ICT in Education: Promises met, not met, and to come

10:30am 17 September 2010

ICT has been a steadily growing feature of our schools and classrooms for three decades now.

During this time we have seen a lot of changes in the technologies themselves – but not so much in what actually happens in the teaching and learning process. This is because, to a large extent, the adoption of ICT by educators has been additive, not ecological. We have seen opportunities for technologies to be used in addition to, or replace what we already do.

For instance, a word processor has replaced the ball-point pen, the interactive whiteboard has replaced the overhead projector, and the student management system has replaced the teacher’s grade book.

Throughout the literature on ICT in classrooms there is evidence of an emphasis on the use of ICT to do things more efficiently, more quickly or with more people involved. But the reported use of ICT is usually what teachers have always done – just doing it differently. While there has been talk about a possible paradigm shift, there is little evidence of that occurring at a systemic level in our schools.

During the 1980s (the first decade of use) the focus was on computer studies, learning about computers. The second decade saw an emphasis on integration – with the use of applications to support existing curriculum areas, and in the latter part, the use of the WWW as an online reference library.

In the third decade we moved fully online – with a focus on VLEs, blogs, wikis etc. A characteristic throughout was the appropriation of ICT by schools, in the same way as they’d done previously with things like 16mm projectors, OHPs and whiteboards.

Heading into the fourth decade, the changes in the technologies themselves are creating trends that are truly ecological in the change the effect, creating different opportunities for learners to learn and teachers to teach. Much of this change is already occurring within the lives of students outside of the classroom, as it is the learners themselves who are appropriating and finding uses for these technologies.

This presentation considers the last thirty years and looks forward to the fourth decade of ICT use in education, asking whether we are able to sustain this kind of approach and putting forward an alternative.

About Dr Vince Ham

Vince Ham is Director of Research for CORE Education.

A former New Zealand Rhodes Scholar, Vince has particular research interests in educational research methods, especially action research, the professional learning of teachers and teacher educators, and the use of ICT for teaching and learning.

He has been a member of numerous policy advisory groups for the New Zealand Ministry of Education, notably in the areas of general research strategy, professional learning for teachers, and the national strategies on e-learning.

He’s also led the research teams evaluating several large scale teacher and teacher educator professional development initiatives, and numerous studies of the impact of e-learning in schools and higher education.

About Derek Wenmoth

Derek Wenmoth is Director of eLearning for CORE Education.

Derek has experience in flexible and distance learning that includes a role as manager of the eSection at The Correspondence School in Wellington, where he led the development of eLearning initiatives as a transition from traditional print-based delivery.

He has worked with the Ministry of Education as a senior adviser in eLearning, helping formulate a national eLearning framework.

In 2008 he became one of the George Lucas Foundation’s “Global Six” – awarded to educators who are recognised for reshaping the future of education.