Enhancing 'ICT Teaching' in English Schools: Vital Lessons

Peter Twining, Fiona Henry
2014 World Journal of Education  
Despite substantial investments in digital technology in schools the impact has been less than advocates anticipated. This raises issues about the effectiveness of past approaches to the continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers. Vital was a £9.4million programme, funded by English governments between 2009 and 2013, to enhance the use of digital technology and the teaching of computing in schools. Vital, which was provided by the Open University (UK), developed an evolving range of
more » ... rofessional development, informed by a review of the literature and extensive experience of supported open learning and developing online communities. Underpinning all of Vital's provision was a view of teachers as experts, and practitioner research as incorporating all the key elements of effective CPD identified in the literature. The evolving models of CPD developed by Vital during three distinct phases of its operation are described. These include: supported online courses; community websites; TeachMeets and TeachShares; the In-house Professional Development Partnership; and the development and sharing of evidence through EdFutures.net. Based on Vital's experiences some suggestions are made about what constitutes effective CPD. Table 1. Definitions of Terms (based on Twining, 2013b) Computing: The National Curriculum subject, which should encompass: Computer Science: the scientific discipline of Computer Science, covering principles such as algorithms, data structures, computational thinking, programming, systems architecture, design, problem solving etc. Information Technology (IT): the assembly, deployment, and configuration of digital systems to meet user needs for particular purposes. (Note that this is narrower than the use in industry, which generally encompasses Computer Science as well) Digital literacy: the ability to operate effectively as a citizen in the 21st century. It covers the following areas:  Understanding the impact of new technologies on society, including the ways in which new technologies change disciplines (e.g. history, chemistry, English, etc.)  Understanding the nature of digital identities and being able to manage your digital identities appropriately  Being able to interact safely in a digital world (encompassing e-safety, cyber-bullying, data security, etc.)  Being able to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, analyse and (re)present information using digital technology (including using dynamic and procedural representations) -what you might think of as 'the creative' making and doing aspects of using digital technology (though of course many other aspects of the subject are creative too). ICT: the cross curricula use of digital technology, which can be subdivided into: Embedded Technology (ET): the use of digital technology where it has changed the nature of a subject (other than Computing) and is thus now an integral part of that subject. For example, in PE where it allows you to analyse performance, or history where it allows you to analyse vast data sets (and in so doing extends the sorts of questions you can ask), or in the natural sciences where it allows you to measure and record much more accurately (again changing the sorts of questions you can ask and answer). Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL): the use of digital technology to extend (and enhance) our repertoire of teaching strategies/methods (i.e. Pedagogy) Digital technology: the equipment (hardware and software) and infrastructure that is needed in order to engage with Computing and ICT. This account of Vital is partial, in two senses; it focuses on specific aspects of Vital and is thus incomplete, and it is only one of many possible accounts, based on the perspectives of the authors, both of whom were staff working on Vital, and thus is subjective. If one adopts a sociocultural perspective, as members of Vital did, then partiality is inevitable. From a sociocultural perspective, in which knowledge is co-constructed and situated, one needs to understand the changing contexts within which Vital was operating in order to be able to make sense of the programme. This aligns with the view that in order to be successful professional development should take note of knowledge of the context of teachers' practice, policy imperatives, emerging pedagogical practice and current research (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Scheerens, 2010) . Thus the article starts with a brief overview of the broader context within which Vital was initially established, and then looks at three distinct phases of the programme, before drawing some conclusions about what constitutes effective CPD in practice. Before Vital (1980 to 2008) Digital technology has been in use in schools in England since at least 1980 when the Microelectronics Education Programme (MEP) started. Since then substantial investment has been made in digital technology in schools:  Twining (2002a) estimated that between 1985 and 1992 over £200million was spent on digital technology in English state schools;  Barton (
doi:10.5430/wje.v4n2p12 fatcat:3disghpgjvfcxavtnjlkt77wsa