Secondary schools - ICT and standards
An analysis of national data from Ofsted and QCA by Becta, August 2003

This Becta report is based on detailed analysis of the results of Ofsted inspections and QCA data on schools' performance in national tests for the academic year 2000-1. It focuses on the opportunities provided for pupils' to learn using ICT, and whether the quality of these opportunities is linked to improved standards.

The analysis is based on statistical association rather than causality (whether one factor causes or helps to cause another factor). However, it does suggest the impact of ICT is dependent on how it is used in the classroom.

Findings

• For each core subject at key stage 3 and at GCSE level as a whole, there is a postitive relationship between better ICT learning opportunities and higher pupil achievement
• Good ICT resources must be present for a secondary school to offer good ICT learning opportunities to pupils, although good ICT resources alone will not guarantee good ICT learning opportunities
• For a secondary school to offer good ICT learning opportunities, good school leadership by the headteacher key staff is important, but appears to have less of an impact than ICT resources
• Schools with good, or better, general teaching are typically more likely to offer good learning opportunities in ICT
• The quality of ICT learning opportunities is positively related to the attitudes and behaviour of pupils in secondary schools, and to whether parents have a positive view of the school.

Primary schools - ICT and standards
An analysis of national data from Ofsted and QCA by Becta, January 2003

This Becta report is based on detailed analysis of data from schools inspected during the academic year 2000-1. As with analyses from earlier years, it found that schools with high-quality ICT provision outperformed schools with lower-quality provision.

It also indicated that the relationship between ICT resources and standards is not simply a result of more privileged schools acquiring better resources: high ICT schools outperformed low ICT schools in the same socio-economic group. This suggests that good socio-economic circumstances are not a pre-requisite for effective use of ICT.

Findings

• Schools where ICT is used well within a subject tend to achieve better results in that subject than other schools
• Schools that combine good ICT resources with very good ICT teaching achieve better results than those with good ICT resources but poor ICT teaching. This suggests the presence of ICT resources alone is less important than the combination of good resources and effective use
• The presence of ICT learning opportunities is strongly related to good use of ICT in English, mathematics and science (62% of schools in the sample with good use of ICT in English are at or above national standards in English, against 36% of schools with unsatisfactory use of ICT)
• Pupils in schools with very good ICT resources are generally judged to have better attitudes and behaviour than those with poor or unsatisfactory ICT resources. The relationship is stronger if ICT learning opportunities are considered.

This report follows preliminary findings announced in October 2000 in ICT resources and primary school standards (see below). That report established that primary schools with best ICT provisions achieved, in general, higher key stage 2 test results. This second report explores the links between ICT and key stage 2 standards from different perspectives such as subject, school differences and the standard of ICT teaching. 
On average 76 per cent of pupils in schools with very good ICT resources were achieving level 4 or above in English, compared with 71 per cent in schools with poor ICT resources. This pattern of higher achievement in schools with good ICT resources still held in 2000 with such schools on track to reach the 2002 targets.
The report states that the improvements are not the result of differences between schools' backgrounds or intakes. Schools with good ICT resources serving the most disadvantaged area made twice as much progress in science as similar schools with unsatisfactory ICT resources. 
Good ICT teaching raises standards. Sixty-eight per cent of those schools that combine good ICT teaching with good ICT resources were achieving above national standards in English, indicating that teachers were using ICT to raise standards. Schools that use ICT to support a subject generally have higher achievement in that subject than schools that do not.

The report is available free from the British Educational Communication and Technology Agency's website: http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=_re_rp_02_a&rid=13682

ICT resources and primary school standards
October 2000, BECTA   

This preliminary report investigates the relationship between ICT resources and pupil attainment in primary and secondary school and finds a consistent trend for pupils in schools with better ICT resources to achieve better grades for English maths and science. More than half of the schools with very good ICT resources were achieving above the national standards in science, compared with less than a third of schools with 'poor' ICT resources. There were similar results for English and maths. Schools with very good ICT resources were found in a similar range of social contexts as schools with poor ICT resources.

The report concludes that any difference in standards and attainment levels between the two groups of schools are not due to socio-economic factors. The report is based on an analysis of Ofsted inspection results for the 2,500 primary school inspected in the year 1998-9.  

The report is available at: http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&&catcode=&rid=13681

Evaluation of Integrated Learning Systems (ILS)  

An ILS system is a computer-based system that presents pupils with individual programmes of work over a number of weeks or months. The system can provide immediate feedback to pupils as they work as well as detailed records on pupils' progress for teachers. Since 1993 BECTa (the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) has evaluated the use of ILS in schools in the UK on behalf of the DfEE. The UK ILS Evaluations - Final Report, £7.50, is available from Becta (01203 416669). 

The key conclusions of this research are:

• There is considerable evidence that pupils do learn from integrated learning systems. The main issue is not if pupils learn but what and how they learn.
• The use of ILS has a marked positive effect on pupils' attitudes, motivation and behaviour. As yet evidence is inconclusive as to whether these positive impacts generalise beyond experience with ILS to influence more general attitudes towards schooling or school subjects.
• Where the use of ILS at least matches what can be achieved with conventional teaching, these systems offer a stimulating means of extending the range of learning opportunities open to pupils. However, the results suggest that exclusive reliance on ILS for preparation for Key Stage 3 tests and GCSE exams may have a negative impact, and imply that teaching by other methods is pedagogically necessary during the period of immediate preparation for these examinations.
• Although teachers and headteachers were generally positive in their attitudes towards ILS and their educational impact, there are issues to address concerning the apparent gap between the acquisition and evaluation of core skills and the wider knowledge and skills tested in examination performance.
• There was evidence from all three phases of evaluation that ILS can help to enhance teachers' confidence in IT and contribute to the development of their knowledge and skills in management and the use of educational technology.

Are computers good for toddlers?  

There have been mixed opinions concerning the use of computers as teaching tools for young children. More recently, the opinion is shifting amongst researchers about the potential benefits of computers for enhancing early years learning. 

The Teacher Training Agency  includes a statement about the use of ICT in the early years in a TTA document.(DfEE Circular 4/1998, pp. 22-23). The following is a copy of the section relating to ICT: 

Trainees on courses providing for pupils aged 3-8 and 3-11 must be taught the importance of introducing pupils in nursery and reception classes to the use of ICT and to recognise the contribution that ICT can make to this age group, including how to: 
a. encourage pupils to become familiar with ICT and positive users of it; 
b. ensure that all pupils have opportunities to use ICT, and that their experience takes account of any home use or other previous experience of ICT; 
c. identify and teach the skills necessary for handling input devices effectively, e.g. switches, mouse, keyboard; 
d. use ICT to support the development of language and literacy, through the use of programs which develop reading and writing, e.g. to reinforce letter/sound correspondence, and encourage pupils to engage with stories, songs and rhymes presented on he screen, as well as through the use of high quality educational broadcasts; 
e. use ICT to support the development of numeracy through the use of computer programs and robots which develop and reinforce the use of mathematical language, and the recognition and exploration of numbers, simple mental operations and patterns; 
f. use of ICT to support pupils' creative development through the use of computer programs which encourage them to explore and experiment with pattern, shape, pictures, sound and colour; 
g. encourage pupils working collaboratively with ICT to share responsibilities for making decisions and reaching conclusions, e.g. as they progress through a simple computer adventure game. 

(Taken from Jackie Marsh and Elaine Hallet, Desireable Literacies: approaches to language and literacy in the early years, London: Paul Chapman, 1999, pp. 150-51) 

View in favour:

Moira Monteith of Sheffield Hallam University argues that children need to get a head start in learning about the technology that is changing their world. Computers empower children and develop their knowledge of technology and words. 
These are some of the benefits of ICT that she outlines: 

• using a wordprocessor contributes to children's learning of the alphabet, consonants and vowels, short words, spellings
• problem-solving software engages children ensuring that they spend longer on the same task and encourages diverse skills
• talking books give children initial access to books independent of an adult, an empowering experience
• electronic photographs are visual representations of children's learning and they can be used to stimulate discussion
• internet puts children in contact with a wealth of information, introduces them to research strategies, and enables children to publish their work on the web
• electronic toys can develop speaking and listening skills
• concept keyboards help with sentence construction and words. 

See Moira Monteith, "Computer literacy" in Jackie Marsh and Elaine Hallet, Desireable Literacies: approaches to language and literacy in the early years, London: Paul Chapman, 1999. 

Contrary view: 
Small children should be warned off computers and encouraged to play traditional games that help language skills, says a book called Failure to Connect by Jane Healy. She argues that for younger pupils, money would be better spent on improving early education programmes. Using new technology too early can interfere with early cognitive development, she argues.