Modelling and supporting ICT implementation in secondary schools

In many countries the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education has been stimulated. To explore the implementation process and its support within secondary schools, research was conducted on modelling aspects of ICT implementation in Dutch secondary school practice. Case studies were carried out in 10 secondary schools by interviewing the school board, school leader, ICT co-ordinator, some teachers, pupils who liked ICT, pupils who did not like ICT, and some parents. In addition, relevant school documents were studied and lesson practice was observed. The information was subjected to a qualitative analysis from multilevel and school development points of view. The empirical results suggest five successive phases of ICT implementation within schools, which constitute five models representing the gradual ICT transformation of educational and learning processes. The fifth model, however, was designed theoretically as this phase had not yet been realised in educational practice. Finally, educational and policy support actions to the ICT transformation process in school are presented in a structured way. The results are worthwhile for school practice and national policies, but they also need further underpinning and validation through research in other schools.     

Using an online tool to support school‐based ICT policy planning in primary education

An important step towards the successful integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools is to facilitate their capacity to develop a school‐based ICT policy resulting in an ICT policy plan. Such a plan can be defined as a school document containing strategic and operational elements concerning the integration of ICT in education. To write such a plan in an efficient way is challenging for schools. Therefore, an online tool [Planning for ICT in Schools (pICTos)] has been developed to guide schools in this process. A multiple case study research project was conducted with three Flemish primary schools to explore the process of developing a school‐based ICT policy plan and the supportive role of pICTos within this process. Data from multiple sources (i.e. interviews with school leaders and ICT coordinators, school policy documents analysis and a teacher questionnaire) were collected and analysed. The results indicate that schools shape their ICT policy based on specific school data collected and presented by the pICTos environment. School teams learned about the actual and future place of ICT in teaching and learning. Consequently, different policy decisions were made according to each school's vision on ‘good’ education and ICT integration.     

ICT policy planning in a context of curriculum reform: Disentanglement of ICT policy domains and artifacts

Researchers and policy makers around the world are increasingly acknowledging the importance of developing a school-based ICT policy plan to facilitate the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. Despite this interest, not much is known about how schools can develop their local ICT policy capacity and how to establish an ICT policy plan. In order to fill the gap in research on ICT policy planning, a multiple case study analysis with a mixed-method design was carried out with three Flemish primary schools. Primary schools in Flanders are encouraged by the government to develop local ICT policy planning in a context of ICT curriculum reform. Data from multiple sources (e.g. interviews with school leaders and ICT coordinators, focus group interviews with teachers, school policy document analysis, and a teacher questionnaire) were gathered and analyzed. The results indicate that ICT policy planning in schools should be considered as a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in school culture. ICT policy consists of different policy domains: vision development, financial policy, infrastructural policy, continuing professional development policy, and curriculum policy. Each policy domain can be described in terms of policy artifacts (tools, routines, and structures), and differences exist between schools concerning the involvement of teachers in the policy planning process and in the distribution of management tasks. As such, the study illustrates a distributed leadership perspective on ICT school policy planning. The results are of particular importance for school leaders, ICT coordinators and professional development trainers, and illustrates that ICT school policy is as much about developing shared meanings among stakeholders for ICT, and coordinating their relations and interactions in keeping with the school’s culture as it is about content related decisions.     

Institutionalised ICT use in primary education: A multilevel analysis

This study uses a multilayered framework of different independent school and teacher variables to study which factors are related to the use of ICT for teaching and learning in Flemish (Belgium) primary schools. Special attention is paid to widely accepted technology uses by teachers, which is labelled as ‘Institutionalised ICT use’. A questionnaire has been administered to a representative teacher sample (N = 433) in 53 Flemish primary schools. Factor analyses and multilevel hierarchical regression analyses have been conducted. The results of the multilevel analysis show that ‘Institutionalised ICT use’ should not only be considered as a teacher phenomenon but also as a school phenomenon. The null model shows that about 14% of the variance in ICT use of teachers is due to between-school differences. In a final model, the variables ‘ICT professional development’, ‘ICT competences’, ‘developmental educational beliefs’, and ‘schools' ICT vision and policy’ showed a positive association with ‘Institutionalised ICT use’.     

Examining the digital divide in K-12 public schools: Four-year trends for supporting ICT literacy in Florida

While there is evidence that access to computers in schools has increased, there remain questions about whether low socio-economic status (SES) schools provide students with equitable supports for achieving information communication technology (ICT) literacy. This research first presents a theoretical model to examine the digital divide within schools. Using this model, this research uses statewide data from four school years to investigate significant trends in ICT integration by school level and SES in Florida. Multilevel models for repeated measures analysis were used to compare models for predicting trends on nine different aspects of school technology integration. Results show statistically significant differences between high and low SES schools at every level in terms of student access to software, student use of software, teacher use of software, and the level of technology support. This research provides evidence of the existence of the digital divide among Florida’s K-12 schools.     

Predicting ICT integration into classroom teaching in Chinese primary schools: exploring the complex interplay of teacher‐related variables

Available research has explored a wide variety of factors influencing information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption and integration in classroom teaching; however, existing research seldom centre on the combined impact of these variables. In addition, the little research available is set up in the Chinese context. The latter is important given that the different cultural context in which the interplay between teacher beliefs and educational practices has only been documented quiet little. The present study centres on the complex interplay of a number of internal teacher variables to explain ICT classroom integration. These variables comprise ‘teachers’ constructivist teaching beliefs’, ‘teacher attitudes towards computers in education’, ‘teachers’ computer motivation’, ‘teacher perception of ICT‐related policy’. A survey was set up, involving 820 Chinese primary school teachers. Path modeling was used to explore the direct and indirect effects of the teacher‐related variables on their level of ICT classroom integration. Firstly, two distinctive types of ICT use can be distinguished in the Chinese context: (a) teacher supportive use of ICT that refers to the use of ICT for e.g. student administration, preparing worksheets, developing evaluation activities; and (b) classroom use of ICT to support and enhance the actual teaching and learning process. The results show that classroom use of ICT directly depends on teachers' computer motivation and the supportive use of ICT. Teachers' constructivist beliefs, their attitudes towards computers in education and perceptions about the ICT‐related school policy influence ICT integration in an indirect way. The results demonstrate how the complex interplay between teacher‐related variables and ICT integration in the classroom is partly in line with findings in non‐Asian contexts. A number of differences can be explained by the particular Chinese context. In particular an indirect relationship was found between teachers' constructivist beliefs and their level of ICT integration.     

Board’s IQ: What makes a board smart?

The amount of investment that has been made in interactive whiteboards (IWB) in the Turkish educational system during the past several years is quite striking. This investment is part of a plan to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into the Turkish educational system, with the goal of increasing the qualitative and quantitative aspects of schooling. Prior to IWB investments, hundreds of thousands of computers, projectors, and printers were distributed to schools in efforts to raise a generation able to respond to the demands of the 21st century. In addition, 98% of secondary school students and 93% of primary school students were provided with Internet access via ADSL. The aim of this study is to analyze the emerging trend of smart board investment in Turkish primary and secondary schools, with consideration of problems that hinder the effective use of IWBs in classrooms as compared to previous ICT integration efforts by the Ministry of National Education. The research is designed as an evaluative case study. The required data are collected through online questionnaires, teacher and pupil interviews, and document searches from teachers and students from various Turkish primary and secondary schools. It is not surprising that the factors hindering the use of IWBs in education are similar to the inhibiting factors in previous ICT integration projects. The findings show that when the needs for in-service training, digital education materials, support, maintenance, and administration are not addressed, educational ICT is unlikely to deliver the expected results.     

A multidimensional approach to determinants of computer use in primary education: teacher and school characteristics

The central aim of this study was to test a model that integrates determinants of educational computer use. In particular, the article examines teacher and school characteristics that are associated with different types of computer use by primary school teachers. A survey was set up, involving 527 teachers from 68 primary schools in Flanders. A separate questionnaire was administered to information and communication technology (ICT) coordinators from the same schools to gather additional information about cultural and contextual school characteristics. The combined impact of both teacher and school characteristics was explored through a multilevel analysis. Besides the importance of school characteristics, the results reveal differential effects of specific characteristics on specific types of computer use. Cultural school characteristics for instance, such as the schools’ openness to change and the availability of an ICT school policy plan, are positively related to the use of computers as a learning tool and to the adoption of ICT in view of basic computer skills. In contrast, no cultural school characteristic seem to be associated with the use of computers as an information tool. In a comparable way, teacher characteristics are associated with specific types of computer use, e.g. the variable gender. In general, male teachers report integrating computers more often. In this study, it appears that gender differences only exist in relation to the adoption of computers as an information tool. The results demonstrate that a multidimensional approach provides more insight into the characteristics affecting computer use.     

Internet in teachers' professional practice outside the classroom: Examining supportive and management uses in primary and secondary schools

In recent years there has been widespread interest in the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools. While most studies primarily focus on the use of ICT in teaching and learning, little attention has been given to their incorporation as a professional tool outside the classroom. Using a digital inequality approach, the aim of this paper is to develop and test a model of the factors that affect teachers' professional use of ICT, particularly the Internet, in primary and secondary schools. One thousand four hundred and five (1405) teachers from a representative sample of 536 primary and 273 secondary schools in Spain were surveyed. The dependent variables include attitudes towards the professional use of ICT and the use of the Internet in professional practice. The explanatory variables are the socio-demographics, school-level information, frequency of Internet access within and outside the school, educational ICT training, digital literacy, and organisational development. Controlling for socio-demographics and school-level information, multiple regression analyses are used to make inferential judgements and test the separate effects of the independent variables. Findings suggest that technological factors and organisational practices are important predictors of ICT appropriation for professional purposes.     

Examining the digital divide in K-12 public schools: Four-year trends for supporting ICT literacy in Florida

While there is evidence that access to computers in schools has increased, there remain questions about whether low socio-economic status (SES) schools provide students with equitable supports for achieving information communication technology (ICT) literacy. This research first presents a theoretical model to examine the digital divide within schools. Using this model, this research uses statewide data from four school years to investigate significant trends in ICT integration by school level and SES in Florida. Multilevel models for repeated measures analysis were used to compare models for predicting trends on nine different aspects of school technology integration. Results show statistically significant differences between high and low SES schools at every level in terms of student access to software, student use of software, teacher use of software, and the level of technology support. This research provides evidence of the existence of the digital divide among Florida’s K-12 schools.     

The role of local authorities in the integration of ICT in learning

Abstract How does ICT integration in learning processes depend on the support or lack of support from local authorities? Data from the SITES M2 case studies sheds light on how Danish schools attempted to meet the ‘Act on the Folkeskole’ regarding the integration of ICT in all subjects. This paper draws on the school's perspective based on interviews with the Principals, teachers and ICT coordinators, and the schools' ICT plans and strategies. The schools' perspective is then seen in relationship to the respective municipalities, ICT strategies and national ICT policy in a discussion of the implications of ICT integration on the decentralised Danish folkeskole system.     

Students' perceptions of ICT-related support in teaching placements

Abstract Recent research has shown that students' use of information and communications technology (ICT) on teaching practice is necessary for effective future use of ICT in the classroom. However, this paper reports that there are a number of factors affecting the use of ICT by student-teachers in their school placements. All 110 student-teachers attending one university's eight Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses completed a questionnaire on their attitudes to ICT in learning and teaching and their initial experiences of the application of ICT in schools. In-depth interviews with the student-teachers, as well as univer-sity tutors and teachers, revealed a range of issues that reflected how student-teachers perceive their school-based ICT training and what they think could improve their experiences. Recommendations are offered for the improvement of the ICT school experiences for student-teachers until teacher training is completed and improved ICT infrastructure is in place in schools. The overriding conclusion is that schools must be supported and resourced properly, and teachers must have effective ICT training, before improvements in school-based ICT development for student-teachers can be achieved.     

Teachers’ attitudes toward information and communication technologies: the case of Syrian EFL teachers

Based on the new technology initiative in Syrian education, this study explored the attitudes of high school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Syria toward ICT. In addition, the study investigated the relationship between computer attitudes and five independent variables: computer attributes, cultural perceptions, computer competence, computer access, and personal characteristics (including computer training background). The findings suggest that teachers have positive attitudes toward ICT in education. Teachers’ attitudes were predicted by computer attributes, cultural perceptions and computer competence. The results point to the importance of teachers’ vision of technology itself, their experiences with it, and the cultural conditions that surround its introduction into schools in shaping their attitudes toward technology and its subsequent diffusion in their educational practice.     

Innovative pedagogical practice with ICT in three Nordic countries – differences and similarities

Three Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland and Norway, participated in the IEA SITES 2006 study. All the three countries have launched huge policy and investment programmes to promote digital literacy and readiness for the information age. In relation to the remarkable Finnish Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, it is interesting to see if the Finnish school system may be better suited to ground and contextualize pedagogical practice with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) than the Danish and Norwegian counterparts. One main difference is that the Finnish system seems to anchor decisions about and interpretations on how ICT should be utilized stronger at the local level than the two other systems. One of the general goals in the policy programmes is to get teachers to innovate with ICT in the classrooms. The Second Information Technology in Education Study (SITES) 2006 indicators for two innovative pedagogical orientations, lifelong learning orientation and connectedness are utilized to compare teachers from the three nations. The main findings is that Finnish teachers are either not differing or they are scoring significantly lower on the two indicators than teachers from Denmark or Norway. The exception is Finnish science teachers who are more inclined towards using ICT in lifelong learning practices than their Danish and Norwegian counterparts. Generally, the Finnish teachers seem to be more autonomous in their pedagogical choices but may also be more conservative than the Danish and Norwegian teachers in making use of ICT.     

Gender differences in computer attitudes: Does the school matter?

In most western countries, the participation of females in ICT professional careers is not only low but is also still falling [Anderson, N., Lankhear, C., Timms, C., & Courtney, L. (in press). Because it’s boring, irrelevant and I don’t like computers’: Why high school girls avoid professionally-oriented ICT subjects. Computers & Education.]. Policy makers as well as researchers often assume that the interest of girls in computing and ICT-professions could be increased at school. For example, female teachers who are confident ICT-users, are expected to act as positive role models for girls. However, because most of the research on gender and computing has been focussing on the influence of none-school related factors, there is little empirical evidence that schools or teachers are able to influence girls’ attitude toward ICT. Using the data of a Dutch large-scale survey on ICT use in primary education (almost 4000 grade 5 students), this study explores the influence of both none-school related factors and school related factors on students’ computer attitude. Although the between-school variance of girls’ computer attitude is higher than that of boys’ computer attitude, multilevel analyses show that most of the variance in computer attitude is explained by none-school related student factors. Two school related factors turned out to have a small positive effect on the computer attitude of girls: a teacher-centred pedagogical approach and the computer experience of female teachers.     

Mentoring student-teachers in schools: views, practices and access to ICT

Abstract There is evidence from a number of publications that use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) varies amongst serving and student-teachers in different subject specialities. Teacher-mentors are an obvious source of support during school experience; the relationship between student-teachers' use of ICT and that of their serving teacher-mentors is not clear. This study was part of a series of projects investigating ICT use during initial teacher training across different subject areas. Questionnaires, returned by 216 teacher-mentors in secondary schools were analysed. The questionnaires investigated use of ICT in teaching, availability of equipment and support, views on using ICT and preparations made for student-teachers to use ICT. In general, teacher-mentors were competent and frequent ICT users and were often active in preparing student-teachers' use. However, using case studies with 13 pairs of student-teachers and their teacher-mentors, it seems that similar preparations made by teacher-mentors did not always result in individual student-teachers using ICT to the same extent as peers. The possible reasons for differences were difficulties with access to computers, lack of active support and role models amongst serving teachers (including teacher-mentors) and competing demands on student-teachers' time. It is suggested that in order to increase the use of ICT in their teaching, student-teachers are likely to need better access to equipment, more active support from serving teachers and encouragement to include time for ICT in their school experience.     

The role of e‐learning coaches in Australian secondary schools

The purpose of this study was to explore the personal experiences of e‐learning coaches working in secondary schools in order to provide information about the role of an e‐learning coach. Seven secondary schools in the outer‐eastern region of Melbourne, Australia, were involved in a 3‐year e‐learning project. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted by an independent researcher with an e‐learning coach from each of the seven schools involved in the research. A number of themes emerged from the interviews, including role confusion, changes in the role over time, the importance of establishing relationships, barriers to the uptake of information and communication technology (ICT) and ICT usage. To facilitate the integration of ICT with teaching practices in the secondary school setting, we recommend that a full‐time position for an on‐site e‐learning coach receiving the total support of school leaders is needed to provide relevant professional development and ongoing support to classroom teachers.