Executive summary
This evaluation report presents preliminary findings on the impact of investing high levels of ICT in schools and colleges, with specific reference to areas of socio-economic deprivation. The report focuses on key findings from the ICT Test Bed project which will inform educational policy and practice.
Management and administration
Institutional change can be embedded rapidly through a whole-school approach to innovation using ICT
The ICT Test Bed project adopted a 'whole-organisational' approach to change in schools, incorporating external consultancy as well as rapid investment in infrastructure development. In colleges, the project was tightly focused on three 'whole' course areas. This whole-institution strategy caused strong mutual support mechanisms to be developed which has enabled considerable technological maturity to be achieved between 2003 and 2005, evidenced by high levels of workforce and student confidence and competence. This collaborative culture has led to improved corporate planning in the schools. A culture of readiness for change has led to good use of externally provided change management tools.
In order to make embedded use of both ICT infrastructure and resources, institutions need a flexible workforce open to change
In many of the ICT Test Bed schools and colleges, enhanced ICT has triggered greater flexibility of roles, with many teachers taking a lead role in developing the use of different equipment. The role of teaching assistants has been enhanced, administrative staff have taken on new responsibilities for managing management information systems (MIS), and technicians and support staff have taken on new roles to support teaching and learning. The roles of all staff are potentially changed in ICT-rich schools and colleges and this has led to a more integrated and inclusive staffing culture.
Effective management information systems (MIS) provide a tool for leaders to achieve their institutional vision
Educational vision and leadership, together with good management, are crucial for institutional change. Enhanced ICT infrastructures have provided ICT Test Bed managers with incentives and tools to develop visionary leadership by providing quality information which is readily available and easily shared - through larger server capacity and management information systems (MIS) - facilitating, for example, target-setting and analysis of assessment. This has improved insight and decision-making. Effective use of such systems depends on good support and training. Sharing information with central government and local authorities is clearly facilitated by ICT; schools are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their analysis of such information for the benefit of the school.
Electronic registration improves attendance
Electronic registration, including lesson-by-lesson registration in secondary schools, has improved attendance in some ICT Test Bed schools. The speed of registration has made lesson starts smoother and absence/lateness more public. Enhanced analysis reveals 'selective attendance', which facilitates prompt action and improved communication with parents. In primary schools, the immediate availability of data to the school secretary prompts an early morning contact with parents/guardians that has had a major impact on attendance, raising it in some instances by three to four per cent, and improved security.
Behaviour monitoring aids discipline
The use of behaviour monitoring software has made communication between teachers and pastoral care managers quicker, more consistent and focused, leading to more efficient responses to behavioural problems. The impact of this will be investigated in the forthcoming year.
ICT Test Bed appears to have facilitated improvement in attainment
Overall, ICT Test Bed local authorities (LAs) narrowed the gap between their own student attainment levels and those of LAs selected as benchmark comparators. This is a considerable achievement after just one full year of working with enhanced levels of ICT. Preliminary evidence from the benchmarking shows that attainment of students within ICT Test Bed LAs improved significantly for some subjects at some key stages between 2003 and 2004. The final evaluation report will present further evidence of any changes in students' attainment during 2004 to 2006.
Curriculum impact
ICT Test Bed has led to embedded ICT use across the curriculum
There has been a clear shift in the ICT Test Bed project towards embedding ICT in teaching and learning across the curriculum in all schools and colleges. This is a very positive move forward from the position recorded by the ImpaCT2 evaluation in 2002, when most use of ICT was for teaching ICT skills. In primary schools, this is evident in all curriculum areas; in secondary schools, despite some unevenness between the extent of use in different subjects, most subjects now have ICT-rich elements; in FE colleges, all the target departments show greater use of ICT for learning and teaching.
The secondary school timetable is a barrier to making good use of ICT
Implementing change in secondary schools poses challenges relating to scale, departmental cultures, and movement within school both of teachers and students. Secondary teachers are severely hampered in using ICT for teaching and learning because the timetable fragments the day into short teaching periods with frequent movement of students and staff. There are logistical difficulties in repeatedly issuing and 'logging on' laptops for use by different students in each period, as well as insufficient time for students to engage fully with ICT. In order to embed ICT in secondary schools, consideration should be given both to the way in which the school day is planned and to designing infrastructure arrangements that serve both current and anticipated future needs of secondary schools and their students.
ICT use for teaching and learning declines before formal tests and examinations
The current arrangements for national tests, and the recommended national strategies, were not designed with ICT-rich schools in mind, with the result that teachers consciously reduce the extent of ICT use in the year leading up to tests to ensure learner written performance on the tests and to safeguard attainment levels. The introduction of online tests for Key Stage 3 ICT SATs has been welcomed. The use of ICT for recording and evidencing in the baseline assessment at the foundation stage in ICT Test Bed schools shows that alternative, and in our view more fit-for-purpose, teacher assessment arrangements can be facilitated by ICT.
Learner impact
Learners' motivation and engagement in learning and education is increased by access to ICT
Learners in the ICT Test Bed schools and colleges are very confident in their use of ICT. In primary schools and FE colleges, they are consistently enthusiastic about the positive impact it has on their learning. Secondary students are less unanimous in their approval and some expressed frustration in interviews; a key factor is the extent to which learners are given personal access, autonomy and choice in using ICT.
There has been a significant increase in the home use of ICT by learners
Access to a computer at home has increased with over 90 per cent of learners now reporting that they have home access. This is frequently used to research information over the internet. For FE students, the internet, rather than books, is now the favoured way of accessing information.
ICT is highly motivating for learners with special educational needs (SEN)
Some learners with special educational needs (SEN), such as autism and attention deficit syndrome, have shown greatly improved attention when teachers use ICT for whole-class presentations, or allow them to use digital equipment such as cameras and microscopes. There is some evidence that use of an interactive whiteboard provides a public forum for primary SEN students to demonstrate their abilities in a non-textual medium, impacting on self-esteem and sense of achievement. In secondary schools, the multiple stimuli and varied approaches, coupled with more interesting skill-practice materials, are increasing motivation.
Increased dependence on ICT by learners needs improved keyboard skills
As learners' use of ICT increases, their lack of keyboard skills is increasingly a nuisance and some ICT Test Bed institutions are now tackling this issue.
Teacher impacts
ICT Test Bed teachers now have high levels of skills and motivation in using ICT
There have been exceptional gains in the competence and confidence of primary school teachers and FE course tutors who now routinely use ICT in all their teaching. Secondary teachers' use is more varied between departments and individuals, but many are making extensive use of ICT. New technologies that provide a good 'fit' with existing practices, such as interactive whiteboards and visualisers, are obviously the first to become embedded, but others like video conferencing, digital video, microscopes and virtual learning environments are now being incorporated, providing evidence of ongoing learning by the workforce. Increased competence leads to a demand for even greater competence. Training needs to continue to support innovative pedagogy.
ICT enables shared planning of teaching, improving quality and ease of curriculum construction
There is significant evidence of ICT being used to formalise co-operative planning by teachers and making curriculum plans easily available to colleagues and managers. There are considerable time savings in medium and long-term planning which can be corporately shared, reducing teacher workloads. Short-term planning is certainly of a higher quality and more detailed, often including samples of what students are expected to achieve and efficient links to resources for use in lessons. In some clusters, a corporate and co-ordinated approach to planning and resource creation has been a useful lever for staff development.
ICT has improved student curriculum access in FE colleges
In FE colleges, the development of e-viewers has had a major impact in making systems more accessible and easier to access via web-based interfaces. Once complex tasks such as in-depth analysis of specific aspects of information are now routine and require little effort. This enables tutors to develop more meaningful learning experiences with their students, offering more examples and increased interaction.
Increases in the detail and efficiency of learner assessments have resulted in improved target-setting
ICT has provided the context for increased sharing of work between staff and this has improved the quality and efficiency of the assessments of learners' work. Records can be kept electronically and examples of learners' work can be stored and analysed collaboratively. This has led to clearer target-setting for learners and to improvements in reporting to parents. For FE learners on work placements, the use of digital cameras to record their work has enhanced assessment portfolios.
Related issues
Schools do not have the capacity to manage the distribution of computers into students' homes
The experience of the ICT Test Bed project indicates that schools do not have the capacity to manage the distribution of computers to homes in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. Factors such as the expense of connectivity and software licences, poor available infrastructure and lack of landlines in homes, and the time needed to provide technical support, impose demands that schools cannot meet.
In FE colleges, ICT has enabled considerable changes in communications with employers
In FE colleges there have been considerable savings of time and money by using email to communicate with employers and set up work placements.