An Evaluation by the Education and Training Inspectorate Information and Communication Technology in Primary Schools

Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
An Evaluation by the Education and Training Inspectorate
Information and Communication Technology
in
Primary Schools
May 2005
Executive Summary

CONTENTS
Section Page
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. SCHOOLS’ EVALUATION OF ICT PROVISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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1. INTRODUCTION
The last eight years have seen considerable developments in Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in Northern Ireland (NI). The
Strategy for Education Technology (ET Strategy) in NI was launched in September
1997, resulting in significant investment in ICT in schools.
In 2002, after five years, the Education Technology Strategy Management Group for the
Department of Education (DE) reviewed the achievements of the ET Strategy. The full
report can be viewed online at http://www.class-ni.org.uk/etstrategy/etstrat/index.htm.
The review indicated that over 85% of the strategy’s targets for change in schools
was in the process of being achieved by the end of the academic year 2002/03.
An inspection survey report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
(Inspectorate) on ICT in primary schools was published in 2002, and provides an
evaluation of ICT prior to the roll-out of the Classroom 2000 (C2k) managed service
system. The inspection survey noted many important strengths in the ICT provision
in primary schools in NI at that time. These included:
❐ the high priority given to the development of ICT in most schools;
❐ the satisfactory or good quality of teaching using ICT in around 80% of
the lessons inspected;
❐ the increasingly effective use of ICT to support whole-class teaching;
❐ the sound ICT skills developed by the majority of the children;
❐ the growing number of teachers making good use of ICT to improve
lesson planning and preparation;
❐ the improved understanding by the majority of teachers who have
completed the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training and other
ICT-related in-service training (INSET) of when and how to use ICT; and
❐ the high levels of satisfaction reported by most of the schools which had
the C2k managed service solution implemented.
...Information and Communication Technology in Primary Schools 1
The report recognised the progress in the development of ICT in primary schools,
and identified a number of areas for improvement. These included the need for:
❐ the further integration of ICT to support learning and teaching across the
curriculum;
❐ the improved breadth, balance and variety in the range of ICT
experiences provided for the children, including more opportunities for
them to use ICT creatively and in problem-solving activities;
❐ principals and members of school management teams to have, and to
support effectively, a clear strategy for the development of ICT across
the curriculum, and to ensure that all of the children have consistent and
broader ICT experiences;
❐ the further development of the assessment and recording of the
children’s achievements in ICT;
❐ better and more frequent use of ICT in the development of the children’s
literacy and numeracy skills and in supporting children with special
educational needs (SEN);
❐ a more strategic and coherent approach by Curriculum Advisory and
Support Service (CASS) for the provision of ICT support; and
❐ more effective and regular monitoring and evaluation by the school of the
children’s progress and achievements in ICT.
The emPowering Schools strategy builds on the foundation laid by the ET strategy.
The Department of Education set out this strategy in 2003 to run for five years; it
seeks to build the capacity needed to use the technology well, bring about systemic
changes which embed ICT into practice, evaluate the educational benefits, quality
assure the integration and make progress towards a unified e-learning strategy.
Milestones have been established which provide a framework for the actionplanning
which needs to be undertaken.
An important development in the strategy is LearningNI, a managed learning
environment. LearningNI, a wide area network (WAN) e-learning environment, is
available to schools in NI. LearningNI aims to influence and will drive e-learning
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development in NI’s schools over the next five years and beyond. The LearningNI
on-line environment offers a flexible, feature-rich platform and encourages and
facilitates the development of teaching communities that can be used to share
resources. It will provide access to learning resources both inside and outside the
school environment, streaming video and high speed video conferencing, and
enable schools, libraries and local communities to collaborate on developing joint
learning programmes.
This report is a follow-up to the ETI report published in 2002, and is a summary of
the findings of an inspection survey of the provision for ICT in supporting and
enhancing learning and teaching in a sample of primary schools in NI. The
inspection survey was carried out by the Inspectorate during May 2005. The
objectives of the inspection survey were to evaluate:
i. the quality of learning and teaching using ICT;
ii. the quality of planning in schools for the development of ICT; and
iii. the quality of the resources available to support the development and
enrichment of the children’s experiences using ICT.
The findings are based on evidence from the inspection of 26 primary schools
(Appendix 1). The inspectors observed approximately 350 lessons in the sample
schools across key stage (KS) 1 and KS2. Discussions were held with principals,
members of school management teams, ICT co-ordinators, teachers and children.
In addition, the inspectors examined samples of children’s work, teachers’ planning,
School Development Plans, ICT policies, schemes of work and any other
documentation, provided by the schools, which was relevant to the inspection
survey. The inspectors also identified instances of good practice in the effective
use of ICT in learning and teaching; examples of these have been included in the
report. The Inspectorate comments on the provision for ICT in supporting and
enhancing learning and teaching in all primary school focused inspections. The
conclusions regarding ICT from the 68 focused inspections carried out during the
academic year 2004/05 support this inspection survey’s findings.
Prior to the inspection, the management teams of over 950 primary schools in NI
were invited to complete an on-line self-evaluation questionnaire in order to provide
the Inspectorate with information on the provision for ICT. Almost 40% of schools
...Information and Communication Technology in Primary Schools 3
responded to the request and a detailed database was compiled from the
information received.
2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS
❐ In approximately 70% of the schools inspected, the quality of planning for
ICT is satisfactory or better. In nearly one-half of the schools, there is
comprehensive and detailed teachers’ planning to guide the work in ICT
and there is a shared understanding among the staff of the purpose of
ICT to support learning and teaching.
❐ In a majority of the lessons observed, the quality of the teaching is very
good and incorporates effectively a wide range of ICT applications.
❐ The range and quality of the children’s experiences using ICT are judged
to be satisfactory or better in over 75% of the schools visited.
❐ Word-processing is the most commonly used application of ICT in most
schools.
❐ In most schools the use of electronic communication, creation and
maintenance of websites, video-conferencing, control and modelling are
all under-developed and under-used.
❐ Trends of usage in primary schools indicate an increasing and more
regular use by the children of multi-media and database software, and of
Internet searches.
❐ In approximately 50% of the schools, assessment of children’s work
using ICT is weak. In these schools, there is little evidence of a
systematic process for monitoring, recording and evaluating the
children’s achievements and learning using ICT.
❐ In almost all of the schools visited, the development of ICT is one of the
priorities in the School Development Plan.
❐ In just over one-third of the schools, there is a lack of any coherent vision
or understanding at a senior level about the potential of ICT to enhance
the children’s learning experiences.
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❐ Good progress has been made in the level of ICT competences in almost
all schools since the last ICT inspection survey in 2002; the majority of
children are developing increasingly sophisticated skills in the use of ICT.
❐ Children respond to ICT in a positive way and are motivated by
ICT-related activities. In a majority of schools, the children have high
levels of interest and enthusiasm in their work in ICT; they are motivated
by the inclusion of ICT in their lessons.
❐ In almost one-third of the schools visited, the staff development
programme is not sufficiently focused on the use of ICT to enhance
learning, and monitoring and evaluation of progress are ineffective.
❐ In a majority of the lessons observed, the quality of the learning and
teaching was satisfactory or better, significant differences were observed,
however, between the provision in ICT in KS1 and KS2. The quality of
the learning and teaching was judged to be very good to excellent in
almost one-half of the lessons seen in KS2, and in just less than
one-quarter of those in KS1.
❐ The use of the digital camera has increased since the last inspection
survey and in a significant minority of schools, the children make use of it
to record class activities and school events. In the best practice seen
involving the use of the digital camera, digital images were used
effectively to stimulate discussion and promote language development.
3. SCHOOLS’ EVALUATION OF ICT PROVISION
Members of the management team within each primary school were invited to
evaluate the provision for ICT within the school in the form of a self-evaluative
on-line questionnaire prepared by the Inspectorate. The findings are summarised
below.
C2k Managed Service
❐ The majority of schools are satisfied, or very satisfied, with the C2k
managed service solution;
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❐ sixty-four per cent of the total number of computers used in the schools
are part of the Viglen C2k allocation;
❐ around 40% of responses indicated significant strengths with the
reliability of the equipment, the location of data points and the quality of
the cabling solution;
❐ more than 50% of the schools claimed to be dissatisfied with the
managed service catalogue;
❐ over half the schools indicated significant strengths with the Internet
band width;
❐ a similar number judged the C2k Helpdesk to have significant strengths;
❐ around 30% of schools judge SIMS modules to be used well to support
administration; a similar percentage judge the SIMS modules to have
little use for this purpose;
❐ over 70% make little or no use of the SIMS Assessment and SENCO
modules;
❐ almost half of the schools report that the C2k managed service has had
a major impact on the quality of teachers’ planning and on the quality of
learning;
❐ approximately one-third report a major positive impact by the C2k
managed service on the quality of teaching, on the children’s literacy and
numeracy skills and on the support for children with special educational
needs; and
❐ just over one-third of schools stated that the range and quality of the
software had significant strengths.
Support and Training
❐ More than half of the schools thought that support and advice provided
by SX3 had significant strengths;
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❐ 28% of the responses cited the training offered by C2k to have significant
strengths;
❐ almost one-half of the responses indicated that, when availed of, the
advice and support offered by the CASS of the ELB were very good;
❐ nearly all schools report that the contribution of NOF ICT training has
been significant to the school’s development of ICT; and
❐ 80% of schools have availed of post-NOF ICT training, about one-third of
this training provided by the relevant ELB CASS.
Schools
❐ Almost all schools indicate some integration of ICT in the school
development planning; in just over 50%, this integration is
well-developed;
❐ almost one-third of schools report little or no monitoring of the children’s
experiences using ICT; just 10% report very close monitoring;
❐ seventy-five per cent of schools report that they monitor, evaluate and
disseminate the outcomes of any INSET in ICT closely or very closely;
❐ sixty per cent claim to be very aware of the ICT competence of teachers;
❐ almost half of the schools enter children in the CCEA KS2 Scheme of IT
Accreditation;
❐ approximately half of the schools claim to have a website; around 13% of
these are hosted by C2k, a further 13% by the relevant ELB, and 74% by
other sources;
❐ in just under 40% of the schools, the ICT facilities are available during
out-of-school hours for the children’s use; 13% of the schools facilitate
community use of the ICT equipment after school; and
❐ around 33% of all the schools report very good use is made of ICT to
support and enhance learning across the primary curriculum.
...Information and Communication Technology in Primary Schools 7
4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Since the last inspection survey report in 2002, improvements are evident in
relation to overall school provision for ICT through the implementation of C2k.
Moreover, there has been a sharp rise in levels of teacher confidence in terms of
both general competence and in their use of ICT to support learning and teaching.
There are, however, some important issues which need to be addressed in order
that ICT is embedded effectively and consistently in primary schools.
❐ In over one-third of schools, there is an absence at senior management
level of effective strategic thinking and planning for the integration of ICT
in the school’s provision. There is the need for these schools to plan for
the systematic development of ICT throughout the school, to ensure that
its potential to support and enhance learning and teaching is realised
fully, and that the range of ICT experiences for all of the children is
sufficiently broad and coherent.
❐ In the majority of schools, there is a need for the systematic monitoring
and evaluation of the provision for ICT throughout the school. Schools
need to develop further the effectiveness of their assessment strategies
in order to evaluate the contribution that the use of ICT makes to the
children’s learning. They need to consider how best to implement an
effective framework for the assessment of all aspects of ICT, i.e. the
range and quality of experiences, ICT capabilities and the contribution
their ICT has made to learning and teaching across the curriculum.
❐ Continuing staff development in ICT is necessary to increase the
teachers’ awareness and understanding of the potential of ICT to support
learning and teaching. In a significant minority of schools, the staff are
committed to the development of their ICT competence through a
combination of appropriate school-based and centre-based training.
Despite this, many teachers still need further professional development
to enable them to use the wide range of available software tools and ICT
equipment more effectively to support and enhance learning and
teaching. Significant investment to date in teachers’ professional
development and training through major initiatives, including NOF and
‘Connecting Teachers’, needs to be sustained and extended at a
strategic level in order to strengthen teachers’ confidence and provide
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them with the necessary resources and skills to embed ICT into their
practice.
❐ In most nursery units attached to primary schools, some provision has
been made to include the unit in the school’s C2k network, giving access
by the staff and the children to the managed service. There is no such
provision nor access for nursery schools and other stand alone
pre-school centres with places funded by DE. To ensure parity of
access, the managed service needs to be extended when resources
allow to include all pre-school children.
❐ During the course of the inspection survey, there was a growing
awareness among teachers of the potential of Learning NI as a flexible,
feature-rich on-line environment, to encourage and facilitate access to,
and sharing of, resources within and across educational communities. It
is important that school management and staff are fully aware of, and
trained in, how to maximise the benefits for learning and teaching in this
important development.
Information and communication technology has the potential to improve,
significantly, the quality of learning, teaching and management in schools and to
help raise the attainments of the learners. The findings of this report provide a
context within which schools can review and self-evaluate their current provision for
ICT and identify aspects for further improvement. The report records the progress
made from the ICT report of 2002 and highlights the need to build on the current
effective practice to ensure that children benefit from enriched ICT experiences in
primary schools, that they have the necessary ICT skills to support their work in
post-primary education and that they engage effectively in an increasingly
information-based society.
...Information and Communication Technology in Primary Schools 9
APPENDIX
SCHOOLS IN THE
INSPECTION SURVEY
Ballee Primary School, Ballymena
Ballymacward Primary School, Lisburn
Brooklands Primary School, Dundonald
Bunscoil an Chaistil Primary School, Ballycastle
Carr Primary School, Lisburn
Castledawson Primary School
Cookstown Primary School
Drumbo Primary School
Gaelscoil Ui Dhochartaigh Primary School, Strabane
Hamiltonsbawn Primary School, Armagh
Hardy Memorial Primary School, Richhill
Macosquin Primary School, Coleraine
Mossley Primary School, Newtownabbey
Oakgrove Integrated Primary School, Londonderry
Our Lady's Primary School, Tullysaran
Rathenraw Integrated Primary School, Antrim
Sacred Heart Primary School, Rock, Dungannon
St Jarlath's Primary School, Blackwaterstown, Dungannon
St Joseph's Primary School, Killenan
St Kevin's Primary School, Belfast
St Malachy's Primary School, Castlewellan
St Mary's Primary School, Glenview, Maghera
St Patrick's Primary School, Aughagallon, Craigavon
Tannaghmore Primary School
Termoncanice Primary School, Limavady
Victoria Primary School, Carrickfergus
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© CROWN COPYRIGHT 2006
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the source and date thereof are stated.
Copies of this report may be obtained from the Inspection Services Branch,
Department of Education, Rathgael House, 43 Balloo Road, Bangor, Co Down
BT19 7PR. A copy is also available on the DE website: www.deni.gov.uk