A Framework For Leading School Change In Using Ict

A Framework for Leading School Change in  using ICT: Measuring Change  Sue Trinidad, Curtin University of Technology, Perth Western Australia;  Paul Newhouse & Barney Clarkson, Edith Cowan University, Perth Western  Australia  Abstract: Over the last three decades many models explain the processes involved in the adoption and use of ICT in education. Based on this literature, a three­tiered framework   and associated instruments were developed to use with Western Australian teachers to   measure and support change in using ICT. This framework can be used to support, describe and promote good practice in the use of ICT in learning and teaching in schools and is multi­ faceted and flexible enough to be used by individuals, groups, schools or educational  organizations. The aims and purposes of the framework were to describe quality   pedagogy in the use of ICT to effectively support student learning in schools; to assist teachers in planning to integrate ICT into learning environments; to describe progress by teachers   as they move towards the integration of ICT in quality pedagogy; to assist teachers in the  development of their own practice in the use of ICT to support student learning; and to provide a tool for teacher dialogue for ICT integration with good pedagogy and provide topics or questions that describe concerns teachers may have. This framework was based  on a review of the literature on the progression of teachers in their integration of ICT in learning and teaching processes. It was positioned within a broader framework for the implementation of ICT in schools to connect with students, learning environments, school   and system organisations. This paper describes the process and results from this research undertaken to develop the framework for schools and teachers. 

Background and Purpose  When making decisions about the use of ICT in schools, particularly  budgetary decisions, there is a tendency to start with a consideration of the hardware, then the  software and perhaps consider the 

users and learning last and least. While policy documents mandate the  use of ICT in education  decisions should be prefaced with a consideration of learning theory  and the learning environment,  for indeed, educational technologies are only a mediator in learning  processes, and only one of  many.  The authors undertook to develop a framework that would support,  describe and promote good  practice in the use of ICT in learning and teaching in schools. The ICT  framework produced needed  to be multi­faceted and flexible enough to be used by individuals,  groups, schools or educational  organizations. The aim was to describe the characteristics of effective  learning and quality  pedagogy as they relate to ICT integration; and the stages of progress  by teachers as they move towards ICT integration in quality pedagogy.  The aims and purposes of the ICT framework were to:  1) Describe quality pedagogy in the use of ICT to effectively support  student learning in  schools.  2) Assist teachers in planning to integrate ICT into learning  environments.  3) Describe progress by teachers as they move towards the integration  of ICT in quality  pedagogy.  4) Assist teachers in the development of their own practice in the use of  ICT to support student  learning. 

5) Provide a tool for teacher dialogue for ICT integration with good  pedagogy and provide topics or questions that describe concerns teachers may have.  Literature Review The framework was constructed after reviewing previous models of  ICT adoption. It seemed  useful to classify these models on two characteristics, namely the scope  of the target group they  address, and the relevance of an individual’s learning. Four  classifications, namely the Population  Page 2 TRI05123

Models, System/School Models, ICT–Orientated Micro Models and the  Learning Micro Models evolved and are given in Table 1. 

Classification  Example Models of ICT Adoption  Learning Micro Models • CBAM ­Levels of Use (LoU)  ­Stages of Concern (SoC)  ­Innovation Configuration  • ADL model of ICT Uptake 

ICT­Oriented Micro Models • Instructional Transformation Model  • ACOT model  • LoT implementation 

System/School Models

• Milken’s 7 Dimensions for Gauging Progress  • NETS  • Technology Maturity Model (TMM) 

Population Models

• Diffusion of Innovation model (DoI) 

Table 1: Four Classifications of the Models of ICT Adoption  These four classifications and examples are discussed here as part of  the literature reviewed to  develop the framework.  The Learning Micro Models  In the 1990s, several major research efforts (e.g. Cicchelli & Baecher,  1990; Collis, 1994;  Marcinkiewicz, 1994; Rieber & Welliver,1989; Sandholtz et al., 1992)  began to develop and apply  models for investigating the implementation of computers in classrooms  in various parts of the world. Many of these are based on teachers' concerns about  innovations, and are often called  concerns­based models (CBAM). The application of CBAM, or models  based upon CBAM, to  research concerned with the use of computers in classrooms, has gained  interest throughout the world. Most interest appears to be with the Levels of Use (LoU) and  Stages of Concern (SoC) dimensions (i.e. user focus) (Marsh, 1988). Recently there has been  more interest in including an  Innovation Configuration (i.e. innovation focus). This is the basis of  many of the frameworks being  developed. Two of the few researchers to apply all three dimensions to a  study were Carbines  (1986) and Hope (1995), who considered the use of computers in  primary school classes. A number of smaller studies have also been reported (Cicchelli & Baecher, 1990;  Overbaugh & Reed, 1995)

while some of the researchers in Europe (e.g. Vernooy­Gerritsen, 1994)  and USA (e.g.  Marcinkiewicz & Welliver, 1993) have worked at modifying the SoC  and LoU to describe the use  of computers in classrooms by teachers. Some (e.g. Moersch, 1997)  have attempted to construct  instruments to measure the LoU of ICT by a teacher or class.  Typically the models and instruments have developed around large  projects to place computers in schools. A number of models are in their early stages of development  but these appear to have  difficulty in capturing the breadth of innovation involved in bringing  computers into the classroom.  In many cases these models have substantially modified the original  dimensions and instruments,  which is not condoned by the originators of the CBAM model. Hall and  Hord (1987) explain that  such modification would require further validation in line with the  original development and could  not rely on the validation of the original CBAM instruments. Another example of a learning micro model is the ADL model of ICT  Uptake (Clarkson &  Oliver, 2002). The principle aim of the research giving rise to the ADL  model (which stands for  Autonomy, Dependence and Learning) was to develop a framework by  which teachers’ pedagogies  and capabilities with ICT could be mapped onto some multi­stepped  scale as part of assessing their ICT uptake. A four­stage typology of ICT uptake was developed. The  typology was derived from a

series of models of learning described by Brundage & McKerracher  (1980) and Boud (1988) and  with considerable input from studies of teachers and their teaching  practices with ICT. In this sense  it was grounded in the teachers’ data as well as being reliant on  previous research. The model  describes four stages: Dependence, Counter­Dependence, Independence  and Interdependence.  Page 3 TRI05123

These stages reflect typical phases through which all learners pass  when they achieve mastery on  any new topic they are learning. ICT is simply another topic for  learners to master, in this less  technocentric conception of ICT uptake as a learning issue. It was  named the ADL uptake model in an attempt to capture the role of Autonomy, Dependence and Learning  in the ICT uptake process.  An extended version of the stages approach was developed and  validated by Clarkson & Oliver  (2002), which utilises a 4 x 3 table with four stages of teacher  development and three characteristics  at each stage, namely intellectual, attitudinal and performance. To  improve triangulation and to  ensure consistency of reaction from teachers, descriptions for the  typology were further developed  to provide a more sensitive means to identify teachers’ positions. Three  domains were developed  for each of the stages to enable different aspects of teachers’  experiences and predispositions to 

inform their placement. These three domains are described as: feelings,  understandings and  behaviours. The domains were chosen to match the domains of human  activity proposed by Bloom  in the 1950s and remain a useful distinction (Krathwohl, Anderson, &  Bloom, 2001). The stages describe teachers’ affective states, their cognitive states and the ways  these are manifest in their actual teaching. If these stages were truly distinct and credible, then it  was expected in developing  the typology that teachers would be located at one stage, with their  ratings for feelings,  understandings and behaviours falling roughly into the same stage.  Following this line of reasoning, the typology seemed to promise a  means by which, in theory,  ICT uptake could be measured by progress along the four stages and  within the three  domains simultaneously. The typology was presented as a 4x3 matrix  (Figure 1) with cells defining  the basic layout. Each cell had descriptors and indicators of feelings,  understandings and behaviours which teachers were able to fill in. The increased level of sophistication  of models such as this  reflects the need to accommodate more than teachers in isolation.  Figure 1: Four stages of ICT uptake as proposed in the ADL uptake  model. 

The ICT – Oriented Micro Models  Reiber and Welliver (1989) and later Marcinkiewicz (1994) developed  the Instructional 

Transformation model, which has been used by a number of researchers  (e.g. Knee, 1996) to help  schools design their restructuring plans using technology. Their model  developed from a study of  adoption behaviour drawing on the CBAM model and the work of  Rogers (1983). They saw much  value to educators in the model, particularly in ‘recommending staff  development, remediation, or  differential staffing’ (Marcinkiewicz & Welliver, 1993, p. 5). The  Instructional Transformation  Model proposes a hierarchy for the successful application of technology  to education using a LoU  type of approach. This hierarchy involves the following five steps (a)  familiarization, (b) utilization,  (c) integration, (d) reorientation, and (e) evolution (Rieber & Welliver,  1989, p. 21) which gives a  six level model with the inclusion of the Non Use level prior to the first  step. These steps are  described in Table 2 and compared with equivalent steps developed for  the Apple Classrooms of  Tomorrow (ACOT, 1995) project.  These stage that an educator must progress through correspond to the  ACOT stages where there  is a period of familiarisation (Entry) representing baseline exposure to  technology; utilisation (Adoption) occurring when teachers try the technology; integration  (Adaption) beginning the appropriate use of ICT; reorientation (Appropriation) where ICT  becomes a part of the learning  context and evolution or revolution (Invention) where there is a change  in methods and media to 

facilitate learning. These stages are confirmed in long­term projects  like the Apple Classrooms of  Tomorrow (ACOT, 1995) studies which show that teachers must travel  through a number of stages to integrate ICT fully into their classrooms and their teaching programs  (see Table 2) and teachers Page 4 TRI05123

must progress through all five phases, otherwise, the technology will  likely be misused or discarded  (Rieber & Welliver, 1989; Marcinkiewicz, 1994).  Welliver Instructional Transformation Model  ACOT Model Familiarisation  Is when the teacher becomes aware of technology and its  importance  Entry Learn the basics of using the new technology Utilisation  Is when teachers use technology, but minor problems will cause  teachers to discontinue use  Adoption Use new technology to support traditional instruction  Integration  Is when technology becomes essential for the educational goals  of the classroom with the use of technology. Adaption Integrates new technology into traditional classroom practice.  Here they often focus on increased student productivity and  engagement by using word processors, spreadsheets and  graphics tools  Reorientation  Is when teachers begin to rethink the educational goals of the  class with the use of technology. Appropriation Focus on cooperative, project­based and interdisciplinary work  incorporating the technology as needed as one of the many tools  Revolution Is the evolving classroom that becomes completely integrated  with technology in all subject areas. Technology becomes an  invisible tool that is seamlessly woven into the teaching and  learning process.  Invention  Discover new uses for technology tools, for example, developing

spreadsheet micros for teaching algebra or designing projects  that combine multiple technologies.  Source: Rieber & Welliver (1989) and Report on 10 Years of ACOT Research (ACOT, 1995, p. 16) 

Table 2: Stages of development in the use of ICT  Moersch (1997) has reported his development of a Levels of Technology   Implementation (LoTi)  framework, which defines seven levels of the implementation of  computers in a school. The levels  are based on the original CBAM levels and are called: Non­use,  Awareness, Exploration, Infusion,  Integration (mechanical), Integration (routine), Expansion, and  Refinement. From this framework  he has developed an instrument to calculate what he refers to as the  computer efficiency at a school site. Computer efficiency is defined as the ‘degree to which computers  are being used to support  concept­based or process­based instruction, consequential learning, and  higher order thinking skills’  (p. 52). The instrument accumulates the products of the LoTi level,  proportion of computer use, proportion of student use and number of computers to produce an index  for comparison between  schools. Clearly the originators of the CBAM model would not approve  of such an instrument since it uses a questionnaire rather than observation and interview and uses  numerical calculations to  arrive at levels (Hall & Hord, 1987).  The System/School Models  In 1998 the Milken Exchange on Educational Technology published a  report titled, Technology  in American Schools: Seven Dimensions for Gauging Progress (Lemke  & Coughlin, 1998). Then, 

in 1999, a companion publication was released titled: Professional  competency continuum:  Professional skills for the digital age classroom (Coughlin & Lemke,  1999). This included  discrepancy analysis tools (questionnaires) for use by policymakers and  school planners. Since then  a further publication leading from these has been released called:  Transforming learning through  technology. The intention was to create a framework to support  educators in ‘charting their course toward the effective use of technology in learning and show evidence of  progress along that path’  (Coughlin & Lemke, 1999, p. 3). The framework is intended to  provide indicators for policymakers  to assess the status of schools in terms of their use of ICT to support  learning. The focus is very  much on public return on investment in ICT in education. However,  they also consider that it will  focus vision, provide a research agenda and be a planning tool. The  framework is presented as a set  of seven interdependent dimensions: Learners, Learning Environments,  Professional Competency,  System Capacity, Community Connections, Technology Capacity, and  Accountability.  They claim that changes in society today (global economy, knowledge  workers, new family  structures, changing demographics, and crime rate/violence) along with  pressures on schools to  change (industrial model, inequities, new brain research, learning  theory, and new workforce skills)

will require educational technology to be used to transform schools to  prepare students to ‘live,  Page 5 TRI05123

learn and work successfully in a digital communication age’. They  believe that this requires: high academic standards, technological fluency, communication skills,  interpersonal skills, information  literacy, independence in learning, critical thinking abilities, and  economic viability all within the  ‘context of a digital communication age’. They provide a continuum of  progress for each  dimension, based on the ‘stages of instructional evolution’ from the  ACOT program, using three  levels: Entry, Adaptation, and Transformation. For each dimension a  number of key areas are  identified and also described in terms of the three levels. For example,  for the first dimension,  Learners, the key areas are: Fluency (proficient in the use of ICT),  Strengthening the basics  (learning the ‘basics with more depth and understanding’), developing  higher level skills (‘thinking,  understanding, constructing knowledge and communicating’),  increasing relevancy (‘real­life  applications’ and emulating the workforce), motivation to learn  (intrinsic), recognition of tradeoffs (making choices about using technology in society). One of the seven  interdependent dimensions is  Professional Competency. They have developed a Professional  Competency Continuum comprising 

five key areas mapped over the three levels. There appears to be an  assumption that using ICT to  support learning requires change for all teachers whereas clearly some  teachers (the authors  included) have been creating appropriate learning environments for  years without using ICT.  However, these teachers tend to use ICT because they readily perceive  that in doing so they will  provide even better environments (Becker , Ravitz & Wong, 1999). The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) NETS  for Teachers Project,  was developed with a grant from the US Department of Education, as  part of its Preparing  Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology initiative. ISTE facilitated a  series of activities and events  resulting in a national consensus on what teachers should know about  and be able to do with ICT.  At the same time they worked on a NETS for Students Project. It should  be noted that Intel, Apple  Computers and the Milken Exchange on Educational Technology all  provided substantial  contributions to the projects. The project aimed to provide models to  use in incorporating ICT in the  teacher preparation process and disseminate these promising practices  for preparing tomorrow's  teachers to use ICT effectively for improving learning. The project  describes standards,  assessments, and conditions that facilitate the use of technology to  support student learning. 

Assessment systems are designed to assist teacher preparation programs  in evaluating the success of  their programs in preparing their candidates and graduates in the use of  technology to support student learning. NETS for Teachers provides a set of standards and  performance indicators that ‘all  classroom teachers should be prepared to meet’ (International Society  for Technology in Education,  2000, p. 9) that can be accessed from their website  (http://www.iste.org/). These are grouped under  six general classifications:  I. Technology operations and concepts.  II. Planning and designing learning environments and experiences.  III. Teaching, learning, and the curriculum.  IV. Assessment and evaluation.  V. Productivity and professional practice.  VI. Social, ethical, legal and human issues. Another system model, the Technology Maturity Model (abbreviated as  the TMM), addresses  what the authors (Sibley & Kimball, 1998) call the challenges of ‘the  use of technology’ (referring  to ICT in schools). The challenges include the need to approach ICT  implementation in a cyclic  manner, over an extended time frame, since single attempts and first  efforts are often aimed well  enough, but rarely persist long enough (McLaughlin, 1990; Tester,  1991). To reinforce this  approach they call the TMM a ‘planning model’. Two key components  of this model are its ability  to address both processes and products and encourage best practice  approaches to both. These two 

facets are addressed in the model’s Benchmarks section. For example  each of their benchmarks has  Behavioural and Resource Infrastructure criteria. The model has  significant complexity and breadth  of scope, in that it is intended to help monitor the ICT development of  a school or school district  over a substantial period, and provide direction for their planning and  implementation with  Page 6 TRI05123

ICT. There are three basic characteristics that underpin the TMM.  These are the Improvement  Cycle, the Maturity Indicators and the TMM tools (many of which are  now available online). The  Improvement Cycle of spiral development covers four phases, namely  Organizational, Assessment,  Formulation and Implementation Phases. The complete model is  composed of nine steps and  processes, which are intended to help translate plans into action. These  are: 1) An Improvement  Cycle; 2) Planning Phases; 3) Spiral Refinement; 4) Concurrent  planning and Improvement; 5) Comprehensive Planning; 6) Maturity Indicators; 7) Assessment  Instruments; 8) Benchmarks; and  9) A Plan Analysis Rubric to allow Districts to compare themselves.  The Maturity Indicators are of  particular interest. The Indicators of a school or a teacher’s progress are  gauged by what are called  benchmark stages. There are four stages are the Emergent Stage; the  Islands Stage; the Integrated  Stage; and the Exemplary Stage. 

These stages are measured in multiple areas, using different indicators  tailored to each area. The  stages of the TMM model address from a technological perspective the  issues of both  teacher uptake as well as school development. Its online version is  sponsored by Compaq computers across the US. Although sophisticated as a tool, its  technological rather than learning  focus could be counted against it. But its completeness in approach is in  its favour.  The Population Model  Nearly 100 years ago American farmers started using a new hybrid  strain of corn. The way this technology diffused through the farming community followed a  predictable pattern, according to  researcher and writer Rogers (1983). From the explosive uptake of the  Walkman to the slow but eventually thorough adoption of the fax machine, Rogers’ theory has  become known as part of the Diffusion of Innovations – DoI – theory and has been applied widely  (eg. Geroski, 2000; Holloway,  1996; Lawson & Loudon, 1996; Mahajan & Peterson, 1985). The DoI  model argues that there are predictable patterns of communications among community members as  a new technological  innovation, such as computers in schools, diffuses. The stages that the  innovation passes through  are, according to this theory:  • knowledge (exposure to its existence, and understanding of its  functions);  • persuasion (the forming of a favourable attitude to it); 

• decision (commitment to its adoption);  • implementation (putting it to use); and  • confirmation (reinforcement based on positive outcomes from it).  Of course the innovation itself is unchanged, but the community reacts  to it in different ways. The  early ‘knowers’, for example, are regarded as having a higher social  standing and being better  educated. These people are also more aware and likely to use both mass  communications channels and also interpersonal ones. Later at the persuasion stage, interpersonal  communications channels  are regarded in the DoI as more important.  A well­known part of Rogers (1983) work addressed five types of  adopters, namely innovators  (described as venturesome); early adopters (respectable); early majority  (deliberate); late majority  (sceptical); and laggards (traditional). Although it may be useful to  describe a community or a population using these descriptors, it could also be seen as divisive due  to its nomenclature. It seems less likely that the DoI model will suggest how to help a person looking  to make better use of some technological innovation. Further, as a community engages with some  innovation, does the model  regroup those likely to take the innovation up as the new innovators, or  is there no distinction  between the remaining groups? Such weaknesses restrict the DoI  approach to a descriptive role,  which is does well, but it is less strong in its explanatory power, and  less useful still in predicting 

outcomes; and providing guidance as to how to accelerate the rate of  adoption. Rogers (1999) also argues that this approach may be embedded in the culture in which it  was derived (viz.  North America in the 1950s and 1960s), and hence less relevant, for  example, in African or Asian  countries, and its utility may diminish as time goes on.  Page 7 TRI05123

Conclusions from the models  No one model is going to describe perfectly the circumstances for any  particular teacher so there is no point in choosing or disregarding these models (all listed in Table  1) based on a single classification alone. Nevertheless classifying these models can draw  attention to critical facets of  each model and will allow more considered selections to be made about  their relevance and use.  The population model like Roger’s DoI approach is useful for large  groups but not for individuals.  The systems­based models like the TMM model and the Instructional  Transformation model take an  individualistic approach but place a technological cast upon the task, as  does the ACOT hierarchy.  The CBAM and even the Typology of ICT Uptake model could be  described as examples of models focusing largely on the individual rather than any ICT component.  Many of the models have scales  of development, and so the Learning Micro Models (CBAM, TIU and  SoC) are the three models 

that seem, after this review, to have the better orientation towards  learning and therefore may have a  more ‘appropriate’ orientation for teacher development and school  change with ICT. 

The process to develop the framework  From the literature review of the models the authors and a group of  education experts (teachers  and systems people) met and gave critical feedback on the proposed  framework developed from this  process. The framework was then trialled and adjusted based on the  feedback gained.  The framework developed focuses on teachers but sits within a context  of schools and school systems. In terms of the use of ICT this context could be described in  terms of a range of  dimensions that would include a Teacher Professional ICT Attributes   dimension. It is this  dimension that is mainly addressed here. This Teacher Professional  ICT Attributes dimension may  be described by one outcome that may be taken from a set of teacher  professional attributes outcomes. The framework is structured around this single Teacher   Professional ICT Attributes outcome using the following set of concepts as illustrated below:  • layers to describe the outcome in increasing detail;  • stages of progression in the demonstration of this outcome;  • instruments to collect data on the demonstration of, and progress  within, this outcome; and 

•

processes within which to apply the instruments and address the  connection between the framework and context

.  Outcome The teacher exploits the characteristics of ICT to support the learning of students by, effectively integrating the use of ICT, wherever appropriate, into constructivist learning environments, and contributing to relevant  learning communities.  Layers This outcome is described in three layers.  1 Overall outcome. 2 Components – Vision & Contribution, Integration & Use, Capabilities & Feelings.  3 Elements – each component has a number of elements.  Stages Progression in the outcome is described in five stages: Inaction, Investigation, Application, Integration, and  Transformation. Instruments  There is an instrument for each layer and connected with the levels of demonstration. Each instrument may  have a number of forms depending on the purpose of its use.  Layer 1 Type of Response  Layer 2 Typology of ICT Uptake  Layer 3 Stages of Dialogue  Processes  There are sets of processes associated with the use of the instruments and addressing the context of the framework. The sets most directly connected to the Teacher Professional ICT Attributes dimension are the ‘School Planning for ICT to support learning and teaching’ and the ‘Supporting Teacher’s Decision­ Making’ sequences. 

Table 3: Teacher professional ICT attributes outcome applying concepts 

The ICT framework  There are three instruments, one developed for each layer. The outcome  is described for each of  the layers while progression in the outcome is described in stages. First,  here are the three major layers (see Table 4).  Page 8 TRI05123 Description and Components  LAYER ONE  Overall Outcome  The teacher exploits the characteristics of ICT to support the learning of students  by, effectively integrating the use of ICT wherever appropriate into constructivist  learning environments, and contributing to relevant learning communities.

Note: It is envisaged that this would be one outcome taken from a set of outcomes  for General Teacher Attributes. 

LAYER TWO  Components of Outcome

Vision & Contribution [V & C]  Integration & Use [I & U]  Capabilities & Feelings [C & F] 

LAYER THREE  Elements of  Components Each element describes more specifically aspects of a component of the outcome  as it may relate to the teacher and his/her skills, work practices and beliefs.  [V & C] – Purpose, Focus, Rationale, View of ICT, Contribution to Communities  [I & U] – Frequency of Use, Implementation Strategies, Type of Activities &  Pedagogy, Tasks for Applications, Assessing, Relevance, Connection with  Curriculum Framework Outcomes.  [C & F] – Potential, Roles, Source of Direction, ICT Skills, Affective Response,  Concerns. 

Table 4: The three major layers of the model that form the ICT  instruments developed  In Layer One, progression is described in the five stages just in terms of  the overall outcome with no reference to the detail of components or elements (see Table 5).  Description of Key Difference(s)  Inaction  At this stage there is a general lack of action and/or interest.  Investigation  At this stage the teacher has developed an interest in using ICT with students and is beginning to act on this interest.  Application  At this stage the teacher is regularly using ICT with students and knows  how to do so competently and confidently.  Critical Use Border  Integration  At this stage the use of ICT becomes critical to the support of the  learning environment and the opportunity for students to achieve learning outcomes through the learning experiences provided.

Transformation  At this stage the teacher is able to take on leadership roles (formal or informal) in the use of ICT and be knowledgably reflective on its  integration by themselves and others. 

Table 5: The stages of teacher development as an overall outcome  The literature review indicated that Layer One in Table 4 is reminiscent  of many of the early attempts at indicating the stages of teacher development in relatively  simplistic form. In Layer Two,  progression is described for each component but only for four of the  five stages, as it was evident  that the Inaction stage needed no further description. For example,  progression for the Vision &  Contribution component of the outcome is described as the following  four stages of where a teacher  might be as investigation; application; integration and transformation as  further elaborated in Table  6.  Investigation

Regards ICT as an object and rather incomprehensible. Accepts that it has some uses but has reservations.  Considers student ICT literacy needs.  Little contribution to school ICT planning.  Largely unaware of how or whether their teaching will change. 

Application Treats ICT as an instrument. Agrees they have a place in teaching and learning.  Considers student productivity and engagement in use of ICT.

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Some contribution to school planning mainly to request items.  Has undifferentiated and even confused but changing views on their changing teaching role. 

Integration Uses ICT as a tool to address multiple learning outcomes.  Considers opportunities for students to use ICT to demonstrate learning outcomes.  Consistently contributes to school communities and planning both in terms of engagement 

and policy.  Expects their learning approaches to develop as ICT integration grows. 

Transformation Envisages and uses ICT as catalyst to appropriately support all learners in a collaborative  way. Considers the two­way relationship between learning and ICT use.  Is a leading contributor to school communities and planning in the use of ICT. Envisages and can discuss multiple learning roles all of which are changed by ICT  integration. 

Table 6: The four stages of teacher development for Layer Two.  The instrument for the outcome at Layer Three, referred to as Stages of   Dialogue, is based  around interviews with teachers. For example, the section related to the  Vision & Contribution  component is illustrated in Table 7.  Dialogue Questions  Stage  Response  Steps to Progress 

Purpose  What are the main purposes you  want to use ICT for with your  students?  Focus What are you focusing on at the  moment in the use of ICT?  Rationale  What is the value in having your  students use a computer?  View of ICT  How does ICT fit into your teaching  overall?  Contribution to  Communities  How do you contribute to school  ICT planning? What would you like  to contribute? What involvement do  you have with learning communities  that use ICT? 

Table 7: The Stages of Dialogue tool for the Layer Three outcome  Finally, the framework and three instruments need to be used within the  context of sets of 

processes conducted by schools and/or systems. Broadly there are six  sets of processes a school  may take to support progress in the use of ICT:  • school planning for ICT to support learning and teaching; • the development of student ICT literacy;  • the use of learning and information management systems;  • the development of school ICT policy and planning;  • the development of staff ICT capabilities;  • the development of policy and planning for system support and  direction; and  • teacher’s decision­making about using ICT.  For example, within the first set of processes, school planning for ICT  to support learning and  teaching, may include the following processes within which to utilise  the framework and  instruments. 1) Targets  School community determines targets. Any of the layers  may be used depending on the level of investment available.  2) Teacher Maps  Each teacher maps his/her use of ICT to support learning  with students. This may be in consultation with peers and/or  Page 10 TRI05123

leaders (e.g. coordinator). Uses a version of one of the  instruments. 3) Compare  Compare teacher maps with the targets set in step 1.  4) Support  In collaboration with knowledgeable others (e.g. 

coordinator) determine what challenges are inhibiting each  teacher’s progress and what support they require to progress.  Use a version of one of the instruments.  5) School Profile  Aggregate maps of all teachers in school to create a school  profile.  6) School  Resources  Aggregate challenges and support requirements and compare  with school and system resources.  7) School Plan  Create a school plan for progress that will include the  development of: curriculum, teachers, ICT infrastructure,  ICT and other policy and practice.  8) Teacher Plans  Develop individual teacher plans for progress that may  include professional development, professional support, ICT  resource allocation, etc.  This holistic, structured approach to the development of teachers’  professional ICT capability  through a consideration of their attributes is arguably more likely to  provide the structure that will  lead to the changes in pedagogy and school reform that many have  argued that the use of ICT  should be coupled with. It takes account of the complexity for teachers  in progressing their  understanding and practice in integrating the use of ICT to support  learning and the context within  which this occurs. Further, it provides a structure for formative  feedback where the aim is 

continuing progress rather than mere classification. While the  framework is designed to support  teacher professional development in the integration of ICT use the  focus is through research. At the time of writing the original instruments were available in a PDF  document at the URL  http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/cmis/eval/downloads/pd/framework.pdf  These instruments were  developed in consultation with a reference committee of teachers and  departmental people and have  been used to gather pertinent data in Western Australian schools. Since  their initial development  these instruments have been used and although they are being fine­ tuned it is interesting to observe  how little they have changed as they are proving to be stable and  effective instruments. Conclusion  This paper describes the process undertaken to develop a framework  based on previous research  to support, describe and promote good practice in the use of ICT in  learning and teaching in schools  in Western Australia. It was developed on the premise that teachers  always aim to look for better  ways of doing things and therefore their use of ICT should support this  as using ICT does not make a teacher better. It has attempted to encapsulate the complexity of issues  involved in teacher competencies in ICT usage and uptake. It considers teacher  competence, the system environment

and the ICT capacity of the setting in which they find themselves in  this endeavour, and encourages  a multifaceted approach to its investigation. The literature suggested the  five dimensions that  became the context of this framework; that is, Students, Learning   Environments, Teacher  Professional ICT Attributes, ICT Capacity, and School & System   Environment. This framework has  been developed with a strong theoretical framework behind it. The  layers allow various levels of  investment in the processes. Its complexity mirrors the real world,  where it is multi­faceted and  flexible enough to be used by individuals, groups, schools or  educational organizations, and to  accommodate the range of investments in time and energy that they  might wish to devote. Furthermore, because of its breadth and multifaceted nature previous  efforts can provide helpful  staging points for subsequent investigations using the model in greater  depth.  Page 11 TRI05123

Acknowledgements  This paper has been developed from the chapter by Newhouse, P., Clarkson, B. &  Trinidad, S. (2004). A  framework for leading school change in using ICT. In S. Trinidad & J. Pearson  (Eds.), Using ICT in education: Effective leadership, change and models of best practice (pp. 148­164).   Singapore: Pearson  Education Asia and two reports prepared for the Department of Education and  Training in Western Australia 

Newhouse, P., Trinidad, S. & Clarkson, B. (2002). Framework for implementation   of ICT in Schools – Outcomes, guidelines, equipment and processes. Perth: Specialist Educational  Services; and Newhouse, P., Trinidad, S. & Clarkson, B. (2002). Quality teaching and learning practice with   Information and  Communications Technology (ICT): A review of literature. Perth: Specialist  Educational Services

. 

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Towards sustainable systemic ICT use In recent years, researchers concerned that innovative uses of ICT have not been achieving meaningful scale or long-term integration into teacher and school everyday practices have focused their attention on the wider educational context for change. Added to this, it seems that the processes of initiating, transferring and sustaining innovative ICT practices within and across different school systems involved very different challenges and issues (Kankaanranta, 2005, p. 114). Fishman, Marx, Blumenfeld, Krajcik and Soloway (2004) noted that sustainable systemic technological reform required the participation and understanding of personnel across and at all levels of the educational system (See also Hennessy et al.). It also required attention to systemic issues such as policy change, professional development planning, and resource production and distribution. Voogt and Pelgrum (2005) pointed out that in Finland, ICT was used as a scaffold to build connectedness for innovation, and in Hong Kong it was used as a tool to support innovation, with this difference likely to be due to broad cultural and policy differences. Kozma (2005) in her analysis of the successful integration of ICT in Singapore and Finland noted that in these two countries policies and programs target all the components of the system in a coordinated and coherent way so that any reformbased changes mutually reinforced and contributed to continuous improvement. School change was coordinated within the community and larger system and this internal consistency was then complemented by vertical consistency between the different levels of the system (Pal, 2001). Further still, the vertical

consistency was complemented across different policy areas, integrating educational, economic and other social goals. Hence, the wider context of educational policy and practice is of interest in this study on laptops. The research described so far, has concentrated on teacher use of school computers, and the extent to which teachers integrate ICT into their professional lives. Access to a personal portable computer, or laptop, can afford different opportunities for teacher use of ICT due to the portability, opportunity for teacher exclusive use, and the generally higher specifications that laptops have compared to existing school computers. At the inception of this study, research was only just beginning to explicate the impact of laptops on schools, teachers and students. Indications were that laptops could support increased communication between teachers, students and parents and greater sharing of information between teachers (Cunningham, Kerr, McEune, Smith, & Harris, 2003). Teachers have reported increases in ICT confidence and competence with perceived positive impacts in the classroom. Teachers who had formerly shared desktop computers with other teachers or students, now had a sense of ownership of the technology they were using (Sockwell & Zhang, 2003). They acknowledged the advantages of having everything in one place and liked the continual everyday availability of laptop. Teachers felt they were gaining maximum impact from their laptops when used in conjunction with peripherals. This study explicates the impacts on New Zealand secondary teachers of their access to a TELA laptop computer. To sum up, there are a number of factors identified in the literature that are impacting upon teachers’ use of ICT. Assess to ICT on its own, will not necessarily result in changes for teachers or schools (Kerr, 1991). To bring about changes a number of factors must be considered that are related to school-wide opportunities and incentives for ICT use, department factors and classroom factors. Provision of professional development as needed, must take into account the reality of the considerable teacher variance in confidence and expertise and the time taken to learn new knowledge and practices in ICT. Much more needs to be known about how these identified factors impact on New Zealand schools when teachers are working to integrate technology into their professional lives. 1. Introduction

3. Laptops for Teachers (TELA) Evaluation

.3.3 Innovation Diffusion This study focuses on the introduction of ICT into school education. It is therefore related to the general area of innovation diffusion which has an extensive literature (Surry & Farquhar, 1997; Clarke, 2001; Pellicone, 2001, p. 33-53). From rural sociology origins in 1943, the research literature now ranges from the introduction of new linguistic patterns and cultural behaviours, to areas more clearly aligned to the adoption of new technologies in a variety of social situations. There appear to be three important foci for relevant innovation diffusion research: field dependence of the critical factors for diffusion; types of factors and their relative importance; and the particular context of ICT in education. The literature on critical factors for innovation adoption shows that these are dependent upon the field of application. Parker and Sarvary (1994, Table 8) found ‘relative advantage’ was the main driver in domestic information technology innovation diffusion, suggesting it will be the nature of the ICT itself which will determine the degree of adoption. Surry (1997) raised the issue of whether a technology involved in an innovation is more important than the developer or its exponents. He concluded that the adopter has final control and that theories of developer based IT diffusion were deficient in that they overstated the role of technological superiority in the diffusion process. This implies that teachers will have the most significant role in determining the extent of ICT adoption in classrooms. These polarised findings illustrate the debate about some of the fundamental determinants of technological innovation. Since the opposing views come from different

fields, there is reason to investigate each new instance of technological innovation separately. In the specific field of ICT in education, Owen and Liles (1998) classified the factors which facilitated or slowed the adoption of the Internet by teachers such as accessibility of the equipment, training etc. The relative costs of equipment were important, as well as teacher attitudes, home Internet connections, transportation distances and difficulty (Tella & Kynäslahti, 1997). Somekh (1998, p. 11) identified suitable transition time, perceived relative advantage, professional development and accessible infrastructure as the critical success factors for ICT diffusion in higher education. The results were congruent with those of Fullan (1991) in school education and can therefore be applied to both fields. The literature thus reveals a variety of important factors, not all of which can be controlled in the adoption process of a technological innovation. One factor which is perceived as being under systemic control is professional development (Krasnicki, 2003). It appears that an understanding of the content of professional development and its delivery is important to maximising efficacy of its role in the innovation adoption process. Somekh argues this factor is vital to managing the process of change, but has been “startlingly neglected” (1998, p. 20). Fullan agrees with the importance of the factor, but adds “good professional development by itself is not very effective” (1999, p.10). Therefore this controllable factor cannot by itself determine whether a technological innovation will be adopted. The other factors eg. perceived relative advantage, accessible quality infrastructure, suitable transition time etc., are also needed for progression through the stages of adoption leading to institutionalisation and permanent integration of an innovation. The process of innovation institutionalisation can depend upon the different adoption patterns of various types of staff using technology in teaching (Jacobsen, 1998). General recommendations from his study such as such as training, investing in IT infrastructure, and instigating a rewards system could be universal for all groups of computer users, such as the early adopters, the late developers etc. The merits of standardisation may not be equally applicable to all these groups. The literature has therefore identified many of the critical success factors for innovation institutionalisation (Nutley, Davies & Walter, 2002, p. 18). Much of the literature (such as the categories of implementers of Jacobsen) derives from the work of Rogers over the period 1962 to 1995, giving evidence of a well developed field of investigation upon which this study could build.

2.3.4 Issues from the literature about implementation and practice Some large scale/long term studies of ICT effectiveness using nationally benchmarked outcomes have found it is associated with cost-effective learning improvements. However, ICT effectiveness as measured by meta-analyses is similar to that of other innovations, thus situating the pedagogical rationale for ICT between one-on-one tutoring

and no intervention. Criticism has helped to identify the conditions within which the untapped potential of ICT might be reasonable found when usage levels are raised above the current low classroom levels. The basis for the economic rationale has been examined, and the home rather than the school has been identified as the more significant source of ICT skills for students. Previous research has provided little evidence to justify the economic or pedagogical rationales, and some indications of a transformation in schooling. The innovation diffusion literature, particularly that concerning the study topic area, illustrates a range of factors including the perceived relative advantage of ICT and associated professional development.

2.4

Teacher professional development (RQ3)

Teachers have been identified as critical to the adoption of ICT into school education in the previous sections of the review. To clarify their position and reaction to this innovation the review examines the general literature on innovation diffusion to identify the characteristics and skills teachers need if the potential of ICT is to be developed in education to a similar degree to that found in other areas of society. The review examines aspects of teacher culture which make them hesitant to adopt this innovation, and professional development approaches that have been used. One view is that “technologies have trajectories” (Bijker & Law, 1992). However, there is a considerable literature of innovation diffusion processes that goes beyond this deterministic view. Rogers (1995) defined the process of innovation diffusion in terms of four elements. These four elements occur when an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time amongst the members of a social system. He also described five essential characteristics of innovations: • Relative advantage (the innovation appears to be better than what was previously available) • Compatibility (it matches what people already know) • Complexity (people can understand it) • Trialability (something people can try in a limited way) • Observability (potential adopters are able to see the results). This understanding of innovation diffusion has been widely accepted as a basis for further studies. A key element in Rogers’ model of innovation diffusion is the change agent, who is frequently more technically competent than his/her peers, but can still communicate the essence of the innovation to them effectively (Rogers, 1995, p. 19). Rogers describes the change agent as “a marginal figure with one foot in each of two worlds,” a situation which often leads to role conflicts and problems in communication. This conflict is generally due to their technical competence and their need to relate to potential adopters who have different socio-economic status, beliefs and attitudes. Clayton (1993) extended Rogers’ description of the innovation adoption process by identifying a sixth element of ‘ownership’, exemplified by the apparent emergence of the innovation from a source

internal to the organisation. Kazlauskas (1995) concurred, and described the importance of accommodation cycles for innovation diffusion. Parker and Sarvary (1994) tested the diffusion model using a multi-national survey methodology in relation to a set of homeoffice consumer electronics innovations. They extended Rogers’ theory by identifying alternative pathways for the spread of an innovation within a social system. They concluded that the perceptual product factor of ‘relative advantage’ was the most significant direct factor influencing diffusion, confirming Rogers’ model in regard to this factor. The demographic factors of ‘parent ownership’ and the psychographic factor of ‘venturesomeness’ were the next most significant, along with other perceptual product factors such as ‘complexity’. Alternatives to the Rogers’ model have been proposed by Valente (1995), Hord, Hall, Loucks-Horsely & Huling (1987) and Rebentisch (1995). Valente (1995) posits a social network background for the majority of innovations, which attributes most of the diffusion process to communication links between individuals. Valente also examines the role of thresholds and develops the idea of a ‘critical mass’ of the population who must become adopters before the innovation will become more generally adopted. Hord et al., (1987) proposed the Concerns-Based Adoption Model as a diagnostic tool for effective staff development. Rebentisch (1995) proposed a technology-transfer model and found that more complex technologies required relatively more effort to complete their transfers than did simpler technologies. Despite these alternatives, it is clear from the literature that innovation diffusion depends upon the communication of observable relative advantage and ownership. Setting these findings from the innovation diffusion literature into the domain for ICT integration in school education, it can be seen that teachers need to have exposure to authentic exemplars before they can assess the ‘relative advantage’ of this new way of working. It is also clear that ‘ownership’ either of the equipment itself, or control over its disposition, is also another important factor which will influence adoption. Evidence of these findings was confirmed empirically by a group of teachers working in a primary school selected to be a ‘lighthouse’ for ICT (Ramus, Elliott, Green, Dickinson, Parsons, DiIorio, Huygen, deWacht & Frank, 1998). Over an eighteen month period the staff became “convinced that the provision of notebooks for all teachers was a most effective use of technology” (p. 6). The school quadrupled its professional development spending; and the teachers used ICT for administration, teaching and material preparation within a collegial context. They indicated areas where this approach was successful with students as including: acceleration through curriculum levels, the intrinsic and instant rewards of success with the software, development of independent skills, co-operative group work and peer tutoring, as well as broadening/enhancement of personal achievements across levels (Ramus et al., 1998, p. 43). The ‘ownership’ factor for innovation diffusion has been used in far larger teacher professional development programs, with laptops for teachers projects operating on a regional basis across the UK (Becta, 2003), Western Australia (Department of Education, Western Australia, 2002) and in Victoria (State of Victoria (Department of Education & Training), 2002).

The application of the innovation diffusion literature to the special case of teacher professional development can also be extended to the area of cultural conflict. Teachers operate in a social and socialising context, where their evaluation of an innovation is in terms of its benefit or deleterious effects. The viewpoint of the evaluator is critical to this judgement, as Rogers acknowledges, describing the definition of “good”, as a value judgement, which depends very much upon cultural perspective (Rogers, 1995, p. 343). It could be argued that beneficial consequences can, in fact, be maximised and undesirable consequences, at least in the short-term, minimised or negated. But Rogers denies this in his generalisation 11-1, saying that “the effects of an innovation cannot be managed to separate the desirable from undesirable consequences”. This distinction is particularly important when considering the social consequences of an innovation such as increased social stratification, and consequent internal inequalities. Agreement of benefit between both internal and external evaluator viewpoints would seem to be a necessary condition for such a judgement. Therefore the viewpoints of both teaching staff and other elements of the school community need to be considered when assessing the value of information technology in schools. Teachers have internal cultural values, with equity being a strong concern for most teaching staff. The school can be seen as a social instrument to support equal justice for all in society at large. What might therefore be of particular concern to teachers is the suggestion that a relatively high cost innovation can lead to increased inequality. In such a case the perceptual factor of relative advantage of the innovation will be in opposition to the local culture of equity. Thus the perceived consequences of the innovation are likely to have a significant impact upon its rate of diffusion. Teachers are particularly worried by such social impacts of computers, as was shown in Fluck (1995, p. 69) where they expressed fears about social isolation. This attitude appeared to change in the Tasmanian context by 1998 where teachers: … noted that "computers are the focus of some friendship groups", and that these groups "cross social boundaries" indicating

that

membership

was

socio-economically

heterogeneous. When prompted as to their reaction about computers promoting social isolation, these teachers saw computer-using students forming groups (called 'geek gangs' in one school) similar to those formed by students interested in sport, surfing, dressing in fashion, riding horses or doing academic

studies.

(Fluck, 2001, p. 50) We now focus inwards on the role of the teacher as a change agent. Moving from general theories of innovation, we need to see where teachers (particularly those in Australia) are in terms of accommodating to ICT, and what professional development is being provided

for them. The studies reviewed below show the diverse nature of such professional development, and the relationship between its extent and classroom consequences. The review also brings out the concomitant factors necessary for professional development to be fully effective. An informal professional development process was used in the Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh project, as described by Schofield and Davidson (2000). The project sought to “stimulate teachers in a large urban school system to use the Internet in their work”. It provided the necessary equipment in teachers’ classrooms, and appropriate technical support. While not all teachers who applied and were accepted into this five-year scheme were in agreement, the following findings were reported by the authors as common to a substantial proportion of the group: • work-related communication with others increased • interactions within and beyond the school increased • opportunities for professional development increased • they learned more about computing and the Internet • they invested in home computing equipment • some became school-based network administrators • they had increased professional pride and enthusiasm. In the view of their principals, the Internet access project "gets them [teachers] out of the same old rut", and refocused teacher conversation from constant complaints about "kids driving me crazy" to lively discussions of what they were accomplishing (Schofield & Davidson, 2000). This example of indirect professional development through equipment provision was paralleled by the ‘laptops for teachers’ scheme in Victoria (Australia) where 67 percent of teachers reported gaining intermediate or advanced IT skills (Department of Education, Employment and Training (Victoria), 2000, p. 32). The Tasmanian Graduate Certificate of Education (Computing for Teaching and Learning) was another example of indirect professional development, structured through a vocationally-based outcomes specification (Department of Education, Tasmania, 2000). Another syllabus that has been considered for a variety of professions is the International Computer Driving Licence (Australian Computer Society, 2002b). Courses following this syllabus have been supplied to teachers in the Australian Capital Territory and by the Catholic Education Office in Parramatta (see http://activated.decs.act.gov.au/prof_learn/online_learn_icdl.htm and http://www.ceo.parra.catholic.edu.au/pdf/bits/March01.pdf). The diversity of these professional development approaches indicates the lack of common agreement about the best way to prepare teachers for the general use of ICT, and/or the diversity of expectations.

Other aspects of teacher ICT professional development were considered by Elizabeth Byrom (1997) who reviewed the literature on the integration of technology into education programs. Her review concurred with the ACOT stages of teacher progression and inferred this process generally took three to five years. A RAND study in her review indicated that 30 percent of a school technology budget should be allocated to staff development, and this should take place on-site and ‘just in time’. Unless the equipment was available to staff immediately after a workshop, so they could practice and use it for operational reasons within a short time of being trained, the training effort would be wasted. In a related paper Byrom (1998) identified the factors influencing the effective use of technology in teaching and learning identified through a project working intensively with 12 schools in the south east of the USA. There was a significant positive correlation between the amount and level of equipment and technical assistance provided and subsequent movement along the continuum of technology integration. The relationship between professional development and technology access/capacity appears to be a significant factor in the development process for ICT in education, as was found by Schofield and Davidson (2000) when teachers involved in their project became more technology-centred. This also suggests that schools that get improved learning results from ICT will have addressed this issue, either directly or indirectly. This is not a surprising result, and basically argues that development will be faster where better resources are available. An extensive review of teacher professional development with respect to ICT was carried out by Downes, Fluck, Gibbons, Leonard, Matthews, Oliver, Vickers, & Williams (2002). In this review the authors identified four distinct approaches to ICT in education by asking: ‘What educational outcomes do schools and systems hope to achieve by increasing the extent to which ICTs are integrated into classroom practice?’ From the information gathered in response to this question it is evident that, in Australia as well as overseas, educators are promoting ICT use in classrooms for several distinct reasons. These include: • Type A: encouraging the acquisition of ICT skills as an end themselves; • Type B: using ICTs to enhance students’ abilities within the existing curriculum;

• Type C: introducing ICTs as an integral component of broader curricular reforms that are changing not only how learning occurs but what is learned; • Type D: introducing ICTs as an integral component of the reforms that alter the organisation and structure of schooling itself.

(Downes et al., 2002, p. 23)

It is evident that the nature and type of professional development needs to be aligned with which of these approaches the school is taking to ICT. The review found that school reforms have been increasingly linked to an embedded use of ICT which enables students to undertake authentic multi-disciplinary tasks. Further, these reforms are spreading beyond the school gate as ICT links students to and from external agencies. Therefore it becomes more important to look at ways of conducting teacher professional development at both pre-service and in-service levels that encompass this type of learning experience.

2.4.1 Issues from the literature about professional development It is clear from the literature that the ICT professional development of teachers is crucial to their role as change agents or adopters of this innovation. Teachers may not feel that they have the background or duty to prepare students for careers or working life that strongly depends upon ICT. Yet there are economic forces at work which suggest this is precisely what they should be doing. Moreover, children are coming to school with increasingly diverse yet increasingly common experiences of ICT at home. How then should teachers react? The social rationale for ICT argues they should ensure all children have the opportunity to develop familiarity with computers. However, teachers have expressed concerns about the social isolation they have observed amongst students who are intensive computer users (Fluck, 1995, pp. 47-48). The third rationale, pedagogy, is a disputed territory, with no clear 2 sigma advantage for ICT (Kraver, 1997), and only an improvement of the 0.3-0.4 effect size is evident in the literature, which is comparable with other innovations. Within these boundaries there are some indicators of the conditions required for ICT to demonstrate a pedagogical improvement. According to Byrom (1997) and Smerdon et al. (2000) ICT budgets should allocate a minimum of 30 percent for on-site and ‘just in time’ training and to provide at least 9 hours training per teacher per year. The training should be aligned to school expectations, depending upon the level of response expected in the Downes et al. (2002) list of reason types. Also, ownership is a vital ingredient to change management processes, and this has been taken into account in many professional development programs through laptop schemes for teachers (Clayton, 1993; Ramus et al., 1998).

2.5

Frameworks for the developmental stages of ICT in schools (RQ4)

The literature review proceeds with an examination of recent and significant studies of frameworks for ICT development in schools. There were no documents in ERIC (Educational Resources Information Centre) for the query (stages of development AND ICT AND education) AND (1994< Publication_Date <2003) and therefore the search was widened to include general internet sites, other search engines and printed references. Five works were selected from these sources, and are summarised in Table 5: Table 5: Selected studies of ICT development stages in schools

Author Heppell,  1993

Stages of progression

Strengths

Weaknesses

1. Computer as topic Has a radical  Includes stages  2. Computer supports learning with task  phase change  that might be  specific programs as final step considered  3. Computers support learning with generic,  redundant content free programs 4. Computers support specific needs through  component software 5. Pedagogy radically changes to reflect  computers’ potential Dwyer,  Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) Transfers well  Only describes  Ringstaff &  1. Entry to new  the general  Sandholtz,  2. Adoption situations and  stages of  1991;  3. Adaptation has been  development for  Dwyer,  4. Appropriation extensively  a single teacher  1994 5. Invention validated in a classroom Kraver,  Arizona Learning Technology Partnership  Aligns well  Assumes a new  1997 (ALTP) with ICT­ technology will  Wave 1: early adoption based  become  Wave 2: ICT integrated into curriculum innovations in  available Wave 3: research­based learning technologies  other fields. are released and transform education. Caldwell &  Schools for the Knowledge Society Track 3  Aligns with  Little evidence  Spinks,  vision gestalt: emerging  for the rhetoric 1998 national  policies to plan  for knowledge­ based  economies

Valdez,  McNabb,  Foertsch,  Anderson,  Hawkes &  Raack,  2000

North Central Regional Educational  Emphasises  Assumes  Laboratory (NCREL) emergence of  education is  Phase I = print automation learner­centred school­based  Phase II = expansion of learning opportunitiesinstruction  and teacher­led Phase III = data driven virtual learning. based upon  automated  monitoring of  student  progress

Each of these five models attempts to describe the developmental stages of ICT in education in a different way. The authors have different perspectives which have framed their views. Their audiences, the strengths and the weaknesses of each model, and what they imply for future models are examined below. Each model is a conceptual one (Webb, 1993) which exists only in the minds of humans rather than having some external manifestation. They are also ‘expedient’ models (Clement, 1989) which offer explication rather than explanation. Such models can be evaluated by comparing them with the phenomenon under investigation, and are useful for stimulating discussion, making relationships between objects clearer and ultimately becoming the basis for decisions about future actions (Penner, 2001). The focus of each model ranges from the teacher in a school to the system level of school governance. Heppell wrote at a time when the Internet was beginning to be seen as having potential in the business world, and ‘killer-apps’ were entering the software marketplace for office automation on a regular basis. His description of the developing role of computers suggested that climbing sales of software which have transformed the world of work will be mirrored in education. He argued that although there had “been neither a strong mechanistic nor a strong causal link between technological and pedagogical change”, it was “not an unreasonable contention that this link will need to be tighter rather than looser in the next five to ten years” (Heppell, 1993, p.101). He established Ultralab, the learning technology research laboratory at Anglia Polytechnic University's Chelmsford campus, to trial the application of new technologies in educational settings (Revell, 2002). The Heppell model concentrates on the earlier stages of development, specifying the alternating use of topic specific and generic software. This alternation is not explained

within the model, and it is therefore reasonable to be sceptical about its validity. The final stage of the Heppell model suggests pedagogy will change to accommodate the potential of ICT. This is a bold proposition, and requires further investigation to determine its applicability. The Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) model was presented in support of a project sponsored by a computer manufacturer (Dwyer, Ringstaff & Sandholtz, 1991; Dwyer, 1994). This sponsorship may have affected the conclusions, a caution reinforced by the fact that one of the authors (Dr. David Dwyer) was the Apple director of Education Technology at the time of writing (Apple Computer, 2002, 2002a). The ACOT project was based around the question: “If technology was pervasive throughout education, then what?” Starting in 1985, the Apple Computer company agreed to place a large amount of computer equipment and software in seven classrooms that represented a cross-section of America’s elementary and secondary schools. This included providing a computer for the classroom and home of every teacher and student in each class. The project grew, and with school agreement the classrooms were researched for over a decade. General conclusions about teacher stages of development were drawn from the research, from an ‘Entry’ stage where teachers had doubts, through an integration stage (‘Adaptation’) to a student-centred ‘Invention’ stage. The ACOT model described ICT development from the point of view of teachers, who might reasonably be expected to be the majority of the audience. Reaching this audience was important to the commercially-sponsored study, for teachers were seen as critical to the acceptance of the technology and hence to sales. In the case of the ACOT model, there is evidence of its appropriation for the formation of teacher ICT accreditation schemes (Office of Technology & Information Services, 2001). The specific levels of the ACOT model make it difficult to apply to school or system level planning, although it could have a use as a component of such plans. Because it relates to teachers, they can use tools based upon the model to diagnose their personal needs for ICT-related professional development, to categorise their current teaching style and to assist in decision-making when choosing new classroom software. Kraver (1997) developed the ALTP model as part of a case put to bureaucrats and commercial sponsors. His report is therefore framed in language suitable for such an audience. He suggested that radical change of the order of one or two sigmas (standard deviations) in student outcomes should result from the application of ICT in education. He argued that this was not an impossible dream since in other technology applications “the airline industry doubled speed and range by replacing the piston engine with the jet engine. The food industry has decreased farm labour from 65 percent of the population to two percent using biological and mechanical technology”. One-to-one tutoring had been shown to improve educational outcomes by two sigmas (Bloom, 1984) showing this kind of improvement was not impossible and the capacity of ICT systems to achieve at similar levels was shown through a meta-study review (Kulik & Kulik, 1991). The USA defence department had adopted a similar vision of using digital resources to support individualized, collaborative, authentic and interactive learning in their schools for defence force children anywhere and anytime worldwide, and expected at least a one

sigma improvement or a 30 percent teaching time reduction with existing equipment (Fletcher, 2003). Kraver’s preparatory review of ICT used the STaR categorisation to show that only four percent of schools had ‘target tech’ multimedia computers at a density of one for every 5 students (CEO Forum, 1997). The review refers to a collection of 500 meta-studies indicating ICT improved learning outcomes but did not identify these, casting doubt upon this aspect of the study. The ALTP model showed progression through three ‘waves’, corresponding to increased levels of teacher training, software complexity and ICT funding rising from US$110 to US$300 per student per year. In the development of the ALTP model, Kraver makes a good argument for the expected quantum of educational improvement, but fails to enter into the debate about the appropriate metric for validating this. The ALTP model also ties the stages of progression very closely to funding (as was appropriate for the audience) and equipment levels. This is a restricting view, and does not help planners to cope with situations where equipment has been provided but recipients fail to use it. Finally, the ALTP model assumes the emergence of a new kind of research-based learning technology without which the model lacks justification. Caldwell and Spinks wrote for an audience established by the publication of their first book on self-managing schools at the same time as the Education Reform Act of 1988 in the UK (Caldwell, 1998). Their devolutionary view corresponds strongly with the expectation that multiple solutions can be found locally to similar problems. This view of self-managing schools has been adopted widely in Australia and the United Kingdom. Their description of self-managing schools was extended into a future vision in Beyond the self managing school (Caldwell & Spinks, 1998) which examined future trends and argued that there were three possible tracks along which schools could move. ICT was a vital ingredient to each track, facilitating administrative change on track 1, enhancing communication between teachers as professionals on track 2, and transforming schools as learning places in the knowledge society on track 3. Developments on track 3 were illustrated by reference to lecture theatre design at the Goulburn Ovens Institute where students had alternate seating positions for computing and viewing (Caldwell & Spinks, 1998, p. 177). Among their summary of strategic intentions, they suggested: Virtual schooling will be a reality at every stage of schooling, but there will still be a place called school, with approaches to virtual schooling including neighbourhood educational houses, especially for the very young.

(Caldwell &

Spinks, 1998) The model developed by Caldwell and Spinks has some basis in evidence derived from school architecture, and aligns with policy directions adopted by governments in the ‘knowledge society’ or ‘knowledge economy’ fields. However, they do not present compelling evidence from either source that confirms schools or systems are moving along track 3. The evidence within the development of the model is contradictory, at one point establishing the capacity of ICT to remove traditional barriers of time and distance

from the educational process, yet also affirming the centrality of a designated ‘place’ of schooling. The NCREL model was constructed for “legislators and state board members” and emerged from the development work with which the authors’ organisation was concerned (Valdez et al., 2000). They noted that computer-based technology had been instrumental for increased work productivity and economic success, but debate continued about its value and cost-effectiveness in education. For example, equity concerns had largely eliminated experimental control groups in a three year study of fifty-five New York school districts where increased technology levels accounted for an increase in college entrance examination pass rates of 3.2 percent for mathematics and a one percent increase for English (Mann and Schaffer, 1997). Despite this debate, the NCREL model abstracted elements from successful projects to define stages of progression defined by the curriculum software used by students. The software stages started with drill and practice materials in Phase I, then moved to group-based learner tools in Phase II before culminating with information systems which integrated student progress tracking with virtual learning in Phase III. Valdez et al. (2000) concluded discussion of the NCREL model with a possible Phase IV, ‘Successful Integration and Use of Educational Technology’. A major difficulty with Phase III of the NCREL model is the implicit assumption that computer systems will generate progress data about learning outcomes for each student. This difficulty is made clearer by examining the work of Means and Olsen to which Valdez et al. link the NCREL model. Means and Olsen described four uses of ICT in school education: tutorial, exploratory, tool, and communication (1995, pp. 15-17). Only the tutorial use can be expected to generate data about student progress against learning outcomes. The generic office productivity software increasingly used by students in the other three modes does not report such details. Therefore little information about student achievements will be available for ‘data-driven virtual learning’ in Phase III of the NCREL model. Another difficulty with the NCREL model is the embedding of the industrial approach to learning, with the implicit reliance upon face-to-face direct teaching. The authors appeared to operate in a context where there was institutional support for a vision of the teacher as essential to the learning process, making the profession central to the final phase. This embedded position of the teacher was more in consideration of their audience than from a specific requirement of the technological maturation expected in Phase III.

2.5.1 Issues from the literature about stages of development for ICT in education The existing frameworks for ICT development stages in schools reveal a number of deficiencies and suggestions for improvement. The first of the difficulties common to several of the models described is that of making ill-founded assumptions. The ALTP model assumes the emergence of a new kind of technology, both the ALTP and NCREL models assume education will mirror ICT impacts in the business world, and the latter

also assumes student software will generate progress data. The Heppell model suggests pedagogy will change to accommodate ICT. The implication for any new model is that it should be thoroughly grounded in the literature and based upon evidence drawn from the field. The only assumptions that can be made are those drawn from existing practice or existing technology. Another difficulty with the current models is that of internal inconsistencies. The Heppell model inconsistently alternates between a trend to more generic software and the use of topic specific materials. The Caldwell and Spinks model is ambiguous about the capacity of ICT to erode previous thinking about time and place. Any future model should therefore maintain consistency between stages of development by demonstrating the increasing effect of axial principles. To reduce the possibility of inconsistency, there should be a minimum number of stages. Most of the existing models were crafted for a particular audience. This restricted the generalisability of the models, either for commercial reasons (ACOT) or because of institutional expectations (NCREL). The lesson for a new model is that it should be phrased in very general terms to maintain the widest possible application. This will make it suitable for classroom use or policy consideration, as a basis for professional development or linkage to other levels of national policy. This generalisability must not cause the model to lose attention to specific requirements for progression between stages. The ALTP model highlighted particular equipment densities and funding levels for each stage, and this was helpful. However, to put such detail in the top level description of a model can limit its audience. Therefore a new model might have a second level of description with this particular detail, having attention to the requirements above about assumptions, consistency and audience. A final guideline for the construction of a new model through this thesis concerns the difficulties of using conventional tests of educational achievement when students are using ICT in a meaningful way. For example, spelling tests of the traditional model would be inappropriate in the context of children using wordprocessors (such as Microsoft Word XP) in which spell checkers and voice recognition are embedded. The new model should be developed with a view to the possibility that the aims of teaching may change. By looking at the past and present use of computers (as in the ALTP model), it should be possible to derive a conceptual understanding of how possible futures can link to current practice and previous experience. The conclusion from this part of the review is that some existing models are limited by ill-founded assumptions, internal inconsistencies, or are restricted to particular sectors of the educational community, industrial conceptions of the schooling process or particular software. Helpful aspects of existing models have related specific levels of training or resourcing to particular stages, and they have been linked to observed practice in schools.

2.6

Other factors influencing the use of ICT in schools

One of the most significant factors about student use of ICT has been the rapid growth of student access to computers and the internet at home. Another has been the aging of the teaching workforce, associated with lower social status and remuneration, leading to a difficulty of recruitment and a search for alternative ways to provide adequate education. This, combined with the desire from both administrators and students to make learning more cost efficient, has met with research evidence that computer-mediated learning can be at least as effective as face to face group instruction.

2.6.1.1 Predictions of home computer access In Australia children’s home access to computers and the Internet has grown rapidly, and is much higher than that for the general population at 74 percent and 48 percent respectively (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999b, 1999c, 2000, 2000d). Older children have greater access to computers at home (Meredyth, Russell, Blackwood, Thomas & Wise, 1999b, p.160), with much of their use being for games and educational activities (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000c). Similar findings have been reported internationally, with 53 percent to 60 percent of secondary students estimated to use a computer at home in the USA, Germany and the Netherlands (Anderson & Lundmark, 1996, p. 29; Department of Commerce, 2000) while one author suggested ICT be utilised to overcome violence in schools (Fielder, 2000). Eighty percent of adult Australians undertaking study used the Internet (Pattinson & Di Gregorio, 1998). Therefore it is important to gauge the degree to which national, local and school policies attend to this growing proportion of students that are highly exposed to ICT in their homes.

2.6.1.2 Aging teachers From 1976 to 1996 the median age of teachers in the USA increased from 33 to 44 years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2000, Table 70). Similar patterns were reported in Estonia, the UK and other countries surveyed. This pattern of an aging teacher population was significant because of the cultural gulf between them and their “Nintendo generation” pupils (Richards, 1997; Abbott-Chapman, 1999, pp. 15-19), and also because of the implications for teacher supply in coming years. Recruitment in the UK has been addressed by a series of ‘golden hellos’ with graduates who elect to go into teacher training receiving £150 per week during the training period, and further large sums when they start teaching in shortage areas such as Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Science or Technology (Charter, 2000). This did not prevent the number of teaching vacancies rising to 4980 by January 2001 (Owen, 2001). Similar difficulties have been reported in Australia (Box, 2000, p. 4) and Estonia where recently retired members of the profession were re-recruited. This re-entry cohort was therefore in a strong position to negotiate for good conditions and wages, and able to resist forces for change in teaching practice.

2.6.1.3 Making learning cost efficient. Colleges in England for 16-18 year old students were effectively forced into using automation to maximise efficiency to cope with a 25 percent increase in student numbers at a time when the government had begun a program of devolving budgets and management (Kenny, 1994). Examples include the transformation of a ‘low quality traditional lecture based delivery’ engineering course to a “high quality tutorial environment, a flexible, self paced, self guided delivery with computer material available 24 hours a day” (Cartwright, 1994) which achieved the same learning outcomes within a fifty percent reduction in staffing and a twenty percent reduction in formal student contact time. Leftwich reported similar changes in a politics course (1994). In the USA on-line accredited college courses were about half the cost to students compared to those that required attendance on-campus (Jurgensen, 1999, p. 16A). Student engagement and motivation were enhanced in a Nebraska study by the inclusion of personal investment content in the course interactions (Lehman, Kaufman, White, Horn & Bruning, 2000). In the school sector, a comparison was made by a UK Minister of Education, Professor Michael Barber: It has been estimated that the cost of one teacher hour is £50 in the UK (c. US $80), rightly rising as we insist on much improved pay for demonstrably good teachers. But the cost of one school ICT hour is about 75 pence (c. US $1) and falling at about 20 per cent per annum, while computers double their capacity every 18 months. This provides an opportunity not to replace teachers wholesale, but to find new combinations of well-trained

teachers,

paraprofessionals

and

technology

focused on the learning needs and aspirations of each individual. (Barber, 2000) This comparison indicates some of the cost pressures which make ICT attractive to educational decision makers. The result has been a proliferation of experimental projects applying ICT in a broad range of educational contexts. Some projects have trialled the use of web-based courses and other multimedia applications with school refusers and atrisk students (EdNA, 2000).

2.7

Chapter summary

The review has identified the ubiquity of national policies for ICT in school education. These policies are often based upon economic, social and/or pedagogical rationales, which require further substantiation. The policies in many countries are becoming subsumed under national policies for ‘the knowledge economy’, and this appears to be shaping their form towards the economic rationale. Despite technological pressures, the extant international studies indicate the thrust of policy is on integrating ICT into current classroom practice, and students use computers much less in school than outside it. It remains to be seen if student learning autonomy is increased when ICT is used more often. The literature distinguishes between ICT integration and ICT effectiveness, and several measures are available for each factor. Studies of effectiveness can be classified as experimental or descriptive. Experimental studies typified by meta-studies indicate ICT has so far proven only as effective as other innovations. Descriptive studies have found ICT has potential for improving learning outcomes, providing it is safely applied in appropriate areas, and teachers are adequately trained. Teacher professional development was examined in the context of innovation diffusion theory. This identified ownership (exemplified through laptops for teachers programs) and the identification of relative advantage as key factors for adoption. However, the literature indicated that professional development needs to be aligned with strategic purposes for ICT. Four such types of school approach have been recognised. Existing frameworks for the developmental stages of ICT in schools were reviewed in the context of their authors’ intentions and specific audience targets. Through an analysis of each framework, it was established that future models would need to be applicable to a wide range of educational audiences, not presume the emergence of new educational technology and not make assumptions about the operational characteristics of software. Additional factors having some bearing upon the use of ICT in school education were predictions of rapidly increasing home access to computers and the internet, the aging population of teachers and financial imperatives to make learning more cost efficient. The next chapter will show how the study methodology was developed.

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South Africa: Teacher Training in the Sky Claire Brown, Violet Sithole & Robert Hofmeyr Shoma Education Foundation, South Africa Education in South Africa The schooling system in South Africa is undergoing massive transformation to improve quality of education. Outcomesbased education and the new curriculum have been introduced to South African schools and present educators in this country with their biggest opportunity and challenge ever. It is common cause that educators are pivotal to the success of this change. Therefore, the challenge is to build the capacity of our educators to become change agents, thereby enabling them to lend impetus to this transformation. I believe that the limited resources available and the vastness of our country, lends itself ideally to the use of technology, not as a luxury, but as a basic resource. The model presented in this article begins to illustrate that technology can be extremely effective in supporting the development of educators in the development of Outcomes Based Education Digital Satellite Technologies for Teacher Development

The Model: The Shoma Education Foundation The MIH Group, the holding company for MultiChoice, MNet and M-Web, has developed a unique model of delivering educational and training programs for the professional development of South African educators. The unique delivery model uses the power of technology to leverage the delivery of appropriate educational programs prepared in conjunction with the national and provincial education departments. The programs are relayed from the M-Group’s Broadcast Center in Randburg, via satellite, to a video server linked to a television set, and to a network server, which in turn serves 24 workstations. The model is innovative and significant in the following respects: It is exceptional in its ability to reach and penetrate the distant rural and urban areas often grossly neglected by donors and cut off from investment initiatives. Through the use of interactive computer applications, the project initiates rural- and township-based teachers to appropriate and creative use of technology, thereby supporting and bolstering the National Education Department’s Technology Enhanced Learning Initiatives. The framework for this model was developed collaboratively with the national and provincial education departments, academics, educators and teacher organizations. Based on research done, a nine-week pilot was conducted at three centers located in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

The South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) evaluated the pilot project, after which the project was successfully implemented in a further seven sites. Ten centers situated in all nine provinces are currently fully functional. The program reaches out to thousands of educators in historically disadvantaged areas to provide them with a rich resource base that is unaffected by distance or terrestrial networks. Also, these teachers are being constantly exposed to cutting edge technology.

Attributes of the Training Program 1. The Program uses digital satellite technology as a conduit for quality Outcomes Based Education material across geographical barriers. Training programs are relayed from the M-Group’s Broadcast Center in Randburg, via the conduit of satellite to a television set, and an Intranet. 2. The Program applies a specific, three tiered process of learning that continuously reinforces specific themes on Outcomes Based Education. The training facilities used at the training centers consist of a minimum of three rooms in an education department or other suitable buildings. Broadcast Room This room is equipped with a television monitor, a video server and satellite dish. Here, a visual presentation of the specific learning theme on Outcomes Based Education is provided. Teachers watch broadcast clips reflecting different South African situations and experiences on Outcomes Based Education concepts, which run for approximately 10 minutes. The broadcast ends with a thought-provoking question that prompts the group into discussion. With this question, the aim is to actively engage the recipients and negate passivity amongst them. Curriculum developers of the Provincial Education Department mediate the group discussions. Computer Room The second room is furnished with a Windows NT server and 24 Pentium workstations. Content is downloaded, via satellite, to the servers using a Siyanda satellite receiver card. The computer material provides digitized video and audio

! 54 !

TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org clips, which have been compressed, using MPEG technology. This convergence of computer and television technology confers greater flexibility to the learning process. It was observed during the pilot period that educators tended to ‘hop’ between Internet lessons. Some completed the session in a short period suggesting they had not taken the time to read and reflect on the issues. Thus, a controlled measure that compels users to follow a particular learning path has been introduced. Although the computer-based learning content reflects the National Education Department’s interpretation of the curriculum, the Department is provided with an additional opportunity to express its viewpoint. There is also an opportunity for each Provincial Department to add its input. We have embarked on a project to add a message board and an electronic mail facility to make this learning experience even more dynamic and interactive.

The Lesson Development Room This is the most important room in the process. It is here that teachers have the opportunity to practice the theory learned in the broadcast and computer rooms. In this room, teachers work together to develop their own lesson plans for the following week, based on what they learned during the broadcast and computer based learning. 3. The program is a mediated, facilitated learning process. Integral to the Shoma training methodology is the use of facilitators to mediate the learning process in all three tiers. This approach is informed by the notion that the use of technology as a training tool necessitates that training should be conducted by facilitators or other teachers who can provide: experience in classroom teaching; an understanding of the use of technologies and its language usage; mediated learning without succumbing to the temptation to take over the keyboard; and follow-up support to the teacher in the classroom. In view of these specific qualities, our facilitators are drawn from the ranks of curriculum developers whose responsibility it is to provide support to educators on curriculum issues. An evaluation of the pilot project by South African Institute for Distance Education identified the need for facilitation skills training program for these departmental officials. Shoma has developed a training program on facilitation to build the capacity of facilitators in the mediation of adult learning, as well as to develop a basic understanding of the technology used in the program.

Experiences in Applying the Model On the positive side the value of technology in teacher development can be summarized as follows: It ensures access to quality education material and resources, irrespective of geographical location and terrestrial networks. It bridges the digital divide between those who have access to technology and those who don’t. It is a fast, cost-effective way of providing the training material to remote training centers all over the country. It provides an interactive platform, which stimulates the learning process of educators. It permits and supports individually paced learning processes. The drawbacks of technology in teacher development have been: The initial capital outlay to acquire and install the technological infrastructure is costly. Enormous problems are experienced as a result of the sensitive nature of technology in relation to the lowlevel technological development and skills of the enduser. The eagerness to gain access to technology skills sometimes overshadows the educational value of the substantive elements of the training program. In the area of partnership, the program has created a platform for private sector companies to work alongside government

in the development of education. It has enabled corporate companies to be part of an established, high potential, high impact and relevant corporate social investment project. In the final analysis, the impact of any teacher development program should be evaluated in terms of its effect on teacher practice and not just on the correct methodology nor its use of technology. Therefore, we have embarked on a research study to look at, among other things: The correlation between the change of attitude toward the use of technology and teacher practice. The extent to which educators have fully understood the benefits and implications of the use of broadcast and computer learning as a learning and teaching tool.

Conclusion As the range and complexity of technology available to support education and training rapidly expands, the reality that technologically driven educational solutions do not work has become increasingly apparent. We need to recognize, however, that technology is increasingly being harnessed to benefit our education system through various innovative projects. Slowly but surely, technology enhanced learning is becoming more and more effective. The South Africa experience provides a model for harnessing the latest technologically driven interventions for the benefit of our educators and for the enhancement of education as a whole.

THE UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY FOR EDUCATION IN AFRICA. Dr. Govinda Shrestha Addis Ababa 2000 UNESCO: International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA)

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Capacity Building In Africa

Contents Introduction -Utilization of Electronic and Communications Technology Barriers -Implications for U N E S C O International Institute • for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) -Strategies for the Utilization of Electronic and Communications Technology -Strategy for Utilization of Technology in Teacher Education -Strategy for Utilization of Technology

in Curriculum Development -Strategy for the Utilization of Technology in Distance Education 30 -Strategy for Utilization of Technology in Education Policy, Planning and Management 31 Conclusion 34 Reference 35

PREFACE This monograph was undertaken by Dr. Govinda Shrestha, a research fellow at Harvard University, during a one-month consultancy with the U N E S C O International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa C1ICBA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October, 1999. The purpose of the consultancy was to explore ways in which the new information and communication technologies CICT3 can be utilized in Africa, given the situation where the majority of educational institutions at primary and secondary school levels do not have access to electricity, let alone to computers and internet. Even at tertiary level many institutions do not have access to internet, although a considerable number may have access to computers. Internet may be inaccessible either due to low access at country level or high cost. Despite the serious challenges posed by the lack of electricity, lack of connectivity to the internet, and the present low financial resources available to education in Africa, in particular most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa nevertheless has to face up to the essential need to be at the cutting edge of technological innovation. Unless Africa accepts this challenge, its position in world development is likely to deteriorate even further in the next two decades. Education can play a cardinal role in ensuring that African institutions; teachers and teacher educators have the opportunity to utilize information and communication technologies. A high level of usage of ICT can impact positively on economic and other forms of development. However at this stage of Africa's development, cost-effective and practical ways have to be devised to enable African universities and schools to access ICT. This monograph is a contribution to the dialogue on how ICT can be used in Africa today to improve both educational access and quality. Fay Chung Director, U N E S C O International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa CIICBA) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March,2000 Introduction

UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY FOR EDUCATION IN AFRICA Govinda Shrestha

Introduction The world educational crisis and the world crisis in education scenario painted by Coombs C1968, 1985), still holds substantially valid in Africa. In 1968, Coombs [1] observed: Since 1945, all countries have undergone fantastically swift environmental changes, brought about by a number of concurrent worldwide revolutions in science and technology, in economic and political affairs, in demographic and social structures. Educational systems have also grown and changed more rapidly than ever before. But they have adapted all too slowly in relation to the faster pace of events on the move all around them. The consequent disparity—taking many forms—between educational systems and their environments is the essence of the worldwide crisis in education.

The growing obsolescence of the old, outmoded curriculum content in relation to the advancing state of knowledge and the realistic learning needs of students, the misfit between education and the development needs of societies, the growing imbalances and maladjustments between education and employment, as well as

1 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa serious educational inequalities between various social groups, and the gap growing between the rising costs of education and the funds countries would be able and willing to invest in it are some of the glaring disparities, according to Coombs. The causes of disparity are, in his opinion, the sharp increase in popular aspirations for education, the acute scarcity of resources, the inherent inertia of educational systems, "which caused them to respond too sluggishly in adapting their internal affairs to new external necessities, even when resources have not been the main obstacle to adaptation, and the inertia of societies themselves—"the heavy weight of traditional attitude, religious customs, prestige and incentive patterns, and institutional structures—which has blocked them from making the optimum use of education and of educated manpower to foster national development." 17 years after the publication of Coombe's first book, things are not much better. In fact, the education situation worsened as the world education crisis turned in 1985 into a world crisis in education. The early warnings of a world educational crisis were no false alarm. Not only had the crisis Coombs [2] noticed in 1985, been intensified by growing maladjustments between education system and the rapidly changing world around them, but it had acquired new dimensions that were even more troubling. The most troubling of all was that there emerged a crisis of confidence in education itself. The explosion of learning needs and the inability of education systems to bring both the quantitative and qualitative changes necessary to balance the evolving learning needs, and the tighter cost squeeze on education were facts of life. And there was a clear-cut maladjustment between education, on the one hand, and

2 introduction the world of work and the economy, on the other. Sadly, Africa faces today all these plus many more problems in education. The crisis impacting African education goes deeper and various drastic measure? are required to address it before the situation gets even worse. A number of initiatives were taken in response to the gravity of the complex challenges facing education. The Jomtien Declaration and Framework of Action on "Education for All" in 1990 sought to re-enforce commitment by Governments, funding agencies and non-governmental organizations on the principles that would bring about basic education for all. The Priority Africa Programme established by UNESCO in 1989 called for vigorous efforts to promote, among others, distance learning, information technology and higher education in Africa. The Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the Organization of African Unity COAU), held in Yaounde, Cameroon in June 1996, proclaimed the period 1997-2006 the Decade of Education in Africa. The Education Department of the OAU acts to promote harmonisation of education policies systems and programmes at all levels, as well as the development of networks and the Pan-African cooperation in education area. In 1999, the OAU Ministers of Education and Heads of States approved the Decade of Education Programme of Action in which it clearly noted some of the acute problems [3] faced by the formal education systems in Africa: • Persistence and maintenance, whether deliberately or otherwise, of the aims, objectives and outcomes of outdated education systems, despite the numerous reforms undertaken from time to time. • The fall in the general standard of achievement of pupils and

students linked to the shortage of infrastructure, equipment and teaching materials, pn the one hand, and on the other hand, to

3 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa the large class sizes as well as poor qualifications and low morale of teachers. • The lack of relevance of the content of educational programmes, whether in terms of language and culture, or in terms of employability and technology, resulting not only in a significant number of dropouts, but also in a lack of linkage between training and employment, expressed in the persistent unemployment of graduates. • Inability of formal education systems to satisfy development" needs and strategies, and therefore its inability to participate in development It is increasingly realised among various educational and political circles that present-day educational challenges cannot be met with traditional means alone. The introduction, use/re-use and deployment of new as well as old electronic and communications technology are, therefore, being considered an important contribution to the solution of the problems in education. "Higher education institutions must adopt new approaches for the packaging of information, for course delivery and for thinking traditional approaches to teaching and learning", says the Consolidated Declarations and Plans of Action of the Regional Conferences on Higher Education held in Tokyo and Dakar (1997-98). The U N E S C O Regional Conferences clearly emphasise that teachers, professors and technical and administrative staff must be given training that enables them to integrate new information and communication technologies into their teaching programmes, and to examine the multiplier effect with regard to their use.

4

Introduction Various attempts have recently been made, to increase access to modern technologies and services. However, very few educational institutions have the technical and financial resources needed to use new technologies for educational purposes. In addition, the low level of development of the underlying infrastructure needed to make effective and wide use of technologies is quite discouraging. Africa's communication and information infrastructure is mostly limited to capital cities and it is out of reach of the great majority of Africans who live in rural areas and dispersed geographical locations. This shows that the current utilization of information and communications technology for education is minimal, limited and constrained in many ways. But since new information and communications technology and education act together as multipliers, the prospect of educational development working in tandem with the telecommunications development in future looks promising. This report presents first a general overview of the present utilization of electronic and communications technology, particularly new technologies such as computers and the Internet for education in Africa and then recommends specific strategies for the applications of such technologies in education focused particularly on: • Teacher education • Curriculum development • Distance education, and • Educational policy, planning and management The report, in describing technology use in African education, will consider application of technology at a broad level, but with some

5 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa emphasis on the tertiary education. The term 'technology' will refer to 'electronic and communications technology' and 'technology use" will assume both 'technology as a product' and 'technology as a

process' ideas [4]. The terms 'technology use' and 'technology utilization' are u^ed interchangeably.

UTILIZATION OF ELECTRONIC AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY Several countries in the Africa region are already familiar with different technologies introduced in the educational systems. Various studies have shown that educational radio and educational television have been used in many developing countries primarily as a means of reaching learners in remote locations and making education accessible and affordable to many. Training in-service teachers at a distance has, for example, been a regular practice of teacher education programmes in many African countries. Although technology use in distance education and learning is, in fact, a long-established practice, there has recently been a remarkable shift in its use in developing countries. Potashnik and Capper [5] observe: Technology is still a major contributor to the dramatic transformation of distance learning. Although the use of technology for distance learning is not new—radio and television have been used effectively for more than forty years—satellites and the Internet are transforming the world into a borderless educational arena,

6 Utilization of Electronic and Communication Technology benefiting both previously underserved citizenries and education entrepreneurs. New technologies have now greatly expanded, at least in theory, our educational horizons. However, Potashnik and Capper believe that print-based communication will continue at least for some time in future. They note: Various technologies have been used for distance education, but print-based correspondence courses have been, and will continue to be, the dominant delivery mechanism in both the developed and the developing worlds. Print is still the cheapest technology, and, even if the costs of using high-tech dissemination tolls fall below those of print, it will be some time before many countries have adequate infrastructures. One good example of the highly successful print- or correspondence-based practice is the Zimbabwe Integrated Teacher Education course (ZINTEC], established after independence in order to train primary teachers in the country. The successful ZINTEC tradition was a precursor to the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), established in 1999 to upgrade school administrators and teachers and address the need to provide educational opportunity to a larger clientele [6]. The ZINTEC programme combined distance education through use of print and radio with two extended periods of residential training, weekly seminars held at the schools where trainees were placed in clusters of three, weekend and holiday courses. Residential courses cover twelve months of the four year course.

7 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa Africa has a long history of the use of technology of one kind or another for educational purposes. The continent has been a fertile ground for a number of open universities, distance education departments under universities, independent distance education institutions, and various technology-based programmes, projects and initiatives. Many of the institutions and programmes, initiated in the past, are still actively deploying technologies in various forms and combinations as means to enhance existing programmes and fulfil different educational objectives.

Unfortunately, a number of the past technological innovations [based on radio, television, video, film, print technology etc.] have not been sustained. As far as the breakdown of the systems/innovations in education is concerned, it is primarily related to technical know-how in both utilization and maintenance of the systems. External aid played a key role indeed, in the establishment of most of these technologies, but in many cases, the need for the provision/supply of local experts was not given the due consideration it deserved [7]. Consequently, a number of programmes initiated with enthusiasm in the past lost their momentum, and were unable to survive. Despite some early weaknesses and failures, new technologies, particularly the computers and networking technologies, have, by creating conditions for rapid connections, opened up possibilities for many different educational and learning opportunities. From radio and satellites to computers at the desktop and palmtop, various communications channels have been used to deliver education and training both on-campus and off-campus. Today, Internet connections are, for example, possible over any kind of network: dial

8 Utilization of Electronic and Communication Technology up telephone, private digital and analog networks, satellites, radio, cellular, public switched telephone networks, Asynchronous Transfer Mode [ATM), and so on. Advances in technologies have led to the creation of a great opportunity to what is now called "leap-frog" stages of development. This is an opportunity that is unparalleled in history. In 1995, the World Bank [8] issued a dire warning: If African countries cannot take advantage of the information revolution and surf this great wave of technological change, they may be crushed by it. In that case they are likely to be even more marginalized and economically stagnant than they are today. The uses of technology for various educational Cand other) activities seem to be growing exponentially in recent years. This is a worldwide phenomenon, and equally true of Africa. In some places, use of various computer-based programs has multiplied. A variety of computer-assisted instruction/programs have proliferated and the use of computing and information systems in management has increased tremendously. As a result, various initiatives and programmes have been launched to respond to the challenges and crises confronting education and learning and to stimulate change and create new learning environments that address localised and specific needs of learners in different places and settings. Currently, we witness a flurry of activities and projects being run and operated under the cooperation between the public and the private sectors. A few international organizations and institutions have remained increasingly active in transforming the education sector to enable people to acquire new skills and training that are so essential in the Information Age. In some places, such education and training

9 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa programs form part of formal education, while in others, it is primarily a component of nonformal, even informal education. The following examples were selected, within a limited time frame, out of a large pool of activities and projects throughout Africa. Their presentation does not follow any priority order. It is clear that despite four decades of development efforts, the nature and quality of education, educational access and opportunity for the majority of people in Sub-Saharan Africa [SSA3 have not improved. The education situation at the tertiary level has been deteriorating rapidly. Many tertiary institutions in their present form are overwhelmed with problems related to access, finance, quality,

and internal and external efficiency, to mention a few. Two years ago, the African Virtual University CAVUl was launched, keeping in view the monumental problems affecting the higher education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa CSSA]. The introduction of A V U is basically geared towards promoting alternative modes for the delivery of tertiary education to complement the efforts of existing institutions of higher learning. As the first interactive instructional telecommunications network, AVU uses the latest telecommunications technology such as satellites, and the computer-based technology [the Internet) to improve the quality and relevance of science, engineering and business instruction for the benefit of students and professionals from 22 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. One major aim is to expand enrollment levels significantly in these areas. AVU has, by now, provided more than 2,000 hours of broadcast instruction to some 9,000 students and professionals in 14 Anglophone, 8 Francophone and 2 Lusophone countries.

10 Utilization of Electronic ana Communication Technology Established only a few years ago, the Confederation of Open Learning Institutions of South Africa (COLISA), serves as the torchbearer of higher education through distance learning in South Africa. Cr'LiSA comes as an attempt to address educational needs that; cannot be met by individual institutions acting alone. Collaboration and coordination are necessary in various stages of work. CGLiSA's members include the University of South Africa (UNISAÎ, Vista University and Technikon SA. UNISA, the oldest and largest distance learning institution in Africa and one of the eleven mega distance education institutions in the world, serves as a prime example of technology-based education and1 learning. Its three regional centres in the north, south and east, six learning centres throughout Africa plus its library which is one of the largest and best equipped research libraries in the southern hemisphere—all bear testimony to the increased use of technology in South African education. SchoolNet S A and Cyber School Africa (CSA) are two more examples of the technology-based educational initiative in South Africa. Established in South Africa, SchoolNet SA, a national non-governmental organization (NGO) is actively developing and expanding the use of the Internet in South African schools. This organization is helping educators and learners transform education through the application of information and communication technologies (ICT). SchoolNet S A works by providing leadership and expertise needed in education, and it helps develop effective partnerships in various areas, including the Internet connectivity and appropriate technology, human resource development and capacity building and content and curriculum management and development.

11 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa The organisation's major activity is to contribute to the realisation of national priorities in the education and training system, working towards a knowledge-based society, expanding access to telecommunications and information, and educating youth for full participation in South African and international life [9]. Cyber School Africa [CSA), an on-going project in South Africa, on the other hand, focuses on the intensive development of web-based revision tutorials in the Physical Sciences [standard and advanced) and Mathematics [standard) related testing for the South African matriculation examinations. The project also includes arrangements for individualized tutoring by e-mail and fax. The provision of supplementary services currently being developed includes free web-based e-mail for all C S A members [including teachers and parents), URL archives [curriculum-based links to other on-line

resources), and South Africa's first graphical user interface (GUI) chat facility for educational purposes. CSA also emphasises marketing the site, further enhancing the site, and extending the site to include additional subjects, such as Higher-Grade Mathematics, Biology, or English. During the last decade, computer networking has spread rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, virtually all nations have established some form of connectivity. It is interesting that universities and their supporting governments were not among the network pioneers for obvious monetary and political reasons. Since 1990, however, university participation, to a greater or lesser degree, in computer networking has increased. Establishment of some form of connectivity, however limited, has been a priority for many for quite some time. In Mozambique, for example, there were few human and

12 Utilization of Electronic and Communication Technology financial resources to support early uses of the Internet. Consequently, the strategy employed was based not on the imperative of new technologies, but upon providing basic electronic mail connectivity for at least the provinces of the country. The early users of networking on the continent were organizations working in special areas such as health, agriculture, pest control, marine and fisheries and the like with funding from external sources. Online network development has thus been spurred mainly by development agencies and non-governmental organisations and many online connectivity projects have, in fact, used UNIX and FidoNet store-forward technologies. Aside from the Republic of South Africa, which has an installed base of commercial/university systems facilitating Internet growth, the computer communications in other countries do not have an installed base of commercial/university support systems. So many of them are only small 'bulletin board' systems facilitated particularly by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC1 The situation is now changing as a result of the APC's British affiliate GreenNet's help with, particularly the establishment of several dozen small systems aimed at expanding African connectivity. Other examples of technology utilization and development include RINAF [Regional Information Network for Africa] which has been active in the development and dissemination of information regarding the use of telecommunication technologies in Africa since 1988. PADIS CPan-African Development Information System), based in Addis Ababa, has served a wide range of development needs that include computer networking throughout a wide region. It is reported that PADIS has been instrumental in the development of low cost

13 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa connectivity in numerous university departments in the region. The Regional African Satellite Communications Organisation CRASCOM) was established in order to address the problem of access to telecommunications in rural areas. Similarly, the American Association for the Advancement of Science CAAAS3 has been active since 1987 in a Sub-Saharan Africa Program that focuses upon the problems of dwindling funds for books and periodicals in university research libraries. Side by side with this problem, research capacities of African universities had declined by as much as 5 0% since 1982, according to a report presented to the Association of African Universities in Accra in 1992. Makerere University reported that its subscriptions to periodicals in all fields had fallen from 8 0 0 in 1985 to 2 0 0 in 1995. The A A A S project has been working with 8 libraries in an effort to determine the value of C D - R O M uses and other electronic information technologies in research libraries. The creation of the African Educational Research Network [AERN)

in 1992, by a small number of African, American, Canadian and British universities is an example of North/South collaboration in networking activities. The Network coordinates various efforts to support research capacity building in African universities. Recently, the A E RN is busy implementing "electronic research roundtables" aimed at bringing together professors from African and northern universities as supporting resources for the large number of African students who are working in several northern institutions. The members of the AERN include Kenyatta University, Addis Ababa University, the University of Zimbabwe, Makerere University, the National University of Lesotho, Bayero University in Kano, the University of Ottawa, the

14 Utilization of Electronic and Communication Technology University of Manchester, Clark-Atlanta University, Ohio University, North Carolina State University in Raleigh and Oklahoma State University. All A E R N members have connectivity with the exception of Bayera Uriversity. The Educational Research Network for Eastern and Southern Africa CERNESA], currently led by the University of Botswana and the Educational Research Network for Western and Central Africa CERNWACA) coordinated by the IDRC (International Development and Research Centre], based in Dakar, are examples of two thriving networks that began with conventional modes of exchanges and are now moving toward electronic information exchange. Technology-based or enhanced educational initiatives focused primarily on African women include proposed activities being planned under the partnership between the Forum for African W o m en Educationalists CFAWE) and the U E S C O International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa CIICBA], Abantu for Development is a non-governmental organization founded in 1991 by African w o m e n for the purpose of harnessing new technology-based information resources to the benefit of African people. Internet connectivity in African nations is rising, although accessibility remains only in capital cities and/or particular areas of large cities. In the past, the private sector initiatives to bring the continent online were insignificant. But since 1995 there has been a resurgence of efforts to bring "full inter-connectivity" by the year 2010 under the leadership of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa ÍECAJ. The Regional Symposium on Access to Telematics in Africa, hekï in Addis Ababa in April 1995, was

15 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa remarkable in that it gave birth to a new initiative, the "African Networking Initiative", which comprises the ECA together with a few other international organizations, including UNESCO. The ECA Conference of Ministers held in May 1995, appointed a high-level working group on Information and Communication Technology to draft and design the Action Framework to help African countries to "leapfrog" stages of development and participate in the Information Age. A year later, the Framework was approved by the meeting of ECA Conference of Ministers. The result is an "African information society initiative" [10]. Africa has lately become the ground for an unprecedented range of development projects aimed at increasing the uses and impacts of information and communications technologies. The overall position of African inter-connectivity, based on an account presented in 1997 by Jensen [11], is as follows: • 36 Countries in Africa have full Internet access in the capital cities: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Senegal,

Seychelles, Republjc of South Africa, Swar "and, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. • Countries that will very shortly have capitals with full Internet access: Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Chad. • Countries with capital cities remaining without full Internet access: Cap Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Equatorial Guinea,

16 Utilization of Electronic and Communication Technology Eritrea, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Sao Tome e Principe, Somalia, Western Sahara. • Countr'js with only one full public access ISP: Algeria, Benin, Burundi Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Mauritius, Niger, Malawi, Seychelles, Tunisia, Zaire, Zambia. • Countries with access in some secondary towns: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe. • Countries with low-cost dial-up Internet access nationwide: Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe. This shows that African connectivity is rising but it is severely limited to major cities and capitals. Again, there is a great disparity between various sub-regions. "Creating Learning Network for African Teaehers". is a U N E S CO project that forms part of the Harnessing Information Technology for Development component of the Special Initiative on Africa. The major aim of the project is to enhance the capacity of teachers and their institutions to become more responsive to new challenges in teaching and learning, by connecting teacher training colleges and Education Ministries, researchers and communities through the existing Internet infrastructures. The project also aims to increase technology applications among teachers and provide them with basic skills to use such new technologies. <; A regional -vypr^ksiipp on Computers in Education, held in Lesotho, in 1996, and.a meeting in Harare on Capacity Building for Information Technologies in Education

17 Utilization of Information and Communications .--, Technology for Education in Africa in Developing Countries organized by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP1 are among the activities linked to this project. Further efforts are being made to develop a project networking for teacher-training colleges in each of the twenty African countries [121. One remarkable feature of telecommunications development is the increasing number of telecentres, telecottages or community communication centres in various parts of the continent. The establishment and operation of hundreds of telecentres and communication centres indicate a new level and flow of interest in technology use. Some of the common labels used to describe these activities, include telecentres, telecottages, community technology centres CCTC], community communication shops, networked learning centres, multipurpose community telecentres CMCT), digital clubhouses, community communication centres (CCC1, technology access centres etc. One common characteristic of these centres is a shared place/facility that provides access to information and communication technologies for various purposes. These centres may differ from one another in the way they are funded, organized, owned and operated/administered. Generally, they are guided by the concept and spirit of universal service in telecommunication. Information Technology is now considered, at least in some policy making circles, an agent of transformation of various dimensions of human life and activities in the knowledge-based society of the new century. Some of the telecentres are equipped with only a telephone and a

fax machine, others with computers, printers and an Internet connection, but they are mushrooming all over Africa. These centres

18 Utilization of Electronic and Communication Technology are primarily designed to serve various informational, educational and developmental needs of the community. The ACACIA initiative, launched by the International Development and Research Centre CIDRO in 1997, serves as an example of telecentres aimed at putting information and communication technologies to work on behalf of social and economic development for local communities in sub-Saharan Africa. It is said that Acacia will initially be focused on four countries: Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda and the projects will aim to reform policy, extend infrastructure, address technology and usage issues, and support the creation of relevant applications and content. Thus, some of the major organizations engaged in telecentre activities are: the International Telecommunications Union tlTU), Canada's International Development Research Centre CIDRO, the U.S. Agency for International Development CUSAID), The United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], and the World Bank. Among the major initiatives in Africa include IDRC's Acacia, ITU's Multipurpose Community Telecentres, USAID's Leland and LearnLink, U N D P ' s Community Communications Centres, and the World Bank's WorLD. In addition to the International Development Research Centre CIDRO, which supports a range of ICT projects in Africa through the Acacia initiative [13), some of the leading organizations and initiatives related to African inter-connectivity and technology development for various developmental purposes, including educational are:

19 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa Bellanet: It aims to serve as a catalyst for the appropriate use of ICTs in development and a 'best practice' model that shares lessons learned from projects and the collaborative initiatives with which it works [143. International Institute for Sustainable Development (USD]: It provides an Internet site for information on sustainable development, including information and communications technology [15L World Bank, Knowledge Information and Technology Centre: It provides the Africa Live Database, a system that gives users easy electronic access to the latest economic, social, and sectoral data on sub-Saharan Africa. The Bank also provides the Sector Knowledge Management System, which captures, synthesizes and disseminates knowledge of development practices and lessons learned from experiences on the ground in Africa < http : / / w w w . worldbank. org/html/extdr/af r. htm >

20 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa

Barriers The uevelopment of African connectivity and information and communication technologies CICTsl also faces a number of problems and barriers. The cost of systems and the need for management Ctechnica' and administrative] remain the major challenges facing the development of African connectivity. Technical costs not only reside in hardware. "System running costs can become prohibitive in an

African environment when a node must handle the rising tide of "unsolicited" e-mail usually associated with Internet inter-connection", says Karen Banks of GreenNet/APC [181. She further points out that most local African computer networks are chronically under-financed, under-staffed, and saddled with inappropriate software, and that lack of resources has compelled some to take a stepped "grassroots" approach to the development of connectivity in Africa. IMPLICATIONS F O R UNESCO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE F O R CAPACITY BUILDING IN AFRICA (IICBA) Internet development is moving fast in northern and southern Africa. The east and west sub-regions are lagging behind, but the central sub-region is the one that is way behind. Internet development is, in fact, very skewed in favour of South Africa. South Africa is relatively quite advanced, with about 225,000 dial-up accounts and hosting betweerf700,000 to 800.000 of Africa's 1.2 million Internet users. The number of Internet users in Europe and

21 Implications for UNESCO International Institute For Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) North America is estimated at around one in six, but in Africa the figure is one in a thousand. If South Africa is discounted, the figure is one in five thousand. The Institute CIICBA3 should, in partnerships with other institutes and organizations, explore ways to address such an imbalance between regions and among various sub-regions within Africa. Distance or open learning is expanding worldwide. There is also a new interest in nonformal education. Information and communications technology for development now includes a wide array of nonformal education and training programmes. This is a growing trend that is energized by education's capacity to foster social change and development. Another remarkable development is that telecentre activities and programmes are expanding, gradually in some places, and at a remarkably faster rate, in others. These are valuable resources established, in many cases, under both the public and private, governmental and non-governmental partnerships. Better and innovative ways should be found to utilize them for educational purposes. W e need to seize this momentum. At the same time, there are various uncertainties that are overshadowing such efforts and the gap between the rich and poor countries and segments of African societies is widening further. The Institute should make consistent efforts to conduct needed research aimed at opening new avenues of understanding of such problems and challenges. Meanwhile, it would be useful to explore how information and communications activity centres or telecentres can be used to help promote activities related to curriculum development, teacher education, educational policy, planning and management, and distance education.

22 Strategies for the Utilization of Electronic And Communications Technology

STRATEGIES FOR THE UTILIZATION OF ELECTRONIC AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY Strategies for the utilization or application of electronic and communications technology in various dimensions of education form an integral part of the overall educational strategy of IICBA. In this sense, the specific strategies described below are an integral component of the IICBA's overall strategic policy framework. The Institute's overall strategic policy framework focuses on: • Addressing the educational, technical and professional needs of member states. • Providing a forum for the sharing of both positive and negative experiences so as to enable institutions and education systems

to benefit from work done by sister bodies. • Bringing the latest research and development in Africa and globally to institutions in Africa. • Enhancing the capacities of regional, national and local level institutions. • Providing the opportunity for technological improvements, such as utilization of electronic media for networking and for educational purposes. One of the biggest problems in the majority of educational institutions in Africa today is the lack of resource materials, in particular the lack of library facilities. Many university libraries are unable to purchase the latest books and journals because of a serious shortage of funds. As a result, students, researchers and lecturers may well be seriously out of touch with the latest developments in

23 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa their fields. At primary and secondary school level, many classes function with the minimum of resources, often with only one or two textbooks in a class. This serious deficit can today be tackled through the utilization of radio, audio cassettes, television, videos, diskettes and C D roms, which offer a low cost but high impact way of providing educational materials to many learners who are presently deprived of such facilities. IICBA's electronic library programme already seeks to overcome this deficit. The overall strategic framework of IICBA includes the clause "providing the opportunity for technological improvements" that is directly related to the theme of this report. Intimately linked to this framework are the following strategies focused on the four vital areas of our concern—teacher education, curriculum development, distance education, and educational policy, planning and management.

STRATEGY FOR UTILIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHER EDUCATION The Institute has already begun setting up its Teacher Education Network [hereafter called Network], a network of teacher training institutions in Africa utilizing where possible electronic media, including internet. A group of nine countries has already been selected in Phase I of this programme. An inauguration workshop was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October, 1999. The Network recognizes the importance of the improvement of teachers' academic and professional skills, their teaching methodologies and their contribution to the improvement of educational systems. It also

24 Strategy for Utilization of Technology In Teacher Education spelis out the need for uniting teacher education institutions Africa wide to each other and to key institutions internationally. The strategy suggested below takes into account this and other encouraging developments which have taken place in teacher education area recently. Elements of the specific strategy for technology use in teacher education are: aJThe Institute must have a technology network that is capable of handling high volume work with high levels of efficiency. It must match the nature, extent and networking needs of the Institute's various programmes and activities. blThe Institute should make strong efforts to build or develop a comprehensive education sector database, preferably in partnership with groups such as the Africa Live Database at the World Bank and U N E S C O Divisions responsible for maintaining education sector database related to Africa. Various international databases contain a large pool of macro-economic and sectoral data. The education sector data cover, in most cases, student enrollment by age, level and gender. Data on other vital educational performance indicators

such as teachers [their education level), money allocated to education, library facility and many other education indicators are conspicuously lacking. Organized data and information on nonformal education is hardly available anywhere. Necessary steps must be taken in this direction. The Institute can, in partnership, collaboration or cooperation with other agencies, contribute something of historic significance in both formal and nonformal education areas. And the work that involves updating

25 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa and maintaining such a databasets) can form an integral part of the Institute's research and development activity. c)Proper mechanisms or pilot projects should be initiated or developed to encourage teachers and teacher educators to use or find innovative ways of using, where and when available, telecentres or community communications centres for teaching and learning purposes. For example, one way could involve arrangements of teachers or teacher educators' timely get-together programs to discuss and explore innovative ways of acquiring and using technology for teaching and learning purposes. Such meetings can provide valuable insight into the problem at hand. d]Provisions should be established to make distance teacher education or learning courses available in partnership with the African Virtual University, UNISA, the British Open University, the Cambridge Extension College, the Indira Gandhi Open University and reputable institutions from both the North and South. eJAIso, initiatives should be taken to create an environment, which facilitates innovative ways of using new electronic and communications technologies for expanding teacher education under the Network. For example, where access to electronic network or facility is unavailable, one way would be to facilitate teachers network through the use of facilitators whose job will be to carry messages containing teachers' perspectives, ideas, etc., on a routine basis. The Network can act as a source/provider of information and knowledge that are relevant

26 Strategy for Utilization of Technology In Teacher Education and which can help fulfil many different needs felt by teachers in educational institutions. Even newsletters and radio programs can be used to reach teachers who are participating in the Network from distant or remote locations. fIThe "persistent inability of education in general and schools in particular to keep pace with the advances in information technologies" [19] is an important issue. A mixed mode that combines features of both electronic and traditional network can serve the purpose well, enabling classrooms to access resources outside their immediate milieus through electronic means. Moreover the cost of electronic networking is likely to decrease considerably, making the technology cheaper and more easily accessible. W e should plan, prepare and act based on the proven fact that one of the key features of today's electronic and communications technology is the continuing fall in charges.

STRATEGY FOR UTILIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IICBA's plan to establish a Curriculum Development Network in Africa aims at serving a number of vital functions in the development of curriculum that is time-sensitive and desperately needed in the new development context. Transforming traditional, outmoded

curriculum is not something that can be achieved easily in that such an activity calls for a complex procedure involving the cooperation of many different government agencies, education departments and

27 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa others. Elements of the specific strategy for technology use in curriculum development are: a)IICBA should, through the proposed Curriculum Development Network, onduct a general evaluation of various activities concerning curriculum development in a select group of African countries. tOIICBA should plan to hold both face-to-face and electronic discussions, including a list-serve-based discussion periodically to increase interaction and exchange of views focused, particularly on the problems associated with curriculum in science, mathematics, technology and language, with special emphasis on distance learning or other technology-based programmes. cDThe recently announced WorldSpace broadcast programme has, it is reported, plans to deliver a wide variety of programmes related to, among others, educational, medical and religious information. It is said that international and regional content providers will ensure that listeners have access to news and educational programming content, and that a multimedia service will be offered in the near future which will bring users a variety of content to their desktop computers. IICBA should explore, in addition to the visual data transfer capabilities of such a carrier for use with computers, the possibility of developing curriculum appropriate for our educational purposes via this channel.

28 Strategy for Utilization of Technology In currriculum Development d)Special training programmes should be devised and implemented for teacher educators and facilitators Cwho assist distance teachers at places such as satellite downlink sites] as well ar learners who will have to operate at the interface between curriculum and new technology. Such training will be necessary because, as new technologies such as computers and communications satellites open up new vistas for transmitting educational and learning programmes, curriculum and methods of teaching and learning will have to adapt to these new innovations and programming in order to be effective. N ew developments are already taking place in content and curriculum development and more will follow in future. elAttention should, at least, be focused on encouraging the use of computer-aided instruction (CAIJ, where the computer becomes an auxiliary to the teacher or the printed teaching materials. Most African settings are, as can be imagined, still far from the Stage of computer-based instruction CCBIÏ, where the computer is used to deliver instruction, or the stage of training in skills such as word-processing, spread-sheeting and database management, where the computer turns into a productive tool. flProper mechanisms or pilot projects should be initiated or developed to encourage teachers or teacher educators to use or find innovative ways of using, where and when available, telecentres or community communications centres for accessing information and knowledge about curriculum development in African and other developing country settings.

29 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa

STRATEGY FOR THE UTILIZATION OF

TECHNOLOGY IH DISTANCE EDUCATION IICBA's plan to establish a Distance Education Network [hereafter called Network] in Africa aims at serving, like the Curriculum Development Network, a number of important functions in the development of distance and open learning in Africa. Elements of the specific strategy for technology use in distance education are: aillCBA should plan to hold both face-to-face and electronic discussions, including a list-serve-based discussion periodically, to increase interaction and exchange of views focused, particularly on the potentials as well as serious problems and challenges associated with distance education and other technology-based programmes. MSpecial training programmes should be devised and implemented for teacher educators and facilitators as well as learners who will have to operate at the interface between new communications media-based instruction, the body of latest thoughts and developments in a specific discipline or subject and technology. New technologies such as computers and communications satellites require that methods of teaching and learning adapt to these new innovations in educational programming in order to be effective. Additionally, low-cost technologies such as the audiocassette and printed materials should continue, where and when appropriate, to be part of the distance learning process.

30 Strategy for the Utilization of Technology In Distance Education c)Efforts must be made to explore the educational potential using WorldSpace and other new broadcast system. IICBA can benefit from WorldSpace's visual data transfer and tele-educational capabilities d)IICBA should, through the Distance Education Network, conduct a general evaluation of various activities concerning the new technology use and distance education in a select group of African countries. eJProper mechanisms or pilot projects should be developed to encourage teachers or teacher educators to use or find innovative ways of using, where and when available, telecentres or community communications centres or any other electronic and communications facility for taking courses at a distance and for accessing needed information and knowledge. fISpecific modalities or mechanisms for partnerships with the African Virtual University and other institutions from the North and South should be designed and developed to provide African students with the opportunity to learn what they want and what is needed most for African development.

STRATEGY FOR UTILIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATIONAL POLICY, PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT The Institute's plan to establish an Educational Policy, Planning and Management Network thereafter called Network] in Africa next year aims at serving, like the other Networks related to Teacher

31 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa Education, Curriculum Development, and Distance Education, a number of key functions in the building of African capacity. Elements of the specific strategy for technology use in educational policy, planning and management are: aJMatters concerned with educational policy, planning and management require reliable and well-organized data and information. IICBA should make strong efforts to build or develop a comprehensive education sector database, preferably in partnership with groups such as the Africa Live Database at

the World Bank and U N E S C O Divisions responsible for Africa. Various international databases contain a large pool of macro-economic and sectoral data. The education sector data cover, in most cases, student enrollment by age, level and gender. Data on other vital educational performance indicators such as teachers [their education level], money allocated to education, library facilities and many other indicators are seriously lacking. IICBA can, in partnership, collaboration or cooperation with other agencies, contribute significantly by providing data useful for educational policy making, planning and management. bJEducation, training and learning is a life-long process. This is an important consideration from the point of view of policy strategy. Proper mechanisms or pilot projects should be initiated or developed to encourage policy makers, planners and managers who belong to various levels of administrative and functional chains to use or find innovative ways of using technology training centres or laboratories for learning purposes. Mechanisms must be in place to help policy makers

32 Strategy for Utilization of Technology in Educational Policy, Planing and Management and planners learn about the benefits, costs ar challenges of technology-based education and training. cîSuch projects or mechanisms can provide planners and policy makers with valuable insight into problems associated with technology use and development. d)IICBA should, through the proposed Educational Policy, Planning and Management Network, make available information on the latest research and development in this area. e)IICBA should, in collaboration with other institutions, devise courses in educational planning linked to economic and other forms of development. flllCBA should plan to hold' both face-to-face and electronic discussions, including a list-serve-based discussion periodically to increase interaction, and exchange of views. This should focus particularly. on the problems influencing various dimensions of educational policy, planning and management in the Information Age. g)The Network must encourage policy and measures towards improved education at all ages and especially expansion of secondary and higher education, and vocational training via distance learning. hJThe Network should devise ways to encourage the participation of education institutions in developing proper policy and

33 Utilization of Information and Communications Technology for Education in Africa regulatory environment that facilitates greater use of telecommunications for educational development.

Conclusion Today's technology world is increasingly dominated by the Internet. Educational and learning programs, like many other activities, can benefit tremendously from Internet's open architecture and its unique multimedia and other capabilities. These and new technical advances are destined to play a key role in transforming education, commerce and the broad range of other human activities in both industrialized and developing countries. Ironically, if the current crisis in education continues without strong capacity building measures, the impact in poor and low-income countries in particular, can be devastating. New technologies, which can be used to reverse the traditional trend, can also be used to perpetuate the current disparity. Issues related to technology utilization strategy should

receive highest consideration. Careful analysis of various technology choices and options are necessary to create maximum impact and benefit for many. In conclusion, despite some problems confronting the continent, great possibilities still lie ahead.

34 References

References [1] Coombs, P.H. Í19683. The educational crisis: A systems analysis. Oxford: New York. [2] Coombs, P.H. (19853. The world crisis in education. Oxford: New York. [3] OAU Conference of African Ministers of Education. (1999J. Programme of Action of the Decade of Education in Africa. OAU: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [43 Yapi, A. C1997). The relevance of technology in developing countries. UNESCO-Africa, 14/14, 43-53. [5] Potashnik, M. and Capper, J. C1998). Distance education: Growth and diversity. Finance and DevelopmentfMarch 1998. The World Bank: Washington D.C. [ß] Chung, F. (1999). Capacity building spotlight: ZINTEC programme for primary school teacher: IICBA Newsletter, October 1999.

35 References [7] Nwaboku, N.C. [1997], New information technologies in education and new roles for potential teachers. UNESCO-Africa 15/15, 30-37. [8] World Ban.: [1995]. Priorities and strategies for education. Washington, D. C. [9] [http://www.school.za/schoolnet.html [10] http://www.bellanet.org/partners/aisi [11] http://www.wn.apc.org/ [12] UNESCO [1997], Review of UNESCO's activities in Africa [1996-1997], Africa Priority Department. [13] http://www.idrc.ca [14] http://www.bellanet.org [15]
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Teachers UNESCO estimates that 18m new teachers are needed globally between now and 2015 to accommodate all children at school in classes of no more than 40 children per teacher. Sub-Saharan African will need 2.4m new teachers. This calls for massive new investments, but it is clear that such growth in spending is unlikely to be achieved according to reseach by ActionAid entitled Confronting the contradictions: The IMF wage bill caps and the case for teachers. Despite compelling evidence that education is a sound long-term investment for a country, the IMF regards spending on education as simply ‘consumption’ and not as ‘productive investment’ and therefore education spending, especially on wages, is always curtailed. The researchers argue that in setting these wage bill caps, rising school enrolment rates should be taken into consideration.

Policy developments In her budget speech, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said the continued failures of some teachers and education officials could no longer be blamed on apartheid or insufficient resources and that levels of under-performance in the education system were too high and an unjust subversion of the promise of freedom and democracy, to our people. After referring to ‘reported failures in our execution of the no-fee schools policy the minister also said ‘the time have arrived for SA to offer all children free primary education’. Free primary education is also one of the issues to be discussed at the ANC policy conference at Gallagher Estate this month. Minister of science and technology, Mosibudi Mangena, announced in his budget speech that some R323m would be spent on development programmes to encourage careers in the ‘critical’ human resources shortages in science, engineering and technology (SET). His department also allocated R178m to provide modern research facilities and infrastructure for the research community. The minister said his department and the National Advisory Councils on Innovation have compiled a comprehensive report on the infrastructure requirements of both science and innovation, which is toform the basis of a long-term infrastructure plan for science and technology.

Libraries and reference material A novel programme aimed at installing a reading habit among low-income communities was recently launched in Argentina. The ‘Books and Houses’ campaign plans to distribute a total of 80 000 bookshelves, each complete with 18 volumes of books, to individual households in 800 districts and towns around the country. The books were carefully selected by a team of experts in education and literature, and although the central goal of the new programme is to make books available to children in order to help them acquire a reading habit, the volumes that were chosen are for the entire family. The programme began by delivering bookshelves to 70 homes in Anatuya, where 27% of the local residents have either no formal schooling or did not complete primary education. The next area to be targeted is the Buenos Aires suburb San Isidro, where affluent neighbourhoods coexist alongside six slums that are being upgraded with new low-cost housing.

Volunteers at the English Wikipedia and SOS Children have launched the 15 volume Wikipedia Selection for Schools consisting of articles that have been cleaned up and checked for suitability for children, avoiding adult content as well as extra material specifically selected to be of interest to children who follow the UK National Curriculum and similar curricula elsewhere in the world. Wikimedia Foundation chairperson said the foundation aims to encourage the development and distribution of reference content to the public free of charge. It is intended to extend and update the selection periodically.

Corruption and crime A new report, Corrupt shools, corrupt universities: What can be done? by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), traces illegal registration fees, academic fraud, embezzlement and other problems which are undermining education systems in more than 60 countries, with information derived from government ministries, development agencies and research institutes. The report notesthat bribes and payoffs in the recruitment and promotion of teachers lowers their quality, and illegal fees paid for school entrance and other hidden costs result in low enrolment and high dropout rates. In universities most corruption is in the form of fake universities offering bogus degrees and engaging in accreditation fraud. The number of phony universities offering sham degrees quadrupled from 200 to 800 on the Internet between 2000 and 2004. The study argues that leadership and political will at the highest levels of government is crucial to combat this. Transparent regulatory systems and stronger management efforts to bring about greater accountability are among the improvements necessary for corruption in education systems to abate. The report recommended that management, accounting, monitoring and audit skills are crucial for such groups as administrative staff of schools, parent-teacher associations, unions and other individuals associated with the educational process. The past month has seen numerous attacks on pupils by fellow pupils while three pupils died in violent attacks by classmates.

Open, distance and flexible learning (ODFL) tackles HIV/AIDS

According to research by the UK Institute of Education, ‘business as usual’ will not meet the education challenges of the HIV epidemic in South Africa and Mozambique, but open, distance and flexible learning (ODFL) can reduce the effects of HIV on young people. ODFL has the potential to increase access to education; improve quality of schooling (and thereby child survival and family health); raise public awareness and advocacy for health initiatives; and spread health information and encourage health behaviour. The study found that HIV/AIDS-afffected young people need more opportunity to develop literacy skills and undertake vocational training. They are most easily reached by radio and particularly like to learn through music, drama and stories. The study recommends using ODFL to: •

deliver the national curriculum to those out of school;

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promote critical thinking, positive group identity and solidarity among young people;

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develop, coordinate and disseminate the knowledge base on HIV/AIDS at the national level;

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improve teachers’ ability to empathise with young people affected by HIV/AIDS and provide psychosocial guidance and counselling; and

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give young heads of households access to information, psychosocial support, training on business skills and careers counselling.

Mathematics and science The DoE has backed out of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMMS), an international maths and science exam conducted every four years to measure pupils’ performance in maths and science globally, because it did not want to subject pupils to too many tests. South African pupils came last in the two most recent TIMMS conducted in 1999 and 2003. Vishnu Naidoo, chairman of the SA Mathematics Foundation described the country’s pullout as sad. ‘Even though we may perform poorly, these are indicators that serve to inform us about our curriculum and what adjustments we should be making’. SA technology and training company IT School Innovation has launched an educational tool MOBI which turns mobile phones into edutainment devices by allowing users to chat and listen to the latest music hits while learning the high school maths syllabus. The service is available in English and Afrikaans and other subjects such as physics and chemistry are in the pipeline. MOBI runs on most Java enabled handsets and can be downloaded and installed for free. Once installed the

application is able to connect to an online server via a mobile wireless protocol such as 3G or GPRS and provide access to MOBI Maths, MOBI Chat and MOBI Radio. Full use of MOBI Maths is charged at a nominal monthly fee, while some sections such as Basic Skills are free.

Database launched The department of science and technology (DST) recently launched a database that quantifies and monitors the levels of unemployment among science, engineering and technology graduates. The database will be managed by the South African Graduate Development Association, an NGO that empowers unemployed graduates. It will be used by job seekers, employers, candidates for postgraduate studies, institutions of higher learning and other stakeholders to improve the rate of human capital development, especially in science, engineering and technology. According to science and technology minister Mosibudi Mangena, SA has a considerable skills mismatch retarding the country’s economic growth and competitiveness. ‘I have no doubt that what we are engaged in today is a step in the right direction to closing the gap between the skills shortage and the skills mismatch’. The minister also announced that the lion’s share of the DST’s medium-term budget (some R323m) would be spent on human capital development programmes to encourage careers in science, engineering and technology.

E-learning The 2nd international e-Learning Africa conference that seeks to help mainstream technology in education to serve the population was held in Nairobi in May. Topics ranged from the use of cellphones as education tools to the training of civil servants through distance education and the role of e-learning in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Experts said computer-based learning has created opportunities for many who would otherwise have been overlooked. The Electronic Schools Project aimed at creating digital centres in schools throughout Africa is set to grow, following the successful outcome of a pilot study which implemented the project in 120 schools in 16 African countries. The pilot study recorded a 35% improvement in students’ examination performance in places where electronic schools (e-schools) are operational. The primary goal of the e-schools project in Africa, led by NEPAD and supported by Smart Technologies, Hewlett Packard, Nokia and Microsoft, is to have 600 000 schools on the continent imparting ICT skills to their students within 10

years of implementation. Smart Technologies have already donated 50 ‘smartboards’ – electronic blackboards that enable teachers to communicate information to hundreds of students at a time – to help the project in Kenya, Rwanda and SA. According to Smart Technologies, the success of the project depends on the speed at which teachers can be trained to adopt and use the new technology. The project also faces challenges such as lack of infrastructure, especially in rural areas, lack of physical security and difficulties involved in managing a consortium of private sector partners.

Poverty and malnutrition A study by the University College of London, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an international group of academics which assessed the links between poverty, stunted growth – often caused by ill health and malnutrition – and low achievement at school, has found that more than 200m children under five years in developing countries are not achieving their full potential. They do badly at school and have low productivity in adulthood, and as a result they pass on poverty and deprivation to future generations. The researchers found that: •

many mothers in poor families were uneducated, suffered from stress and depression and were unable to provide a stimulating home environment;

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poor children often attended inadequate schools and had little support from family members who did not appreciate the benefits of education;

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stunted children were less likely to be enrolled in school and if they did go to school, they were more likely to enrol late, get lower grades and have a low IQ for their age; and

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stunted children were less likely to have completed their primary education.

The study found a strong link between school success and economic prosperity: each year of schooling increases adult wages by almost 10%.

Skills survey A Centre for Development and Enterprise survey, The South African skills crisis: A report from the corporate coal face, revealed that SA’s businesses had few positive things to say about the schooling system in SA. For instance:

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private sector employers have ‘grave reservations’ about the overall quality of education in SA;

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they saw a decline in school leavers’ abilities in maths, science and especially language skills;

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there was ‘no work ethic’, there was a lack of discipline and culture of learning, and learners lacked the ability to be trained;

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dealings with SETAs were cumbersome and assessors were poorly trained;

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there were uneven standards between universities; and

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skills issues were their greatest single source of frustration.

According to the survey findings the skills shortage was worsening as a result of the brain drain, the aging of skilled staff or their promotion to more senior positions, and government’s emphasis on employment equity. The report recommends that an improved apprenticeship be instated, immigration be opened up as a short-term solution and that government should moderate its pressure for employment equity.

Education Trends is compiled by the Institute for Futures Research. This Work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License

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Understanding ICT integration in South African Classrooms Wilson-Strydom, M and Thomson, J

The adoption of ICTs in education continues to pose challenges both globally (John & Sutherland 2004) and locally, in South Africa (Hodgkinson-Williams 2005). According to the White Paper on e-Education these challenges can be summarised into three main areas: •

Participation in the information society;

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Impact of ICTs on access, cost effectiveness and quality of education; and

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Integration of ICTs into the learning and teaching process (DoE 2003:8) [emphasis added].

The Department of Education (DoE) stipulates that participation in the information society means that, “Every South African learner in the general and further education and training bands will be ICT capable (that is, use ICTs confidently and creatively to help develop the skills and knowledge they need to achieve personal goals and to be full participants in the global community) by 2013” (DoE, 2003, 17). Full participation in the information society is enabled by successful e-education, which, according to the DoE (2003) incorporates learner-centred pedagogy, inquiry-based learning, collaborative work and the development of higher level thinking skills. For these reasons and to achieve other policy goals reflected in the White Paper, the adoption of ICTs in schools generally (for administration and management systems) and the integration of ICTs into teaching and learning practices specifically is being encouraged.

This paper reports on a project which aims to support teachers’ integration of ICTs into the classroom and specifically into pedagogical practices. The research reported on here is drawn from a survey of 231 teachers. The paper reports on both the stages and the types of integration observed. The paper begins by conceptualising the adoption of ICTs into classroom and the integration of ICTs into pedagogical practices. It then describes the Intel® Innovation in Education Teach to the Future programme which seeks to support ICT integration into teaching and learning. It moves onto to explaining the research process, which sets out to ascertain: •

The extent of access teachers have to ICT, and the role access plays in relation to use;

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The extent to which teachers have learners use ICT as part of their lessons;

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Teachers’ reasons for not integrating ICT into the curriculum

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Teachers’ perceptions of learner responses to the use of ICT; and

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Teachers’ perceptions of changes in their pedagogical practices.

Finally, the paper discusses the findings in the light of the specific questions as well as in terms of broader considerations around the adoption and integration of computers.

Conceptualising adoption and integration It is our contention that the concept of integration as expressed in the the White paper on e-education (DoE 2003) needs to be unpacked or problematised. In practice, the adoption and integration of computers is a challenging and complex process for schools, particularly where there is limited previous experience in the use of ICTs to support teaching and learning. Furthermore, at many schools that have had access to ICTs, the focus has tended to be on ‘learning about ICTs’ rather than learning with or through the use of ICTs (Jonassen, Peck & Wilson 1999). Historically, the concept of ICT integration as an approach evolved as a reaction to early computer-in-schools programmes where the emphasis lay on developing computer

literacy or technical knowledge of computers and the use of various computer applications. More recently ICT integration has been recognised as “using computers to learn, rather than learning to use computers” (UNESCO/COL, 2004, 45). Thus the focus is on adding value to the curriculum in numerous ways1, What is important is that ICT skills are not taught as a distinct activity (“just-in-case”), but are acquired “just-in-time,” in the context of activity that is meaningful to learners” (UNESCO/COL, 2004, p.45). Indeed, “the integrated approach places information technology in a pivotal role in the already transforming learning process. Its success as an approach lies with the ability of teachers to set tasks that require learners to use these information skills. This is appropriate and necessary at this time when South African teachers are being encouraged to adopt new teaching strategies that are outcomes based and learner-centered” (Roos, 2005, p. 21). We suggest that integration can be described in two ways. The first way relates to the stages of integration and is closely associated with adoption. The second way relates to the type or kind of integration and is closely associated with use. We argue that particular stages of integration are more likely to be associated with specific integrative uses. Those authors who see the integration of ICT into teaching and learning as part of the broader issue of the adoption of computers within the school as a whole, valuably provide ways of describing the steps likely to be taken at school and educator level. A report on ICT curriculum and teacher development for schools (UNESCO 2002) suggests a fourstage continuum of ICT integration. These are: • “Emerging Schools at the beginning stages of ICT development demonstrate the emerging approach. Such schools begin to purchase, or have donated, some computing equipment and software. In this initial phase, administrators, and teachers are just 1

These include: Using generic software packages (office applications, graphics and presentation packages); using specialist software for interactive learning, simulations and content mastery; using asynchronous and synchronous communication tools for online collaboration and information exchange (e-mail, Web forums, instant messaging, audio- and videoconferencing); and using the Internet as an information and research resource.

starting to explore the possibilities and consequences of using ICT for school management and adding ICT to the curriculum … Schools at this emerging phase are still firmly grounded in traditional, teacher-centred practice. • Applying Those schools in which a new understanding of the contribution of ICT to learning has developed exemplify the applying approach. In this secondary phase, administrators and teachers use ICT for tasks already carried out in school management and in the curriculum. Teachers largely dominate the learning environment. • Infusing At the next stage, the infusing approach involves integrating or embedding ICT across the curriculum, and is seen in those schools that now employ a range of computerbased technologies in laboratories, classrooms, and administrative offices. Teachers explore new ways in which ICT changes their personal productivity and professional practice. • Transforming Schools that use ICT to rethink and renew school organization in creative ways are at the transforming approach. ICT becomes an integral though invisible part of daily personal productivity and professional practice…ICT is taught as a separate subject at the professional level and is incorporated into all vocational areas. Schools have become centres of learning for their communities” (UNESCO, 2000, p. 15-16). In addition to describing stages of integration, we think it valuable to differentiate between types of integration. Here, we find it useful to distinguish between “representational” and “generative” use of computers, as explained by Hokanson and Hooper (2000). The term “representational use” is used to describe how computers are used to merely represent information in another medium. Here the computer is incorporated within a task, but its purpose it to “re-present” information, not to generate or construct new information. We suggest that the underlying epistemological assumption of Hokanson and Hooper’s (2000) “representational use” is that knowledge is absolute, definable and “re-presentable”. Our thesis is that if teachers’ epistemological assumptions are defined by objectivist beliefs of knowledge and their pedagogical practices are

informed by behaviourist theories of learning, then they are likely to limit the use of computers to representational uses. This might account for teachers’ beliefs that merely typing an essay or making a pretty front cover using every conceivable font and page border can be termed “integration”. Therefore we maintain that using ICTs as a “representational tool” is only partly integrative. By contrast: “What is important about computer use is not being able to word process, or view a multimedia presentation, but the ability to interact with the computer in the manipulation and creation of knowledge through the rapid manipulation of various symbol systems. The value is not in more efficient representation but in improving the capability to generate thought” (Hokanson & Hooper 2000:547). This concept of “generative use” appears to be underpinned by a Piagetian cognitive constructivist view of knowledge and learning which assumes that knowledge is not a product that can be transmitted from one person to another, but is a process of individually constructing knowledge. Jonassen and Reeves (1996) use the term “cognitive tools” to refer to the role of ICTs in enhancing the learners’ cognitive powers during thinking, problem-solving and learning. We maintain that if teachers’ epistemological assumptions are defined by constructivist beliefs of knowledge and their pedagogical practice are informed by cognitive constructivist theories of learning, then they are likely to extend the use of computers to generative uses. This might account for teachers’ beliefs that computers can be “integrated” into the curriculum to support learners’ individual development. We suggest that using ICTs as a “cognitive tool” can be seen as individually integrative. The concept of “generative use” may also be extended to a Vygotskian socioconstructivist view of knowledge and learning which assumes that knowledge cannot be limited to an individual’s view of it, but is instead a process of negotiation of meaning in a specific context. By “continuously (re) constructing and refining knowledge on the

basis of their experience and opportunities for inter-subjective exchange, learners [or teachers will] bring prior understandings to bear in individual ways on new information and situations” (Levy et al. 2003: 304). In this sense computers can operate as “mediational tools” (Wertch, 1991; Lim 2003), which we argue is socially integrative. This conceptual categorisation may be helpful in trying to understand what and why teachers, and indeed learners, understand by the term “integration”. We suggest that at the “Emerging” and “Applying” stages of adoption computer integration is partial and the predominant use of ICT would be representational – that is representing information in another medium. We suggest that learners are more likely to be learning about computers than learning with or through computers (Jonassen, Peck & Wilson 1999) during these two stages. We further speculate that at the “Infusing” stage teachers’ use of ICT becomes more generative as they start using ICTs to “generate thought” (Hokanson & Hooper 2000) and that this generative use of ICTs is extended to learners in the “Transforming” stage. At this stage ICTs would hopefully both individually and socially integrative.

The project: The Intel® Innovation in Education Teach to the Future programme Launched in 2000, Intel® Teach to the Future is an international project aimed at helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms in order to enhance student learning. Originally launched in the United States and now used in 33 countries world-wide, Intel® Teach to the Future is characterized by its emphasis on pedagogy, a commitment captured by Intel President, Dr. Craig Barrett’s comment that “computers aren’t magic, teachers are” (Barrett, 2000). The South African programme was launched in 2003. The goal of the Intel® Teach to the Future programme in South Africa is articulated as follows: To train classroom educators how to promote project-based learning and effectively integrate the use of computers into Curriculum 2005 and Revised National Curriculum Statements so that learners will increase their learning achievement (Intel® Teach to the Future Training Manual, 3.3, p.1).

The programme consists of ten modules of at least four hours each that focus on the effective integration of ICT into the curriculum through use of the project approach to learning. The emphasis is on hands-on learning and uses the educators’ own teaching units to work through all aspects of a project of their own choice, including assessment and development of a library of rubrics. This provides an authentic context for learning. Educators work in teams, problem solve and engage in peer reviews throughout the programme. The overall aim is to explore ways learners and educators can use technology to enhance learning. This approach makes the project accessible to teachers with a range of computer experience with advanced teachers being able to maximize opportunities for cross-curricular planning. Intel® Teach to the Future has been adopted by a number of universities as an ICT component of both pre-service and in-service programmes. The curriculum for South Africa was initially localised by the University of Pretoria and thereafter refined by SchoolNet South Africa. The programme is aligned to the South African National Curriculum Statements, is endorsed by the South African Council for Educators (SACE) and is supported by the National Department of Education.

The research Evaluation research has been a key component of the Intel®Teach to the Future programme, since its inception. It has included a series of case studies at a sample of participating schools, as well as a quantitative survey administered annually. Here we report on the results of a quantitative survey conducted during October 2004. The survey instrument used was a standard questionnaire developed for the Intel® Teach to the Future project, adapted to reflect country-specific contexts, and administered annually in all countries implementing the Intel® Teach to the Future programme. The survey2 was administered online, although some schools requested hard copies of surveys due to Internet access problems. By October 2004 a total of 1078 educators in South Africa had 2

The survey can be accessed at http://teach.schoolnet.org.za/common/impact.php?required=false.

completed Intel® Teach to the Future training (as recorded in the programme management database). Surveys were sent to all 1078 educators and atotal of 231 responses were received. The response rate was thus 21%. This is lower than desirable, but given the dearth of empirical data on ICT integration in South Africa, a data set of 231 responses provides a useful sample with which to begin to unpack factors affecting ICT integration at the classroom level. Descriptive statistics and frequency counts were generated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. The survey sample was made up of 48.5% men and 51.5% women. The majority of the sample (43%) lived in township areas, with 26% in rural areas and 31% in urban areas. Of the sample 59% were General Education and Training (GET) educators and 41% Further Education and Training (FET) educators. The majority of the sample fell into the 30-39 years age category (45%), followed by 36% in the 40-49 years group. The 20-29 years and 50 years and above categories accounted for 9% and 10% of the sample respectively. The number of years teaching experience was roughly evenly distributed across the following categories; 0-5 years (15%), 6-10 years (20%), 16-20 years (18%) and more than 20 years (20%). A slightly higher number of respondents (28%) had between 11-15 years teaching experience.

Findings and discussion

ICT access and use In terms of access to computers for teaching and learning, 93% of respondents indicated that they have computers for this purpose while 7 % of respondents indicated that they do not. This suggests that overall the participating schools are at least at the “Applying” stage, if not at the “Infusing stage” of the UNESCO model (2000). A total of 79.1% of the sample reported having a computer laboratory at school, while 20.9% did not. In terms of learner access, this suggests the majority of participating schools are moving beyond the “Emerging” stage and that the teachers have the

opportunity to operate within the “Applying” or even the “Infusing” stage as the schools are able to offer opportunities for learners to use ICT. With respect to Internet access, 63% reported having Internet access in their computer laboratories, while 37% did not. This suggests that the use of ICTs as “mediational tools” is possible in the majority of participating schools. Of the participating schools 80.7% reported that they had no computers available in the classroom (as opposed to the computer room), 11.2% had one classroom computer available, while 7.2% had more than seven computers in the classroom. This latter group appears most likely to be made up of Computer Studies educators or educators who make use of computer rooms as their classrooms. The lack of reported access to computers in the classroom seems to suggest that integrating ICT within the learning areas or subjects may be still quite limited as teachers and learners do not have constant access to ICTs, indicating an “Emerging” phase. In the light of the data on access to ICT, we now consider to what extent access influences the extent to which ICT integration takes place. Figure 1 shows the frequency of technology-integrated lessons by number of computers in the school for teaching and learning.

70%

58%

60%

57%

50%

39%

40%

0 computers 35%

33%

32% 29%

30% 25%

23%

25%

1-10 computers 11-20 computers 21 or more computers

20%

20% 14% 10%

10% 1%

0%

0%

0% More than once per month

About once per month

Less than once per month

Never

Figure 1: Frequency of technology-integrated lessons by number of computers for teaching and learning

The most striking finding here is that the teachers who reported to have implemented technology-integrated lessons about once per month (58%) or less than once per month (57%) have between 11-20 computers only. Yet, 33% of teachers report that they have never used technology-integrated lessons even though they have more than 21 computers. This suggests that increased access to computers alone does not necessarily mean increased implementation of technology-integrated lessons. In terms of the UNESCO model, it would seem that there is a possible tension between computer access being at the “Applying” or “Infusing” stage, while teachers use may be lagging behind at an “Emerging” stage. It is interesting to note that 1% of those who implement technology-integrated lessons more than once per month do not have direct access to computers for teaching and learning. This is likely to be teachers who make use of a local computer centre.

With respect to influence of Internet access on frequency of implementation it was found that lack of Internet access appears unlikely to be a reason for lack of implementation of technology-integrated lessons. However, for those who implemented about once per month, most had Internet access in the computer laboratory. For those who implement more than once per month, the difference between those who did and those who did not have Internet access is much smaller. We might speculate – but as yet do not have data to support this – that when teachers first start integrating technology, they do so about once per month and then tend to focus on information-gathering activities using the Internet. Once technology integration becomes a more integral part of their teaching, then reliance on the Internet appears to be reduced and a wider range of computer applications used. This would be an interesting assumption to explore in further research.

Extent of Technology Integration The core focus of the survey was to assess the extent to which technology-integrated lessons have been implemented by those who have completed Intel® Teach to the Future training. Of the sample 48.5% reported that they had learners use technology within their lessons more than once per month. A further 13.5% used ICTs in teaching and learning about once per month, while 9.2% used technology in their lessons less than once per month. In contrast 28.8% of the sample had yet to implement a technology-integrated lesson. This means that approximately half of the sample have implemented what they learned in the Intel® Teach to the Future training, which may be reasonable number given the various contextual constraints at South African schools. In order to better understand factors affecting ICT integration, it is important that we try to understand who makes up the 28.8% (66 respondents) who have never implemented a technology-integrated lesson (those who fell into the ‘never’ category). In order to do this a descriptive analysis was carried out using available data.

Reasons for lack of integration Analysis of the 66 respondents who had not implemented a technology-integrated lesson showed that this group was 59.1% female and 40.9% male. The ratio of female to male is slightly higher than for the full dataset, but the difference is small. A larger difference was found when we considered those educators who are in the GET (75.4% of respondents) and FET (24.6% respondents) bands. Similarly, with respect to geographic location, we found that 44.3% of those who have never implemented a technology-integrated lesson live in rural areas, 36.1% in urban areas, and 19.7% in township areas. A recent study in South Africa has highlighted that facilities at rural schools are likely to be scarce, class sizes often large, and hence use of ICT for teaching and learning, where available, more challenging (HSRC and EPC 2005). In terms of the UNESCO model, it would seem that schools in rural areas are still approaching the “Emerging” stage and will need a great deal of support to move to the other stages. In order to further explore the influence of ICT access on the group of educators who never used technology in their lessons, it is helpful to compare access frequencies for this group with access frequencies for those in the sample who did implement a technologyintegrated lesson. Frequencies of computer laboratory access, number of computers in the school for teaching and learning, access to the internet in the computer laboratory, and frequency of computer laboratory use for each of these groups were calculated. There was very little difference with respect to the responses of those who did and did not implement technology-integrated lessons when we consider the availability of a computer laboratory at the school. Of particular interest is that those who did not implement appear to have slightly better access to a computer laboratory than those who did. This suggests that the presence of a computer laboratory is not sufficient to encourage implementation of technology-integrated lessons. Very similar results are found with respect to Internet access at the school, with those who do not implement technology-integrated lessons having slightly better access to the Internet than those who do, although the difference is again very small. Thus it appears that Internet access at a school is also not a sufficient condition to influence the implementation of technology-integrated lessons.

Participants were asked in the survey to indicate how often they were able to make use of the computer laboratory at their school. Clearer differences between the two groups emerged when we consider regularity of computer laboratory use.

65.9%

70%

57.1%

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

20.6%

18.3%

11.1%

8.5%9.5%

2.4%

1.6%

4.9%

0% daily

weekly

monthly

less than once per month

Regularity of computer use

never Sample - implemented Sample - did not implement

Figure 2: Regularity of Computer Laboratory Use

From Figure 2 it is evident that 57.1% of those who have not implemented what they learnt in their training, never use their computer laboratory. A further 42.9% of those responding with ‘never’ do in fact make use of their computer laboratories, although not to implement technology-integrated lessons. Cohen (2004, p.164), in a study on ICT in South African use, found that the ‘most fundamental use being made of the computer in all the schools was for administration purposes.’ It would seem that “representational use” of computers is still a dominant use of ICTs at school, which once again suggests the “Applying” stage of the UNESCO model. The questions included in the survey about reasons for not implementing new technology-integrated lessons also suggest reasons, such as lack of access to required software, too little preparation time, and lack of both administrative and technical support available. Figure 3 provides a summary of responses given as to why educators had not yet made use of technology in their teaching.

Lack of technical support

52.6%

Lack of admin support

12.3%

57.9%

Too little preparation time

8.8%

52.6%

Not confident enough with technology skills

35.1%

10.5%

36.8%

69.6%

Teaching assignment changed

33.3%

5.4%

66.7%

Will not help to meet learning outcomes

15.8%

80.4%

Unsatisfied with my lesson

25.0% 17.5% 12.5%7.1%

69.6%

19.6%

10.7%

Disagree No opinion

Lesson did not fit my curriculum

64.9%

Plan to use my lesson by the end of the year

8.8%

47.4%

26.3%

28.1%

24.6%

Did not consider implementing

69.6%

8.9%

Technology-integrated lesson too difficult

69.6%

12.5%

No internet connection

42.1%

Software not available

44.8%

Necessary computers not available

21.7% 3.3%

0%

20%

14.0%

Agree

21.4% 17.9%

43.9%

6.9%

48.3% 75.0%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Figure 3: Reasons for not implementing technologyintegrated lessons

The most commonly noted reason for not implementing a technology-integrated lesson was that ‘necessary computers were not available’ (75%). This was particularly so for educators in schools where large class sizes are common (see also Cohen, 2004; Lundall & Howell, 2000). Other reasons noted by 30% or more of the sample included: • Software not available (48.3%); • No Internet connection (43.9%); • Too little preparation time (36.8%); • Lack of technical support (35.1%); and • Lack of administrative support (33.3%).

Similar trends were found in the data analysis conducted across all countries implementing Intel® Teach to the Future where 59.4% of the sample agreed with the statement ‘necessary computers were not available’, 53.2% agreed that they had ‘too little preparation time’, 47% agreed that they ‘did not have adequate technical support’ and 44.5% agreed that they ‘did not have adequate administrative support’ (Martin & Light, 2004). However, this finding is inconsistent with the data reported on the extent to which access to computers inflences ICT integration (See Figure 1 and associated discussion). Further research is needed to explain some of the tensions, one of which seems to be that while computer access is at least at the “Applying” phase for most of the schools, teachers may still be operating at the “Emerging” stage.

Learner responses to the use of computers, as reported by teachers Those respondents who did implement lessons in which they integrated technology in a new way, were asked a series of questions about their experience of implementing these lesson and the response of learners to these lessons (Figure 4).

Disagree No opinion Agree Help each other 2% 7% Accommodates different skills level

7%

91% 8%

85%

Gave positive feedback 2% 6%

92%

Communicate ideas and opinions 5% 8% More in-depth understanding 3%

88%

14%

83%

Work is more creative 3% 10% Different learning styles accommodated 3%

88%

13%

84%

Worked together 3% 9%

88%

Motivated & actively involved 3%3% 0%

94% 10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Figure 4: Learner responses to technology integrated lessons

Figure 4 reflects that overall, educators report that learners have responded very positively to ICT integrated lessons. The three most frequently reported benefits of technology-integrated lessons were that learners were motivated (94%), gave positive feedback (92%) and helped each other. This indicates quite a high “mediational” role of the technology-integrated task and suggests that the learners may be approaching the “Transforming” stage. When asked about the challenges that were experienced whilst implementing technologyintegrated lessons the most common responses educators gave included: • Too few computers (67%); • Time constraints and hence lesson not completed (62%); • Learners did not have enough computer skills (61%); and • Difficulties with scheduling enough time (59%).

Once again the access to computers is being “blamed”by the educators. Further research does need to attempt to ascertain to what extent the lack of access is really the problem, or if other aspects are hindering the integration.