In November I was in Lisbon for the ECIS IT
Pre-Conference. In one of the workshop
sessions I attended we discussed how we could assess the success of technology
integration in our schools. As I believe
that technology can completely transform learning, I was extremely interested
in finding out about the experience of teachers in other schools in assessing
the impact of technology. What I
discovered was that most of the schools there didn’t really have an effective
way of measuring this either – the teachers were just like me, searching for a
good method of truly assessing the impact technology is having on learning. In the weeks since the pre-conference I’ve
been thinking about this question and have done a lot of reading around
it. One useful tool I’ve found is the International Technology in Education Mark
developed by Naace and Advisory Matters.
The first section of the ITEM framework deals with
leadership and vision for ICT – using a rubric it’s possible to assess how this
impacts on teaching and learning: from
there being no expressed vision from those leading the technology through to a
vision that embraces the wider school community, the school environment and
culture and that looks to the future. As
well as having a vision, the rubric goes on to look at who developed the vision
and therefore who has ownership of it. Has
the vision just been developed by a few staff and Board members or by the whole
community? Is it understood and
supported by all? And is there a process
to review or develop this vision, and a plan to implement the vision and
monitor its effects?
Leadership is seen as being extremely important in this framework. It’s clear that a simple focus on hardware
and systems will result in a low score.
A school would also not score well on the rubric if the responsibility
for leadership of the ICT rests with just the senior leadership team, though
obviously this team is important in nurturing a culture of continuous
innovation with technology. Operational leadership for ICT should be
distributed and coordinated effectively across the whole school. However this is not enough – curriculum
leadership is seen as vital so that the curriculum can respond dynamically to
changes in technology practices – teachers need to keep abreast of these
changes and the culture should promote curriculum innovation. The focus needs to be on the use of technology
for learning and the evaluation of the impact of technology on teaching and
learning. This can only happen if there
is a well-planned and whole-school approach to extending learning through ICT –
and I’ve seen such an approach in both my previous schools with administrators,
teachers, board members, students and parents all being involved in such
planning.
I’m back to the same question, however. How can we monitor, assess and evaluate the
impact of technology integration? What
evidence can we look for to inform our planning? This evidence must come from assessing the
learning experiences, assessing the development of digital citizenship in all members
of the school community, assessing the development of 21st century
skills such as innovation and creativity and assessing the professional growth
of teachers in using technology. Based
on the ITEM rubric, I’ll be writing about these in forthcoming blog posts.
Photo Credit: Caution: Future World and Local Leaders at Work and Play by Wesley Fryer 
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