PS3014 ICT

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PS3014ICT Education The impact of ICT on
Learning

• Chris Comber
• cjfc1_at_le.ac.uk

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the PAST 1960s - 1980s

• Numerous claims for potential of computers to
  'revolutionise learning
• Just as earlier claims for radio, television,
  video.
• but
• by early 80s, IT failed to make major impact in
  schools
• During '80s no. of UK government initiatives
• 1980-95 200m.
• National Curriculum IT compulsory element

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1996 the end of the PAST?

• Superhighways for Education
• Nationwide consultation
• Education Departments Superhighways Initiative
  (EDSI)
• 22 school/industry partnership pilot projects
• Evaluation by 6 research teams
• 22 individual reports on potential of ICT

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1997 The beginning of the PRESENT

• Synoptic report of EDSI projects
• Scrimshaw
• Commissioned reports on IT in schools
• McKinsey
• Stevenson
• Putting the C in ICT

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McKinsey Report (1997)

• "IT..has the potential to enhance and even
  transform education"
• UK higher ratio of PCs per child than most
  countriesbut much of it obsolete
• early IT initiatives focused on hardware
• educational potential taken as read, but rarely
  articulated

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McKinsey Report continued

• UK had technological edge, but at expense of
  deeper considerations about the ways in which the
  use of IT can enhance learning
• schools may have had the equipment, but it did
  not necessarily follow that they were using it
  effectively, or at all.

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1997 continued

• New Labour Government under Tony Blair
• Connecting the Learning Society
• Consultation document on the future of ICT
• Launch of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL)

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Connecting the Learning Society

• Foreword
• Technology has revolutionised the way we work,
  so too is it about to transform education
• "Children cannot be effective in tomorrow's world
  if they are trained in yesterdays skills"

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National Grid for Learning (NGfL)

• Serious governmental initiative
• massive increase in IT/ICT provision
• schools at the heart of the programme - computers
  to be a fact of life in all schools
• new emphasis on ICT its potential for learning

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NGfL Targets for 2002

• teachers should be competent and confident using
  ICT in the curriculum
• all schools colleges should be connected to
  internet
• pupils will have a good understanding of ICT
• UK as centre of excellence for educational s/w
• administration and inter-school communication
  will cease to be paper-based

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NGfL strategy

• 230m NOF funding for teacher training
• NC for ICT for student teachers (4/98)
• funding for infrastructure and hardware
• new spending (1bn) for h/w infrastructure
• creation of on-line resource areas

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1999-The PRESENTICT in Schools (ICTiS)

• Series of major government initiatives
• Major funding for hardware, software and
  infrastructure
• Laptops for Teachers
• Curriculum online
• eLearning credits
• National Broadband network
• National programme of training provision for
  teachers (NOF)
• National programme of professional development
  for headteachers (SLICT)
• Interactive whiteboards
• Testbed project

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Researching ICT

• growing body of evidence that ICT motivates
  pupils and is a key lever in improving
  performance driving up standards (DfES,
  200184)
• It is entirely reasonable that many teachers
  should be sceptical they need sound evidence
  that ICT is of proven value, or clear guidance as
  to what that value is
• McFarlane (1997)

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3 Key areas of research

• Impact of ICT on
• School organisation
• Teaching
• Learning

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Impact

• School organisation
• Administration
• Policy
• Design layout
• Purchasing

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Impact

• Teaching
• Teaching styles
• Teacher confidence skill
• Curriculum design
• Resource development

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Impact

• Learning
• Attainment
• Subject knowledge
• Conceptual understanding
• Attitudes, motivation behaviour

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The problem of ICT research

• Persistent discrepancy between the questions
  asked of ICT evaluation studies the
  conclusions they come to. Laurillard (1993)
• Difficult in separating impact from context Joy
  and Garcia (2000)

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Attainment

• It is understandable that those responsible for
  extensive investment should seek to establish
  measurable outcomes
• Empirical evidence of the role of ICT in
  educational attainment has been the Holy Grail
  for some researchers and many policy makers for
  many years
• Cox et al. (2004)

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The ImpacT studies

• Large-scale UK studies of ICT in schools
• 1st ImpacT study (1993) (Watson, Cox et al, 1993)
• ImpaCT2 (2002-4)
• 3 Strands
• Strand 1 (Harrison, Comber et al) Attainment
• Strand 2 (Somekh, Lewin et al) Home use
• Strand 3 (Comber, Lawson et al) Classroom use

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ImpacT (Watson, 1993)
Reasoning tests (High exposure/Low exposure grps)
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ImpacT Mini studies

• 8 purpose-designed learning tasks
• Attainment gains for pupils with high exposure
  to IT in 4 of the 8 activities
• A LOGO task in maths
• A database task in science
• A database task in geography
• Wordprocessing tasks in English

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ImpacT

• Conclusion
• A minimum threshold of IT access needed to be
  reached before learning gains became apparent
• but
• Strongly dependent on classroom organisation and
  teaching style.

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Becta (2000a, 2000b)based on Ofsted reports

• Consistent trend for pupils in schools judged as
  having better ICT resources to achieve higher
  grades for Eng, maths and science
• But did not demonstrate a causal relationship
• So..there is a need to specify the necessary and
  sufficient conditions which produce enhancement
  and to be able to measure each of those variables
• Higgins (2003)

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Meta-analyses/systematic reviews

• Fletcher-Flyn Gravatt (1995) Meta-analysis of
  400 studies of computer-assisted instruction
  (CAI) 1987-92 US
• some improvement over time but v. small mean
  effect size
• Weaver (2000) US
• found only weak correlation between ICT
  attainment
• Both suggested that ICT played a very small part
  in improving performance.

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Andrews et al (2006) Systematic review UK

• Reviewed literature of impact of ICT on
  English(5-16)
• Our answer to the research question that we set
  ourselves What is the evidence for the
  effectiveness of different ICTs in the teaching
  and learning of English . has to be Not much
  
• However, this conclusion is based as much on the
  dearth of good evidence i.e. good research as
  it is on the weight of the evidence in the
  articles reviewed

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Goldberg, A. et al. (2003)Systematic review US

• Similar review to Andrews et al Impact of ICT
  on English (K-12) but
• the writing process is more collaborative,
  iterative, and social in computer classrooms as
  compared with paper-and-pencil environments
• the results suggest that students who use
  computers .. are not only more engaged and
  motivated in their writing, but they produce
  written work that is of greater length and higher
  quality

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Moseley et al (1999) UK

• ICT Literacy Numeracy in primary schools
• Again found weak correlation but did not claim
  causal link - instead argued that
• More effective teachers/schools tend to use more
  innovative approaches generally.
• Thus it is more about how ICT is used rather
  than if it is or the level of ICT resources.

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Contextual factors1. Types of software

• a. Behaviourist/operant conditioning
• E.g.Drill practice s/w Integrated learning
  systems (ILS)
• repetition
• positive reinforcement
• small incremental steps for progression
• feedback/revision loop
• Series of ILS evaluations (Wood, 1996)
• General conclusion little evidence that ILS
  systematically raised attainment
• Over-reliance for revision could be damaging
• Aberdeen report (2003) too early to tell

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Software contdb. constructivist

• LOGO simple programming language (Papert 1990)
• Classic constructivist environment
• To fail and resolve is to learn
• Several studies have shown link between LOGO use
  and learning of maths concepts, e.g.
• Hoyles et al. (1991)
• Hoyles and Noss (1992)
• Johnson-Gentile et al. (1994)
• Yusuf (1994)

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Software contdc. social constructivist

• Collaborative learning supported by ICT

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(i) Collaborating around computers

• Constructing knowledge through peer interaction
• Computers do not judge and are endlessly patient
  and yet they can stimulate learners and serve as
  a focus for their talk(Wegerif, 2004)
• Can promote thinking and reasoning skills as well
  as social interaction improved confidence etc.
  (Subhi, 1999)
• Task needs to be structured to ensure
  collaboration takes place, all have a role etc.
  (Crook, 1994 Littleton and Light, 1999
  Scardamalia et al., 1992 Wegerif and Scrimshaw,
  1997)

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Exploratory talk (Mercer et al, 1999)

• Ground rules
• Talk and listening is inclusive.
• Talk and listening is respectful of opinions and
  ideas.
• All information is shared.
• Reasons are asked for, and given.
• The group seeks to reach agreement.
• Wegerif Dawes (2004)
• Thinking and learning with ICT raising
  achievement in primary classrooms
• www.thinkingtogether.org.uk

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(ii) Collaborating through computers

• Salovaara, H. (2005)
• students use of cognitive learning strategies in
  inquiry-based computer-supported collaborative
  learning (CSCL)
• quasi-exptl study (high school)
• 4 half-term projects (Racism, Science Fiction
  etc)
• autonomous learning, social-constructivist lesson
  design
• Intervention grp significantly more monitoring
  representing knowledge sharing information
  seeking information
• Control grp significantly more memorisation
  content evaluation

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Contextual factors2. Motivation self-esteem

• ICT has beneficial motivational influence on
  students learning (Cox 1997)
• improved confidence, motivation and self-esteem
  particularly for disaffected students SEN
  (Duckworth 2001 Passey 2000 Harris and Kington
  2002)
• correctly spelt, neatly presented work motivated
  students who find difficulty with handwriting
  (Wishart and Blease 1999)
• learning in a technology-enhanced setting more
  stimulating and student-centred than traditional
  classroom (Pedretti and Mayer-Smith 1998).
• Source Becta (2003)

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ImpaCT2 (2002-04)

• Biggest UK study since 1993 ImpacT research
• Strand 1 (Harrison, Comber et al) focussed on
  ICT attainment
• Relationship between frequency of use and
  performance

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ImpaCT2 Strand 1 Key findings
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ImpaCT2 Strand 3Comber, Lawson et al (2003)

• Intensive Case studies of 16 schools
• Key findings re learning
• The impact of ICT on attitudes behaviour,
  potential to aid understanding of processes to
  enable more autonomous modes of learning, as well
  as its capacity for information gathering, data
  manipulation and communication with others, were
  among a broad range of factors which teachers
  perceived as likely to have an impact on pupil
  achievement

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ImpaCT2 Strand 3 contd.

• Some of the best examples of the use of ICT were
  observed where
• clearly articulated learning objective
• lesson moved through different modes of
  teacher/pupil interaction
• involved both in a variety of roles
• appropriate choice and use of ICT

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Strand 3 contd

• Least effective where
• bolted on to existing practice
• technology drives the pedagogy
• ICT skills dominate learning with ICT
• used as behaviour control
• inappropriate choice/use of s/w

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Conclusion

• ICT is highly motivating for many students, but
  on its own it can rarely improve attainment,
  understanding or cognitive ability.
• The role of the teacher is critical planning the
  learning task, identifying appropriate ICT
  resources, using that ICT in appropriate ways to
  support learning, scaffolding the task.

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• Whatever the suggested benefits of a particular
  type of software (or hardware), it is when the
  teacher assists and guides the child's learning
  that these benefits are fully realised (Mercer
  and Fisher, 1997)
• Whenever a new technology comes along, someone,
  somewhere, will claim that it will
  revolutionise education. It never has, and by
  itself, never will.
• But by embracing it, exploring its potential,
  experimenting with innovative ways, while at the
  same time retaining the essential elements of
  good pedagogy - teachers can, and probably will -
  use technology to transform what it means to be
  educated.