Becta | Trainee teachers and ‘impact’ learning: A study of trainees’ views on what helps them to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching
Trainee teachers and ‘impact’ learning: A study of trainees’ views on what helps them to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching
Contents
The context of the research 4
Rationale for the research focus 4
Aims and objectives of this study 5
What we know about trainee teachers’ use of ICT 6
Research design and procedure 7
Findings 8
Phase 1 8
Phase 2 8
Key factors identified by mentors 9
Use of ICT 9
Facilities and access to ICT 10
Mentor focus group 10
Trainee focus group 10
A. Mentors as role models 11
B. Relevance of resources 11
C. Working as a group 12
D. Peer modelling as motivation 12
E. Barriers to using ICT resources 12
Telephone interviews with former trainees now in their NQT year 14
A. Access to facilities 14
B. Behaviour issues 15
C. Classroom-based computers 15
D. Personal skills development 15
Conclusions 17
References 20
ICT Research Bursary 2003-04 – Final Report
Trainee teachers and ‘impact’ learning: A study of trainees’ views on what helps them to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching
Roy Barton and Terry Haydn
School of Education, University of East Anglia
Abstract
The research examines the views of initial teacher trainees on various components of their ‘education’ in the use of new technology to teach their subject. In spite of the importance attached to this facet of initial training, and significant investment in training materials and resources, there is evidence to suggest that much of this investment is not found to be helpful by trainees. The paper therefore looks at learner perspectives on their experiences of trying to ‘get better’ at information and communication technology (ICT) in the course of their training, and considers ways in which their induction into the use of new technology might be improved.
The research also focuses on subject discipline dimensions of ICT use by trainee teachers, by comparing the views of a cohort of science and history PGCE trainees about which ICT applications and equipment were considered to be of use in enhancing teaching and learning in their subject.
The context of the research
Over the past decade, increasing importance and attention have been attached to the potential of new technology to improve teaching and learning in schools (for example, Blair, 1995b; DfEE, 1997; DfES, 2002b, 2003; Clarke, 2004).
McFarlane (2001) describes the vision of information and communication technology (ICT) outlined in these policy statements as ‘an agent of change which applies in a revolutionary way’. At the present moment however, most research on the use of ICT in schools in the UK (and elsewhere) indicates that that there are few schools in the UK where computers have had a revolutionary impact on teachers’ practice and pupils’ learning (Harrison et al., 2002; Nichol and Watson, 2003; Reynolds et al., 2003; Selwyn, 2003). Researchers have pointed to the existence of a ‘rhetoric-reality gap’ in the field of ICT and education, between the claims made for the educational use of ICT and what is common practice in schools. If computers are so wonderful, why aren’t teachers using them?
A central strand of ICT policy in education has been the development of a technologically empowered teaching force so that ICT is ‘embedded in teaching and learning’ (Clarke, 2004). This was initially seen as a comparatively unproblematic issue. Baker (1988) saw the development of a technologically enabled teaching force as straightforward, explaining to a conference of Education Officers in 1988 that from henceforth, such skills would be built into initial training courses: ‘the problem of getting teachers aware of IT will soon be phased out as all new entrants will soon have IT expertise’.
Subsequent developments have shown that embedding ICT in day-to-day teaching has been more difficult than initially envisaged. In 1988 the Department of Education and Science (DES) found that only 6 per cent of newly qualified teachers used computers even once in their first year of teaching. The biennial Department for Education and Skills (DfES/DfEE) surveys of ICT use in schools from 1987 to 2003 generally showed a disappointingly sluggish increase in the number of teachers making regular use of computers in their teaching. As late as 2002, the ImpaCT 2 Report (Harrison et al., 2002) found that roughly 60 per cent of teachers were making little or no use of computers in their teaching. This is in the face of substantial improvements in the computer to pupil ratios in UK schools in recent years, which have been increased to one computer to every 5.4 pupils in secondary schools and to every 7.9 pupils in primary schools (Clarke, 2004).
In its efforts to support and develop the use of ICT in schools, Government funding, estimated at between £1.6 and £1.7 billion between 1999 and 2002 (Wills, 1999; Abbott, 2001), has been invested in increasing the number of computers in schools, connecting schools to the internet, providing computer training for teachers, free laptop computers for all new headteachers, and subsidised computers for practising teachers.
In terms of policy agendas, having made a substantial investment in providing computing infrastructure in schools, connectivity to the internet, the creation of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) and ICT training for in-service teachers (DfEE, 1997), attention has focused on the pedagogical implications of ICT use in schools (DfES, 2003).
Particular attention has been attached to the development of ICT competence in initial teacher training (ITT) programmes, with increasingly stringent competence specifications for this facet of teaching (for example, DfEE, 1998), the introduction of an online ‘basic skills’ test in ICT, equipment grants for ITT providers, ‘identification of training needs’ CD-ROMs for trainees, exemplification materials, information booklets and the development of websites to support the development of ICT use in subject teaching (for example, the Virtual Teacher Centre (VTC), Teacher Resource Exchange and Becta’s ICT Advice site).
Rationale for the research focus
Although there is now a substantial mass of published research on trainee teachers’ use of ICT, some facets of their experiences of using ICT in the course of their training remain comparatively unexplored. One such area is trainees’ perceptions of which strategies, interventions and investments have a positive impact on their ability to use ICT in subject teaching.
In making curricula, whether for schools or initial teacher education, much attention has focused on the subject content and ‘competencies’ that should be part of the curriculum. Less attention has focused on how learners ‘get better’, and what sorts of experiences, interactions and resources provide powerful and effective learning experiences for the learner, in spite of the fact that teaching and learning can be a notoriously ineffective process. As Fontana (1995) pointed out, ‘We each of us receive a constant and varied stream of experiences throughout our waking moments, each one of which can potentially give rise to learning, yet most of which apparently vanish without trace from our mental lives.’
In how many sessions do all the learners learn everything that the teacher is trying to teach, and retain their gains in learning? Where does the learning ‘leak away’ and why? If we have decided that it is important that new teachers can use ICT effectively in their day-to-day teaching, we need to give some thought to what measures are helpful towards this end, and which interventions are not helpful. In Sadler’s words, ‘If you decide you are going to teach something, you have got to think about how to make it effective’ (1994).
A second strand of research which has been comparatively unexplored is the subject discipline dimension of ICT use, for example, the ways in which ICT can impact on teaching and learning processes might vary between one subject and another. There is some evidence to suggest that the ways in which new technology is used in schools in the UK varies significantly from one school subject to another, both in terms of the extent of its impact on classroom processes, and in terms of which particular ICT applications are of use or potential use in particular subjects (for example, Sharpe, 1995). In the words of Waggoner (1994), ‘is there anything inherent in a discipline that might better influence if or how technology may be employed in teaching?’.
The comparative neglect of subject discipline perspectives on the use of ICT in schools is surprising to those whose background and interest in the use of computers in education derives primarily from experience of working in schools and with teachers and trainee teachers. To teachers, it is almost self-evident that the usefulness of computers, and the ways in which they will be used will vary extensively according to the nature of the school subject, to ideas about the nature of the subject discipline, and to views about the purposes of inflicting the subject on young people.
Data logging, for example, is invaluable for the science teacher, but is of no interest to history teachers. Integrated Learning Systems (or ‘drill and skill’ software, as it is sometimes called) such as Research Machines’ SuccessMaker software have proved to be helpful in moving pupils forward in maths, (Becta, 1998) but do not seem to work for geography and history. Sharp’s research (1995) on the use of television and video in UK schools showed that some subjects made much more use of educational television broadcasts than others, with only 15 per cent of maths departments reporting departmental use, compared to 89 per cent of geography departments. Conversely, Simkin (1989) found that whereas 84 per cent of maths teachers were using computers, less than 10 per cent of history departments were making use of ICT.
Much of the research on trainee teachers’ use of ICT has paid only limited attention to trainees’ perceptions of the helpfulness of various intervention strategies, and has tended to consider ICT use in ‘generic’ terms, not differentiating between ICT use in different school subjects (for example, Downes, 1993; Trushell et al., 1995; Fisher, 1996; Selinger, 1996; Williams, 1996; Murphy and Greenwood, 1998; Fisher, 2000; Watson, 2001). This study has therefore attempted to focus on what is in ICT research comparatively unexplored territory.
Aims and objectives of this study
The research examines the views of initial teacher trainees on various components of their ‘education’ in the use of new technology to teach their subject. In spite of the importance attached to this facet of initial training, and significant investment in training materials and resources, there is evidence to suggest that much of this investment is not found to be helpful by trainees. The paper therefore looks at learner perspectives on their experiences of trying to ‘get better’ at ICT in the course of their training, and considers ways in which their induction into the use of new technology might be improved.
The main aim of the research was to gain insight into trainee teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of materials and activities designed to develop their ability to use ICT in subject teaching, and their views on the comparative utility of particular ICT applications and equipment in two different school subjects: history and science.
If substantial financial investments are being made in putting computers into schools, it would be useful to ascertain precisely what advantages they offer for teaching and learning in particular school subjects. It would also be helpful to gain insight into trainee teachers’ views on what investments in ICT they see as being most helpful for future development of ICT use in subject teaching. The research also explores trainees’ views on which interventions and experiences they have found to be particularly helpful for developing their ability to use ICT effectively in subject teaching, and which they feel to be less helpful.
What we know about trainee teachers’ use of ICT
The problematic nature of trainee teachers’ use of ICT whilst on school placement was indicated by surveys by the Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education (ITTE, 1987), Dunn and Ridgeway (1991) and Downes (1993). The ITTE survey found that only 10 per cent of trainees used a computer even once on their first placement. Downes reported that almost half of the trainee teachers surveyed did not use computers because ‘the thought did not occur’.
Davis’ (1992) overview of ITT developments in ICT traced the move from optional to compulsory training in ICT, and pointed to the variation in trainees’ exposure to ICT, according to the schools in which they were placed. Studies by Mellar and Jackson (1992, 1994) and Lienard (1995) demonstrated that ICT had a much higher profile on ITT courses, and was definitely no longer ‘optional’, but their research suggested that very few trainees had substantial experience of school use of ICT,
In 1995, a survey of history and science PGCE trainees’ attitudes to the use of ICT was undertaken at the Institute of Education, University of London (Haydn and Macaskill, 1996). Although the vast majority of trainees were keen to develop personal and classroom expertise in ICT, a majority of them were pessimistic about the prospect of being able to do so under the prevailing course and placement arrangements.