RQ1a: What has been the general nature of policies in the USA, England, Estonia and Australia for ICT in school education?

RQ1b: What were the development and implementation processes of these policies?

RQ2: How have government inputs such as ICT frameworks, targeted funding and accreditation requirements influenced the use of computers in schools?

RQ3: What teacher professional development policies & procedures were evident in the countries studied?

RQ4: ICT frameworks and pathways.

A

Evidence of a pedagogical rationale.

A

Inspirations.

A

What general inputs were identified?

A

Teacher ICT standards originate in pre-service training, but soon extend to in-service.

A

What is the level of satisfaction of the experts about their country’s development of ICT in education?

B

Evidence of a social rationale.

B

Visions of the policy writers.

B

What specific inputs were identified?

B

In-service ICT professional development requires very careful presentation and pre-conditions

B

Which elements of current policy and practice are barriers to ICT adoption?

C

Evidence of an economic rationale (1) for national prosperity (2) for working life.

C

School application of ICT.

C

How did these inputs influence schools?

C

How is ICT professional development assessed?

C

Which elements of current policies and practices point towards the future?

D

What is the idea of I(C)T? Is it a unitary concept in education and how is this kept under constant revision?

D

Areas of contention.

D

How were the effects monitored?

D

How is the effect of ICT professional development evaluated?

D

What factors did the experts consider important for future policies and their implementation?

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

BM21: The pedagogical rationale for ICT in English education derived from differentiation.

A

BM16: In England the implementation of ICT in education policy is through all subjects.

C

BM 8/10: National curriculum accreditation in England makes ICT mandatory for students.

A

BM26: A pre-requisite for participation in classroom ICT PD was teacher basic skills and a defined level of school computer hardware in England.

B

BM72: The objective of ICT PD in England is at the Phase 2  level (to help a greater proportion of students reach the current benchmarks).

A

BM91: The national curriculum in England was brought into force despite teacher criticism.

A

BM21: There were common origins for ICT policies in USA and England. [Al Gore] [COMPARE ESTONIA]

A

BM27:The lottery funded ICT training was the biggest ever PD project in England.

B

BM75: Kid plus machine is different than kid.

E

DM46: Current standards for ICT in education don’t go far enough – constant revision is necessary in the light of technological improvement.

D

BM103 & 110: many ICT initiatives are proceeding in English education without interconnection.

D

DM23: The states of the USA are following the federal lead in respect of setting ICT standards for students.

A

BM32/33: The English ICT PD in-service programme was exposed to competitive market forces.

B

BM79: Perkins redefines the concept of ability when working with ICT.

E

EM46: The Estonian curriculum has historically been based upon knowledge of facts with set contact times per week for each subject. [LINK to NM]

B

BM120-126: The policy for ICT in education in England was influenced by national curriculum, inspectorate & government modernisation programme.

A

DM76: Some evaluations of ICT have compared performance on standard tests. Which is only OK if the expected outcome from education is test performance. [LINK TO LIT REVIEW]

D

BM36: the objectives of the ICT PD in England were confused.

?

DM20: Current ICT standards are mundane.

A

EM46: If ICT can bring about changes in Estonian society, then it can also bring about changes to Estonian education.

B

DM3: The 1983 report ‘a nation at risk’ in the USA was a spur for curriculum reform.

A

BM38: Differentiation was applied to the ICT PD itself in England.

B

DM20: Man + machine is a good learning combination.

E

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

EM59: One view is that ICT has no value of itself – but it can improve teaching effectiveness in all subjects.

A

DM36: In the USA education has become an area it is politically desirable to support.

A

BM43: An example of a PD activity – make a set of ‘favourites’ for a teaching activity.

B

DM21: New disciplines are arising because of ICT.

E

MR11: ICT policy in England suggests three ways to use computers:

-as a subject in its own right

-to improve teaching in other subjects or embedded within them -or in CAD/CAM where they are essential to the subject.

[COMPARE MOTPD]

A

DM41: Standards development in the USA was bottom-up.

A

KB89: Despite its status in the National Curriculum, there was no national testing of ICT in England (as there was for English, Maths and Science).

D

BM44: ICT PD needs to be 40-50 hours.

B

DM66+67: Independent learning in the NETS (USA) standards only got a small mention because they were working to the lowest common level and many of the planning group were against computer aided learning. [LINK BARBER, 1999]

B

MR31 & 61: Micro-electronics and control technology is compulsory for al students in the English Design and Technology subject of the national curriculum.

C1

KB105: It’s unlikely the planners of the original 1990 national curriculum in England had a clear view about the nature of ICT.

B

DM15+17: In the USA pre-service teachers cannot meet ICT standards for G8 students.

B

DM81: Standards are a step on the road to ‘changing the purpose of education’, with independent learning an important part of this change.

D

MR65&69: IT capability was brought into the English national curriculum for all students in all subjects because of the determination of the planning group who used the economic rationale as justification.

C2

KB107: There is evidence that the use of bespoke software for education is declining and is being replaced by generic office software.

C

DM84: 12 hours ICT PD a year is not enough to stay current with the operation of office packages, let alone be transformative.

B

DM81: The need for transformation is illustrated by the proportion of knowledge advances emanating from multi-disciplinary teams.

E

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

Model

MR125: In England, IT is a core subject alongside literacy, numeracy, religious education and science.

A

KB155: In England, the fortunes of politicians hang heavily upon ICT being effective in education, because they have invested so much money in it.

A

TE128: Adoption of ICT in Estonian basic and primary schools has been greater than for other sectors because they have a more flexible timetable and less high-stakes accreditation requirements.

C

EM1: You need a lot of PD time for in-service ICT PD. [LINK TO DM84]

B

DM82: the potential for radical change is illustrated by comparing the power of a 1999 Mac G4 which is similar to that used for forecasting USA weather in 1994.

E

MR127: Micro-electronics for all in England has not yet had the desired economic effect.

C1

MR19: The original national curriculum in England was planned by subject groups who did not inter-relate.

D

DM4: Title 1 (socio-economic status) money was used by Federal government to put IT into USA schools.

B

EM1: Initial teacher training does not change quickly enough to respond to ICT

A

EM9: ICT should integrate subjects together (enhance cross-disciplinary links).

E

DM4: The USA education system originated in 1900s.

D

MR53: the impetus for the introduction of a national curriculum in England was a political desire to centralise control over school education. This was shown by Ministerial feedback on early drafts on the History syllabus which asked for less contextual understanding, more knowledge of dates.

A

DM9: The ‘Free’ web-site makes US govt material available to schools as an information resource. (Kickbush, 1998)

B

EM64 & 66: ICT PD is needed to overcome the professional fears of students who know more about ICT than they do. [LINK TO MR & KB in England]

B

EM13: The Estonian vertebrates web-site provides tests and supportive material that would not fit on the CD-ROM.

C

MR53: The IT subject was included in the English national curriculum because of its perceived economic importance to the country.

C1

MR101&113: In England, centralisation of education was presented as devolution, and schools were bought out of local authority control by additional resource allocations.

A

NM182: the National Grid for learning was designed to distribute educational materials.

B

EM89: PD links to curriculum change.

D

EM86: ICT changes the nature of student-teacher relationships.

D

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

MR133: In England there have been difficulties getting IT incorporated into the curriculum for the final years of schooling because of overcrowding. [COMPARE ESTONIA]

B

MR123: IT capability is more than how to use software packages: its learning critically about practical applications of IT as well as using it to achieve learning outcomes for particular subjects.

B

MR185: you can share educational thinking through the National Grid for learning.

B

KB11: In England it was difficult to link PD and curriculum because they were supervised by two different organizations. [LINK TO EM89]

D

KB195: A transformative phase is incorporated into the English national curriculum (2000) since it specifies topics that cannot be taught without ICT.

C

BM143: English policy is mute on areas of incompatibility – ie ‘class teaching of the basics’ and ICT-enhanced learner autonomy.

D                      

TE21, 36&68: It took three attempts to get an explanation of the national policy to ICT across the curriculum. ICT is generally a theme to be handled at every level of school, and basic school graduates should know how to use computers in their work.

B

KB21: In England the ICT standards for pre and In-service teachers were linked. [LINK TO DM]

A/B

KB199: Chris Woodhead (chief HMI in England until his resignation in Nov 2000) maintained that schools 20 years from now would still look the same. Stephen Heppell disagreed. There is no consensus about the overall direction we are going.

D

TE57: the difficulty of translating software into the local language has been a barrier to ICT adoption in Estonia.

D

KB59: There can often be a mis-match between the perceptions of a particular activity when teachers believe a subject is being studied, and students believe they are learning about ICT.

D

KB202: There are schools in England with virtual classes with their learning materials online. For instance in small secondary schools in Wales, or the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

C

TE58: local software development is crucial to ICT adoption.

D

KB137: The criterion for successful ICT PD is the subsequent quality of teacher decision-making.

C

MR134: In England examination boards do not permit submission of desktop published material because of the difficulties of authentication and plagiarism.

B

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

NM14-15: There was tension in the design process of the 1990 national curriculum between practice and policy.

B

KB163: There is a mis-match between the ICT standards for students and those for teachers.

D

MR144: Evidence of English level = Phase 2: a school in Manchester got home computers for all students and used RM PIC to allow home access to learning materials based upon the current curriculum.

C

TE200: In Estonia students have been known to use online translation engines to help with their foreign language homework.

D

MR191: All pre-service teachers in England are required to demonstrate competence at using ICT to teach in their area of specialism.

A

MR164: There is an analogy between literacy and IT in England – both can be taught across the curriculum.

C

NM10: The original technology subject was drawn up for the English national curriculum (1990) by a group chaired by Lady Parks (previously chair of NCET etc), and with members John Hammon (City University), Paddy O’Hagen (teacher), Ben Kelosly (business studies teacher, Hampshire), Andy Bracken (CEO design and technology association), David Leighton (Professor of science Education, Leeds University) and an IT person from industry.

B

MR195: All in-service teachers in England are being given the chance to be trained to use ICT to the same standards as those expected of pre-service teachers. This is encouraged by advertising and requirements for career progression.

A/B

TE13: Estonia ‘skipped’ a stage of development and missed having both Macintosh computers and early PCs.

D

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

NM22: Whether IT was taught across the curriculum was a school-level choice for the English 1990 national curriculum: the legal requirement defined what should be taught, not how.

C

MR211: the standards for ICT PD in England are deliberately organised with teaching applications first, and personal skills second.

B

TE80: Estonia skipped a development stage by going straight to wireless broadband Internet connections for schools.

D

NM50 & 56The planning group for the 1995 English national curriculum found it advantageous to confound the rationales for ICT as a tool for lifelong learning and employability. Employability is a sub-branch of the economic rationale.

B

MR231: Teachers can determine their ICT training needs in England by using the needs assessment CD-ROMs.

B

TE106&110: There was evidence of transformative developments in Estonia when web pages and email were used to support distance education due to the lack of specialist teachers of biology for 17 year old students.

C

NM114: The question of improved effectiveness or the pedagogical rationale for ICT entered into UK policy thinking with the Stevenson report (1997).

C

MR239: ICT PD in England focuses on the subject to be taught, not the technology.

B

TE 174: Estonia skipped a stage of development by using Unix servers in its schools.

D

NM182: Schemes of work to accompany the national curriculum were used by 75% of schools.

C2

TE138: the cost of formal ECDL ICT PD accreditation was too high for Estonia, but nevertheless was used as a framework for the training.

B

EM115: Example of implementation skipping steps: Estonia went straight to wireless Internet connectivity.

D

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

NM192 & 204: Material bridging current teacher skills and understanding with policy expectations for practice should be attractive and disposable, distributed together with national curriculum requirements which should be plain and unattractive by comparison.

C2

TE148: Teacher ICT skill assessment needs to be done using authentic situations, not on-line drills.

C

NM6: New subjects do arise: cf ICT itself in the English National Curriculum 1990.

D

DM82: Exemplification materials for the NETS (USA) standards illustrate how ICT can support the existing curriculum, not show how ICT can transform education.

D

TE184: Teachers will not use student-accessible computers to develop their ICT skills.

A/B

NM28: Policy needs to be commensurate with teacher skills and societal expectations: there has to be a balance between low-level button pushing skills in the ICT area, and a higher vision.

D

TE54: New high-stakes examinations in Estonia at the end of schooling are barriers to ICT adoption for this age group. [COMPARE  ENGLAND]

D

DM33: In the USA ICT standards for teachers started with pre-service and were extended to in-service [AS ENGLAND - MR191]

A/B

NM34: As one of the designers of the English national curriculum for 1995, NM saw IT as an organic whole, not a bag of bits.

D

DM38: a single person (Lejeane Thoms) was responsible for initiating the move to ICT standards for teachers in the USA.

A

NM64: Many schools interpreted the original national curriculum requirements for IT as training at the level of Phase 1: training in keyboard skills.

A

RQ1a

RQ1b

RQ2

RQ3

RQ4

DM60: Florida put 30% of ICT money into staff development

B

NM72: Explanatory materials to help schools understand how to implement the English 1990 national curriculum IT subject area were largely ignored by schools

B

KB57: Significant funds were spent on ICT PD in England following directives from top-level government.

B

NM146: An example of how ICT can transform a subject would be the study of dialects when learning a foreign language.

E

KB151: The English government was looking for a change in teacher attitude to ICT. Funding targeted at ICT PD was expected to produce this

B

NM154: An historical example of curriculum transformation is given by the emergence of English degrees in the last 150 years. Previously only Greats or Classics were taught.

E

NM169: Internet links between home and school can be used to replicate practice at the level of Phase 2, but  they can also be used transformatively.

C

DM60: Implementation of ICT in education policy in the USA has been generally poor [Compare NM in UK]

A