C.T. IN “THE LAND OF PLENTY

C.T. IN “THE LAND OF PLENTY”

I was fortunate to visit three international schools in South-East Asia to observe, discuss and reflect on the development of Information and Communication Technology in those institutions, as part of the Minolta/Don Le Prou study award for 2000. Given that such schools could be expected to have the personnel, the financial support and a largely computer literate student population three focus questions were identified on which to base the study:

1. How do these schools organise and deliver I.C.T. programmes to their students?
2. What issues, problems or dilemmas are they faced with?
3. What issues are relevant to the New Zealand situation and what can we learn from them?

SCHOOL ONE

The International School Manila (I.S.M.), founded in 1920, is a private, non-profit, co-educational facility. I.S.M. is organised into three distinct schools – Elementary, Middle and High School. Each school has its own administration, teaching and support staff and its own principal directly responsible to a school superintendent who in turn is responsible to a ten member Board of Trustees. The roll of the school is just over 1800.

While, from a New Zealand perspective, this school has vast, almost extravagant resources (nearly one computer to two students), an understanding of issues confronting the school is helpful.

The school’s plan for resource development illustrates that, regardless of comprehensive resourcing, there is never quite enough. In the case of I.S.M. the provision of personal laptops for all pupils and teaching staff is the next level. However, this move has not yet found universal acceptance from all school decision makers and I believe is some way off.

Curriculum integration of information technology is complicated. Progress in this area is helped by generous resourcing but also depends on staff skill and, more importantly, on the match between curriculum requirements and software applicability. If information technology is to result in improved learning outcomes for students, software needs to be provided with this in mind. Students can readily be taught how to use technology. The important question then is how this skill is harnessed to bring about improvements in mastering learning outcomes.

Staff development is recognised by I.S.M. as a major issue, as it is in all schools. However, one wonders whether their stated aim of spending at least fifty percent of their staff development budget on technology is feasible. The key question is how many ‘priorities’ a school can address at one time.

The use of technology to improve communication throughout the school and with parents is exciting. However, much is to be done to make this work efficiently and effectively. For example, the principal received a large number of e-mails, few of which seemed necessary. There is much work to be done in defining what information goes where and for what purpose. The use of e-mail to communicate with parents is an excellent idea. Teachers use e-mail to send home class newsletters and to follow up issues such as homework or student behaviour with particular parents. This appears to work well.

Overall International School Manila illustrates two major points. It is exciting what excellent resources and enthusiastic staff can accomplish. On the other hand it is also clear that major issues such as resourcing, staff development and communication pitfalls remain.

SCHOOL TWO

The Singapore International School changed its name to the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) in 1975. The United World College movement has nine schools around the world. The movement aims to promote international understanding and to make education relevant to the global needs of the modern world. UWCSEA has a roll of over 2000 students.

Once again, by New Zealand standards, this school is extremely well resourced with the emphasis now on developing effective programmes using these resources. Expansion is under way with e-mail facilities, the development of a website and classroom networking. The I.C.T. programme in this school appears to focus almost exclusively on computer technology.

Curriculum integration is seen as very important. The approach is to teach basic I.C.T. skills in lower year levels and secondly to utilise software that enhances curriculum outcomes while reinforcing and expanding on information technology skills.

Staff development is largely seen as a personal responsibility supported by school organization funding. The approach to staff in-service was summed up in the following quote from a principal:
“Teachers don’t have to come (to I.T. training sessions) but they do have to know”.

In other words to be a teacher in an International school one is expected to have a reasonable level of computer literacy.

SCHOOL THREE

The Singapore American School (SAS) was established to provide an “American” education for children of United States’ citizens residing in Singapore. The curriculum and teaching systems are American. All administrators (principals and deputy principals) are American and the majority of teachers are also from the U.S.A. although they also employ some Australian and New Zealand teachers. SAS has a total roll of 2,700 students

The resources at this school are extraordinary. With technology there is clearly enough equipment, software, skilled personnel and available space to do whatever is seen as necessary.

The school has a seemingly relaxed approach to this issue because information technology is part of the overall educational environment. This is not because I.C.T. is unimportant but rather because the important place of I.C.T. is well established, resourced and organised. In many ways this is an ideal arrangement.

The recognition of I.C.T. in this school, as in others I visited, revolves very much around computers. No one would preclude other forms of technology as useful in learning but computer education and the use of computers for education are paramount in information technology programmes in all three schools visited.

NEW ZEALAND ISSUES

No definitive answers are given nor, during the course of this study, were any seen. Rather this is an attempt to add to the debate by raising questions that could be seen as difficult or even controversial.

1. Resourcing
“To err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer.” Anonymous

It is acknowledged that the international schools visited during the course of this investigation are relatively large, wealthy and have a highly computer literate student group. However, it is clear that if schools in New Zealand are to address information technology seriously the issue of resourcing needs examination. Although schools are working hard to address I.C.T., with some Government support, I believe the following questions are important for us to consider:
· Do schools have enough hardware to give students regular access to computers?
· Do schools have appropriate software that builds I.C.T. skills while enhancing learning outcomes in our seven essential learning areas?
· Have schools got co-ordinators to oversee the introduction of I.C.T. policies?
· Do classroom teachers have access to specialist teachers with responsibility for software selection and use, classroom teacher up-skilling and classroom programme integration?
· Do schools have staff who can ensure appropriate purchasing is done, the best use is made of equipment and technical difficulties are resolved?
· Do school facilities have designated teaching spaces provided for I.C.T. rather than cribbing classroom or storage space?
· Are schools able to budget for equipment replacement programmes (on a 3 – 5 year basis)?

The progress that is made in I.C.T. depends on the allocation of funding, which in turn depends on the priority given to I.C.T. by Government and school based leaders. The cost is high and it is interesting that some people are already questioning the value of computers in primary schools, given the money, time and expertise they require.

It could be argued that much of this concern stems from a clash between the old and new priorities. Schools have traditionally invested large sums of money in areas such as physical education and the arts. The building of halls, auditoriums, swimming pools and other sports facilities is to be applauded. Perhaps now we have a new area to recognise. I believe this needs to develop on a national basis rather than relying on, what one might call, piecemeal local initiatives, laudable as they may well be.

2. Professional Development
“We have the hardware, we have the software, what we now need is the peopleware.”
I.T. Co-ordinator, Manila.

The professional development of staff is a crucial area and this is recognised in all the schools I visited as well as in New Zealand. The questions that need addressing are:
· What is the balance between personal teacher responsibility for up-skilling and school provision of training programmes? This needs to be a partnership with schools providing opportunity for learning and teachers accepting the responsibility for knowing.
· When can professional development be undertaken? One international school runs courses after school, in the weekends and during holidays. In New Zealand professional development release from class teaching is common. A further question is how much time should be devoted to professional development during class time and how often can a primary teacher be absent from class before the class programme suffers?
· How many professional development “priorities” can teachers cope with at any one time? Teaching is obviously complex, time intensive and personally demanding. Ideally national priorities should be set and achieved before others are introduced. Otherwise schools could be in danger of doing all things superficially.

3. Communication
Developments in communication using computers are tremendously exciting. Internet use in schools is established and growing. Intranets are being established as classroom networking is put in place. As schools increase electronic communication, policies will be required regarding access to, storage of, and manipulation of information. Privacy issues will need to be addressed.

The sheer volume of material being exchanged is also likely to escalate. How this is dealt with needs to be examined. Once again school policies will need to outline what information is required, by whom and for what purpose.

4. Curriculum Integration
All three schools visited are addressing this issue. The basic skills of computer use are taught early. Students are also taught the advantages of computers as a tool to achieve their goals, i.e. the ability of a computer to store, retrieve and manipulate information. Students are then helped to use computers to enhance curriculum outcomes. However, to do this requires access to hardware, appropriate software and a planned and co-ordinated approach organised over years. All of this requires resources as pointed out in number 1 above.

However, the issue of access to appropriate software is one that needs addressing. I believe this probably limits the successful use of computers in New Zealand more than any other factor. Perhaps an organization such as Learning Media should be sourcing and distributing relevant curriculum specific software to schools in the same manner as they provide print material for language programmes.

5. Information and communication technology and equity
“Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful and valued because they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous and loathed because they impose slavery.”
Bertrand Russell

I believe access to computers and computer-enhanced learning is a major issue. If access to information technology is not equitably distributed there is a potential learning gap more severe than the literacy and numeracy gap that is currently causing concern. Given that access to knowledge is a major source of influence in society and the role of computers in knowledge acquisition, it seems crucial that students in our schools have the opportunity to be computer confident at an early age. Limited access to I.C.T. has the potential to lead to an increasing “power gap” in society.

There is an argument that computers are only part of an information and communication technology programme. This may be correct but computers are certainly the major part. Another argument is that computers are ‘only a tool’ to aid learning. I venture to suggest computers are not only a tool, rather they are ‘the tool’ to aid learning.

Of course computers cannot teach everything, and they will never replace skilled teachers. However, information technology is only beginning to impact on our school programmes. Information technology is about computers in the same way reading is about books. It is accepted that access to books is necessary for learning success. In a similar light I predict access to I.C.T. equipment will become necessary for learning success in the future. If we are not careful, access to I.C.T. resources will be the equity issue of the future, if it is not already.

Conclusion
During the course of this investigation I spent time with the staff and students in three amazing schools. To everyone involved, teachers or learners, I extend my appreciation and thanks. I was fortunate to be reminded that as educators we live and work in the exciting global business of education.

Thanks are also due to Minolta N.Z., New Zealand Principals’ Federation and the Board of Trustees and staff of Manurewa Central School. Without their support this project would not have been possible. It is also timely to remind colleagues of the opportunity presented by the Minolta/Don Le Prou Award. This is an opportunity to go places, see things and reflect on worlds far removed from our own.

The above comments are much abbreviated from a report written for N.Z.P.F. Full copies may be obtained from the author or downloaded from www.mancent.school.nz

Correspondence concerning this article is welcome and should be addressed to the author at Manurewa Central School, ph (09) 266-8782, fax (09) 266-5488, e-mail principal@mancent.school.nz Copyright © NZPF 2003