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IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections Sarmin Hossain, Athanasia Pouloudi, George D. Magoulas & Maria Grigoriadou {Sarmin.Hossain, George.Magoulas}@brunel .ac.uk; [email protected], [email protected] Please address all correspondence to George D. Magoulas (fax number: +44- 1895 – 251686, E-mail: George. [email protected])

Athens University of Economics and Business Department of Management Science and Technology For more information please visit our site at: http:// www.eltrun.aueb.gr

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

IT Adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections Sarmin Hossaina, Athanasia Pouloudib, George D. Magoulasa & Maria Grigoriadouc a

Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, United Kingdom. E-mail: {Sarmin.Hossain, George.Magoulas }@brunel.ac.uk

b

Department of Management and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, Patission 76, 10434 Athens, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]

c

Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, GR-15784, Athens, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: In view of the need to prepare citizens for the information society and the demand for a computer-literate workforce, schools across Europe have adopted programmes that provide a vision and specific measures for the introduction of information technology in secondary education. This paper considers the problems and opportunities resulting from these programmes in United Kingdom and Greece. While the two countries are different in the overall level of IT adoption in business and society and in the respective educational systems, there are indications that both seem to experience a slow IT adoption in education. The paper investigates the issues underlying this situation by focusing mainly on the perceptions of secondary school teachers, as they are recognised to be key stakeholders for IT adoption in schools. These perceptions are elicited from empirical research in the two countries and represent similar concerns. The results provide a pragmatic picture about the use of IT and educational software in secondary schools, shedding light to the factors that affect IT adoption and forming the basis for further research in this area. Our analysis shows the need to consider an integrated approach in which technological, organizational, cultural and socio-economic issues are taken into account in order to enhance IT adoption in the secondary education environment. The discussion in the paper aims to provide a useful guide to policy makers at the local (school) and national level.

Keywords: country-specific developments, secondary education, ICT, teacher perceptions

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IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

1. INTRODUCTION The need to produce a computer literate workforce to meet the demands of the economy and society puts pressure on schools to graduate young people who are familiar with the use of IT (Kent and McNergney, 1998), are able to understand and apply the technology and are proficient in IT skills. Children are expected to be aware of the nature and uses of computers in order to be able to cope with the present and future technological society (O’Shea and Self, 1988). This preparation of children, the future workforce, can be facilitated through education and presupposes the widespread adoption of IT within the educational field. Furthermore, according to the Independent ICT1 in Schools Commission (1997), evidence points to the conclusion that the use of IT in education can have significant implications on learning. For example, content-rich software can be used to aid the teaching of subjects like geography and history whereas interactive tuition can be used to teach modern languages (McKinsey & Co. 1997), thus bringing diversity to the teaching and learning process. Integrated learning systems, which include mechanisms for tracking a child’s progress, have been reported to be beneficial in raising basic numeracy (McKinsey & Co. 1997). In addition, computers have also a significant impact on the social dynamics within the traditional classroom by encouraging or enforcing group activities (Davis, Desforges, Jessel, Somekh, Taylor, and Vaughan, 1997). IT also supports the education process indirectly, as it is used to administer schools; to provide easy access to information through use of the Internet; to support teacher development (The Independent ICT in School Commission, 1997). Research results on both sides of the Atlantic show an improvement brought about by IT on post school careers and on school administration as well as the help that IT can bring to disabled children (The Independent ICT in School Commission, 1997). These factors clearly advocate the need for IT in education. Hence during the last few years, there has been much emphasis on initiatives for IT in education and substantial investments have been made both in the UK and Greece. However, there are indications of a slow IT adoption in education in both countries. This paper aims to provide an insight and understanding of the underlying problems. An interesting aspect that this research reveals is that most problems are common. Regardless of the difference in IT maturity in the two countries, the multifaceted nature of IT adoption in schools (where technological, organisational, personal and political concerns become intertwined) presents a complex phenomenon. We argue that in both countries this may be better addressed through an integrated approach that takes into account the local context and culture. 1

Information Communications Technology (ICT) is a term used in education both in the UK and Greece, increasingly replacing Information Technology (IT). In this paper the two terms are used interchangeably.

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IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

The next section gives a brief background with reference to the initiatives and reported results concerning ICT adoption in British and Greek schools. Although we conduct this study in the UK and Greece we do not take a causal comparative research approach (i.e. research which focuses on making group comparisons (Merton, 1998). We aim only to explore and gain an insight from a teacher’s perspective of IT adoption in schools; the purpose of our research is outlined in the section tilted ‘Research Methodology’. This section also provides details of the philosophical assumptions and the qualitative research approach we adopted; provides the reasons as to why we chose to study the perceptions of schoolteachers; gives details of our data collection and analysis method. Our findings are presented under the section titled ‘Teacher perceptions on the slow ICT adoption in Secondary Schools’. This is then followed by an analysis and discussion of the findings and includes a wider discussion of the relevant organizational, social and economical issues that are informative to educational policy makers at both local and national level. The paper concludes with the implications of this research and directions for further research.

2. ICT ADOPTION IN THE UK AND GREEK SCHOOLS This section sets the scene for our research by reviewing the current status of ICT adoption in secondary schools in the UK and Greece. A brief overview of the programmes aiming to improve the use of ICTs in secondary education that are currently underway in both countries is provided along with evidence of insufficient progress. Our study focuses on these two countries which are at two different ends of the spectrum of ICT penetration in the European Union. For example, in the per capita spending on ICT (Commission of the European Communities, MESO, 1998), Greece falls into the lower spending category along with Portugal and Spain, while the UK falls into the higher spending category along with the Netherlands, Germany and France. (The highest per capita spenders on ICT in Europe are Demark and Sweden). In terms of the number of PCs per 100 inhabitants and the percentage of Internet users, Greece falls into the lower category along with Italy, Spain and Austria and Germany, while the UK along with Ireland and Sweden have the highest proportion of PCs per 100 inhabitants and the highest percentage of Internet users in Europe (Commission of the European Communities, MESO, 1998). This difference in ICT penetration in the two countries forms an interesting background for investigating whether ICT maturity results in fundamental differences in the underlying reasons for the unsatisfactory take-up of ICTs in secondary schools.

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IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

2.1 Initiatives to enhance ICT adoption in schools The UK government’s efforts to support IT adoption in education originally started in 1982 when the government teamed up with Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to provide funds for at least one computer in every school. It is at this juncture that the installation of hardware gathered momentum, which was stimulated further by the government requirement that IT be included in the National Curriculum (McKinsey, 1997). Following the recent rapid and progressive global IT prominence, the UK government has put emphasis on newer initiatives and made substantial investments for IT adoption in education. For example, the “National Grid for Learning” (NGfL) was launched in 1998. This was a £1 billion of investment, which would connect every school, college and university to the Internet by 2002 and was considered to be the national focal point for learning on the Internet (Selwyn, 2000; DfEE and OFSTED, 2000). Since April 1999, £230 million of Lottery funds, managed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF), has been made available for teacher training in the use of ICT in teaching and learning (OFSTED, 2001). Following these initiatives, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2001) reports that the average number of computers per school has increased from 27.1 in 1998 to 37.3 in 2001, while the percentage of schools connected to the Internet has risen from 28% in 1998 to 97% in 2001. In addition, in 2000-2001 there has been a substantial increase in the use of ICT in all subjects across all schools. Furthermore the UK government is through the NGfL Standards Fund grant, expecting all schools to achieve a minimum level of ICT provision in 2002, i.e., the NGfL baseline. The NGfL baseline is defined as: access to ICT for teaching and learning purposes equivalent to a computer to pupil ratio of at least 1:11 in each primary school and 1:7 in each secondary school; secure connection to the Internet in each school with at least 20% of schools connected at the broadband level and at least one networked computer with Internet access in each school for management and administrative purposes. Given the trends of adopting IT in education both in the USA and Europe, Greece also followed suite, introducing, during the late 1980s, ICT lessons in secondary schools. In the 1990s the Greek government launched ‘Odysseia’ (Odyssey-Ulysses’ journey): a dynamic, action-oriented programme that aims to develop critical thinking and change the practices of teaching, learning and communication in Greek schools through the use of ICT in secondary education. The Odysseia Programme is part of the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training of the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs and is implemented by the Directorate of Secondary School Studies, the Community Support Framework Directorate, the Pedagogical Institute and the Computer Technology Institute (Ministry of Education, 2000). These parties administer the 5

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

design, technical support and monitor the implementation of the 19 Projects that make up the Programme. These Projects are designed to introduce ICT into the daily school practice, covering every subject on the standard curriculum, in order to create a substantial number of school communities that will have incorporated these technologies as an integral part of their daily teaching and learning practice. Odysseia includes projects such as Seirines (Sirens) and Kirki. The former is concerned with pilot studies on the introduction, evaluation and development of educational multimedia software for Junior High School education, while the latter aims to adapt a number of well-established educational software products selected from the international market to the Greek Education System. The ‘Odysseia’ projects were to incorporate an integrated strategy for a bottom-up integration of the use of Computational, Information and Communication Technologies (CICT). In addition exploratory software would be encouraged as an alternative way of teaching all subject areas (Maritsas et al., 1992) creating an expectation that computer and network technologies would result in radical changes in the Greek educational system (Vosniadou and Kollias, 2001). The program was relatively similar to programs such as the UK’s National Grid for Learning and USA’s National Information Infrastructure. The initial project within ‘Odysseia’ was called ‘Odysseas’; it aimed to integrate ICT into 19 secondary schools. The Odysseia programme also included extensive provisions for teacher training. The goal of the E42 project (one of ‘Odysseia’ projects) was to train in-service teacher trainers of ICT implementation. One hundred and twenty teacher trainers were initially trained for a year in the pedagogical uses of ICT. After their training they were then to provide in-school training to other secondary school teachers in the use of ICT towards establishing new teaching and learning practices in the classroom (Computer Technology Institute, 2001). It is important to note that in Greece, preservice teacher education had been almost non-existent (only some optional courses are provided in undergraduate programs) and in-service education had been ad-hoc and of an informing nature rather than aiming to support the development of educational practice (Kynigos, 2001). Teachers placed emphasis on information retention and drill, thus were less likely to develop their own pedagogical styles and methods as reflective practitioners. The Odysseia initiative was therefore innovative also in the sense that it meant to show the need for institutionalisation of the teacher professional development support through the Ministry of Education (Kynigos, 2001). Following these initiatives, the ratio of PC per pupil has risen to 1:16.5 in junior high schools and to 1:10.3 in senior high schools. More than 80% of high schools currently have Internet connections (Lakasas, 2002).

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IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

2.2 Indications of unsatisfactory results Despite the ambitious programmes implemented, recent studies on the status of ICT adoption in secondary schools paint a disappointing picture for both countries. In the UK, the Independent ICT in Schools Commission (1997), McKinsey (1997) and the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) have reported that: 1. The state of ICT in schools was primitive and much of the hardware in schools was technologically behind the times. 2. The experience, skills and attitudes of teachers varied widely. 3. Very little software was directly related to the curriculum and there was considerable variation in the way ICT was used. 4. 53% of schools did not comply with curriculum requirements in IT; standards were too low in more than half of secondary schools and the attainment in the subject did not meet expected levels (based on OFSTED inspections in 1997-98) (TES, 1999). 5. There was too few staff sufficiently qualified in IT (OFSTED Standards in Primary Information Technology, 1998). More recently, despite the government’s new initiatives and the resources spent, the April 2001 OFSTED interim report claimed that there were significant improvements in students’ IT capability, but the standards of students' achievements in IT were lower than in most other national curriculum subjects. There was an increase in teaching and using ICT in both primary and secondary schools, however good practice remained rare. With reference to the impact of the NOF initiative on teacher training, the report stated that the majority of teachers had not yet completed their NOF training programmes. For those that had completed the training, it had contributed to an increase in their use of computers but it only rarely contributed to the pedagogic expertise necessary to help them make the most effective use of ICT in their lessons. Lastly, it was reported that one in five primary schools and a half of secondary schools and most special schools still did not comply with the National Curriculum requirements for IT (OFSTED Office for Standards in Education, 2001). The Greek Center for Educational Research (2000), which conducted studies focusing on the evaluation of ICT in secondary schools, reported that: 1. Despite being supportive of ICT in Greek schools, the teachers teaching Computing felt that they were inadequate for carrying out this change. This is because they had limited pedagogical training and had a limited background even in computer science. They also complained that 7

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

computer laboratories were not usually equipped with multimedia computers and that they faced various technical problems. Often Computing teachers were in conflict with speciality teachers who were responsible for the new ‘Odysseia’ laboratories and had more advanced computers. 2. Some schools had no computer laboratories or had computers so old that they were useless. 3. The upgrading of equipment and continual technical support. (which was not planned for in the initial design of the program) was a common problem to all schools. 4. Computer labs in schools were usually limited to teaching only computer science. 5. There was a lack of educational software 6. There was a lack of technical knowledge and pedagogical training- and often this was the reason that teachers felt unprepared for the use of ICT in the classroom and did not want to risk failure. A recent survey of the Greek Ministry of Education (http://www.ypepth.gr) revealed that 79% of junior high schools have computer labs, however only 27% of those have Pentium computers. In senior high schools, the situation is worse, with only 11% of schools having computer labs, half of which use Pentium computers. Despite the inadequacy of infrastructure in Greece, about 80% of all high schools included IT lessons in their curriculum (Mastoropoulou, 2000). There were cases where these lessons were not based on the national curriculum due to delays in the development and dispatch of study guides for the academic year 1998-99 and the lack of appropriate textbooks for the academic year 1999-2000 during the initial ‘honeymoon period’ of ‘Odysseia’. The study guides were in due course posted on the web (Pedagogical Institute,1999). A study conducted by Kynigos et al. (2001) reported that although teachers had a positive reaction to the use of ICT in schools they felt that the educational software available was limited both in quantity and in the variety of subject matter that it covered. In addition they were displeased with the current technical and pedagogical support and felt they needed better training in ICT as well as continuous pedagogical and technical support. Most importantly there was no provision or framework for the introduction of ICT in the curriculum. This was a significant barrier to the widespread use of ICT in the classroom since the Greek educational system had a hierarchical structure. Furthermore, submissions on the mailing lists set up to support teacher trainees at the time showed various complaints referring to the lack of labs, software and technicians, and unclear perceptions about the teachers’ roles in promoting ICT within the schools (Kynigos, 2001). Similarly, in a study conducted by Vosniadou and Kollias (2001), although the teachers believed that they are doing a good job in educating their students and that IT had sped up their work, they felt that this would make no difference to their teaching practices. Therefore Vosniadou 8

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

and Kollias (2001) contend that under such circumstances there shouldn’t be much expectation that the teaching practices in Greece will have changed as a result of the use of ICT. Clearly, these findings indicate persistent problems in the adoption of IT in education regardless of the money spent and the efforts involved over the last couple of years. Given the important implications for society if ICT in education is successfully adopted, an in-depth study of the reasons for the slow adoption of IT in UK and Greek schools would be valuable for policy makers. To this end, our study focuses in gathering qualitative data that could provide insight and understanding of the problems in ICT adoption. The following section presents and justifies our research approach.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The purpose of this study is to explore the issues underlying the slow adoption of IT in UK and Greek schools. It is exploratory in nature, as we seek new insights, ask questions and generate ideas for future research (Robson 2002). Our research follows the Interpretive/Constructivist paradigm (Mertons, 1998), which is based on the philosophical assumption that the researcher’s role is to understand the multiple social constructions of meaning and knowledge. More specifically, the paper recognises that IT adoption in schools presents a complex social and cultural context as explained in the following paragraphs. Therefore a qualitative research approach, with the underlying assumption that access to reality is only through social construction, i.e. language, consciousness and shared meaning, has been undertaken. This section presents our approach first by clarifying the way in which we consider the research context and secondly by showing why our research concentrates on teacher perspectives. The third part of this section details our approach to data collection and analysis.

3.1 The research context As IT adoption in schools has been driven primarily by the political and pedagogical agendas outlined in the introduction of the paper, the importance of the organisational context of adoption, i.e., the school as an organisation, has not been adequately addressed. We argue that ICT adoption in schools is not just related to pedagogical issues but also to the broader technical, organisational and social issues that make up the adoption context as well. The paper therefore focuses in gathering qualitative data that could provide insight and understanding of the problems faced in the current practice of IT adoption in education. 9

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

This paper is based on the premise that the concept of introducing IT to schools can be argued to be similar to that of IT adoption in businesses, in the sense that both schools and businesses are organisations with stated objectives, needing to manage people and in that they are both providing a service to the economy and society, whether commercial or non commercial. We find that IT systems in the National Health Service (NHS), in the UK, and hospital services have been examined by information systems’ academics and professionals and various issues regarding the implementation and use have emerged from their studies. We propose that the adoption of IT in education can benefit from studies carried out from a similar perspective, a perspective that we take in this study. Thus, the adoption of any IT in any organization needs to address a broad spectrum of issues for the adoption to be considered a success (Lyytinen and Hirschheim, 1987; Currie, 1994; Waters and Cane, 1993; Beynon-Davies, 1995, Heatly et al. 1995; Pouloudi and Whitely, 1997; Markus, 1983 etc). In the educational context some of these issues would include technological, organizational, social, cultural, teacher training, resistance and economical factors (e.g., Schofield 1995; Ward, 1999; Weikart and Marrapodi, 1999; Selwyn, 2000; Mau, 1999; Siemer 1998). At the same time, we should also recognise that IT adoption in education is different from IT implementation in other organisations. Following Dede (2000), “the important issue for the evolution of the school curriculum is not the availability and affordability of sophisticated computers and telecommunications but the ways these devises enable powerful learning situations that aid students in extracting meaning out of complexity. New forms of representation make possible a broader, more powerful repertoire of pedagogical strategies.” Chronaki (2000) argues the need for the following four perspectives on pedagogy when computers are utilized in the classroom: the pedagogical orientation of the educational system (at a macro level); the pedagogical structure embedded within the computer system (the software); the pedagogical organization of lessons; and the pedagogical support provided by teachers. Leask and Younie (2001) indicate that there are many factors, which have to be overcome before a school can provide a rich ICT environment for students and teachers. One of these factors is that there is a professional ‘uncertainty’ about what constitutes appropriate pedagogical approaches in incorporating ICT. This ‘uncertainty’ causes problems in the integration of ICT across the curriculum.

3.2 Emphasis on teachers as a key stakeholder group Gibson (2001) argues that technology by itself will not change schools. It is only when reflective and flexible educators integrate technology into effective learning environments will this aid in the restructuring of the classroom practices for the benefit of all learners. Gibson contends that the main and important issue is the learner and the learning objective that is to be accomplished in a 10

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

particular learning environment. “This imposes upon teachers the responsibility to be aware of their students and of what they are trying to accomplish with their students - to reflect upon the goals they have established and the tasks they have set for learners - and to select learning strategies (and appropriate applications of technology) that best accomplish those objectives.” Gibson’s argument demonstrates the central role and responsibility of school teachers for the successful IT adoption at schools. It is in the adoption of their role as facilitator and organiser in forming the groups, structuring their activities, supervising the activities and providing feedback and guidance that IT in schools can be a success (Scrimshaw, 1997; Kaye, 1995). Czerniak and Lumpe (1996) contend that until we understand how teachers’ beliefs influence the implementation of an innovation such as technology, curriculum reform in technology or any other field is unlikely to be successful. Furthermore we argue that teachers are also important as representatives of their students’ needs. In this respect, the opinions and views of teachers can be considered to be reflective of opinions and views from two major stakeholder groups instead of one (Hossain, 2000). Finally, Tsitouridou and Vryzas (2001) argue that in order to ensure that pre-service and in-service teachers are educated in IT effectively it is fundamental to understand teachers’ attitudes to IT. Given the fundamental role of teachers in the adoption of IT in education it is crucial to explore their perspectives on IT implementation in the school.

3.3 Data collection and analysis The data collection for this study was based on a series of semi-structured interviews. This was appropriate for our study which focuses on the meaning of a particular phenomenon (ICT adoption in secondary schools in the UK and Greece, as perceived by school teachers) and where individual perceptions of a process (ICT adoption within the social unit that is the educational environment of a school) were to be studied (King, 1994). The main questions driving our empirical research were: What are teachers’ perceptions of ICT adoption in secondary education in the UK and Greece? What do teachers perceive to be the reasons for the slow adoption of IT in school education? The interview process began with a computing teacher who was also head of Key Stage 5 (age 16+); a teacher who was also ICT coordinator, and two teacher-training providers from the Institute of Education, University of London. The other participants included teachers from schools both in affluent and poorer areas so that the opinions received were reflective of both rich and poor 11

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

schools and would give a more balanced picture of the IT adoption. In Greece all the participants in the study were Greek, teaching in geographical areas with different IT take-up: Athens metropolitan area, mainland Greece and the islands (two of the teachers interviewed had experience of teaching in two different regions). In the UK study the participants were British including ethnic minority groups. The participants primary teaching role was in a range of areas including English, Mathematics, Geography, Science, Art, and Business Studies and Computing. Hence there were a wide variety of subject teachers providing interesting input to this research; eighty teachers (40 from the UK and 40 from Greece) in total provided empirical data. The following is a sample of the questions the teachers were asked to answer/or comment on: To what extent is IT used in day-to-day teaching in schools? Which are the factors that affect the teachers’ willingness to use IT/educational software? Which factors inhibit the adoption of information technology in schools? To what extent are teachers involved in the decisions for the adoption of specific educational software, and the use of IT in their lessons? What was their experience of using IT in their subject teaching? What did they perceive as the benefits or weakness of integrating IT in their subject teaching? How did this integration affect their student (i.e. the students advancement and interaction with IT)? The data was analysed using the Miles and Huberman (1994) method for qualitative data analysis, which includes the following steps: Codes were given to the first set of notes drawn from initial literature reviews and interviews. The materials were sorted through to identify similar phases, themes, and common sequences. The patterns and commonalities identified were kept in mind in the next set of data collection, i.e. in the interviews that followed. Then sets of generalisations were elaborated on that covered the consistencies in the data (i.e. the identification of the problems in the adoption of ICT in education).

12

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

The generalisations were examined in light of a formalized body of knowledge in the form of constructs. The analysis of the interviews of schoolteachers provided an insight into their perceptions of IT adoption in education bringing to light the reasons they believe contribute to the slow IT adoption in schools, which are presented in the next section.

4. TEACHER PERCEPTIONS ON THE SLOW ICT ADOPTION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS Our interview results show that teachers have identified the following reasons as major contributors to a problematic IT adoption in schools: insufficient facilities; lack of adequate or appropriate educational software; insufficient time; lack of technical know-how or technical support; training and the IT culture of pupils. Each identified issue is discussed in detail in the following paragraphs, supported with empirical evidence. The broader issues that stem from this empirical evidence are discussed in the later sub-section.

4.1 Insufficient facilities ‘Lack of facilities’ is one of the most widely cited reasons preventing teachers from using IT in teaching. Both UK and Greek respondents identify the need for “more machines, particularly in classrooms.” The lack of facilities is a fundamental factor as it makes it impossible to use ICT, even when the potential of ICT in the learning experience is recognised: “Due to the lack of facilities it is difficult to integrate IT into maths, although the School recognises the importance of software in maths” [UK respondent] While observing that lack of facilities is identified as a key issue in both countries, it is interesting to see how this phenomenon may be experienced due to different reasons in different schools (Table 1). Most often, it reflects the lack of sufficient funding and the heavy commitment of IT facilities by computing teachers. However, our respondents indicate that the problem becomes more acute due to difficulties of harmonising the existing organisational culture or routines. Table 1: Different teacher experiences associated with the lack of ICT facilities

13

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

It

may

be

down

to

the “Usually Greek schools don’t have the hardware and

individual teacher to bring the infrastructure for [IT supported] lessons. You’d have to grab a technology to the classroom:

computer under your arm and run from classroom to classroom” [Greek respondent]

The person responsible for the “The Head of School was very proud of the computer lab but labs prevents lab use:

it was kept locked in order to preserve it in a good condition” [Greek maths teacher]

The lack of adequate facilities “There is a problem with access to computers. Departments has

an

impact

organisational

on have to book up for use of the computer rooms. This has a

routines, major implication in terms of timetabling”.

including the actual teaching [UK respondent] experience: No computing facilities have “There is only one computer in the school and this is used to been

made

available

teaching:

for support the school administration” [Greek respondent]

Where facilities are available, “Private schools have become oversubscribed with students changes in society prevent a and this makes teaching an IT lesson very difficult as the positive outcome:

number of students in each class has increased substantially in the last few years” [Greek computing teacher]

4.2 Lack of adequate/ appropriate educational software The lack of appropriate educational software was another problem identified by the teachers for the limited use of IT in their subject teaching. The underlying reason for this problem particularly in the UK is the fragmentation of the software supply, which is partly due to the history of IT adoption in UK Schools that started with the introduction of Acorn Computers. Since Acorn’s computers used a proprietary operating system, which had been confined largely to the U.K, the software companies who developed for this system had in effect been excluded from wider markets. While other software developers have gone on to achieve higher worldwide sales and become industry leaders their counterparts in the UK (who lack access to global markets and thus cannot justify substantial investments in development) focused on smaller, niche applications that are simpler to develop but less widely supported (McKinsey & Co.,1997). In Greece, delays were encountered in the implementation of the Odysseia programme. This means that the use of educational software to support courses other than computing is limited to the schools (300 in total) that participated in the relevant project of Odysseia. As a result, Greek 14

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

respondents identified the lack of software as a problem only when prompted. It is worth noting the difference between the first two quotations in Table 2. The British respondent would be prepared to use educational software had it been available within the school, whereas the Greek respondent is not certain that appropriate software is available at all. Table 2: Different teacher experiences associated with the lack of adequate/ appropriate educational software Willing to use educational

“What I find hard is how to apply my computer skills in a

software but the school

lesson since the school doesn’t have much educational software

doesn’t provide the facilities:

related to my subject area” [UK respondent]

Unaware of appropriate

“The classes I teach are for the computing specialisation and

software:

most are lab-based. I use the computers to apply the theory and for pupils to practice. I don’t think there is educational software available for the classes I teach” [Greek respondent]

The recommendation of

“The curriculum and teaching method are suggested by the

educational software is not

Pedagogical Institute [institute affiliated to the Ministry of

the teachers’ responsibility:

Education]. They have not recommended the use of educational software in my courses” [Greek respondent]

Educational software

“Kids use much more advanced software [games etc.] in the

available in class is less

homes whereas the curricula software is poor therefore does not

exciting than what is

hold the attention of children”

commercially available and

[UK respondent]

what the pupils own at home: The available software is

“Educational software needs to be a part of the scheme of work

limited and not interactive

and there should be more software which enables interactive

enough; it is not clear how it

lessons”

could be integrated in the

[UK respondent]

curriculum:

The comments made by teachers in our study as seen in this table show a genuine concern about educational software, pointing either to a lack of software or questioning its appropriateness for pupils’ needs and expectations. Similar concerns have also been aired in other studies, in that, 15

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

generally educational software titles overlap and address similar objectives making it difficult for teachers to evaluate the relative merits of available packages (McKinsey & Co., 1997). Thus, the educational software used does not meet the needs of the teachers and could indicate that teachers are not consulted during the development or purchase of educational software.

4.3 Insufficient time ‘Insufficient time’ or ‘lack of time to exploit the benefits’ was the other common problem faced by teachers that accounts for their limited use of IT (Table 3): Table 3: Teachers complain of lack of time Extra preparation time

“There is a need for extra preparation time. […] Often the

is an overhead:

lack of time leads teachers towards traditional methods which are often as good and quicker.” [UK head teacher]

Extra preparation time

“It does take longer to prepare a lesson using this media,

is

however it does make an interesting change.”

an

overhead,

although this seems to

[UK respondent]

add to the teaching experience: Unlikely for teachers

“Teachers on their own do not have the time to research and

to spend time on ICT

exploit the new technologies”

(unless

[Greek respondent]

appropriate

motivation is given):

An obvious conclusion from these results is that allocating time for teachers to evaluate educational software and integrate it into the curriculum is quite important for promoting the use of IT in classroom teaching in practice. In addition, it is vital to deal with time constraints that certain teachers experience; especially those who are appointed to be IT co-ordinators, since they have the task of juggling their time between teaching their other subjects and coordinating IT-related activities in the curriculum.

4.4 Lack of technical know-how, insufficient training or technical support The teachers interviewed in our study indicated their need for more support staff, such as technicians, and network administrators, as currently there is a lack of expertise and skills to handle technical issues and to design or implement IT applications. Given that hardware and software are 16

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

becoming more and more complex technicians' support in primary and in secondary schools is likely to become more of an important issue. The other important issue that emerges is that often the teachers’ need for support, or the underlying reason for their limited use of IT, is because of their own lack of technical know-how and confidence in the IT field, which is evident from their comments (Table 4). This latter concern was linked to insufficient or ineffective training. Table 4: Teachers need better technical know-how, training or technical support Teachers lack training:

“I would probably make greater use of IT if I was more knowledgeable or had more training in the software.” “More training [is needed] to prepare teachers for the change in education” [UK respondents]

… and confidence:

"If I was capable and confident I would like to use [IT].” [UK and Greek respondents]

There is no evaluation

“Teachers on training were never examined in IT”

of the skills acquired;

[UK respondent]

training efforts may be

“Those who participated in the training were not really

wasted

listening. They were only participating to the programme because of the extra income they would get” [Greek teacher trainer]

Provision of technical

“Staff knowledgeable on IT are already heavily committed in

support can be a major

the delivery of their own subject, while they must also provide

overhead in time (cf.

equal commitment to the development of IT within the whole

previous

school curriculum”

those

issue)

for

knowledgeable

[UK respondent]

in IT The technical support

“The people providing with technical support are one for

is inadequate

each county. There is no way they can meet the local needs. Sometimes they disappear altogether” [Greek respondent]

There is considerable investment in professional development and access to technical expertise, however a recent OFSTED report claims that there is still a lack of teacher’s confidence and pedagogy in using IT in teaching (OFSTED Office for Standards in Education, 2001). This has been confirmed in our empirical investigation. It is the confidence that teachers need with the technology in order for them to stand in front of individual pupils and the class. Hence, the 17

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

fundamental basis for ensuring that any fears are alleviated and confidence in technology is cultivated is the appropriate and adequate training of teachers. Overwhelmingly training was identified as one of the problem areas, which was part responsible for the slow adoption of IT in schools. Previous studies (Cox et al, 1988; Cox, 1994) have also shown that majority of courses in the UK for teacher training in the uses of ICT until recently have focused on technical aspects of IT with little training about the pedagogical practices required and how to incorporate ICT in the curriculum. Cox, Preston and Cox (1999) state that teachers in many ICT professional courses are not taught how to revise their pedagogical practices, although they may know how to run certain software they do not know how to use ICT for teaching (Cox, Preston and Cox, 1999). Furthermore, Leach and Moon (2000) conducted a study exploring UK governmental policy imperatives to apply new forms of ICT to school improvement with particular reference to the National curriculum for England and Wales. It was evident from their studies that ICT has been implemented randomly rather than being systematically integrated into and across the revised curriculum and its accompanying schemes of work. Despite the increasing efforts to provide systematic support, teachers in Greece are also displeased with the current technical and pedagogical support and felt they needed better training in ICT as well as continuous pedagogical and technical support (cf. Kynigos et al. 2001). Some of the underlying reasons identified in both countries, despite current governmental efforts, are the insufficient guidance and instructions as to which is the most appropriate software in accomplishing the educational objectives, and how and when it should be integrated into the scheme of work for the particular subject. There is no advice on how to organise the classes to make efficient and effective use of students’ time when there are a small number of computers in the classroom. Furthermore, it is important to understand that computer technology changes at an incredibly rapid pace so skills that teachers acquired previously quickly become outdated. Therefore teachers' training should be a continual activity, so that they can take advantage of the newest technology and implement it in their own teaching practice. As Kynigos (2001) argues: “to train teacher educators one would need to perceive teacher education as a systematic, life long professional development activity addressing teachers’ epistemologies, practices, pedagogies and subject-related knowledge, rather than large-scale intensive, short term seminars which aim at providing information about technology itself to the teachers.”

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IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

4.5 IT culture of the pupils Following from the lack of know-how, the teachers reported their concern about the skills disparity exists between them and pupils (Table 5). These findings are in line with an earlier study conducted by Cuthell (1999) who surveyed teacher competence in the use and application of IT over a period of four years (Cuthell, 1999). A number of reasons explain the IT skills disparity between teacher and pupil. These include teachers’ resistance to change and lack of confidence. Pupils are often more computer literate than their teachers (Siemer, 1998). Conversely, some teachers claimed that work produced on computers is too easy and that learning should be hard work, therefore many curricular computer tasks set by teachers focus on low-level skills and do not fully exploit IT capabilities (Cuthell, 1999). According to Owen Lynch, Chief Executive of BECTA, all the evidence suggests that personal ownership is a key factor in ensuring that teachers see how vital this technology is for learning but unfortunately personal ownership of computers by teachers is not as widespread as desired. Furthermore, IT is not necessarily taught by experts in IT. Specifically, 25% of those teaching IT in Greece at present do not have a degree in an IT-related subject. It was only in the latest round of teacher recruitment that all teachers hired to teach IT in secondary schools had an IT background. Table 5: IT culture of the pupils, as the teachers perceive it The

pupils

know

better:

“With regard to getting advice about software we do talk to our colleagues - and of course the boys do tell us a lot about software. The pupils are more aware of the different types of software available. Our boys in the Young Enterprise Scheme have developed a Driving Theory CD ROM using Visual Basic. Then again, the systems at schools are usually different from those used at home, ours tend to more outdated.” [UK respondent, head teacher in boys school]

Pupils are a difficult

“Another great problem is that when you teach in a school,

customer:

any innovation you want to adopt, has to be very well organised and you have to do a couple of rehearsals, because you are in danger of the class falling apart. Pupils are just looking for a reason [to start misbehaving]” [Greek respondent]

The pupils don’t care:

“Pupils don’t pay any attention. They are only attentive in the evening classes they attend privately. They are at school only 19

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

because they have to; anything that hasn’t to do with their University entry exams is dismissed as irrelevant; they don’t care” [Greek computing teacher]

Interestingly, the problem that Greek teachers have identified in their majority is not that the students are more proficient in IT than they are (although this is often the case in Greece as well) but their lack of motivation for learning. One problem that Greek teachers have to face, as illustrated in the last quotation, is that many pupils focus on the preparation for the entry exams to Universities; many do so by attending additional classes (paying private tuition fees) after school. Several teachers complain that if they teach an optional course pupils aren’t attentive; indeed they are distracting. Recent changes to the University entry exams, where exam performance in most of the courses taught in the school final year counts towards University entry, however, has had an impact on pupils’ attitude and some Greek teachers argue that students show a genuine interest in their computing classes.

5. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION In the previous sections we have identified and presented many of the problems that the teachers associated with their responsibility of adopting IT. The aim of this section is to analyse these findings with reference to other research on ICT use in education. Our empirical findings complement this research, illustrating the key role of teachers. In particular, the paper demonstrates how the teacher perceptions provide rich empirical material for understanding the problems in IT adoption in schools and can be used as a basis for arguing for a holistic, socio-technical approach in policy making about IT adoption. Following from a discussion on the interplay between technical and organisational aspects, this section presents three main areas of concern that have impeded todate the progress of IT diffusion policies in schools. These areas are infrastructure and organisation, IT culture and socio-economic issues. Although IT can enhance the pupils’ learning experience (The Independent ICT in School Commission, 1997), our findings provide evidence to suggest that from teachers' perspective IT adoption is still problematic and has not yet had the positive impact that its advocates expect. This mixed picture has been attributed in similar research to the “lack of clarity over educational objectives for IT and the fact that the focus on installing hardware has left other issues on the sidelines” arguing for a more fully integrated approach. Furthermore the key to integration of the 20

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

computer into classroom teaching relies both on the extent and way in which the teacher is prepared to adopt the new technology (Siemer, 1998) as well as on the pupils’ perception of usefulness of these courses, their motivation to learn and their previous knowledge of IT. Teachers are particularly anxious to receive training as to how computers can be integrated into the teaching process (Collins, Hammond and Wellington, 1997). However, training is sometimes uniform and fails to address the different teacher needs. It is possible, by considering different training models to overcome this issue. For example, teachers may be trained through distance learning, or in special training centres, or in the schools where they teach. While the first method may be more cost efficient, the latter method may be more effective, as the teachers have the opportunity to learn and improve the delivery of their teaching in situ. A useful policy towards this end that was institutionalised in Greece, was to allow teachers that were recently trained to form a virtual network through which they could exchange views and notes. The e-mail traffic across this network provided further evidence for the problems discussed above but also created a value-adding forum where teachers could exchange revised teaching curricula and discuss alternative strategies for integrating IT to the curriculum in various subjects. Here a significant piece of evidence that we need to consider is that the evolution of computer use in the classroom has been predominantly technology driven with little attention to factors that go beyond computer functionality. Promoters of the introduction of computers often base their enthusiasm on technical and functional issues and do not pay enough attention to the problems and issues that are encountered within the context of the ‘real’ classroom (Siemer, 1998). This has been a common problem in information systems development in various business contexts, where empirical evidence consistently suggests that results are better when the technology is business driven rather than the other way round. In an educational context, a case in point is Sweden, which has greatly improved its IT provision in schools because of supportive government policies and new networked computers. It is worth noting that Sweden is amongst the Scandinavian countries which are considered to be the most advanced in Europe in their adoption of ICT in education (Commission of the European Communities, 2000). The difference in IT education in Sweden is its emphasis on content, rather than technology. This is driven by ‘Skoolnet’, “a national effort to stimulate the production and use of interesting content in a bid to encourage schools to use the Internet” (Goldsbury, 1999). Thus, this predominantly technological, as opposed to an integrated, approach to the introduction of IT in schools partly explains why computers in school still fail to be successful despite the political will and the wide recognition of the potential of IT. Our empirical research 21

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

supports the need for an integrated approach as it complements similar arguments identified by other researchers. It points to important technological and organizational, cultural and socio-economical issues that need to be taken into account to improve IT adoption. We therefore claim a need for a socio-technical, i.e., an integrated approach in the implementation of ICT in education. The socio-technical approach is based on the premise that a single perspective alone cannot capture the ‘whole reality’ of an information system and that problems (and solutions) are seldom purely technical or behavioural. Thus, the technology should be designed to ‘fit’ both the school organisational and physical needs for example: access to world wide information; links to other schools, colleges and universities; in school administration; innovation of teaching and learning methods as well as organising people such as teachers, students, librarians and other school staff to take advantage of the benefits of technology-training, learning and the organisational change. Our findings reflect this as many of the problems identified through the teacher perceptions, which affect IT adoption, are organisational factors. For example ‘lack of facilities’, which constitutes part of ‘infrastructure’ is one of the most widely cited reasons for preventing teachers from using IT in teaching (table 1). Similarly ‘insufficient time to exploit benefits’ (table 3) is an organisational issue which prevents the adoption of IT in the classroom and needs to be addressed accordingly. Professional development of users such as teachers i.e. to adjust and train towards this change and the provision of technical support are also organisational factors that contribute to a limited use of IT (table 4). Furthermore culture, an organisational factor, is also responsible for the slow adoption of IT, as there has been a lack of IT culture within the school environment (table 5). Educational software on the other hand is a facet of the ICT development process, which influences the use of IT in schools, in that the lack of adequate and appropriate software has meant a limited use of IT in subject teaching (table 2). These are just some of the issues that have appeared in our studies, which we contend, act as mediating factors in the way IT is adopted and exploited in the school organisation (figure 1).

22

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

Som e Influencing Organ isation al Factors: In frastructure: • Facilities etc Profession al • Developm en t Support Staff • T im e • M an agem ent Culture • Sch ool • Policies Governm ental • Policies Fundin g •

Figure 1: Showing Organisational Influences on Relationship between School Organisation and IT

This is in line with Laudon and Laudon (1998) who contend that there is a two-way relationship between an organisation and information technology. They state that the information system should be aligned with the organisation to provide information needed by the important groups within the organisation. Simultaneously the organisation should be aware of the information system and must open itself to the IS/IT in order to exploit the benefits of the new technology. However factors such as organisational culture, bureaucracy, politics, business fashion and chance play upon this complex relationship (Laudon and Laudon, 1998, p75). Importantly we must realise that implementing an information system involves much more than new hardware and software; it is a process of organisational change. It includes changes in jobs, skills management and organisation. For example, teachers now need to have IT skills in addition to their subject specialisation, there are changes in teaching and learning methods; there is a need for more technical support in the school environment; there are changes in the curriculum, in the culture and in the administration of the school. Hence we should be prepared or be aware of the management challenges posed by: organisational inertia which may give rise to resistance when change is introduced; complexity of large-scale projects which can be difficult to oversee, co-ordinate and plan for; time and cost to implement successful information systems to name a few. We discuss some of the organisational factors that have contributed to the slow adoption of ICT in school education in greater detail below.

23

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

5.1 Infrastructure and Organization The lack of readily available, timely, pertinent training is not the only barrier to be overcome by teachers. Another serious problem is the lack of structural arrangements within the school (Schofield, 1995). The main challenge for a school is to create an infrastructure from which an IT learning environment can be launched and developed; only once this is achieved can many benefits be realised (Ward, 1999). Technology infrastructure includes all the elements that support the integrated use of technology: the computers themselves, the wires that connect them, the administrative rules and regulations that apply to the acquisition and use of computers, the fiscal resources, and the professional development that is needed to use computers (Weikart, and Marrapodi, 1999). An important element of technological infrastructure is the Internet, which has been increasingly exploited in recent years as a tool that enhances the students’ learning experience. The UK Government in 1997 announced their intention to establish a “National Grid for Learning” (NGfL) via a £1 billion of investment which would connect every school, college and university to the Internet by 2002 (Selwyn, 2000). The National Grid for Learning, considered to be the national focal point for learning on the Internet, was finally launched by the Prime Minister in 1998 (DfEE and OFSTED, 2000). By 1999, 93% of secondary schools in the UK were connected to the Internet (DfEE and OFSTED, 2000). On the other hand, in Greece the corresponding percentage is only 14%. Interestingly, when comparing the number of schools connected to the Internet at a regional level, the highest percentage (reaching 100% for year 2000) of Internet connections appears in less developed or remote regions of Greece, such as Kilkis, or the island of Samos. In contrast, the percentage of senior high schools connected to the Internet for Athens and Thessaloniki (the two largest cities in Greece) is less than 10%. It was in response to the low spread of Internet connections and IT in general, that the Greek government launched “Odysseia”, to boost IT adoption in Greek schools. Beyond technology infrastructure, several other factors have been identified as critical to facilitate IT adoption, as discussed in the rest of the paper. To create and sustain an effective technology infrastructure several critical elements are required including entrepreneurial and risktaking teachers; principals who are deeply involved; committed stakeholders; competent custodians; investments by external partners; the effective use of time; increased connectivity; flexible use of funding; effective repair and upgrade of computers and lastly, planned staff development (Weikart, and Marrapodi, 1999). Indeed, schools that have been most successful in creating and sustaining effective technology-rich environments have shown to have a presence of these elements. Thus,

24

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

technological infrastructure needs to be complemented by an organizational environment that enables its successful integration to the learning experience and the processes that support it. Usually organisations offer incentives to their employees such as performance rewards or promotions to compensate for any limitations due to bureaucracy. Teachers are often subjected to many of the limitations of a highly bureaucratic organization, but regrettably, schools in general, have not offered such incentives (Hodas, 1996). This is also reflected in our findings. For example, one interviewee in the UK remarked: “teachers require time and access to hardware and software and also need a reason to acquire skills that will enhance their students’ learning”. In Greece, similar concern was shown by a teacher who noted that the teaching material had not been specified at a national level because of “unfortunate bureaucratic delays”. Under these circumstances teachers often have to rely on their own initiative for choosing material to teach – due to lack of training, however, they are not always in a position to do this. So, our study seems to suggest that sometimes the school management structures do not provide an environment that encourages teachers to change although there are recent efforts in this direction. For, example, the UK government has introduced various schemes and initiatives in order to encourage teachers in ICT. From April 1999, £230 million of Lottery funds would be available for teacher training in the use of ICT in teaching and learning and that these funds would be managed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) (OFSTED, 2001). Furthermore Michael Wills, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of the State for Learning and Technology announced that from January 2000 teachers would be given a subsidy of at least £200 to buy a portable or desktop computer (Cych, 1999). As a result of these schemes computer ownership has boosted teacher confidence and basic ICT skills (OFSTED, 2001). However, Cuthell (1999), argues that the primary use of teachers with access to a PC at home is ‘typing’ whereas pupils use it for ‘work’. Cuthell further contends that the skills gap between many pupils and their teachers is still widening. The reasons he suggests for this are the lack of time, the cost of computers that need updating regularly, and the belief that “work produced on computers is too easy” whereas “learning should be hard work”. Therefore, many curricular computer tasks set by teachers focus on low-level skills (Cuthell, 1999). Regarding the impact of the NOF initiative for teacher training, a recent OFSTED report (OFSTED, 2001) states that majority of teachers have not yet completed their NOF training programmes, and for those that have, the training has contributed to an increase in their use of computers but it has only rarely contributed to the pedagogic expertise necessary to help them make the most effective use of ICT in their lessons. Furthermore the progress of this initiative has been hindered because teachers need to

25

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

use their own time for training and that there is lack of information about the range of training programmes available (OFSTED, 2001). In Greece, the limited availability of IT labs affects teacher training; for example, a teacher commented that responsible parties in schools have been reluctant to make IT labs for teacher training widely accessible. In practice, this may happen where a school has an IT lab with outdated technology and a new IT lab funded by the Odysseia programme. The latter was originally intended for training the teachers in the use of new technologies in education as well as for supporting teaching of non-IT subjects (e.g., history, literature, mathematics) that require multimedia technologies. Not surprisingly, the teachers of IT lessons, which were expected to use the old labs, complained that they also needed access to the new labs to support their teaching needs. In response, the Ministry of Education issued in December 2000 a directive nominating the parties responsible for IT labs in schools and the legitimate uses for these labs (Ministry of Education, 2000). The directive recognizes the need for teachers of IT lessons to use the new labs, although their access is restricted depending on the specific lessons they have to teach and other users’ priorities. The discussion so far indicates that technological issues are influenced by the organizational issues of the environment into which IT is being introduced, hence the need to ask ‘wider’ questions of the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of IT in educational settings (Selwyn, 2000). Such wider issues are studied in the following sections from a worldwide perspective.

5.2 IT Culture Another aspect that emerged in our study is the role of IT culture in education and the way culture influences the success of IT adoption in schools. Educational computing needs to consider the cultural context within which technology is being used. It has been argued that culture and subculture have an important influence on educational processes in a way that is common across individual schools, school districts and even countries (Siskin, 1991). Latzer (1995) states that cultural variations in individualism and collectivism, norms of power distribution and short-term orientation can both affect and be affected by the implementation of IT in education. For example, the ambitious goals of recent education technology policies in countries such as Japan, Malaysia and Singapore can be traced to a strong cultural ‘faith’ in technology. Similarly, at a micro level, one must also be aware of the importance of schools cultures on the implementation and eventual effectiveness of education computing. Ball and Bowe (1992) contend that even the implementation of a relatively ‘rigid’ educational policy is shaped by the influence of educational sub-cultures. It is recognized that a culture is required among learners and 26

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

educators who will promote IT as a tool for learning. For example, in Singapore 22 demonstration schools spearheaded IT into the classroom by promoting teaching and learning in an IT-based environment (Mau, 1999). The Principal plays a major role in developing an IT culture. In a study by Mau (1999) a high portion (92.6%) of 473 teachers surveyed agreed that their principal encouraged an IT culture in their school and played an active role in sharing expertise with neighbouring schools. This view was shared by our interviewees, both in Greece and the UK, even though the Head Teacher wasn’t always an enabling change agent for IT. One interviewee stated: “the Head [Teacher] is more concerned with the Arts and Music, but since he is leaving at Christmas, there will be improvements soon”. Therefore, in a school, similar to any other organisation, the Principal's role is critical in either promoting or preventing an appropriate IT culture.

5.3 Social and Economical Issues Research also suggests that disparities in the adoption and use of IT, for example between ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ schools or male or female students, persist even in technologically-rich countries such as the USA, Australia and UK (Durndell and Thompson, 1997; Hickling-Hudson, 1992; Shashaani, 1993). For example, schools and teachers must address the issue of those students who do not have access to a home PC. Cuthell, (1999) suggests that a policy of ‘positive discrimination’ may be needed. This concern is also shared by IT suppliers; as one commented “it is very important that students have equality of opportunity in accessing IT”. Therefore, it may be necessary to re-define teachers’ expectations of coursework in order that no group of students is disadvantaged: neither those from non-digital households, nor those who are “electronic magpies”. Children with computers at home often expressed more confidence in their work (Solomon, 1999). This means that the confidence of those children, who do not have access to computers will be lower compared to the others, unless some appropriate action is taken. One such initiative is presented by Leon Cych (1999), an ICT Co-ordinator. He says that “we are information rich but capital poor. You have to exchange one for the other. It’s all about putting yourself out, doing extra hours and sharing expertise. That way, children can get access to equipment they wouldn’t get to use otherwise. As an inner city school, our pupils come from a diverse range of backgrounds and many don’t have access to a computer. We hold a computer club once a week and this year there will be one for those whose second language is English. This hasn’t been done anywhere else”. While this comment implicitly identifies an area where a national policy should have been beneficial, with the infrastructure and training problems that have been identified previously, it is not surprising that at the moment, it is likely to be up to individual teachers or individual schools to decide on appropriate action. Our empirical research in Greece suggests that other stakeholder 27

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

groups at the local level may play a critical role in IT adoption in schools. Parents associations, public administration (councils and secondary school associations) as well as links with Universities in some regions have acted as catalysts and can explain the high percentage of Internet connection in remote and less developed areas in Greece. Another important issue to consider is gender. Given that females are entering a workforce in which according to predictions two out of every three jobs will need IT skills by the year 2000, it is vital for female pupils to gain the skills required (Ordidge, 1997). However, female pupils appear to lag behind male pupils. Based on a study of 429 students attending five Scottish secondary schools, Durndell, et al. (1995) concluded that significant gender differences persist with respect to computer experience and attitudes. In another study that looked at international trends concerning gender and computing, Reinen and Plomp (1993) reported that a less than positive situation existed for female students. Their analysis of data from the Computers in Education project (Comped) indicated that females had less favorable attitudes and did not enjoy working with computers as much as their male counterparts. Other research supports these findings and indicates that male students have more experience in using computers at home and at school (Sutton, 1991; Furger, 1998; Schofield, 1995). It is widely recognized that there are large numbers of boys who play computer games and who are able to transfer their exploratory skills to find their way through software packages. However girls continue to need clear and appropriate tasks. These differences are now reflected in the games’ manufacturers, fighting for a market among girls by beginning to develop games specifically for the female market. A survey by the Sex Roles Journal (US News and World Report, 1996) suggests that 85% of girls and young women would like to play computer games if they could find appropriate titles. The current titles tend to be violent games, and girls often find these boring after a time. If the manufacturers design suitable titles, we may see the skill and interest transferring to IT confidence and competence as it appears to with boys. Appropriate software and tasks are vital if girls and young women are to become interested in and want to use IT (Ordidge, 1997). However, recent research by Mayer-Smith, et al. (2000) suggests that views about gender and technology are changing. Their own findings indicate that gender need not be an issue in classrooms where computers are commonplace. To promote student engagement and success, issues more significant than gender are how the science and technology-rich classroom environment is structured and what pedagogical practices are in place. Nevertheless, they recognize that many issues about education, technology, and gender remain unresolved. We argue that one interpretation for our limited understanding of gender issues may be attributed to the predominance of teacher perceptions when issues of IT adoption by pupils are examined. While the opinion of teachers can be very 28

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

informative, as illustrated in this paper, it does not necessarily represent accurately the girls’ and boys’ actual behavioural patterns. This is why, in the next section, we suggest a broader research agenda aimed at recording the perceptions of a broader range of stakeholders.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS In this paper, we have presented views of a key stakeholder group, the teachers, regarding the slow IT adoption in schools. The views of the teachers are particularly important because they also tend to represent the views and interests of another key stakeholder group: the pupils. Although, we do not claim that the responses we received are representative, as this empirical research has been primarily driven by the intention to explore the variety of teacher perceptions on their engagement with IT in schools, the findings provide a recent, rich insight in the diversity and difficulties of IT adoption in education in two diverse national settings. The main problems teachers identified in their responses were lack of facilities, lack of adequate/appropriate educational software, insufficient time, lack of technical know-how or technical support, training, and the IT skill disparity between teachers and pupils. Some of the empirical evidence and the underlying reasons for each of these individual problems have been presented in this paper. As IT adoption in education is influenced by several factors, which include social, organisational and cultural issues, we believe that an integrated approach that recognizes the complexity and interrelations of these issues is eminent for successfully exploiting the capabilities IT offers within the education context. It is widely accepted that educational software can support and complement teaching in schools. IT can be used to teach IT or IT-related lessons, to facilitate teaching of other subjects through simple ‘drill and practice’ software or, in more sophisticated applications; IT becomes the fundamental tool for teaching and learning. Furthermore, the use of information technology in schools is seen as an effective mechanism for preparing young citizens that are competent in the use of information technologies and can make the most of the information society. As a result, the British government has institutionalised the use of computers in schools, making it compulsory for teachers to incorporate IT-supported lessons in the curriculum and the Greek government leads a number of initiatives and projects for the wider dissemination of ICTs in secondary schools. However, despite the political commitment, the adoption of information technology in schools is not as widespread as envisaged. The discussion in this paper indicates that for IT’s full educational promise to be realized organizational and social issues need to be addressed. The problems that have been identified in our 29

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

empirical research confirm earlier reports and demonstrate that the slow adoption of IT in education remains topical and critical. Specific reasons for the slow IT adoption are numerous: some schools lack the necessary infrastructure, some teachers are not happy with the available software or with the training they have received, some teachers are unwilling to use the technology. Eraut (1991) adds that, aside from a few notable exceptions, educational research is lacking a developed analysis of the challenge which computers in classrooms may present to the well-established cultures and subcultures of schools. The challenges for educational computing research from a social perspective are difficult to address as they require “more precise understandings of the patterns and implications of different levels of access to, and exclusion from, educational IT. This is allied to the wider social effects that differential levels of use technology may entail, for example in terms of changing patterns of communications interaction and social relationships between learners, teachers and institutions as well as the ‘social construction’ of educational computing” (Selwyn, 2000). IT adoption is not only influenced by these social and cultural factors. As discussed in the previous section, policy makers both at the local (school) and the national level need to respond to technical, organizational and economic issues as well. We have proposed the need for an integrated approach in the implementation of ICT in education. Given that the implementation of IT in education involves much more that hardware and software, it is a process of organisational change. We recognise that there is a two-way relationship between an organisation and IT and that there are mediating factors in the way IT is adopted and exploited within the organisation. Our own findings have identified through the perception of schoolteachers, various organisational factors, which have contributed to the slow adoption and the lack of exploitation of IT in schools.

Some of these organisational factors include the school

infrastructure, teaching staff’s professional development, school IT culture, time management issues, both government and school policies, funding etc. Indeed what is needed is an integrated approach that recognises the complexity and interrelations of these issues. In this respect, the adoption of IT in education presents similarities to the problems that have been researched in relation to IT development and implementation in other organizations. Educational stakeholders can therefore gain insights about IT adoption from other research in information systems. However, in order to be able to do this, it is first necessary to make sense of the challenges that IT adoption presents in education. Also, it is important to continue this research at a larger scale in order to provide a more accurate picture of the different levels of IT adoption in the UK and in Greece, but also in order to record extensively the needs and expectations of the teachers, as well as of other groups involved in education, including pupils, government bodies, national agencies, teacher associations and IT 30

IT adoption in British and Greek Secondary Education: Issues and Reflections

vendors. A detailed discussion of the views of these stakeholder groups is necessary for a better understanding of the educational context and the capabilities of IT within it, so that decision making can be more effective at both local and national level. We hope that this paper will generate a research interest in this direction and thus contribute to an improvement in the adoption of IT in education.

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