Calling all UK Teachers: Evaluating Digimap and ICT in schools

As part of the work I am doing at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, I am evaluating Digimap, an online mapping service developed by EDINA.  By way of background, Digimap is a combination of several services that are licensed at a cost with a combined subscription rate of over 20,000 institutions. Digimap, the subscription service for higher education (HE), and further education (FE), is used at approximately 115 HE institutions and 20 FE institutions. Digimap for Colleges is used at 254 FE institutions. Digimap for Schools, the subscription service for primary and secondary schools has 2,700 subscribed schools. 

I would love to speak to any and all teachers in the UK interested in ICT use as part of their teaching. Not a geography teacher? Not a problem. I want to speak to teachers across the curriculum. History, literature, science, math, and geography. This evaluation is not only about Digimap, but also about ICT use broadly. Not confident in your ICT use? Not a problem. Never used Digimap? Truly not a problem. I want to learn more about your teaching and how ICT enters into that (or not, depending). I want to learn about your teaching approaches, want to know what you think are barriers to attainment and satisfaction, what you see are some of the larger issues surrounding incorporating these types of applications into your teaching.

I have included some further information below, but if you are interested, please do let me know at michael.s.gallagher@ed.ac.uk or @mseangallagher.

What is this project about?   

Dr. Michael Gallagher of the University of Edinburgh is tasked with evaluating the Digimap service (https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/) and towards that end he is looking to discuss Digimap with teachers, students, administrators, and interested parties. He is trying to learn more about how Digimap is used and what teachers and students want from the service and other ICT. Participants are being drawn from secondary schools adhering to both the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and the UK national curriculum in England, respectively.

What will be asked of you?

You will be asked to speak to Michael Gallagher in an interview either face to face or on the telephone. The interview is designed to last less than 60 minutes. Data being collected include awareness (of the Digimap service), perceived utility, workflow (how are participants using the service and other ICT services in the context of their day), barriers to use and comparatives (what other services might be used).  The interview itself will be semi-structured, meaning there will be room to explore whatever you feel significant. 

Who is conducting the study?

Dr. Michael Gallagher (me!) is tasked with evaluating the Digimap service for EDINA, a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of Information Services. EDINA developed and now administer the Digimap service. Michael Gallagher is a former teacher in secondary schools and university. He is currently a research associate at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. He holds a PhD in Education from University College London focusing on mobile learning in the humanities and is a Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He a Masters in Digital Education and a Masters in Information Science as well as a Bachelors in Secondary Education. He has about 15 years of teaching experience. 

How will we use the data?

You are invited to take part in the project through an interview where you will be asked to discuss your experiences with Digimap or similar applications and online services and how you use technology for your learning or teaching. The interviews will be conducted by Dr. Michael Gallagher. With your permission, the interviews will be recorded and transcripts will be created from these recordings. The data will be stored in a secure, password-protected location for the duration of the project and only be made available to staff associated with the project. Findings from the evaluation will be used to create a report for the research team and these findings can be shared with you, if you are interested. Data will potentially be used for academic publications but all data will be anonymised.

If interested, consider filling out the consent form.