What is currently the most significant barrier to achieving the educational potential of Information and Communication Technology in education and what must we do to overcome that barrier?

---

by Jan Clewett

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Australian schools is accepted by all sectors of the community as a high priority.

The MCEETYA Joint Statement on Education and Training in the Information Economy released in 2005 provides a national vision for improving education and training outcomes for all Australians through the ubiquitous use of Information and Communication Technology.

Millions of dollars are being invested annually by the Australian government however educators agree ICT integration has not reached its full potential. Technology is like a tap of running water with a funnel. The funnel is upside down with the water running everywhere and little is going into it.

Why is this happening?

At present there is too little planning and implementation is taking place in an ad hoc manner throughout all levels of the education hierarchy. Too much flexibility encourages educators to do whatever they please and there is little need to be accountable for the outcomes. Although all schools are required to have an ICT development plan, for many this is just a box ticking exercise that delivers little other than central office compliance.

For ICT integration to have a more positive impact on education, changes need to occur beginning with individual schools IT culture. The critical element in the success of this change lies in strong effective leadership.

Throughout history research has focussed on teaching practices to provide solutions to the multitude of problems in education. Not surprisingly, the teaching factor is perceived as the most critical in nurturing ICT integration within the curriculum.

Current research has focussed on:

• Teacher’s attitude, belief and competency as being the most significant barrier and the greatest challenge to school renewal and ongoing ICT integration.
• Teachers lack of confidence and skills with computers and the lack of incentive for retraining have been cited as significant factors in the failure of teachers to integrate information technology into their classes.
• Teachers lack of familiarity with computer hardware and software have threatened teacher’s sense of competence and authority so there is seen to be little value to continue with this practice.
• Teacher’s attitudes to change as the greatest barrier to integration of information technology into learning.

Just as all ills in education can be traced back to the teacher, the responsibility for ICT integration not reaching its potential is again seen to lie with the teacher and irresponsible teaching practices.

It is time for teachers to speak out; time to look at the real reason they may not be reaching their full teaching potential in integrating ICT.

Teachers believe this reason lies in the lack of a strong support network within the IT school culture which stems from a distinct lack of leadership. If a school has no clear vision of it’s strategies for integration and no real plan to provide an environment of support and education to all stakeholders, then potential opportunities are lost and precious funds evaporate and are wasted.

Lack of Effective leadership: the barrier to ICT change

It is only in recent years a number of researchers have been focusing their attention on the effects of leadership as a critical element in the success of schools seeking to implement ICT change. Strong ICT leadership is synonymous with strong IT culture. Anderson and Dexter (2005) report on the analysis of data from the 1998 Teaching, Learning, and Computing survey of more than 800 schools in the USA and conclude that “although technology infrastructure is important, for educational technology to become an integral part of a school, technology leadership is even more necessary”

Their analysis showed a high positive correlation between strong technology leadership in schools and results of the following three outcomes:

• net use by teachers and students
• technology integration measured by the numbers of teachers who integrated technology into various teaching activities
• student tool usage

They measured the characteristic of leadership by the following variables:

• presence of a technology committee
• principal spending five or more days per year on technology planning
• principal making regular use of email for communication
• presence of a staff development policy in relation to technology
• budget provision for technology
• district support
• special grants for technology
• an intellectual property policy

Variations in access to ICTs and levels of school based ICT infrastructure are also critical to the successful uptake of ICTs in the classroom (Loveless, 1996); this shows high correlation to levels of teacher and systems support, such that the stronger the ICT culture of a school, the more likely it is to 'use' ICTs as a teaching and learning platform (Lim, Khine, Hew, Wong, Shanti & Lim, 2003; Bitner & Bitner, 2002).
An Australian study by Hayes pursues the importance of leadership in supporting the process of ICT integration and shows how local conditions of schooling impact on NSW teachers attempts to integrate these technologies in their classrooms. In these six schools concerted efforts were being made to integrate ICT into curriculum.

Findings from this study showed:

• Strong and ongoing ICT leadership reflected a strong ICT culture within the school and provided the school’s vision for ICT integration
• leadership varied from each school however often included the principal, deputy principal, a curriculum co-ordinator, a technology committee, network co-ordinators and interested teachers
• commitment and involvement of the principal contributed to successful integration of ICT; particularly when this process is tightly coupled to the schools vision for learning
• the principal and other leaders of learning, are focussed on how ICT enhances, supports and opens up new forms of learning
• schools that do not have their principal actively involved in ICT integration are still capable of making progress with proactive members intent on improving learning through ICT with the potential to strengthen and align a schools effort

How can we make a change to the school IT culture?

From these studies it is clear schools need to have a strong ICT leadership group which may be composed of the principal, deputy principal, HOD’s a curriculum co-ordinator, a technology committee, network co-ordinators and interested enthusiastic teachers. Provision must be made for succession planning to ensure the ongoing success in the event of key personal leaving the group.
To help schools use technology effectively Barnett (2001) has developed the following series of 10 steps to help leaders design thoughtful technology plans.

1. CREATE A VISION:

   This group needs to have a clear vision of it’s strategies for integration within the school and this vision needs to be shared with all members of the school community.

2. INVOLVE ALL STAKEHOLDERS:

   All stakeholders need to have input into developing a plan. This encourages school spirit and generates enthusiasm towards the planned goals.

3. GATHER DATA:

   The school must understand where they are in order to focus on the future. As much data as possible should be gathered to identify the present position so inventories of ICT, teacher and student computer use and levels of ICT integration should be recorded to gauge improvement. A SWOT analysis is useful to identify potential. Include a list of policy documents and educational frameworks provided by the relevant education bodies. These will impact on ways data is collected and used to support funding and satisfy educational requirements.

4. REVIEW THE RESEARCH:

   Be aware of current research and keep abreast of any changes. This information should be available for easy access by the school community

5. INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY INTO THE CURRICULUM:

   Integrate technology into the curriculum. Factors such as access, time, training and cost must be factored into the budget

6. COMMIT TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

   There is an urgent need for all teaching staff to have access to professional development to improve their techniques and skills for successful integration of ICT into the curriculum.

Many researchers support this belief. In its report to the European Parliament the EU commission stated:

"Training teachers in the latest information technology is a continuing process. Teacher’s knowledge/skills in using computers for instructional purposes was a bigger problem than a perceived lack of interest"--Holmes B, 2000 #5

Further studies by Mitze and Gibbons (2000), support the need for regular teacher training opportunities. These keep teachers aware of the need to enhance their IT integration practices as well as help them to keep abreast of the ever changing world of IT.

The Apple Classroom Of Tomorrow research found that teachers' growth goes through five stages: entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation, and invention. Even with a strong professional development program, less than 50 percent of teachers reach level three.

"The most effective staff development programs deliver to teachers when they need it, at their school, and on their own equipment." --Barnett (2001)

To achieve this, schools need to develop their own mentoring programs. Enthusiasm can be generated by providing collegial exchanges of knowledge and experiences through “in school” instruction led by enthusiastic experienced stakeholders.  This provides a strong and supportive network of encouragement for teachers to experiment and innovate using ICT.

7. ENSURE A SOUND INFRASTRUCTURE:

   Technical support must be available to maintain equipment and keep networks operational so that all systems are functional 24/7 with minimal downtime.

8. ALLOCATE APPROPRIATE FUNDING AND BUDGET:

   a budget should be planned. For each dollar:
•  40% should be for hardware,
• 20% for software,
• 20% for professional development,
• 20% for upgrades and additional needs as teachers' expertise grows,
• A separate budget needs to be allocated for technical support which should be available at all times so teachers have confidence that the time they spend wont be lost with systems failure.

9. PLAN FOR ONGOING MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT:

   This assessment needs to measure:
•  the school IT culture
• student use
• teacher use
• management of IT resources
• staff development

10. PREPARE FOR TOMORROW:

    Be aware that with ICT’s there are new environments for learning around the next corner. Funds should be set aside to encourage teachers to try new things to determine and assess their value.

Technology is forever changing the way teachers teach and the way students learn. In a teacher’s career, which may span a period of up to 40 years, it is unimaginable how often a teacher’s knowledge and skills of ICT will need to change. A dedicated teacher will be required to continually up skill to keep abreast of this knowledge explosion. To stay current this effort will be ongoing and for their entire career.

Strong school leadership and a positive school IT culture will support a teacher’s professional development. A clear school vision of it’s strategies for integration needs should be shared with all members of the school community. Time should be allocated and funding provided to allow teachers to keep abreast of change, improve knowledge, skills and understanding of teaching pedagogy. This expensive and time consuming task will be budgeted, timetabled and outlined in successive technology plans.

A supportive school IT culture generates enthusiasm by providing collegial exchanges of knowledge and experiences. This provides a strong and supportive network of encouragement for teachers to experiment and innovate using ICT. Without this support, ICT professional development for teachers becomes a long, lonely, ongoing, time consuming and extremely expensive task, one that becomes easy to avoid even for the most dedicated teacher.

Teachers need to be provided with equitable access to the technology they are required to teach. This not only includes access to hardware, software and internet access but more importantly, access to technical support. Teachers need their own computer to become familiar with technology, improve their knowledge and skills and develop confidence in their abilities. Technical support must be available to maintain equipment and keep networks operational so that all systems are functional 24/7 with minimal downtime.

A strong IT school culture would ensure a sound technology infrastructure and through its ICT planning would allocate appropriate funding for hardware, software, upgrades and technical support. This would be available at all times so teachers have confidence that the time they spend won’t be lost with systems failure.

These variables influencing a teacher’s ability to integrate technology are not the responsibility of individual teachers. Teachers receive no allocation of government funds to equip themselves with technological tools. Many teachers allocate their own funds for this purpose and it is little wonder the majority of teachers are reluctant to do the same. Considering the speed at which technology changes, over a lifetime teaching career this self education expense would involve considerable expenditure.

Conclusion

The literature studied points towards the absolute need for strong ICT leadership within the school. By providing this strong leadership we have now removed the biggest barrier to ensure ICT change. Developing a successive plan that incorporates these essential elements and provides appropriate funding sees the vision of ICT integration become a reality. The school IT culture becomes a supportive network to encourage teacher experimentation and innovation. Enthusiasm created in the process fosters a positive working environment for learning.

In the analogy of the funnel it now needs to be flipped over. The school is focussing its energy and is now providing a steady stream of great educational outcomes. Teachers are provided with support to develop new teaching methods and are are given access to reliable technology. Instead of evaporating, funds are being channelled into areas of need to support the long term school vision and achieve the educational potential of Information and Communications Technology in education.

Bibliography

1. Anderson R.E & Dexter, S. (2000). School Technology Leadership: Incedence and Impact. Teaching, Learning, and Computing: 1998 National Survey. Irvine, Center for Research oInformation Technology and Organizations University of California.
2. Anderson R.E & Dexter, S. (2005). "School technology leadership: An empirical investigation of prevalence and effect." Educational Administration Quarterly Online 41(1): 49-82
3. Barnett, H. (2001). Successful K-12 Technology Planning: Ten Essential Elements. . ERIC Digest. E. C. o. I. a. Technology. Syracuse NY.
4. Holmes B, S. T., Tangney B (2000). Innovation in Learning in the Information Society: A Comparative International Study. The Centre for Research in I. T. in Education. Dublin, A Report Commissioned by The Lifelong Learning Group of the Information Society Commission.
5. Lim, C. P., Khine, M. S., Hew, T., Wong, P., Shanti, D. & Lim, B. (2003)."Exploring critical aspects of information technologies integration in Singapore schools. ." Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 19(1): 1-24.
6. McNabb, M. L. (2001). "Literacy skills and the internet." Learning & Leading with Technology 28(6): 46-49.
7. Mitze, C. D. a. G. A. (2000). "More than inventory: Effective Integration of Instructional Technology to support Student Learning in K-12 Schools."