Reflections on an ICT implementation

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Reflections on an ICT implementation

• Ray ONeill
• www.iol.ie/rayo
• rayo_at_iol.ie

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Schools IT 2000

• Report to
• The National Policy Advisory and Development
  Committee
• by PWC

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Schools IT 2000 was successful

• increasing the number of computers
• increasing access to the Internet
• 98 schools connected to Internet
• Half of all post-primary schools and a quarter of
  primary schools have a web site

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Use of ICT and software

• Post-primary
• 71 of teachers
• 93 of principals used IT
• Primary
• 67 of teachers
• 83 of principals were using ICT

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Training

• 59 of post-primary teachers
• 60 of principals
• 75 of primary teachers
• 88 of principals
• Skills such as word processing, Internet, email
  and keyboard skills frequently mentioned

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Factors discouraging use of ICT

• Primary principals
• time constraints, lack of knowledge, confidence,
  technical support
• Primary teachers
• lack of resources and training

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Factors discouraging use of ICT

• Post-primary principals
• lack of training, knowledge, time, technical
  support
• Post-primary teachers
• lack of time, of equipment and of training

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Recommendations to the Minister

• there is a demand for more training, morefunds
  and more equipment
• Both teachers and principals appear to
  haveembraced the ethos of Schools IT 2000
• They are enthusiastic about it andrecognise its
  potential
• However, they think that they need more support

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Seamus Knox - SIP Co-ordinator

• Time
• Money

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Conclusions

• Principals perceive ICT as being more vital as
  an administrative tool than teachers do as a
  teaching tool
• Teachers of Engineering and Technology subjects
  felt that ICT was more useful than did those
  teaching Arts and Humanities

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Equitable access to ICT

• Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasmussen
• The North Central Regional Educational
  Laboratory (NCREL)

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Equitable access to ICT

• Connectivity (technological)
• Ubiquity
• Interconnectivity (personal)
• Equity
• Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasmussen
  http//www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/te
  chnlgy/te4lk16.htm

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Equitable access to ICT

• For a school to be connected and interconnected,
  and for its technology to be ubiquitous, means
  that everyone has access to the best and most
  extensive resources the technology has to offer
• If a system has home-school connections but no
  connections to the local library system or to the
  Internet, or if only students in gifted classes
  or in magnet schools know how to use those
  connections effectively, the technology is not
  being used equitably
• Technology in schools should be available to all
  students so that everyone has access to rich and
  challenging learning opportunities"

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The Setanta project

• Schools Integration Project (SIP 042)

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The Setanta project (SIP 042)

• To develop a model for a school based intranet
  for the teaching of second level school subjects
• To make this Intranet initially available in the
  computer room, with fast access and tailored to
  the needs of the school and curriculum
• To extend this Intranet to include a range of
  subject classrooms

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Activities

• Collaboration with university

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Activities

• Training
• Infrastructure
• PCs, laptop, projectors
• Routers, switches
• Cable every room in the school

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Activities contd

• Content
• Art,
• Biology,
• Geography
• others

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Activities contd

• Teacher training in the use of the Intranet
• Teacher training in the development of courseware

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Activities contd

• Extend this Intranet to include a range of
  subject classrooms
• Reconfiguration of the existing network to
  facilitate the operation of a secure Intranet

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Resources

• The development of specific content by students
• Training in Web authoring
• Training in setting up laptops, data projectors
  and connecting to the network
• Organising task groups to carry out particular
  functions

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How do people come to embrace ICT?

• Backpacking in Peru
• They know more Irish than I realised!
• If that eejit can do it so can I!
• The provision of computers in the staff room
• Digital cameras, scanning, video conferencing

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The Culture Change

• It has allowed teachers to examine their practice
  and change it - often the first time in many
  years
• It allows students to find something of interest
  in courses they often find boring and irrelevant
• Instead of making it difficult for teachers to
  use technology we have to try to make it
  difficult for them not to

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Devising a policy

• Suggestion Start with a rationale!

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Devising a policy

• What is the rationale for ICT in your school,
  workplace?

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Social Rationale

• Since schools prepare students for life, they
  should prepare them to deal with computers
• therefore, all students should have courses on
  Computer Awareness

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Vocational Rationale

• Computer education should be related to future
  jobs
• Programming confidence in their ability to
  control computers, and may be a foundation for a
  job in computing
• Computer Applications programs may be useful to
  them as students and possibly when they move into
  jobs

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Pedagogic Rationale

• If CAL offers advantages over other methods,
  students should be able to use computers in
  learning other subjects

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Catalytic Rationale

• Computers help students become less dependent on
  the teacher as expert
• Computers encourage students to learn by
  collaborating rather than competing with other
  students

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IT Industry Rationale

• We want to build a strong IT industry
• Hardware Develop products to suit local markets
• Software Build a highly skilled workforce,
  capable of undertaking contract work here and for
  other countries

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Cost Effective Rationale

• Educational software is available that can do the
  job as well, if not better than teachers

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Special Needs Rationale

• Students who are sensorially or physically
  disabled, benefit greatly from using computers,
  which can motivate slow learners and compensate
  for disabilities
• Hawkridge, D, Vincent, T., Hales, G. (1985).
  What is new information technology? In New
  Education Technology in the Education of Disabled
  Children and Adults (pp. 41-52). San Diego, CA
  College-Hill Press

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Devising a policy

• Suggestion Advantages and disadvantages

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Advantages of IT

• Stimulates interest
• Provides student centred approach to learning
• Introduces greater variety into classes
• Provides skills which are transferable to the
  workplace
• Assists concept learning
• Frees up the teacher to give individual attention
  to students

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Disadvantages of IT

• Level of maintenance required
• Teacher training required
• Increased demand on teachers in terms of skills
  and time
• Makes other classes seem boring by comparison

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Devising a policy

• Suggestion Set goals

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Technology Integration

• Integration of ICT into as many mainstream
  subjects as possible
• Integration into teachers range of teaching tools

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Infrastructure

• Increase provision of PCs to enable 1 students to
  1 computer in all classes
• Provision of large screen technology as a
  teaching aid
• Provision of interactive whiteboards as a
  teaching aid
• Provision of PCs in a number of classrooms as a
  teaching aid
• Provision of PCs in library as a research aid
• Provision of PCs in staff room to improve access
• Provision of a school wide network
• Development of school intranet
• Internet access across the school
• To provide all interested teachers with the
  skills to use ICTs in class
• To provide all interested teachers with the
  skills to use ICTs in class

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Change Management

• How do you encourage/support change in teachers
  practice?
• How do you encourage/support change in management
  attitude to practice?

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Finance

• Initial capital costs
• Computers
• Large screens
• Infrastructure (networking etc)
• Ongoing costs
• Replacement
• Consumables
• Connectivity
• Technical support

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Time

• How does this fit into the teachers/workers day?
• How does this fit into the students day?

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Model of Sustainability

• Does this plan depend on one person?
• Does it have planned finances?