ICT in learning and teaching
Perceptions data, and summary of perceptions/questionnaire data
Staff
The findings reported here are based on two sets of questionnaire responses: those designed for teaching staff and those designed for non-teaching staff from across all three phases. The total number of teaching staff completing the questionnaires in 2002-03 was 802, and in 2003-04 was 482. Support staff figures mirrored these totals, with totals of 447 in 2002-03 and 225 in 2003-04. This is a disappointing return and we would not want to see any further erosion of the sample in year three of the evaluation.
As with the previous questionnaires, tests of difference were applied to this data to establish where significant changes in responses had taken place between the first and second years. It was necessary to include all sectors in one analysis as there are very small numbers of staff in the nursery and special school and there was a small response rate for the FE sector. The vast majority of questions for both staff types reflected significant positive changes between the two years and for this reason we have not indicated for each question that the change was significant. Rather, those questions for which there was no statistical significant difference have been clearly marked in the following text.
Skills and competencies
- Staff across all sectors reported increased confidence when using ICT and a significant increase in skill levels. They also reported an increase in the amount and quality of training they had received. It appears to be the case that improved access to high-quality training has resulted in increasingly positive attitudes towards ICT use, even amongst the most reticent of users. All staff reported enjoying working on computers and felt that they help to improve productivity and reduce workloads.
- Positive attitudes have resulted in a significant increase in the number of staff reporting regular use of a computer; for example, the number of FE support staff reporting daily use of a computer has risen from 63% to 90%.
- There have been significant increases in the number of staff reporting institutional provision of ICT for use at home, although non-teaching staff across all sectors report slightly lower levels of provision than teaching staff.
- Staff reported the highest level of ICT competencies for applications such as word processing or using the internet or email. FE staff reported far higher levels of use of email than the parents or any of the student groups, and knowledge and use of email was marginally higher for teaching than support staff in FE. The only question in this section not to show a statistically significant gain between the first and second years was teaching staff knowledge of multimedia applications across all sectors.
- FE support staff generally spent more time using ICT for supporting learning and whole-college activities than for other tasks. The FE teaching staff allocated most of their time using ICT to working directly with students, which was also true of the primary teaching staff. Secondary teachers reported using ICT predominantly for supporting learning closely followed by working directly with students, which was the same pattern as for the primary support staff. ICT use for general administration tasks was the primary use of ICT for secondary support staff.
ICT access and support
- Daily use was much higher for primary and secondary teachers than support staff, both at school and at home. Access to ICT was largely in the home or school for both support staff and teaching staff and there was little use of facilities in other locations such as libraries. Levels of ICT hardware and software in the schools and colleges were reported as satisfactory for the needs of both teaching and support staff.
- Informal training such as help from a friend or colleague formed a large part of the training received by staff, particularly the support staff. More formal training was less frequent, and minimal training had been provided for authoring software, content management software (VLEs) and management information systems (MIS).
- Half to three quarters of all primary and secondary teachers and support staff were able to access help when using ICT. Help at home was less frequently available than help at school. Provision of ICT for home use was generally in the form of the school issuing laptops. Teaching staff were the main beneficiaries of such provision.
ICT as a motivator for students
- Staff from both primary and secondary sectors were agreed that ICT motivates students to learn; and teachers from all sectors, but particularly primary teachers, felt that taking more pride in their work is the main motivator for pupils when using ICT in learning rather than grades and competition. However, FE teaching staff held a wider range of views about the role of ICT in motivating students.
- The main uses of ICT in FE teaching were reported as teachers using ICT to present information and prepare resources, and teachers engaging students in discussion, explanation and demonstration possibly using an interactive whiteboard.
- The majority of FE teaching staff indicated that their students predominantly used ICT to help them learn about a topic, recall and report information.
- Teachers' reports of students using internet and email in class time, either within or outside the classroom, across all sectors were relatively low in general. FE teachers reported higher levels of these activities than either primary or secondary teachers, although all sectors had increased their use from last year.
- Teachers in schools and colleges also reported an increase in collaboration between students using ICT in lessons.
Views and attitudes
- Both teaching and support staff at primary and secondary level reported positive perceptions on their quality of life. There was a more mixed response from staff in FE. While staff were generally positive about working in college, responses in the 'agree' and 'strongly agree' categories were at least 11% higher from support staff. However, support staff views on the amount of free time they have, feeling valued and enjoying work showed no statistically significant differences.
- Views on institutional leadership and management and the schools as organisations were encouraging; with staff generally indicating satisfaction with the school's direction and leadership. Collaboration between staff was reported to be better for primary schools than for secondary. In the two colleges which completed this section of the questionnaire, college management and leadership styles were also on the whole regarded in a positive manner. Positive responses were, however, lower for college support staff's views on clarity of aims and collaboration within staff, and college teaching staff's views on leadership and support for staff.
- Roughly half of the respondents from schools agreed that their school's management of resources was satisfactory in terms of appropriate class sizes and use of ICT in managing resources. Primary support and teaching staff were more positive about their schools having a well-designed timetable than the secondary staff, although the secondary staff were not unduly negative.
- In the two colleges which answered this section, decision making procedures attracted mixed responses from support staff and negative responses from teaching staff. However, teaching staff gave more positive than negative responses in relation to joint planning between teachers and classroom/learning assistants, which was in agreement with the responses from support staff.
Note: One college requested the removal of section 4 from their staff questionnaires. This section covers issues of institutional leadership and management and staff quality of life.