The role of the principal's leadership style in the implementation of ICT policy

This paper presents findings of a study in information communication technology (ICT) implementation, on the principal's leadership style in relation to other factors that influence implementation. The principal's leadership style is perceived—on the basis of the characteristics of the context where the study was conducted—as a personal quality, rather than a change/transformational leadership behaviour or related to the principals' positional authority. The study employed firstly a large‐scale survey based on which case studies of four schools were selected for further research. The findings have implications for practice, more specifically, for principals' training and for the support provided to schools for embedding ICT. The paper draws on an institutionalist implementation approach to describe the principals' role in theorising the concept of ICT in education.     

The evolution of ICT‐based learning environments: which perspectives for the school of the future?

This paper briefly outlines the evolution of ICT‐based learning environments discussing some of the main aspects that have characterised such evolution (eg, technological evolution, changed cognitive and pedagogical frameworks, changed role assigned to ICT‐based systems in education). The objective is to point out how the implementation of innovative learning environments, based on advanced technology, is the result of the strict interrelation between educational and cognitive theories, technological opportunities and teaching and learning needs. In this paper some indications for current and future evolution are evidenced. Reference is made to an ICT‐based multi‐environment system that supports teaching and learning activities in the domain of arithmetic problem solving at compulsory school level.     

Information and communications technologies (ICT) in higher education teaching—a tale of gradualism rather than revolution

The widespread adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT) in higher education (HE) since the mid 1990s has failed to produce the radical changes in learning and teaching than many anticipated. Activity theory and Rogers’ model of the adoption of innovations provide analytic frameworks that help develop our understanding of the actual impact of ICT upon teaching practices. This paper draws on a series of large‐scale surveys carried out over a 10 year period with distance education tutors at the UK Open University to explore the changing role of ICT in the work of teachers. It investigates how HE teachers in one large distance learning university have, over time, appropriated ICT applications as teaching tools, and the gradual rather than revolutionary changes that have resulted.     

From Implementation to Efficacy: Factors Affecting Kenyan Secondary Teachers’ Technology Integration

Teaching is a complex practice that requires teachers to draw upon their content knowledge, pedagogical approaches and strategies, and knowledge about learners in order to support learning. Integrating technology into the teaching and learning practice of a classroom is a strategy that many teachers are drawing upon. This article reports on the initial findings on information communication technology (ICT) implementation in Kenyan secondary schools and discusses factors affecting effective technology integration. The study used questionnaire and classroom observation data to examine what types of ICTs for education are available in secondary schools in Kenya and what training teachers have had in using ICTs for education; teachers’ perspectives regarding the role of ICT in teaching and learning; and what factors might influence ICT integration in teaching and learning in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study found that while few teachers are integrating ICT into their teaching and learning, many teachers are implementing ICT in their teaching.     

Cost‐effectiveness of online teacher training

This study aims to compare the cost‐effectiveness of an online teacher training method with a face‐to‐face training method in teaching ‘ICT integration in the school curriculum’. In addition, the study explores the possibilities of a school‐based voluntary training method in supporting other approaches to ICT teacher training. The analyses of various quantitative and qualitative data showed that online teacher training was more cost‐effective than face‐to‐face teacher training, mainly due to the lower opportunity cost of the participants. The voluntary teacher training revealed the possibility of providing cost‐effective training, especially in the actual application of ICT in classrooms. Based on the results of the study, factors affecting cost‐effectiveness of the teacher training approaches are discussed and further research areas suggested.     

Teacher intention to transfer ICT training when integrating digital technologies in education: The teacher transfer of ICT training model (TeTra-ICT)

The aim of this study is to propose a new structural model for how teachers transfer their ICT training (TeTra-ICT), shedding light on the factors that tend to affect their intention to integrate digital technologies in educational practices as well as train their colleagues. The proposed model exploits training programme design characteristics and ICT-related individual factors. A total of 117 new ICT instructors for primary and secondary education teachers in Greece were evaluated. The instructors participated in a national Teacher Training Programme on applying ICT in education. Results indicate significant effects of individual (ICT-related self-efficacy in teaching) and programme design characteristics (platform's ease of use, support, content, and resources) on the teachers' final motivation and intention to transfer their ICT knowledge and skills. The model also reveals significant correlations between individual and training characteristics, the teachers' post-training self-efficacy for transferring skills and their perception of the usefulness of the training programme. The examined constructs explain 86% of the variance in teacher intentions to transfer their ICT knowledge and skills, and 72% of their perception of the usefulness of the training programme. Interestingly, while there were no gender differences in individual ICT-related characteristics, women expressed significantly higher values than men in their perception of the usefulness of training, self-efficacy, motivation, and intention to transfer.     

基础教育信息化可持续发展的战略思考

当前我国基础教育信息化发展取得了巨大成绩,然而在体制、机制、设施、标准、培训、资源等方面面临困难,而核心问题主要在宏观政策、财政投入与教育体制三个方面。文章认为,要实现教育信息化可持续发展,除国家应保证有效投入外,充分调动内、外部力量,实现教育信息化发展评估的制度化与透明化,构建基于内外互动的教育技术应用支持服务体系是今后促进教育信息化发展的努力方向。     

Training teachers to use new technologies impacts multiple ecologies: Evidence from a national initiative

A pair of papers re-examined the evidence from a national initiative to train all teachers in England to bring them up to the level of newly qualified teachers, who are required to know when to use and when not to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in their professional practice. The first paper confirmed that multilevel evaluation of professional development was robust for ICT teacher training. This second paper contrasts the highest and lowest rated designs for ICT teacher training: an 'organic' approach that provided training in schools was highly rated, whereas a centralised computer-assisted learning approach with online access to trainers was the lowest rated design. The study supports an ecological view of the diffusion of ICT innovations in education and recommends that ICT teacher training be designed to support evolution of each teacher's classroom, school and region, as well as the training of the ICT teacher trainers.     

提升教师ICT能力驱动教师专业发展--UNESCO《教师ICT能力框架(第3版)》要点与思考

联合国教科文组织在修订以往《教师ICT能力框架》的基础上,对标《2030年可持续发展目标》,制定了囊括18项教育ICT能力的《教师ICT能力框架(第3版)》。作为指导教师使用ICT的职前和在职培训工具,很多国家和机构结合当地实际对该框架内容进行了调整,以便实现教师专业发展目标。本研究采用内容分析和文本分析方法,梳理了联合国教科文组织《教师ICT能力框架》的演变脉络,从能力框架开发原则、内容架构、实施案例和资源开发三个维度,深入解读这一能力框架,并提出落实能力框架,需要政府、师范院校、在职教师专业发展机构、骨干教师和校长的强有力领导。构建符合我国国情的教师信息技术应用能力框架,要出台基于“循证实践”的教师信息技术应用能力提升政策;利用智能技术助推课程动态评估;加强教育资源生态系统整体建设;分层制定科学的教师ICT能力提升计划。     

Pedagogy * technology: A two‐dimensional model for teachers' ICT integration

This paper presents a two‐dimensional model for measuring individual teachers' progression in ICT integration and for guiding them toward higher integration levels. There are four levels in the pedagogy dimension: direct teaching, cognitively active learning, constructive learning, and social learning. These levels are defined based on four factors: teacher pedagogical beliefs, instructional strategies used, teacher‐student interactions, and the types of tasks students are expected to carry out. The technology dimension contains eight levels, ranging from Level 0 (nonuse) to Level 7 (implementing sophisticated instructional applications). The eight levels are defined based on three factors: whether a teacher is a passive consumer or an active producer of the ICT‐based resources, sophistication of the ICT tools that a teacher uses, and richness of functionality of an ICT‐based product developed by a teacher. To validate the proposed model in terms of its applicability and practicability, three case studies were conducted. The results showed that this model was able to adapt to individual preferences of the three participating teachers as well as guide their progressions in ICT integration.     

Academic Integrity in Electronic Universities of the New Millennium: a Practitioner's Perspective

Drawing upon its experience as a pioneer of open and distance learning in the management education field, the Open University Business School of the United Kingdom has now extended its system of student communication and support to include the use of computer‐mediated conferencing as a mass teaching tool. After outlining the method of supported open learning practiced by this Business School, the article describes the use of computer‐mediated conferencing in the graduate entry course to the MBA programme, a course that attracts some 1,500 managers each year from across Europe. The article then summarizes two years of student evaluation of their use of computer‐mediated conferencing as a learning support medium. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of student reactions to computer‐mediated conferencing for the future effective use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in management education.     

The effects of case‐based learning on early childhood pre‐service teachers' beliefs about the pedagogical uses of ICT

The study examined the extent to which case‐based learning could have an effect on pre‐service teachers' beliefs about the pedagogical uses of ICT in the classroom. One hundred second year early childhood pre‐service teachers enrolled in an ICT course participated in the study. Research data were collected with a questionnaire, reflection papers, course evaluations and focus interviews. The findings showed that initially the majority of pre‐service teachers had negative beliefs and certain misconceptions regarding the pedagogical uses of ICT and that case‐based learning effected their beliefs and conceptions. Future research studies should examine the extent to which a case‐based learning approach for the teaching of ICT in pre‐service teacher training can actually have an effect on appropriately integrating ICT into real classroom practices.     

Using an instrument to analyse competence‐based study programmes: experiences of teachers in Dutch vocational education and training

Competence‐based education is becoming increasingly popular. Competencies are used more and more as the starting point for designing curricula and instructional methods, especially in vocational education and training, to realize authentic and self‐steering study programmes. Despite its popularity in both research and educational settings, there is no shared understanding of what competence‐based education should look like. Earlier work developed a model for competence‐based education that outlines eight features that are important for competence‐based education. This paper presents a study designed to determine the extent to which the model for competence‐based education can be understood and perceived as useful by teachers in vocational education and training in the Netherlands. The study included 12 teams of teachers in the process of designing or re‐designing their study programmes to be more competence‐based. Teachers reported that the instrument helped them understand the state of affairs of their study programmes, and empowered them to make decisions about the extent to which they want to make these programmes more competence‐based.     

Models of Competence and Teacher Training

The use of competence as a basis for the education and training of teachers has become commonplace. Department for Education (DfE) circulars 9/92 (DfE, June 1992) and 14/93 (DfE, November 1993) have indicated the way forward for competence‐based teacher training. This paper suggests that it is possible to identify three models of competence which seem to dominate research. The first is broadly behaviourist in its approach and depends largely upon the inculcation of domain‐specific behaviours. The second can be termed a process model, which attempts to map out the process of competent action in terms of flexibility. The third may be described as a cognitive model, since it attributes such importance to knowledge and understanding in underpinning competent action. Each of these models is examined in relation to certain key variables: their interpretation of knowledge and understanding, methods of assessment, and forms of training. A final section draws attention to important factors which operate in competent performance and which must be realised in any competency approach to the training and education of teachers.     

Teacher professional development and ICT: an investigation of teachers studying a postgraduate award in ICT in education

The Schools IT2000 initiative, launched in 1997, was the first large-scale attempt to integrate information and communications technology (ICT) into teaching and learning in the Irish education system. As part of this initiative a training continuum was developed with the objective of enabling teachers to progress from novice to expert users of ICT. Short-term in-service courses were offered to all post-primary teachers in the state. Third-level institutions were invited to develop professional development programmes in the area of ICT in education to advance the training continuum. This article reports on the findings of a survey of teachers who had progressed along this training continuum and had opted to study for a postgraduate award in ICT in Education. The research aimed to determine the general profile of teachers electing to study on the programme, their current use of ICT and the types of in-service education and training in ICT they had previously been exposed to.     

Understanding the relationship between Singapore preservice teachers’ ICT course experiences and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) through ICT course evaluation

Teacher education institutions conduct information and communications technology (ICT) courses to prepare preservice teachers (or initial teacher education candidates) to support their teaching practice with appropriate ICT tools. ICT course evaluations based on preservice teachers’ perception of course experiences are limited in indicating the kinds of ICT integration knowledge or technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) preservice teachers have gained throughout the course. Preservice teachers’ ICT course experiences was found to influence their intentions to integrate ICT but its influence on their TPACK perceptions, if better understood, can inform teacher education institutions about the design of ICT courses. This study describes the design and validation of an ICT course evaluation instrument that examines preservice teachers’ perceptions of ICT course experiences and TPACK. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed on survey results collected from a graduating cohort of 869 Singapore preservice teachers who had undergone a compulsory ICT course during their teacher training program. These preservice teachers were being prepared to teach the different subject areas at primary, secondary, and junior colleges (or postsecondary institutions for 17–19 year olds) in Singapore. The regression model showed that preservice teachers’ perceived TPACK was first influenced by their perceptions of course experiences that supported the development of intermediary TPACK knowledge components such as technological knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge. The methodological implications for the design of ICT course evaluation surveys and the practical applications of survey results to the refinement of ICT course curriculum are discussed.     

Higher Education at a Distance and National Development: Reflections on the Indian experience

Following initial scepticism, the growth and developments within distance education in India have been tremendous. This paper records those developments in one of the largest distance education systems in the world with regard to its contribution to national development. The paper also examines curricular programmes, access and equity, media and technology, funding and costing, quality and accreditation, collaboration and networking, internationalization, and outcomes and benefits. The paper argues that higher education at a distance has significantly contributed to Indian national development on various counts, including innovative programmes for niche markets as well as community development; nation‐wide training programmes for the workforce and community and the empowerment of women; information and communications technology (ICT) networking and sharing of resources; massive human resource development for IT; management; school teaching; and development in new sectors of the workforce. Nevertheless, the areas of quality of instructional processes, access and equity, and effective deployment and use of ICT have been highlighted as accelerators to the system in its future expansion.     

Disappointment in teacher-student relationships

This paper discusses the reciprocal relationships among globalization, information and communication technologies (ICT), and the prospect of a ‘global village’. The current metaphor of a ‘global village’ (regardless of physical access to ICT) is problematic, and can be interpreted as a form of electronic colonization. However, through such concepts as blurred identity, nomadism, and hybridity, a distinctly (post‐modern) ICT landscape can be redrawn in a way that accepts the global identity of the ICT, but denies the colonial erasure associated with the global‐village narrative. ICT, in themselves, cannot serve as an end in education, but the demand for critical education involving ICT is pressing as the effects of globalization are experienced. Three methods of promoting decolonizing criticality are proposed: critical emotional literacy, collective witnessing, and collective intelligence.     

Systematic educational change and teacher skill-building in developed and developing countries: the importance of teacher peer learning groups

Many developed and developing countries are seeking to systematically transform their education processes through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The aim of this paper is to present findings from one aspect of a larger ICT study in a particular location in a developing country, with the specific focus presented here being ICT professional development and impacts. Research methods in the study included teacher and school leader surveys, targeted interviews and also case studies. Findings at a systems level generally indicated insufficient coordination of training and minimal follow-up occurring. In case study situations in which the school leader ensured a schoolwide approach to the professional learning of teachers, ICT was more embedded into student learning processes in classrooms. Considering ICT and other professional learning relevant to education, this paper has relevance for policy developers and school leaders in developed and developing world contexts. The need exists for using coordinated professional development processes, with more centralised ‘one-off’ training supplemented by schools and districts. The establishment of peer learning groups or mentors to support skill-building over time is also needed. Through these ongoing processes, teachers can more effectively make changes in their teaching practices, with potential impacts on student learning.