Future Challenges in Education and ICT – Policy Planning and Practice

On-line Learning

Prof Angela McFarlane University of Bristol

[There has been] a chorus of pronouncements that "the information society" both requires and makes possible new forms of education. We totally agree with this. But we do not agree that tardiness in translating these declarations into reality can be ascribed, as it often is, to such factors as lack of money, technology, standards or teacher training. Obviously there is a need for improvement in all of those areas, But the primary lack is something different - a shortage of bold, coherent, inspiring yet realistic visions of what education could be like 10 and 20 years from now.

Papert, S. and Caperton, G., 1999

Massive Investment in ICT

•Schools infrastructure - £700m

•Library and community infrastructure and content - £200m

•ICT Learning Centres - £400m

•Training for teachers and librarians - £250m

•Content digitisation for the NGfL and libraries - £50m

•OVER £1.6 BILLION IN TOTAL UP TO 2002

•Plus £710m in SFG for 2002 - 4

The innovation as an efficiency initiative

• Purposes remain the same – Model of learning is transmissive – knowledge is a commodity

• Teaching, learning and resources change

• Assessment remains the same• Previous results improve?

Traditionally defined

curriculum and learning

culture

Traditionally defined ICT

skills

Learner activity, using

new technology

and ICT skills

Improved knowledge

and understanding

Improved attainment

Direct Impact Model

Role of the teacher?

Learning objective

What is access?

The innovation as curriculum reform

movement• Curriculum purposes change• Resources, teaching and learning

change with them• As do methods of assessment• Results, and what count as results,

both change

Why is ICT being used at all?

• To create greater equality in achievement and/or access to learning

• To develop pupils’ life skills• To increase pupils’ employability• To maximise economic growth• To update school curricula to match

changes in the host discipline

There is widening access to new technologies

• 75% at KS2 and 88% at KS4 have home computer access

• 48% of primary and 64% of secondary pupils have home access to the Internet

(ImpacT2 Emerging Findings)

Active use of new technologies

• 52% of primary and 67% of secondary pupils have their own email address

• At KS2 14% of pupils have created their own web pages, rising to 22% at KS3 and 67% at KS4

• At KS2 19% of pupils have their own mobile phone, rising to 49% at KS3 and 60% at KS4

(ImpacT2 Emerging Findings)

Institutional learning

Self-directed learning Overlap

Improved attainmentImproved attainment

Learner-defined curriculum and

culture

Learner-defined curriculum and

culture

Improved knowledge,

understanding and skills, of personal and social benefit

Improved knowledge,

understanding and skills, of personal and social benefit

Traditionally defined curriculum and learning culture

Traditionally defined curriculum and learning culture

Teacher / curriculum-specified tasks for the learner

Teacher / curriculum-specified tasks for the learner

Learner’s personal representation of the task, and available

resources

Learner’s personal representation of the task, and available

resources

Potential benefits for the learner:

knowledge and skills (beyond those validated or approved externally)

autonomy and confidence in learning

extended awareness of the social benefits of the ICT

Potential benefits for the learner:

knowledge and skills (beyond those validated or approved externally)

autonomy and confidence in learning

extended awareness of the social benefits of the ICT

Traditionally defined ICT

skills

Traditionally defined ICT

skills

Learner activity, using ICT skills

Learner activity, using ICT skills

Improved related knowledge and understanding

Improved related knowledge and understanding

Home-based task

Home-based task

SociallyContextualised ImpactModel

What should be recognised as educational attainment?

What constitutes meaningful access to ICT?

What are the implications of the wider context of school based education?

Three fundamental questions for the next five years -