Session Information
16 SES 10A, Implementation of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education: Emerging Issues (Part 1)
Symposium, to be continued in 16 SES 11A
Time:
2008-09-12
14:45-16:15
Room:
B4 415
Chair:
Tjeerd Plomp
Discussant:
Betty Collis
Contribution
The challenges of information technology for education have been studied for about 40 years. Due to rapid technological developments the field is continuously changing in intriguing ways. There is a vast amount of research on IT in primary and secondary education, yet most of it is scattered and a synthesis of the research from a broad international perspective has not yet been accomplished. The International Handbook on Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (Voogt & Knezek, 2008) aimed at providing an overview of major directions of research in the field. One of the leading questions addressed in the International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (Voogt & Knezek, 2008) is how the implementation of IT can be supported, a recurrent theme in research on IT in education. In this symposium section editors who contributed to the Handbook will present a synthesis of research findings on this question.
It is general accepted that IT as such does not support learning (e.g. Lai, 2008). Ten Brummelhuis & Kuiper (2008) present a conceptual framework to describe factors in a learning environment that affect learning processes. In the inner circle they distinguish four key elements which affect learning processes directly: the learner; the teacher; the curriculum and the infrastructure. Learners and teachers are the key players in the learning process. The curriculum determines the content and focus of the learning process and the infrastructure deals with the physical (and/or virtual) learning environment, including the learning materials. Teaching and learning processes take place within an immediate social environment and simultaneously within a wider social context. The school as the immediate environment, provides the organizational structure for the learning process. With this conceptual framework factors at several levels can be identified, which may affect how IT is being used in learning processes. In the symposium we will synthesize research findings concerning influencing factors on several levels.
We will start the symposium with two contributions on how the wider social context impacts IT-supported learning processes. Based on an analysis of IT-in education policies from major parts in the world (Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East) Moonen identifies contributions of particular policies to optimizing the impact of IT in education. The digital divide is a major policy concern from a world wide perspective. In the next contribution Laferrière and Resta discuss five strategies which may contribute to bridging the digital divide. After having discussed influencing factors on the implementation of IT in education we move to the immediate social environment, the school. Lai will report on how principals’ leadership styles impact teachers’ use of IT. The teacher as key player in an IT-supported learning environment is also addressed in the contribution from Knezek and Christensen. Based on numerous empirical studies conducted in many educational contexts worldwide they developed the Will, Skill & Tool model which describe factors that impact the use of IT by individual teachers. Besides the teacher the curriculum impacts how IT is used by teachers in educational practice. In the curriculum the connection between the intentions of policy makers and educational practice should be reflected. Voogt in her contribution argues that this connection is often not successful, because of unclear messages from policy makers. Finally Cox presents a critical stance on problems and dilemmas in researching the impact of IT on student learning.
Method
The contributors to this symposium are section editors of the International handbook of information technology in Primary and secondary Education. They invited international scholars to review the research in their specific domain (policy, digital divide, teacher attitudes and competencies, leadership, curriculum and research); see also http://www.springer.com/education/learning+&+instruction/book/978-0-387-73314-2
Expected Outcomes
Factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation of IT in education can be found on several levels. Based on the contributions in this symposium a few major conclusions can be drawn:
- The higher the economic level in a region the more that an explicit policy focus on IT and education is fading. Using IT in education is becoming more implicit and incorporated in a broader policy context, especially around needed qualifications and competencies of citizens in a knowledge society.
- An important hindering factor in IT implementation is the conflicting messages of policy makers about their expectations of IT in education.
- Besides access to hardware and connectivity access to culturally relevant content in local language and to educators who know how to use IT are important factors for digital equity.
- For teachers, positive attitudes, competencies, as well as self-efficacy are important components of highly – integrated use of technology in the classroom.
- Research into IT in various educational settings is intertwined with the design of the IT tools themselves which in turn changes the nature of the teachers’ and pupils’ learning experiences. The ever-changing technology makes effective research into IT in education difficult, complex and challenging.
References
Lai, K-W. (2008). ICT supporting the learning process: The premise, reality and promise. In J. Voogt, & G. Knezek (Eds.), International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. New York: Springer. Ten Brummelhuis, A. & Kuiper, E. (2008). Driving forces for ICT in learning. In J. Voogt, & G. Knezek (Eds.), International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. New York: Springer. Voogt, J.M. & Knezek, G. (Eds.) (2008). International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education New York: Springer
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