07 June 2006

One year on from the launch of the formal e strategy, how are things shaping up on the technology side? Steadily, according to this latest survey from Becta.

In a Report bristling with facts, figures and data, there are plenty of positives but also plenty of ‘issues and challenges.’ Positives include growing confidence in the power of technology “it is now becoming the norm that teachers prepare lessons using online resources” along with a number of specific trends; “computer stocks in schools and colleges have increased,” “leadership of ICT and e learning in schools has improved” and there is faster connectivity and access to the internet all round.

Amongst the challenges, replacing ageing stock is clearly becoming an issue both in schools and colleges. In colleges, the growing numbers of learners has led to a worsening of the computer to learner ratio to just under 1:5, a slight drop in all fairness and still within the targeted tolerance but disappointing nevertheless. As to old stock, “around 50% of colleges with a three year replacement policy still had older Pentium 1 and 11 machines in use.” Other challenges to stand out include difficulties around linking learner management information to curriculum delivery, problems with interoperability which make extending learning platforms difficult to achieve and that perennial problem of ‘digital divide,’ evident in the different levels of practice and use of technology sometimes between one dept and another, one teacher and another. In a word, the future is in sight but it’s proving harder to reach for some than for others.

The aim of the e strategy as defined by the DfES in March 2005 was “in five years time, by using a more strategic approach, to build the common ground that brings all our education and children’s services to the critical baseline of being able to use the technology effectively.” As the Becta Report says, “technology based change is always challenging…a year into its life we would not expect to perceive radical development” but using recent surveys and research studies, the Report ‘offers an early assessment of progress.’ Moreover, since this Report follows a similar assessment by Becta this time last year, a sense of the speed of that progress can also be discerned.

Dealing primarily with England and covering schools and the learning and skills sector, the Report looks at four areas; technology infrastructure, personalised content and use of digital resources, learner information and support and e maturity and institutional development. The final section fleshes out some of the issues and challenges.

There is a mass of useful detail in here with the first and last sections perhaps catching the eye. The first provides an ‘audit’ of what’s out there; an overview of the state of the technology infrastructure in schools and colleges. In terms of kits and numbers, the computer to pupil ratio in secondary schools is 4.30:1 but this does vary between depts; Ofsted reported in 2004 that 20% of depts had unsatisfactory access and this remains a challenge particularly for small schools. Provision and use of digital cameras, projectors and interactive whiteboards continues to rise sharply; only 2% of secondary schools now don’t have an interactive whiteboard for instance and the average number of such whiteboards in secondary schools was 17. Debate continues about the value of whiteboards and the DfES is due to report back on its evaluation findings this summer.

In terms of the internet, the target to have all educational institutions connected at broadband speeds by the end of 2006 is well on target although again to quote an Ofsted Report of a couple of years ago, ‘upgrading connection does not automatically result in users benefiting from an enhanced educational experience.’ The issue is that many schools are still unclear about how best to use the full range of benefits. The growth in laptops and wireless networks has helped breakdown the traditional model of banks of computers in a locked suite but this still remains the predominant model in schools. The other area that remains “an ongoing problem” is that of technical support. The Report argues that “technical support is most effective when included as an integral part of strategic ICT planning” but that this rare. Dedicated in house technical support was provided in approximately 55% of secondary schools but there is evidence that teachers are spending around 30 minutes a week dealing with IT related problems.

The development of a technology infrastructure to support personalised learning beyond the institution, though in its infancy, is growing. “For example, there is increasing use of intranets, home school email links, managed and virtual learning environments, handheld devices and podcasting.” 64% of schools have implemented electronic assessment recording and analysis, which includes e portfolio systems but “shared vocabularies and concepts are still an issue.” In terms of e assessment, schools were making use of online tests generally at key stages 3 and 4 but interestingly, “if standardised ICT testing were introduced, heads were unanimous in their view that that it would be most appropriate at age 16 rather than 14 or 11.” As for colleges, there is an ‘increasing recognition of the value of e learning to personalisation’ but significantly 25% fail to have a central policy or strategy for ICT in teaching and learning. That said, colleges are much more familiar with the use of portfolios both for learning and assessment and are increasingly using e versions. The most common use of ICT in assessment in FE is storing and recording the outcomes of assessment, used commonly in 14% of colleges.

As noted earlier, increases in levels of recruitment and retention in colleges has led to great pressure on resources. Add to this a demand for internet access outstripping college capacity in around a third of colleges and the size of the infrastructure challenge becomes very clear. Colleges are gradually moving away from standard computer labs to using either small sets of laptops in teaching rooms or multi purpose teaching areas equipped with fixed computers, although this is stronger in some subject areas such as media studies than others such as maths.

So what about the issues and challenges? The final section lists ten. Some are long term such as sustainability/affordability and equity of access; some are institution based such as strategic leadership of ICT and embedding of system and practice but most are still around the divide. The divide between open and restricted access, the divide in the value of the experience offered some learners and not others and the divide between one sector and another. The Reports calls for some ‘smoothing out some of this critical variation;’ smoothies all round then.

© Edexcel Policy Watch 2005. Steve Besley is General Manger of Education Policy at Edexcel. Policy watch is a service intended to help busy people understand developments in the world of education. Visit Edexcel at www.edexcel.org.uk