Measuring the value of educational technologies in schools

In the next month, a group of Year 6 students at our school will participate in two research projects which are looking into the use of technology in the classroom. The first is a survey being conducted by the University of Canberra. The data being collected from students and teachers around Australia will be compared with information from similar surveys being conducted around the world. Later in the year, these students will participate in a focus group discussion with students from other schools in Perth.

The second activity is an assessment of the students' ICT literacy. The National Assessment Program: ICT literacy is being conducted by MCEETYA and is a part of the government's response to the recommendations made in the National Goals agreement from 1999.

Both studies should provide useful information for our own school as we continue to assess the effectiveness of the 1-1 notebook programme and look for new ways to improve the integration of ICTs into the curriculum. This will include an assessment of how web 2.0 technologies are being used to transform teaching and learning through collaboration, creativity and new means of communication.

According to this recent article at education.au, these are some of the signs that we should be looking for:

• teachers who are using web 2.0 technology such as social networking to
  collaborate with and learn from others
• teachers who have a professional learning environment which web 2.0 is part of
• students who are using, at school, tools to collaborate with others whether it is online or in their own “walled garden”. There is nothing to say that in order to use a web 2.0 tool, the student/class has to go out to the internet. Wikis, blogs, online
  discussions can all be set up within the classroom to provide a different sort
  of interaction and engagement.
• lessons and projects where the teacher has thoughtfully embedded relevant collaborative technologies.
• administratively, a school that has changed the way it does things: communicates with parents, stores school records, collects daily data such as marking the roll, lends out library books.etc. The list is endless.
• the physical face of the school has changed: computers are everywhere, not just in labs.