ICT in Schools Now

A consistent message from the literature is that information technology is currently a significant element in a major restructure of work, social activity, government and education. However, progress in education is proving to be slow.

The integration of ICT into the curriculum is one of the most challenging tasks facing schools. It raises fundamental questions regarding the purposes of schooling and the nature of the curriculum

• Since ICT is changing access to knowledge, what should be in the curriculum?

• Since ICT is changing the activities students can undertake, what new teaching methodologies are required?

• Since ICT allows new learning activities, what new approaches to assessment are needed?

These questions are complex and are compounded by the following.

• The rate of change in ICT is very fast, and is led by a society and an economy that are applying new technology more quickly than the education sector.

• ICT integration is often seen as a separate development activity, not connected closely to general curriculum implementation.

• Some of the potentially most beneficial attributes of using ICT in learning are difficult to measure, particularly when using traditional methods of assessment so improvement may go unrecognised by the system.

Many countries have recognised the use of ICT in learning as a key national priority and applied large scale resources to the issue. However, there is widespread recognition that the new technologies have penetrated into overall curriculum delivery only to a limited degree. Alison Elliiott [1] quotes a 2004 study by Findlay and Fitzgerald [2] that states the following:

'Efforts to 'integrate' information and communication technologies with pedagogy have achieved not much more than technical-level effects that mostly leave traditional approaches to teaching and learning unchanged.'

In 2008 the Centre for Educational Multimedia at Monash University reported similar findings:

'After nearly five decades of computers in education there is still confusion about the use of technology in classrooms and widespread reluctance to move beyond tokenistic use. There is not a universal, shared vision regarding the use of technology in the classroom and teachers are confronted with many theories and instructional designs and bombarded with confusing, even romantic, views of what the technology is capable of delivering. It is not possible to definitively establish a direct link between learning with technology and improved outcomes.' [3]

This point regarding evidence of benefit is important and made regularly by researchers. It is a source of frustration for system leaders seeking to justify expenditure in ICT. Since the application of ICT into a learning situation is one of many factors involved in successful outcomes, it is often impossible to specifically attribute improved learning to the use of ICT. If researchers using controlled studies have great difficulty in establishing a causal link between use of ICT and improved learning, then individual teachers will have even greater difficulty.

The Monash University report continues:

'Our point of view is that educational research does not supply rules for action but hypotheses for intelligent problem solving. It can help us understand what worked in a particular situation but not what will work in future situations. The role of the educator is to use research findings to make one’s problem solving more intelligent.' [4]

This view reinforces a central message of this report; that is, the value of school-based learning communities which look at the all the issues involved in learning, including the use of ICT, and test and measure their success with students. This holistic approach has gained widespread support and is discussed further in School Improvement Success

A European Union progress report on innovative use of ICT in schools states the following:

'A review of studies carried out for the Commission confirms broad positive benefits of ICT for learning modes such as cognitive processing, independent learning, critical thinking and teamwork and that ICT enhances a student-centered learning approach. However, while these benefits would lend themselves to new pedagogical approaches, the majority of teachers have not used ICT in such a way.

If ICT has a positive impact on learning, it has yet to revolutionise processes at schools. But the digital generation is learning by using ICT in everyday life. Teachers need to be part of this and education and training institutions need to take it fully on board.' [5]

This is one example of high expectations around ICT’s potential to transform teaching and learning. This report continues by observing various issues that have resulted in the slow take-up by teachers, also noted in the quote above.

Since assessment is a primary driver of educational practice, it is also a critical element in any attempt to reform that practice. This was summarised recently at the Learning Technology World Forum 2009 where a major project was launched, Transforming education: Assessing and teaching 21st century skills. [6]

'Assessment in education is one of the most powerful determinants of practice in the classroom, made more so by the standards and accountability reforms of the past decade. Many previous, well‐meaning and well‐resourced attempts to reform education have stumbled through an inability to demonstrate improvement on standardized tests designed for last century’s education. More often than not, such efforts have assessed what was easiest to measure rather than what was most important to measure. Consequently, along with changes in other areas of the educational system, educational assessment must be transformed to be more responsive to the social and economic needs of students and society as we face the challenges of the 21st century.

Existing models of assessment are typically at odds with the high‐level skills, knowledge, attitudes and characteristics of self‐directed and collaborative learning that are increasingly important for our global economy and fast changing world. New assessments are needed that engage students in the use of technology and digital resources and the application of a deep understanding of subject knowledge to solve complex, real world tasks and create new ideas, content, and knowledge.'

This problem is particularly relevant to the integration of ICT because many of the potential benefits of using ICT involve just such high-level skills, knowledge and attitudes. It can be deeply frustrating to innovative teachers who use ICT that their foresight is undercut by assessment systems. In addition, if the use of ICT is not reflected in assessment disengaged teachers have another reason to continue holding back from using it.

Transforming education: Assessing and teaching 21st century skills, the project referred to above, is headed by Professor Barry McGaw, Chair of Australia's National Curriculum Board, and will link its work to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) [7] and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) [8] tests. This and other projects that focus on assessment are potentially important to the direction of professional learning for ICT.