart phones confidently by the time they start school. Although these devices have many proven benefits, experts still have concerns about the lack of social interaction these children are experiencing with their peers and the lack of emotional intelligence and sociability displayed as a result (Too young for technology, 2013).

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Although this is an important issue amongst children, realistically the future is digital and despite health and developmental risk, the fact that this progression will continue indisputable. The proliferation of apps, online communities and websites designed to educate is further evidence of this digital expansion.

App creators have exploited the education sector through the introduction of free apps like ‘quiz up’ and ‘words with friends’ where friends compete against each other in word games and general quiz questions. Although these are predominantly educational, the format in which the apps are played attracts the young consumer and is seen as an enjoyable way to learn.

Apps

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Online communities

Similarly, there are many different online communities available to young children which give them opportunities to create their own profile and live in their own digital world. There has been research to show that boys feel just as much a part of their online worlds as they do their own family (Science daily, 2010). This suggests how important their digital worlds are to them and how strong their relationship is with technology.

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Focus group results

From the discussions with my focus group, it is clear that online gamification and interactive platforms play a big part in this generation’s daily lives. I have found that boys can spend up to five hours a day on these types of online programmes and consoles (See appendix A).

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Technologies used at school

Technologies used at home

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To conclude my investigation, I have collated all of my research and chosen some of the key points that I have considered throughout my report. I will take these findings forward to my recommendation section and use them to form ideas with the aim of narrowing the gender gap.

Throughout my investigation, I have found that in order to re-engage boys in their learning we need to: + Take notice of the way video games are designed and use this to format their learning structure. Their education should be made up of constant feedback, continuous grading, challenges, rewards and clear goals. + Introduce interactive teaching methods as a more dominant part boys’ day-to-day learning. Boys spend up to five hours a day interacting with different games and social networking sites. It is something they choose to do so taking advantage of this with a view to engaging them will encourage them to learn. + Introduce a competitive nature to their learning. This was proven by the experiment conducted by Gareth Malone. He found that boys thrive on competition and when introducing a competitive nature to learning, boys saw this as an incentive to do better than their peers.

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+ Provide them with positive male role models to aid their learning. I found that one in four schools don’t have any male teachers. This is denying boys the opportunity to build a relationship with a highly influential role model in their lives. + Personalise their learning. Each boy is different; they have different skills and learn at different rates.

Tailoring tasks to their individual abilities and setting realistic challenges would encourage them to reach their own goals. + Encourage support at home. Support with learning in the home has been proven to help all aspects of a child’s learning. If a child is helped with their learning at home and feel they have the support of their parents, there will be improvements in their engagement at school. + Keep their learning up to date. We have already seen future advances in education through online schools like Khan Acadamy. The future of learning is online and once a child leaves school, their education will continue through online platforms. There is nothing to gain by delaying the children’s introduction to technologies and persisting instead with outdated learning styles which are incongruous with their out-of-classroom experiences.

Conclusion

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In researching the reasons behind the gender gap, I have learned the importance of keeping apace with children’s needs. A parallel can be drawn between strategies designed to improve boys’ education and consumer promotions; the provision of an enjoyable service which the end user would choose to participate in is crucial to its success.

Children need to be inspired in order to get the best outcome from their learning.

I would not suggest that schools should change their curriculum and allow children to play games all day; I understand the importance and effectiveness of many traditional teaching methods. However, I am suggesting that the education provided should be one which children can relate to and enjoy.

100% of the children that I interviewed in my focus group thought that their teachers could make lessons more fun, suggesting that they are not excited by their lessons as they stand. This has to be addressed; education is far too important and the lack of excitement, enjoyment and stimulation ought to be challenged.

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I will use the findings from the first section of my report to compose recommendations which address the gender gap. I have found that this issue is ongoing and there are many different factors to consider when trying to re-engage boys.

I am not suggesting that my recommendations will completely solve the problem; I have simply tried to incorporate the information I have learnt about this generation to provide suggestions for improvements to the status quo.

I am aware that trying to change the current curriculum and the way in which a school day is structured would be unrealistic. Therefore, I have decided to propose an innovative idea that is designed to work around the school day, providing teachers with information that will have the potential to improve the quality of education of each child in their care.

My recommendation begins with the creation of a new app that should be free and available to all children and introduced to them through their schools.

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The function of this app would be to provide a fun and interactive way of learning that is specifically designed to meet the needs of boys in generation Z. The app will be available to both boys and girls but the main function of the app will be to use what I have learnt about boys throughout my research to provide them with a way of learning that will interest them. The app will consist of different subject areas that will cover each topic children learn about in school. Each subject area will have its own selection of interactive games, quizzes, puzzles and tasks, all with the aim of re-engaging and teaching boys in a way they will find enjoyable.

The first part of the app links to the idea that boys prefer their learning to be personalised. They are no longer satisfied with ‘one size fits all’ learning techniques that they often experience. In order to achieve this, they will have the opportunity to create their own personal profile and to customize it with a design of their choice. A changeable profile photo will be displayed next to their name. Throughout the app, when messages appear telling the child how well they have done, their name will be used within the message to make them feel that the app is exclusive to them and their learning.

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This app will consist of three different sections: The first section should be around ‘Independent where the aim will be to provide the pupil with to choose which subject area they would like to about on that day and allow them to attempt the independently.

Learning’ the option learn tasks

The second option will be to ‘Learn Against Your Peers’ where there will be an option to add a competitive element to their learning, competing with other people of the same age. They should also be given the option to choose to play against other members of their class so that there is more of an incentive to work harder and beat their friends.

The third option will tap into the importance of a child receiving support from home. This section will give the children the option to ‘Learn At Home’. The idea of this is that children can sit with their parents, carers or siblings and attempt to complete different tasks together.

Three sections of the app

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The app will also provide parents with a quick and easy messaging service straight to and from their child’s teacher. I understand that communication between home and school is an important factor in a child’s success at school. If a parent knows what their child is learning at school, they will be able to help them and read to them about the subject at home. This will help when preparing to learn about these topics at school.

Teachers will be able to use the app to set interactive homework. They will be able to choose relevant topics and set specific tasks on the app for children to attempt at home in order to prepare for the topics they will be learning next.

The app has been designed with the aim of improving the quality of each child’s education. In order to do this, a progress section will be available to the teacher to examine individual activity on the app and most notably, where the child is improving and where they are still struggling. This shows parallels in the way real time feedback is used in the retail world, providing immediate feedback to the teacher. The teacher will also be able to monitor which tasks the child has skipped and how long they have taken to answer each question. A teacher would never have access to such detailed date in a traditional classroom environment; this information will allow the teacher to provide the children with individual tasks during lesson time with a view to improve their skills in the areas in need of progress.

Involving teachers and parents

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Reward scheme

With access to this information, a teacher could set up a reward scheme. Giving the boys an incentive to do better could increase the amount of time they choose to spend on the app and how hard they work on their set tasks. I would suggest for the reward scheme to be organised by the child’s teacher and the winners should be celebrated in school. Instead of prizes being physical objects, a way of benefitting the children on an educational level would be to reward those who performed the best each week with access to a secret level on their profile. The boys would be in competition to see who can unlock the secret levels quickest, giving them a reason to work harder towards it.

These secret levels will be made up of activities like memory games and word games rather than with a specific subject in mind. Although the children will feel as though they have been rewarded with fun and exciting games, they will be designed to help their learning too.

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Digital male role model As stated previously, one in four schools still have no male teachers. One way in which the app is designed to tackle this problem is by providing the users of this app with a digital male role model. Their online coach will act as a mentor throughout each section. When first introduced to their digital coach, children will have the option to choose his name and pick a colour for his tie. This is so that they feel that they have an immediate professional relationship with their coach. As they navigate their way through the app, he will explain each activity to them and congratulate them when they have done something well. The purpose of making this digital coach a male character will be to provide them with a positive male role model to learn with. As this tutor will be digital, there won’t be able to have any human interaction. However, there is evidence to suggest that boys would benefit more from communicating with him digitally rather than face-to-face.

I have mentioned in my research that playing video games and interacting with friends online plays a huge part of this generation’s daily lives. This recommendation has been suggested with a view to keeping up with the boys and the technological advances happening around them. Most children will be familiar with this kind of interaction and providing them with a fun way to learn will disguise their education as something they enjoy doing.

62.

(Own image)

Access to devices

As I have mentioned in the main part of my report, not all children will have access to the devices needed to use this app. However, in my interviews with Mrs O’Meara, Mrs Brewer and in the focus group I held, I was told that most schools now have access to ipads and other interactive devices within the classroom. To overcome the issue that some children won’t have their own devices, I would suggest that each class should allocate specific time slots in the school day where every child will be able to use the ipads to access their profiles.

Additionally, and in order to ensure that each child has an equal opportunity to use the devices, a loan scheme could be set up to allow the children to take them home.

63.

(Own image)

When considering a name for the app, I wanted to create something simple. The name would inspire children to start using the app but would also ensure that parents would be happy for their children to use it. I wanted it to be very aparant that this is an online educational app with a fun twist, so I decided to combine the words ‘digital’ and ‘educate’ to create ‘Digicate’.

‘Digicate’

64.

65.

(Own images)

(Own images)

66.

When considering how to create an interest around the app, I suggest that about a week before it’s release, each school should set up projections during playtime, lunchtime and in the reception area. This could be a continuous reel showing different sections of the app being used, allowing the children to see what they should expect when they use it. The fun nature and colourful graphics used throughout the projection should attract the attention of the children and trigger an interest in the app.

Another marketing technique that could be used is to ask a child from each year group to test the app and upload photographs and reviews to their school’s website for other pupils to access. From my research, I found that ‘buzz’ marketing is considered to be a successful marketing strategy amongst children. If children see their peers interacting with a new product, they will want to try it out for themselves.

Promoting the app

67.

Although this app will be available to all children, parental approval is important. For the app to be a success, parents should encourage their children to use it. With this in mind I will suggest that parents should be invited to a presentation where the Head teacher of each school should explain every aspect of the app and how it will benefit their children. I understand that some parents may be skeptical about this idea so it will need to be explained to them thoroughly. During this assembly screen shots of the app should be projected to show the parents different sections of the app and to give them the general idea of how it will work. Ipads should also be available for them to try it out so that they are aware of the educational value that the app will afford their children.

Approval from parents

68.

I wanted to test the validity of my idea and see how well it would fit into schools today. I started by analyzing the idea myself, measuring the successes, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This highlighted some weaknesses which I addressed and modified in order to achieve improvements.

69.

I also tested the validity of my ideas by sharing my report with the Deputy Head teacher of Wilnecote School in Tamworth. I did this to gain his views and opinions about the app. I wanted to know how realistic he thought the idea was and ultimately whether he thought it would work within his school. I was pleased with the response given (See Appendix G).

“I think this is an excellent idea that would present us with an innovative way to address the age-old problem of gender imbalance in our school. I would probably want to test the app out on a small group such as our boys in our “Inclusion Unit” who I am absolutely confident would love such a learning style.

I particularly like the idea of homework tasks set via the app and, although the number of male teachers is less of an issue for us, I do like the idea of a male mentor to guide the boys through their learning journey.

Whole school adoption in the majority of lessons is probably unrealistic but the use of the app for smaller, specially chosen groups is very feasible. I would be happy to adopt the idea and am confident that it would engage the boys because of the parallels to their experiences with modern day technology” (Deputy Head Teacher, Wilnecote School, 2014).

70.

Appendix

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71.

72.

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Illustrations

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Time management

Documents for primary research

Focus group answer sheets (Appendix

A)

Questionnaire examples

(Appendix B)

Examples of answers from selected questions I sent out via the online questionnaire. The questions were kept the same as the ones seen above in the focus group section.

At the top of each questionnaire, I used this paragraph, “I am researching for my third year dissertation and as part of this project I am interested in your views about your experience at school.

The information you provide will be collated with others and analysed so that I can get a better insight into this topic. The information provided will be treated in strictest confidence and you will not be individually identified in any presentations of the results. All questionnaires will be kept in accordance with the Data Protection Act and destroyed at the end of the project.� in-keeping with the Universities ethical guidelines.

Answers from Mrs O’Meara, Year 6 teacher (Appendix C)

Answers from Mrs Brewer, Head Teacher (Appendix D)

Examples of children’s work

(Appendix E)

Stat sheets

(Appendix F)

(Appendix G)

Feedback from my idea

The quote I recieved back from the Deputy Head Teacher of Wilnecote School...

“I think this is an excellent idea that would present us with an innovative way to address the age-old problem of gender imbalance in our school. I would probably want to test the app out on a small group such as our boys in our “Inclusion Unit” who I am absolutely confident would love such a learning style.

I particularly like the idea of homework tasks set via the app and, although the number of male teachers is less of an issue for us, I do like the idea of a male mentor to guide the boys through their learning journey.

Whole school adoption in the majority of lessons is probably unrealistic but the use of the app for smaller, specially chosen groups is very feasible. I would be happy to adopt the idea and am confident that it would engage the boys because of the parallels to their experiences with modern day technology”

Visual inspiration pages

Methodology

Here is a more in-depth methodology of the primary research I conducted.

Questionnaire Who? Generation Z boys Why? To ask questions to them personally about the technologies they use at home and school and how much time they spend on them.

How? Via survey monkey Was it successful? Although I received 25 responses to my survey and got some good feedback from it, I would have liked more responses but didn’t manage to reach that many of my target audience.

What would I have done differently? If I did this project again, I would make use of the contacts I made in the schools I have worked with and asked them to send it round their students to get a bigger response.

Interview Who? Mrs Brewer, Head Teacher of a primary school Why? To better my knowledge about the gender gap in education and learn specifically about how they cope with it in her school and what they do to narrow it.

How? Initially by email, then by post Was it successful? Yes, I got a great insight into her school and how they manage the issue. She provided me with some really good sources of information which were really helpful with my report.

Interview Who? Mrs O’Meara, Y6 teacher Why? To ask a teacher in a different area of the country about her experience with teaching boys and how she overcomes the gender gap in her classroom.

How? Via email Was it successful? Yes, I got some really helpful answers that helped me with my report.

Analysis of children’s work Who? 1 girl and 1 boy from foundation level Why? To look at some samples of work by two children at the same level to get an understanding of the difference in ability between them.

How? Mrs Brewer sent them to me in the post Was it successful? Although it was great for me to see how the level of work differs between those two children, it was only a very small sample. If I did the project again, I would ask for an example from every child in the class.

Focus group Who? Boys and girls in generation Z Why? To understand the difference between the sexes and to see how their educational preferences differ from each other.

How? I set up a focus group of 24 children in a classroom environment at my local school. I explained what my dissertation was about and asked if they would help me by filling out my question sheet.

Lesson observations Who? A year 6 class in a primary school in Tamworth Why? I was on work experience and helped out in a lesson where the parents were invited in to learn with their children. I used this memory of my observation to help with my report