Integrating and using ICT in Schools

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• Integrating and using ICT in Schools
• An Australia Street Infants School Perspective
• Bernard Cheng

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Historical Perspectives informing current issues
"I think there is a world market for maybe
five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of
IBM, 1943
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Historical Perspectives informing current issues
There is no reason why anyone would want a
computer in their home." Ken Olson, chairman
and founder of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
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Historical Perspectives informing current issues
In 2001 42 of all Australian households used
or owned a personal computer. 14.2 of
Australians aged 0 19 have used a personal
computer at home. Australian Bureau of
Statistics 2001 Census
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Historical Perspectives informing current issues
According to Moores Law Computers double
in complexity and performance every two years,
whilst also relatively halving in price. So
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Historical Perspectives informing current issues

• So think of the possibilities technology will
  bring a child who starts in Kindergarten today
  over the course of their Primary and Secondary
  schooling
• This has significant and real implications in
  regard to what our role as educators and how this
  effects integration of technology in our schools.

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What does this mean for us today?

• Compounding this, increasingly we need to rethink
  our assumptions of what level of technical skills
  students bring to school
• That is to say the current generation of Digital
  Natives have been born into technology and have
  high level skills but not necessarily skills in
  applying and framing these understandings
  productively.

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What does this mean for us today?

• This is our challenge to frame and apply
  student skills productively and appropriately
  In a context were we are presented with
• a rapidly changing technical landscape
• an unpredictable and changing workforce
• increasingly dominated by new industries
• driven by technical innovation
• requiring skills that may not have been
  considered even five years ago

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What does this mean for us today?

• The key question to consider then is ..
• What do we need to do as teachers of students to
• ensure that students develop fundamental skills
  to adapt, change and apply ICT skills
• as it relates to changing expectations, fields
  of study and industries
• given that we are increasingly being presented
  with a need to forecast these skills 3 5 years
  ahead of time

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Forecasting the future.. Some current examples

• Examples of this is Interactive Whiteboards and
  Video Conferencing in schools.
• Who would have predicted these would be common
  sites 5 years ago?
• A stark example of this is at Australia Street
  Infants School where no child K-2 has ever seen a
  chalkboard or whiteboard used in their classroom
  

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Forecasting the future.. Some current examples

• Another example is the Laptops for Learning
  Program providing all students in Years 9 10
  with a laptop providing on-mass mobile
  connectivity...
• Student access to instant information and social
  connectivity will be unparalleled when compared
  to students who completed schools only 5-10 years
  ago .
• A practical example of this changing technical
  landscape can be seen in the well referenced
  Google example dealing with instant knowledge
• In one day 90 million Google searches are
  performed
• . Where were these questions directed B.G?
  (Before Google)

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What does this mean for schools today

• As a consequence key issues facing schools is the
  need to build capacity in teachers to be
  facilitators of purpose and context that utilises
  technology rather that the more traditional view
  of integrators of current technology.
• We need to focus on delivering opportunities for
  students and staff that ...

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What does this mean for schools today

• Facilitate the affective use of current and
  emerging ICT tools within a collaborative and
  authentic learning environment with real purpose
  and that leads to demonstrated learning outcomes
  emphasising

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What does this mean for schools today

• Critical thinking
• Problem solving
• Collaboration and cooperative knowledge
  construction
• Discrimination and application
• Skill application and transferal
• Sustainable and flexible practice

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How can this be put into practice

• Increasingly we are no longer needing to focus on
  the teaching and sequencing of ICT skill
  acquisition in primary schools as explicitly
  taught learning opportunities
• We need to provide students with opportunities to
  apply their increasingly native understanding of
  ICT in response to authentic tasks in tandem with
  a focus on understanding meta-language and
  process.

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How can this be put into practice

• Supporting students in this way involves thinking
  about ICT integration a little differently as has
  been identified in the following research

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How can this be put into practice

• ICT can provide powerful tools which can be used
  to facilitate a variety of teaching and learning
  approaches, however technology in its self
  contains neither content or pedagogical bias.
• (Zhao and Campbell, 1995.)

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How can this be put into practice

• The effectiveness of ICT relies on the quality
  of the educational outcomes of the task in which
  it will be incorporated.
• (Dufresne et.al.,1996.)
• An important use of technology is the capacity
  to create new opportunities for curriculum and
  instruction through facilitating collaborative
  learning environments.
• (Brown, A.L., Cocking, R.R., Bransford, J.D.
  (Eds.), 2000.)

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How can this be put into practice

• The use of technology should be integrated into a
  Teaching and learning cycle as a transparent part
  of the learning experiences delivered to the
  student.

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How can this be put into practice
Cheng (2001) Model, 2009 Revision
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Video Conferencing across the world
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Creating Podcasts
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Using interactive technologies for peer
exploration
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Publishing student products as flash animations
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Wireless interactive response systems
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Connected Classroom technologies
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Some considerations to make

• As a consequence we need to be wary of .
• The isolated scope and sequence of ICT skills and
  applications
• Often the default response to ICT in
  Schools
• The creation of an unofficial 7th KLA - ICT!

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Some considerations to make

• From this we need to ensure that we are
• Providing teachers with the skills to support
  students to learn effectively with appropriate
  tools, rather than simply skills to understand
  current technology which is unsustainable.

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What does this mean for schools today

• Most importantly however .
• We dont fall into the trap of replicating
  current practice with with new technologies
  raising the question of

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Does what I am doing with technology present new
and engaging opportunities for the students in
my class?
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How does all this relate to schools in the 21st
Century
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What is happening in schools today

• Over the past 12 - 18 months significant
  announcement have been made in regard to the
  future of technology in schools through large
  scale infrastructure projects which include

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What is happening in schools today

• Digital Education Revolution encompassing the
  newly renamed project rollout Laptops 4 Learning.
• Technology 4 Learning Program providing
  technology in schools with a commitment that no
  computer will be more than 4 years old with an
  ever increasing reduction in computer to student
  ratios.
• Connected Classroom Project encompassing video
  conferencing technologies and Interactive
  Whiteboard technologies in schools.

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What challenges does this bring?

• Extremely fluid technological landscape in
  schools.
• Discrimination of what technologies to implement
  and why?
• Challenge of not only managing today's
  technologies but planning for what comes next?
• Managing the impact of ICT on expectations of
  professional practice and what it really means to
  effectively integrate ICT within teaching and
  learning?
• Unprecedented access to technology in schools is
  increasing attached to political and system
  imperatives to see tangible impacts on student
  learning.

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What challenges does this bring?

• Most importantly schools need to ensure that
• Beginning and experienced teachers are supported
  in developing the capacity to effectively
  integrate current and emerging technology in
  classrooms in a way that has quality teaching as
  the core of new opportunities for students.
• This implies a redefinition of ICT capacity
  within teachers and the emphasis placed on
  professional development

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What has this meant for Australia Street Infants
School?
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What we wanted to achieve ..

• Shift the focus of ICT as being an addition to
  teaching and learning to being a facilitative
  tool as ubiquitous as a pencil sharpener
• Move away from actual manipulation of an ICT
  device as being fundamental to ICT inclusion
• Quality teaching to define what tools ICT or
  otherwise are appropriate to implement
• Build a sustainable community of practice
  amongst staff

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Then we debated

• This led to staff debating the question what is
  more effective?
• Students learning in an ICT rich environment
  where technology is a shared facilitative tool
  used all day with reduced actual manipulation but
  greater collaborative participation via
  interactive technologies
• Or
• Once a week hands on one to one access outside
  of the primary teaching space completing more
  often than not retrospective tasks

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Then we debated

• Would it be possible to remove the traditional
  classroom ownership model to allow rooms to be
  set up for particular purposes?
• This came from a project that we called the
  Enrichment Program in 2004 in which each
  teacher taught a specific KLA to all students
  during the afternoon sessions
• As well as taking influence from the IBM
  Innovation Centre

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Implementing the 21st Century Classroom

• In 2005 Australia Street Infants School
  implemented the 21st Century classroom through
  the installation of
• Interactive Whiteboards in every classroom within
  a site wide wireless environment supporting 20
  laptops for staff and students with a population
  of 100 students.
• Implementation of roaming profiles via
  curriculum servers allowing for a teachers
  desktop and files To Roam with them on any
  device they logged onto in the school eliminating
  the need for a Personal Device and facilitating
  greater resource sharing and mobility.

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What we implemented

• Implementation of wireless keyboards and mice for
  staff and students allowing teaching and learning
  to be separated from the computer location.
• Centralised printing and scanning functionality
  in the school via a network photocopier.
• Support for Blackberry devices.

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What we implemented

• In doing so we created teaching and learning
  spaces that are able to be configured according
  to intended purpose.
• Removed the traditional teacher room ownership
  concept as resources roamed with the teacher.
• Ensured that ICT facilitated best practice rather
  dictate where it could happen!
• In doing all of this we became the first school
  in New South Wales to embark on such a project
  which only now is being rolled out into schools.

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One aspect of the program Implementing
Interactive Whiteboards
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Implementation of Interactive Whiteboards

• The decision for the implementation for
  Interactive Whiteboards was made for the
  following reasons
• Identified as a facilitative tool that allowed us
  to do more with an audience of more than one.
• The technology did not explicitly alter teaching
  practice rather augmented it with enhanced
  opportunities.
• Is hands on and tactile.
• Allows for purposeful dialogue and practical
  collaboration.

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Implementation of Interactive Whiteboards

• Had a very low technical entry point for new
  users.
• Relied on Quality Teaching and planning to be
  successful!
• Removed the emphasis away from the
  technologically savvy and allowed for teachers
  with considerable best practice teaching to
  become key implementers.

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Implementation of Interactive Whiteboards

• Brought technology into an authentic context for
  both teachers and students.
• As a result .
• Normalised the presence of technology as being an
  everyday part of teaching and learning in the
  classroom.

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How was it implemented

• Bit of a big bang effect to be honest
• Staff were presented with a real need to change
  through a demonstrated and clear link to their
  professional practice.
• A mentor model of teacher training was
  established based on a pressure and support model
  linked to authentic contexts.

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Professional Development Process

• A community of practice valuing contextual skill
  sharing was set up as a fundamental aspect of the
  project.
• Whole staff ICT training was avoided, in place of
  in-class support, content sharing, deconstruction
  and collaborative resource development.
• This is because in my experience
• Teachers are not always able to apply technical
  skills learnt out of context to their teaching
  practice effectively or can be lost in
  translation.

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What has been achieved

• Creation of flexible learning environments that
  continually presents ICT enhanced learning
  opportunities to students as one example
  demonstrates ..
• Why is the sky blue? . Hmmm Lets google that!
• Reduction of about 75 in individual computer
  usage having a flow on effect of increasing the
  effectiveness and access to technology for all
  students.
• Students have been supported to develop enhanced
  discrimination of ICT for particular purposes and
  understanding that technology is a tool to
  complete a task with a purpose as devices such as
  cameras, and laptops are only used on demand

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What has been achieved

• Australia Street Infants Schools implementation
  of Interactive Whiteboards directly influenced
  State Policy to roll out the technology to all
  schools as part of the connected classroom
  project
• Australia Street Infants School has featured
  internationally as a centre of innovation and
  best practice in the use of interactive
  technologies

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What has been achieved

• Since the implementation of Interactive
  Whiteboards, Student literacy numeracy
  achievement has dramatically improved through
  higher rates of student engagement and more
  dynamic and multi-modal delivery of content.

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Finally Some points to consider

• The challenge now is to consider and reflect upon
  what might come next, at what pace and how we
  manage it?

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Finally Some points to consider

• The presence of technology in schools should
• compliment the learning process through providing
  opportunities to extend the possibilities of
  traditional instruction,
• offering new opportunities for learners to engage
  and manipulate traditional materials and ICT in
  new and powerful ways
• Utilise material and digital technologies
  transparently within the design, development and
  presentation modes of the planned teaching and
  learning tasks delivered to students.

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Finally Some questions to reflect on

• Despite the challenges and opportunities that ICT
  Brings to the classroom we need to consider
  carefully
• Are there any REAL learning gains to be made
  using technology?
• Does the use of ICT provide a more meaningful or
  engaging dimension to the intended learning
  outcomes?
• Remember that despite the promises and potential
  of ICT, it is still the quality of your teaching
  and learning experiences and quality of planning
  which will determine the outcomes students will
  achieve with ICT.

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Finally Some questions to reflect on

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