Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

The impact of technology: value-added classroom practice: final report

This report extends Becta’s enquiries into the ways in which digital technologies are supporting learning. It looks in detail at the learning practices mediated by ICT in nine secondary schools in which ICT for learning is well embedded. The project proposes a broader perspective on the notion of ‘impact’ that is rather different from a number of previous studies investigating impact. Previous studies have been limited in that they have either focused on a single innovation or have reported on institutional level factors. However, in both cases this pays insufficient attention to the contexts of learning. In this project, the focus has been on the learning practices of the classroom and the contexts of ICT-supported learning. The study reports an analysis of 85 lesson logs, in which teachers recorded their use of space, digital technology and student outcomes in relation to student engagement and learning. The teachers who filled in the logs, as well as their schools’ senior managers, were interviewed as part of a ‘deep audit’ of ICT provision conducted over two days. One-hour follow-up interviews with the teachers were carried out after the teachers’ log activity. The aim of this was to obtain a broader contextualisation of their teaching

ICT research bursaries : a compendium of research reports a report on the ICT Research Bursaries 2002–03

An assessment of the ways in which teachers evaluate software, Bridging the gap: ICT in the transition year, Colouring outside the lines: research into the potential of using new digital technologies to increase home-school interactivity in a conductive education environment, The development and use of a computer-based model for assessing thinking skills, The Hedley Walter High School: cultural change in learning through the use of new technologies, ICT and subject literacies: a study of the relationship between ICT and subject literacies in the secondary school, An investigation into the visual and kinaesthetic affordances of interactive whiteboards, Making IT happen: patterns of ICT use among a group of UK school staff, Networking success: an investigation of the effectiveness of the Birmingham Grid for Learning's ICT Research Network, The Ripple Project: the whole school impact of conducting learner-centred ICT projects in infant classrooms, The use of interactive whiteboards in the primary school: effects on pedagogy, Video conferencing in the mathematics lesson, Trainee teachers and 'impact' learning: A study of trainees' views on what helps them to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching, An investigation of how different ways of presenting information using ICT may affect children's thinking, New Opportunities Funding: Did it work? A follow-up to NOF training, The HomE-Work Project, e-Learning in broadband-connected classrooms, Digital video and bilingual children with special educational needs: Supporting literacy activities, Sustainability and evolution of ICT-supported classroom practice, The impact of prior technological experiences on children's ability to use play as a medium for developing capability with new ICT tools, How can the use of an interactive whiteboard enhance the nature of teaching and learning in secondary mathematics and modern foreign languages?, Already at a disadvantage? ICT in the home and children's preparation for primary school, The impact of technology on children with physical disabilities: an evaluative case study at a special school in the West Midlands, Bedding in: factors that facilitate implementation and integration of ICT in classroom practice, Developing a networked learning community with ICT - learning the hard way, Exploring the elements that make an effective web-based science lesso

Maximising Social Interactions and Effectiveness within Distance Learning Courses: Cases from Construction

Advanced Internet technologies have revolutionised the delivery of distance learning education. As a result, the physical proximity between learners and the learning providers has become less important. However, whilst the pervasiveness of these technological developments has reached unprecedented levels, critics argue that the student learning experience is still not as effective as conventional face-to-face delivery. In this regard, surveys of distance learning courses reveal that there is often a lack of social interaction attributed to this method of delivery, which tends to leave learners feeling isolated due to a lack of engagement, direction, guidance and support by the tutor. This paper defines and conceptualises this phenomenon by investigating the extent to which distance-learning programmes provide the social interactions of an equivalent traditional classroom setting. In this respect, two distance learning case studies were investigated, covering the UK and Slovenian markets respectively. Research findings identified that delivery success is strongly dependent on the particular context to which the specific distance learning course is designed, structured and augmented. It is therefore recommended that designers of distance learning courses should balance the tensions and nuances associated with commercial viability and pedagogic effectiveness

Becta review 2006. Evidence on the progress of ICT in education.

This is the review of the use and impact of ICT in the education system prior to the publication of the Government's e-Strategy for the education system, known as Harnessing Technology. The Review drew upon Becta's surveys of schools and FE colleges as well as other research to assess the impact of technology within the education system and the progress made in achieving Government policies in 2005-06