Paper 1: What’s been achieved so far with ICT in schools?

In 1997, the Department of Education published The Education Technology Strategy for Northern Ireland (1), which addressed the known issues constraining the uptake of ICT in schools. The Strategy set targets for the competence of teachers, the entitlement of pupils, the use of ICT in teaching and learning and for the further integration of ICT in the Northern Ireland curriculum. The Strategy set out to ensure that young people would be well prepared for their life and work in the information economy of the 21st century, and that ICT would be used to raise standards. A great deal (2) has been achieved by teachers and by those who lead, support and advise them; there is a considerable base of enthusiasm, expertise and understanding on which to build. It will be possible, given continued support, collaboration and sharing, to ensure that the outstanding practice seen in some schools becomes a universal experience for all learners.

Five years have seen radical change to the way in which ICT is provided in schools, through a regional strategy, locally delivered, and through public/private partnerships. Historic issues of equality of access and opportunity, affordability, sustainability, value for money, and the central provision of common, reliant systems have been addressed and resolved. Common, yet easily adapted, education solutions can now be created collaboratively by educators. Such solutions have the potential to exemplify high standards in a consistent manner.

Common infrastructure and connectivity (by April 2004)

  • 40,000 networked C2k computers, together with existing multi-media systems, and 12,000 laptops (a total of about 70,000 systems), have brought the average computer/pupil ratio close to 1:5, or to put it another way, the average computer/teacher ratio is better than to 3:1
  • each school has a Local Area Network (1245 in total) with stations in most classrooms, bringing curriculum and administration systems together, with fast filtered Internet access at every workstation
  • all primary schools have at least 512 Kb connectivity and post-primary schools at least 2 Mb broadband (up to 10 Mb in some cases)
  • all schools connected to a Data Centre providing always-on, protected access to an online learning environment containing content and assessment services for a school’s curriculum, professional development, administration and management needs and a range of services, including digital video, conferencing, remote diagnostics and record-keeping

Common content and services (by April 2004)

  • 200 nationally licensed curriculum titles provided locally on C2k networks, greatly enhancing the digital resources available for teaching
  • all 400,000 Northern Ireland school service users (including all pupils) with their own password, mailbox and protected area
  • a fast direct link provided to the Peoples’ Network (3) in all public libraries (where free broadband access is also provided); some of the titles available in schools can also to be found there
  • Half of all primary schools have their pupils enrolled in Gridclub for extra-curricular learning
  • the Inspectorate (ETI) and a C2k primary user survey both report that primary schools record very high levels of satisfaction with their C2k systems

Affordable and sustainable

  • managed infrastructure, connectivity, services and educational content provided, at no cost to schools’ LMS budgets
  • long-term sustainability of provision, including the refreshment and upgrading of services, secured for schools

Emerging Practice: teachers (4,5) and leaders

  • 20,000 teachers and school librarians completed the NOF training programme in ICT
    • where there was clear commitment by the principal and senior management to make training a priority, an investment by teachers and good quality support, participants’ progress was good
    • over 90% of participants reported a relatively good experience in their training, while the learning experience of others was not without its difficulties
  • the quality of teaching using ICT was satisfactory or better in over 80% of lessons recently observed by Inspectors
  • almost all schools demonstrate a strong commitment to the development of ICT across the curriculum, however, there is a general need for a greater integration of ICT into teaching and learning
  • online professional development is now a required component of the Professional Qualification for Headteachers (6)

Emerging Practice: pupils (7)

  • pupil entries to CCEA KS3 and KS2 ICT accreditation schemes have risen rapidly to 20,000 pupils, with KS3 pupil achievement at levels 6 and 7 climbing each year
  • in most of the lessons recently inspected, the pupils displayed consistently high levels of interest and enjoyment and there is evidence of good home use of computers by pupils
  • the use of ICT to support learning more effectively is increasing gradually in the majority of schools but more opportunities need to be provided for more creative use of ICT by pupils
  • there is a need in almost all schools to promote a more consistent approach to the development of ICT within and across the curriculum.

Innovation
Pilot projects demonstrate the feasibility of elearning (8), computer-based adaptive testing and online high-stakes examinations and are helping to set quality standards for online teaching, initial teacher education and professional development.

References

1  http://www.deni.gov.uk/about/strategies/d_ets.htm
2  http://www.class-ni.org.uk/etstrategy/etstrat/index.htm
3  http://www.ni-libraries.net/
4  ICT in Primary, Post-Primary and Special Schools, 2001-2002 (ETI), 2003
5  Final Report on the NOF Programme in Northern Ireland (1999-2003)
6  http://www.rtuni.org
7  ICT in Primary, Post-Primary and Special Schools, 2001-2002 (ETI), 2003
8  http://www.elearningfutures.com

 

JANUARY 2004