Through the global looking glass…

Alain BreuleuxAlain Breuleux

Agenda

• RationaleRationale• MethodologyMethodology

– Documentary case study

• ResultsResults– 12 R&D initiatives from 14 countries– Teacher professional development, classroom processes,

assessment, evaluation

• Emerging questionsEmerging questions

Rationale

• Increasing strategic interest for the outcomes of ICT Increasing strategic interest for the outcomes of ICT use for learninguse for learning

• Outcomes of ICT use for learning depend on the co-Outcomes of ICT use for learning depend on the co-presence of diverse factorspresence of diverse factors– Many reports of "computers being under-utilized"– Overall, studies find a "mild, positive" effect or no effect– Other changes contribute to the overall effect

• Need to highlight connections between R&D and Need to highlight connections between R&D and Policy (in both directions)Policy (in both directions)

• Need for a “global watch” on the issuesNeed for a “global watch” on the issues

Question

        "What are the important policy relevant R&D "What are the important policy relevant R&D initiatives for ICT integration in education that have initiatives for ICT integration in education that have been identified, articulated, and experienced in been identified, articulated, and experienced in different jurisdictions, and that have not [yet] been different jurisdictions, and that have not [yet] been disseminated in the traditional research publication disseminated in the traditional research publication channels?"channels?"

Methods

• Documentary case studyDocumentary case study• Purposive sample of reputational casesPurposive sample of reputational cases

– Explicit connection between policies and R&D– Extensive scale and scope (national or international)

• "Grey" literature"Grey" literaturePapers, reports produced and disseminated quickly

• To inform funding bodies about the results of research projects• To inform rapidly a specific scientific community• To present preliminary results

• SourcesSources– Web sites, conference proceedings

Results

• 12 R&D initiatives12 R&D initiatives• 14 countries14 countries

Australia, Belgium, Chile, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the UK

Samples (1)

Here in Norway, the Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs has mandated for a period initially of three years (1997-1999), recently renewed for four years (2000-2003), the National Network for IT Research and Competence (ITU). ITU not only is sponsoring research projects in relevant fields, for example, web-based science or collaborative learning in virtual reality, but it also initiates teacher professional development in and with technology (the PLUTO project) for innovative ICT use in schools.

Samples (2)

In the Australian context, the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training has sponsored a large-scale research and development project, the Innovative and Best Practice Project (Australian Department of Education, Science and Training 2001), to look into the work of 107 schools “deeply involved in creating innovative solutions to the challenges and problems that emerge as the external world about them transforms from the post-industrial society into the knowledge society” (Cuttance & Stokes, 2001). At about the same time, the Department also sponsored an initiative to research and develop Teachers for the 21st century that includes research on effective programmes for beginning teachers, support for principals, as well as school-based action research.

Samples (3)

The Dutch Inspectorate of Education is producing a series of School Portraits depicting innovative use of ICT in schools, not only in the Netherlands, but also in Sweden, Ireland, and Canada. The objectives are to provide inspiring examples of the possibilities of ICT that schools have discovered and effected, to make visible what is happening in schools, to provide information for policy makers and, in the longer run, contribute to the redefinition of objectives and benchmarks for education.

Samples (4)

In Europe, the European Commission’s Key Action “Improving the Socio-economic Knowledge Base” – of the Fifth EU Framework Programme (1999-2002) has sponsored the ITCOLE Project (see Lakkala et al., 2001) which looks at advanced forms of computer-supported collaborative learning and knowledge building in five countries.

Themes

• VisionVision• PartnershipsPartnerships• LeadershipLeadership• Connectivity and accessConnectivity and access• Curriculum requirementsCurriculum requirements• Teacher professional developmentTeacher professional development• Assessment of learningAssessment of learning

Vision

• Emerging knowledge societyEmerging knowledge society• Ensure acquisition of 21st century skillsEnsure acquisition of 21st century skills• Maintain cultural identityMaintain cultural identity• Many references to cognitive and socio-constructivist Many references to cognitive and socio-constructivist

perspectives on learningperspectives on learning• Competition versus understandingCompetition versus understanding• Connecting vision and means:Connecting vision and means:

Revealing, documenting, and sharing innovations consistent with the vision

E.g., the Dutch Inspectorate of Education

Partnerships

• Private-PublicPrivate-PublicPLUTO project in Østfold (Norway)

• State-MunicipalitiesState-Municipalities• Policy-ResearchPolicy-Research

Singapore

• School-UniversitySchool-UniversityImpaCT2, PT3

Leadership

• "Virtual Heads" "Virtual Heads" – Online component of the National Professional Qualification

for Headship– (UltraLab, UK; and adapted in New-Zealand)

• "Quality Leaders" in the Australian plan for "Quality Leaders" in the Australian plan for professional developmentprofessional development

Access and connectivity

• eEuroBenchmarkingeEuroBenchmarking• Cluster of circumstances in one group of countriesCluster of circumstances in one group of countries

– Low-cost broadband, use of Internet at home, ratio of Internet-connected computers in schools, use of computers in the workplace, government use of Internet to provide services

– Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, UK

• Cost relates to penetration but there are anomaliesCost relates to penetration but there are anomalies• Access leads to use, and innovative practices then Access leads to use, and innovative practices then

emergeemerge

Curriculum requirements

• Curriculum-relevant ICT skills developmentCurriculum-relevant ICT skills development• ICT-enabled Project-based learningICT-enabled Project-based learning• Content and softwareContent and software• Cultural and linguistic integrityCultural and linguistic integrity

– Cost of development– EOE, Open source

• Teaching for understandingTeaching for understanding

Teacher professional development

• Learning communities for professional developmentLearning communities for professional development– LUNA web site (Norway)

– Woollongong University's knowledge-building community (Australia)

• Pre-service strategic initiativesPre-service strategic initiatives– Two experimental teacher education institutions (the

Netherlands)

• Connection between in-service and pre-serviceConnection between in-service and pre-service– Australian Department of Education, Science and Training

• Assessment of learningAssessment of learning– Higher-order thinking made visible

Assessment of learning

• Assessments for Tomorrow’s Classrooms (Means, 2000)

• European Benchmarks for Education and TrainingEuropean Benchmarks for Education and Training

ProfessionalDevelopment (PD)

Technology andpedagogyLearningcommunity(agency, reflection,sharing, culture)

Classroomactivitiesand processes

Classroom organization andmanagement

In and out of the classroom

Assessmentof learning

On paper or with acomputer

Evaluationresearch

School-basedcase studies

Australia “Teachers for the21st Century”;includes leadershipdevelopment.Embedding PD inwork practices;teacher reflectionand agency.

“Models of teacherPD for ICTintegration”- R&Dproject.

Underdeveloped isassessment ofinformation technologyskills and higher-orderthinking skills,competencies and non-cognitive outcomes.Australian educationsystems are currentlydeveloping a nationalsystem for monitoringstudents’ informationtechnology skills andknowledge (Ainley,Banks, & Fleming,2002)

Large-scale casestudy of 107innovative schools(ICT being onecomponent).

Europe(ITCOLE –Finland,Greece, Italy,Netherlands)

Implicit/Tacit Computer-supportedcollaborative learning.Collaborative knowledgebuilding.Knowledge management.

Real-world, authenticcontexts.

Strong theoreticalandmethodologicalcommitments toDesignexperiment,ethnographies,case studies. Verypurposivesampling ofinnovativepractices.

EuropeanCommission

(Computer-supportedCollaborativeLearningNetworks)

A reflection on the Changingrole of the teacher isunderway in collaboration withthe Commission française del’UNESCO

Educational technology is tobe used to help create acommunity of learners whobuild knowledgetogether. Equipment,information networks, butalso teachers, learners andlearning methods areincluded

Ecologically valid actionresearch. Protocols ofcommunications betweenstudents and between studentsand teachers. Case studies andsmall-scale, informalcomparative experiments. Teststhat measure the cognitive,metacognitive, and motivationaleffects of CollaborativeLearning Networks.

England

ImpaCT2

BECTA.org.uk

UltraLab

Online professionaldevelopment (including“Virtual Heads” for schoolprincipals)Open University large-scaleonline courses on ICT trainingand use

Case studies (including the useof children’s conceptualmapping as qualitative data).Interpretations. Participatoryresearch (involvement ofteachers and pupils).

Netherlands Modeling of innovativeteaching and learning withICTs

Online professionaldevelopment

A project-based learningprogram similar to SchoolNetCanada is being put intoplace

Norway A priority in the GovernmentPlan. Research in TeacherEducation Technological-Pedagogical Restructuring(PLUTO). Organizational andpedagogical innovations withinthe institutions, based on the fullintegration of ICT.

National network for innovationin teacher education (LUNA)

Grounded in the strongNorwegian tradition ofproject-based learning.

Open and flexiblelearning processes.

Progressive inquirymodel. Virtual realityand collaborativelearning. Web-basedlearning in science.

Portfolios(exploratory stage)

Case studies of teaching andlearning as cognitive and socio-cultural practices (including the useof activity systems as an interpretiveframework).

Design experiments.

Singapore Studies are beingconducted on questionssuch as

“Fostering ScientificInquiry in Schoolsthrough Computer-SupportedCollaborativeLearning”,by Tan SengChee

Electronicportfolios

Sweden ItiS (IT in Schools)

Technology and pedagogy

Changes in methods ofworking

Teachers do notconsider that teacher-pupil relations havechanged as a result ofITiS, and that pupilshave not been involvedin choosingdevelopment work toany great extent.

Survey and in-depth qualitativestudies of the effects of the ItiS.professional development.Investigate pedagogically-orientedcompetence development forteachers in work teams participatingin ITiS Data from 620 on-line surveysdirected at participating work teams(approx. 4,000 teachers). Teachersrespond that they participate in ITiSin order to generate new ideas aboutpedagogical methods of working, thatITiS has increased awareness ofdifferent ways of regarding learning ina school environment and stimulatedreflection on learning (including theteachers' own learning) and workingmethods. The teachers also agreethat co-operation in the work teamshas improved.

United States

CILT

SRI

Video casesprovide visiblemodels ofinnovativeteaching

Onlinecommunities ofpractice aregettingestablished

Kids do things,interact,get feedback

Visualizationactivities

Standardsmovementmakesadventurouslearning almostimpossible.

Development ofassessmentsfor Tomorrow’sClassrooms(Means, 2000)

Questions asked by innovative policymakers:

What complex of knowledge, skills andother attributes should be assessed?

What classroom processes (task,activity, idea) may elicit thosebehaviors?

InternationalSITES/OECDEuropean UnionAsian-PacificRegion (APDIC),andother developingcountries

Basic training isprovided, butprofessionaldevelopment forspecialized toolsis the result ofspecificcommunities ofpractice that arediscovering theWeb as a way ofsupport,communicationand collaborationbetweenpractitioners.

Conversationsand inquiryamongclassroomsfrom differentcountries

SITES/OECD case studies

ICTs R & D Grant Programmes offeredby APDIC

Emerging challenges

• Care and courage (COMMITT)

• Competition versus Understanding

• Local grounding versus Global

coherence

• Policy making as ICT-enabled

knowledge work

Emerging questions

• Innovators are found at all levels of education Innovators are found at all levels of education systems (elementary and secondary school teachers, systems (elementary and secondary school teachers, administrators, public servants, university-based administrators, public servants, university-based teacher educators and educational researchers). teacher educators and educational researchers). However, it is in elementary classrooms that However, it is in elementary classrooms that computers are more "naturally" used. computers are more "naturally" used.

• How can education systems develop an R & D How can education systems develop an R & D initiative for increasing ICT use in secondary initiative for increasing ICT use in secondary schools?schools?

Emerging questions

– Smaller countries (Singapore, Netherlands, Finland) have a more integrated plan. How will smaller countries’ agility play out in the long range? Through which R & D initiatives can larger countries develop synergies and achieve similar agility?

– Some countries put more pressure than others on teachers (England and Hong Kong). It is important for an education system to count on its teaching force. What are the characteristics of R & D initiatives that will best reflect the professional cultures in specific countries when it comes to teacher learning?

Emerging questions

• Few studies consider both a leading-edge pedagogical practice of ICT-supported knowledge building in the classroom and an advanced perspective on school leadership and governance. But exciting results are growing out of the greenhouse R & D initiatives.

How can nations plan to scale–up such initiatives so that their rationale and innovative dimension are not lost?

Emerging questions

• In the classroom, capacity building is observed mostly for a few existing innovations: the networked computer, collaborative project-based learning, and knowledge building.

How can education systems in different countries maintain or initiate R & D initiatives that will take advantage of local innovations and could serve as models for other countries seeking to take further steps in ICT capacity building?

Emerging questions

• Innovation is embodied in the technology plans of the countries that we surveyed. Does renewal end with the late majority adopting an innovation? Is capacity building possible at a more generic and systemic level? It is important to allow the systems of education, in parallel to organizations in other sectors, to be more rapidly adaptive and more agile, not just this time but on an ongoing basis. Is this a desirable goal for education and, if so, how can it be achieved?

The technical infrastructure called Internet will stay, The technical infrastructure called Internet will stay, and it will evolve. It is recognized to be a valuable and it will evolve. It is recognized to be a valuable source of information and communication, a place for source of information and communication, a place for transaction. Though prudence is required, countries transaction. Though prudence is required, countries are acting proactively but are still far away from are acting proactively but are still far away from seeing network-supported innovative practices in seeing network-supported innovative practices in teaching and learning being sustainable or adopted teaching and learning being sustainable or adopted on a large scale.on a large scale.