Enhancing the Impact of Investments in 'Educational' ICT

Abstract

There has been a substantial level of investment in ICT in education over the last thirty years, but it has failed to have a proportionately large impact on learning. The purpose of this research was to identify ways of enhancing the impact of future investments in ICT in education. A proposition about one way to do this emerged from the literature. Empirical examination of this proposition highlighted deficiencies in the model and suggested that developing a framework for describing computer use in education would be a more productive approach. Existing frameworks were examined in the light of the data from the first three case studies, revealing significant weaknesses with them. This analysis resulted in the development of a set of criteria for evaluating frameworks for describing computer use in education. A new framework, the Computer Practice Framework (CPF), was then devised, based on key dimensions evident within the first three case studies. The CPF was evaluated against the criteria through further fieldwork in schools and higher education. This led to the refinement of the CPF and indicated that using it as a conceptual framework for thinking about computer use in education could help to create shared visions of the purposes underpinning investments in computer use in education. Using the CPF to support vision building, school development, curriculum planning, communication and shared understandings can enhance the likelihood of such investments having their intended impacts. The development of the CPF thus represents an original contribution to the field, which has the potential to enhance the impact of investments in ICT in education