Guest: Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive of Becta
Date: 14-28 January 2008
Stephen introduced Becta’s new campaign, Next generation learning – get on board, which is about raising awareness amongst parents, learners and employers of the huge benefits that better use of technology can bring to learning.
Stephen asked, is your school already on board and making the most of technology? Or are you in danger of missing out?
Contributions were positive in tone and many interesting issues were discussed.
Comments mirrored a Becta straw poll, taken at BETT, that highlighted the improvement of workforce skills as a key Information and Communications Technology (ICT) priority – "Our greatest challenge is to raise the confidence and competence of the educational workforce." This idea was taken further by a contributor who felt that the "older generation (staff and parents) lack confidence and ICT skills that the children readily embrace". Problems faced by parents were mentioned including lack of funds and low confidence. Despite offering courses some parents remained reluctant. "Parents will need to be encouraged to learn new skills and not to be afraid of the new technology. This all takes additional funding and schools are going to need additional financial support." Stephen described how part of the aim of the campaign is to help parents and practitioners understand the benefits of technology. The value of online networking and collaborative learning was emphasised several times: "I’m currently looking at getting more of our leadership team on to talk2learn as I find the networking opportunities a great help in testing ideas and getting feedback from other professionals in the know."
W e are failing our children if we do not keep pace with technology .
Another important issue raised was the need to improve school fabric to support ICT. "Every time we consider adding additional PCs or creating a new ICT room, we have to think of equipment, workspace and the electrics; old buildings just cannot cope." This was felt to be more of an issue in rural contexts. Stephen described the need "for a planned strategic approach to guide longer term investment, based on a clear understanding among senior leadership and governors about what benefits could be realised".
A request for more funding concluded that "we are failing our children if we do not keep pace with technology". Stephen stated that "the real challenge is getting these issues up the priority list at local level. The right investment delivers substantial efficiency savings and greater effectiveness". Procurement, with joint supply to school and home, was favoured. Stephen indicated a need to "be more expert at procurement at local level…with greater aggregation in procurement to bring higher levels of expertise to bear and to get better deals".
T echnology is fine if it is supported by excellent teaching – giving the children the real skills they need .
The part that pupils could play was explored by several contributors and linking to the technology familiar to our students was favoured. Pupils were seen as being "on the other side of the digital divide wondering when some of us are going to join them". Participants were keen to "be more creative in how we engage with students and use their skills and enthusiasm". A contributor questioned the part played by the introduction of technology in raising children’s standards of attainment and ability: "Technology is fine if it is supported by excellent teaching – giving the children the real skills they need." Stephen responded that "we are now getting increasingly persuasive evidence that the right technology used in the right way, supporting effective pedagogy, is really delivering results for learners", and that it is important to be evidence-driven in what we do. Stephen also offered reassurance about children with no access to computers at home stating that "we are working hard on the issues around home access, with the explicit aim of no child being left behind".
In contrast, the issue was raised about children’s overuse of computers: "Might they end up missing out on the more important issues of life – interacting and playing outside, running around with balls and skipping ropes, climbing trees; knowing there are benefits from reading books rather than reading information from a screen?". A broader skill set was advocated since "if we become a world of only knowing how to find out information from a computer – does that not limit learning?". Others felt "it is not about transferring teaching to just using computers at home…it is about embracing the way technology can open up a world of teaching and learning to our children and offer them…blended learning".
Personalising learning was seen as the key: "Not all children learn in the same way and many children today are very technologically-minded and proficient. It is about getting the balance right for all children and affording them the right to a broad and balanced education." Equity was also called for: "It is crucial that all schools are able to offer pupils the same standards for learning." The need to help children manage boundaries in internet use, so that the current generation of children will grow up using the internet well and safely, was noted.
T he focus should be on life-long learning skills to encourage social and emotional wellbeing .
School organisation issues were raised: "We have 19 classes in the school so timetabling and resourcing is a logistical nightmare." There was praise for the national frameworks though, again, logistic difficulties were noted: "The revised framework for literacy dovetails in beautifully with the ICT schemes of work but securing enough time in the ICT suite to teach and allow the children to present their work in the ways that are suggested is almost impossible." In terms of testing, the comment was made that "many of the literacy/ICT activities do not translate into achieving a high level 4/level 5 in a pencil and paper driven SAT test". The benefit of the Becta self review framework in reflecting on organisation, technology and pupil learning was highlighted. The benefits of virtual learning environments, interactive whiteboards and appropriate software were mentioned frequently with special enthusiasm from small special schools. The need to be aware of hidden technology costs and the need for good, well-funded support and reliable systems was a theme running through contributions. One interesting account described the use of student support – exploiting the skill and enthusiasm of young people as mentors, providing important drivers for improvement in future. Stephen noted that "we need to demonstrate more clearly how the technology can help hard-pressed professionals, so it is not seen as another burden. The evidence is very encouraging here, but so much depends on effective local implementation".
Specific issues in the primary phase were discussed. Stephen noted "the size of some primary budgets makes it difficult to plan and implement effective approaches. My own view is that we need to go further down the road of local collaboration, to ensure we have a joined up approach, and can realise the substantial benefits of greater aggregation". For infants, one participant argued that "the focus at such a young age should be on life-long learning skills to encourage social and emotional wellbeing…with these skills in place an individual will stand a better chance of embracing technology as they grow". Stephen felt that schools needed to work very closely with parents to ensure a balanced approach to technology use – building skills and experience that will enable young children to use it effectively. There was a concern that "that the growth of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and procuring in bulk will reduce the ability of schools to make their own choices about hardware/software and that solutions for secondary schools will drive the restricted bulk provision for primaries…which needs to be led by pedagogy". Stephen gave the assurance that "we are working with Partnerships For Schools to ensure that we learn from early BSF experience, and ensure that ICT provision is based on clear thinking about support for learning."
Many participants described the value of the dialogue with Stephen.
T hese valuable contributions have given me the impetus to initiate a debate in my Children’s Centre for the advantageous introduction and use of IT. Thank you !
I have enjoyed reading through these comments and am reassured that the school I work in is not alone .
Stephen concluded the debate noting: "I am very grateful for all contributions to this lively and stimulating debate. They have certainly given me much food for thought."