Title: Primary School Teachers use of ICT for Administration and Management: Some results from the ICT Test
1Primary School Teachers use of ICT for
Administration and Management Some results from
the ICT Test Bed Project baseline study.
- Ian Selwood
- School of Education
- The University of Birmingham
2ICT Test Bed Project 1
- A UK government initiative which combines
- Large scale investment in ICT (hardware, software
and support). - Professional development.
- Collaboration between participating schools.
- Four year period
3ICT Test Bed Project 2
- Emphasis on using ICT to
- Raise standards and performance, concentrating
in particular on school improvement and raising
the quality of teaching and learning. - Enable more effective leadership and management
in schools. - Help teachers to concentrate their time on core
task of teaching. - Enable more effective collaboration between
schools and with their local colleges. - Provide wider learning opportunities to pupils,
their families and the wider community in a home
environment (DfES, 2003)
4The Test Bed Schools
- 28 schools involved in the project (5 secondary,
1 special school and 22 primary schools) in 3
clusters. - Clusters were chosen by the DfES after LEAs had
submitted details of clusters of schools that
they felt could work effectively together - to
allow the exploration of the potential of ICT to
support greater collaboration between schools. - All clusters were in deprived/challenging areas,
5Data Collection
- Comprehensive questionnaire on all aspects of
project (91 return) - Interviews with staff
- Headteacher, member of senior management team,
middle manager, class teachers, teaching
assistants, chair of Governors. - Examined
- Attitudes to and use of ICT
- Attitudes to Management
- Experience of Collaboration
- Experience of Home School Links
6Results
7Primary teachers views on the use of ICT
- Generally positive
- 64 agreed they find it easy to use ICT.
- 79 agreed that ICT made work more enjoyable.
- 67 felt ICT would reduce their workload.
- 71 felt ICT made them more productive.
- However
- Just over half (53) felt ICT was used
effectively by their school to manage resources. - And only 39 felt that ICT was used effectively
by their school in decision making.
8Primary teachers access to ICT
- Levels of access to ICT were high with 97 of
teachers having access whenever they wanted or
usually could get access at school and 84 for
this criteria in their home. - Only 40 of teachers had a laptop supplied by the
school. - Just over a third (37) could access their school
email from home - Only 21 could access the school website and
staff resources from home. - Levels of satisfaction with hardware and software
at school were positive but not high out of
date equipment, lack of school network(s).
9Primary teachers knowledge/confidence in ICT
- Using a six point scale we asked teachers about
their knowledge and confidence with respect to a
range (15 items) of software, hardware and
applications. - Only four items attracted agreement from 50 or
more that they had all the skills they needed or
better. - Word processing 81
- Internet 75
- E-mail 70
- Peripheral hardware 55
- Furthermore, more than 20 responded Ive never
used this to 9 of the 15 items.
10Training
- 91 of primary teachers felt that they had
improved their ICT skills in the 12 months prior
to completing the questionnaire . - But, only just over half (54) agreeing that the
training was good. - Opinions of NOF training were low.
- Levels of formal training were low.
- Also low, were the number of applications staff
had been trained in. - 96 disagreed with the statement I do not need
to learn to use ICT - implying they wanted
further training
11Frequency of use of ICT for management and
administration
- Frequency of use of ICT for management and
administration, were generally low. - Only three (of 15) categories, achieved more than
a 20 response for use of once a week or more - word processing (56).
- searching the Internet (22).
- use of peripherals (37).
- 13 of 15 areas of use were reported as not being
used by 59 or more of primary teachers.
12Ways in which primary teachers use ICT to support
their work (highs)
- Resource/material preparation 77
- Lesson Planning 71
- Report writing 64
- Curriculum planning 64
- As a lesson resource (e.g. web site) 60
- Timetabling 47
- School policy development 43
- Reprographics/photocopying 43
- Presentations/demonstrations 38
- Monitoring pupil progress 35
- Marking and Assessment 33
- Record Keeping (e.g database entry) 31
- SENCO 31
- Development planning 31
- Exam entries and results 28
13Ways in which primary teachers use ICT to support
their work (lows)
- Records of achievement 26
- Extra curricular activities 23
- Registration 20
- Staff appraisal/supervision or mentoring 18
- Monitoring attendance 17
- On-line communities 17
- Financial records 14
- CPD/training 12
- Budgeting 12
- Partnership links 11
- Pupil contact (e.g. E-mail/intranet) 8
- Staff contact 8
- On-line purchasing of services and/or goods 6
- Parent/Carer contact (e.g. E-mail) 3
14Factors that might encourage greater use of ICT
- If released from work to train 97
- Training classes at school / work 92
- More spare time 92
- Free internet access 92
- Free computers or software 90
- Cheaper internet access 90
- Free training 87
- Cheaper computers and free software 84
- Cheaper training 72
- Easier access to a computer at home 67
15Conclusions 1
- Primary teachers
- are positive about the value of ICT in supporting
their administrative and management duties. - appeared to be aware of the potential of ICT to
reduce their workload and improve the quality of
their work. - actual use of ICT for administration and
management are quite low. - recognise their need for further training which
they are keen to undertake.
16Conclusion 2
- It is apparent that primary teachers have very
little non-contact time in English primary
schools, and if they are to make greater use of
ICT for administration and management they need - more non-contact time
- or they need better and cheaper communications
between home and school, - or both.
- Furthermore, concerns over access to quality ICT
equipment appears to be a real and major issue.
17THE END
- NO!
- IT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING
18Teacher Use of Broadband Technology
- Ian Selwood
- School of Education
- The University of Birmingham
19What is Broadband?
- A generic term to describe high speed networking
services access to the Internet. - 3 levels of connectivity
- Narrowband - Conventional telephone lines -
56kbps using a modem, digital lines and ISDN
128kbps. - Midband - ADSL higher inbound than outbound.
- Broadband inbound and outbound at same speed
500kbps plus - UK Government target (minimum) primary schools
2Mbps secondary 8Mbps by 2006
20Why broadband?
- Schools need broadband to
- increase the number of concurrent users accessing
the Internet - access the most powerful software applications
and digital learning content - facilitate collaboration with other schools and
learning communities - facilitate video conferencing
- enable reliable communication between school and
the local education authority. (DfES, 2003a)
21Research
- Case studies of 37 schools (19 primary, 3 middle,
15 secondary) - All schools had 2Mbps or greater (8 had 10Mbps or
greater - Questionnaires, interviews, observation, teacher
diaries, portfolios of work (teacher and/or pupil)
22Results
- Full report (Underwood et al 2004) at
www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RW6.doc
or www.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/connec
ting_with_broadband.pdf - Im going to concentrate on one aspect of the
report - teacher usage of broadband.
23Changes and attitudes
- Since the introduction of broadband to the sample
schools - Teachers were using the Internet more
- More teachers were using the Internet
- The Internet was being used in more subject
areas. - Teachers confidence in using the Internet had
increased greater reliability and speed of
access. - Teachers had very positive attitudes to the use
of Broadband.
24Broadband use as a percentage of total possible
use.
25When do teachers use broadband
- Teachers were obviously using broadband in
lessons during the school day for teaching. - However, they were also using it for teaching
before school, during lunch breaks and after
school. (Clubs and helping students with homework
and projects.) - A great deal of preparation using broadband was
reported prior to school beginning. - Administration were spread across the school day
with peak usage occurring before school and
after school. - Professional development was concentrated in
after school sessions and evenings (using
broadband at home).
26Broadband for Planning
- Two aspects planning for broadband enabled
activities, and more general planning (schemes of
work etc.) - Teachers were accessing LEA, official government
and other sites, downloading and modifying lesson
plans, schemes of work and then sharing these
with colleagues. - Schools were setting up online resource banks
(on-line teaching materials, lessons, policy
documents etc.) - Easier preparation led to greater variation of
teaching styles. - Collaboration reducing workload?
27Broadband for Administration
- Not used widely BUT
- Email to contact parents, other schools, LEA etc.
- On-line assessment facilities.
- Electronic portfolios.
- Electronic submission and marking.
- Setting IEPs
28Professional Development and Broadband
- Two aspects
- PD for Broadband Even though all schools had
Internet access prior to going broadband most
schools arranged PD sessions and many continue
with regular updates. - PD with Broadband Some teachers reported
undertaking formal on-line PD courses that are
now becoming more common. Others noted that - rapid access to information on the Internet was
itself PD. - membership of email groups was a valuable form of
PD.
29Conclusions
- Short study and limited number of schools.
- But
- Teacher confidence, competence, and usage
increased since Broadband introduced. - Main use supporting teaching and learning
- Greater cooperation between teachers
- Early days but practices are changing (teaching
styles, assessment, marking, communications, PD) - More detailed evaluation just been completed
not analysed the data collected yet.