Ever since the Stevenson Report, commissioned even before the Labour Party came to power in 1997, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of the use of technology (ICT) in schools.
This report stated that if the UK wanted to be leaders for the new century then it would have to take ‘a leap of faith’; invest in ICT without really knowing that it worked. £5 billion later, heavy investment in technology has seen the widespread uptake of computers and peripherals both on an administrative level and within a classroom environment. Now, nearly every UK state school has broadband and over 2.3 million networked computers within these schools in 2008.*
Investment in educational technology is one way that the Department of Children Schools and Families (DCSF) aims to support the Every Child Matters agenda; an all-encompassing ideal to help all children be healthy, safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and achieve economic well-being. The recent introduction of the Children’s Plan, which aims to make the UK the best place for children and young people to grow up, has also seen the implementation of many new initiatives that use ICT to further support the work of the Every Child Matters agenda.
The ultimate example of the role of technology in schools is the huge investment by Government in interactive whiteboard technology. In 2002, only 37 per cent of primary and 58 per cent of secondary schools had interactive whiteboards. By 2008, this has increased to 92 per cent and 98 per cent respectively*, with the majority of schools using this technology in lessons regularly, if not daily.
Learning Platforms
One of the most talked about technology issues at the moment is the Government target for all schools to introduce a learning platform by 2010. A learning platform is an online integrated learning and management system that brings together both software and hardware to provide schools with internal and external access to learning resources, online storage and tools for communication and management.
Every student has access to a personalised online eportfolio over the internet for home work and assignments, along with other tools such as forums, resources, calendars, results and notes from teachers.
How will it help learners?
The general aim of a learning platform is to create a more personalised approach to education so every learner is able to access information and classwork from anywhere, while making it easier for teaching staff to provide individual feedback or set specific tasks. A good system should provide schools, parents, governors and local authorities with the tools to interpret data about individual and whole school performance so these areas can be improved.
Beyond the classroom, communication and collaboration tools within learning platforms create more opportunities for schools to reinforce links between children services, social, health and policy departments, along with other specialist agencies. Using technology, schools can message, video conference and email to support conversation and share information relating to specific children to support their wellbeing.
How do we keep children safe?
The advent of learning platforms and the huge surge in broadband in education institutions has meant that schools need to be aware of the risks and dangers that learners could be exposed to when online. In September 2008, the Government issued the Byron Review which set out a series of recommendations to help children stay safe online. Now, there are many software providers that can supply tailored and education specific software to help protect children online, and prevent children from harming others when using computers and the internet. Also, schools are proactively teaching learners how to use the internet safely and correctly – while it is commonly known that children are digital natives, they still need to be taught how to conduct themselves safely online and how to recognise risks.
Parental engagement
At BETT last year it was announced that schools should be providing parents with online reporting access to attendance and behaviour, progress and attainment, and special needs by 2010 (secondary) or 2012 (primary), to help achieve one of the goals of the Children’s Plan. Many learning platforms already provide schools with the ability to provide parents access to this information, while others are developing systems now. The aim is to provide parents with easier access to information about their child’s performance at school, so they can support and encourage them more actively. Also, it is hoped that online reporting will create more open communication between children, parents and the school.
Many schools are still behind
Despite the Government targets that are in place, BESA’s latest research has found that many schools are likely to miss both the 2010 learning platform and 2010/2012 online reporting deadlines. In fact, 58 per cent of primary and a third of secondary schools are still to implement a learning platform, with 17 per cent of primary/14 per cent of secondary schools expecting to have little in place by the online reporting date.
While the uptake of learning platforms is not as fast as the Government may have hoped, the key reasons that schools may miss the 2010 target relates more to organisational, communication and financial issues that the technology itself. BESA research released in May found that the key issues relate to a lack of guidance from local authorities, not enough training for teaching and support staff, or concerns over access for pupils without a computer and internet connection at home. Teachers that are reluctant to use the technology have also stated they lack confidence using the technology, or do not have the time to implement a new system.
Strategies are beginning to fall into place to help overcome some of these issues. For example, the Home Access programme, which is currently being piloted, is a Government initiative to ensure that all pupils in state maintained education in England have access to computers and internet connectivity for education at home. This will help to bridge the digital divide many communities are experiencing.
While there is still some progress to be made, 70 per cent of primary and 88 per cent of secondary schools** feel that learning platforms will provide an improvement to teaching and learning, and this will ultimately benefit learners in the future. Technology does not hold all the answers, but it is certainly beginning to play a more steadfast role in the classrooms and learning environments of the future.
*Research by BESA, ‘Information and Communication Technology in UK State Schools’, September 2008
** Research by BESA, ‘School Learning Platform Review’, May 2009
