Common with many parents, teachers and educationalists, I continue to wrestle with the issue of the role of technology in education and the wider impact of technology on childhood development. Having written about technology and creativity quite recently (You can read a book chapter of mine on this topic here: goo.gl/ovQh4E), I won't try to hide the fact that I am an advocate for the beneficial potential of technology, but I am also acutely aware of the challenges presented in seeking to make effective use of technology in the classroom and the potential for 'devices' to isolate rather than engage, distract rather than focus, and to lead rather than follow.
Banksy's observation about technology and human intimacy and interaction
In seeking to establish the 'current position' regarding ICT in primary education, the DfE (Department for Education) in the UK states very clearly that:
'The national curriculum programmes of study for ICT at key stages 1 and 2 have been disapplied with effect from 1 September 2012 and are no longer statutory.
This means that schools are free to develop their own curricula for ICT that best meet the needs of their pupils, or to continue to follow the existing programmes of study if they so choose. ICT remains a compulsory National Curriculum subject at all four key stages. Revised programmes of study for ICT will come into force in September 2014.'
In this respect we are in limbo and waiting for 'revised programmes' to 'come into force' this coming September. We might, however, develop reasonable guesses as to what these may involve and we can rest assured that there will remain a distinction between ICT as a defined discipline (the emergence of coding as a primary classroom activity for example and increased focus in the past year as we enter the 'Year of Code': goo.gl/HiirZV--many useful resources here: goo.gl/hEEX3S), and the role of technology in supporting learning and teaching across a range of subjects.
Now in terms of what teachers want from ICT, this is relatively straightforward; Technology needs to be accessible (affordable and available). The single most effective way to develop expertise as a teacher with new technologies is to live with them. The practical issues of access to technology in the context of constrained funding will be addressed in a future post. There are ways of doing amazing things without incredible budgets.
In terms of how teachers see the potential for learning through technology, the simple openness and richness of information afforded by the web is enough to convince most of the inevitable benefits of technology in the classroom. Technology motivates learning, provides richness of content, enables personalisation and flexibility, and can fundamentally enrich the process of teaching. My teaching career began with overhead projectors, transparencies and chalk boards (I still use white boards for the physicality and flexibility but hated OHPs), but I now focus on the development of interactive content, rich-media presentations and really enjoy putting teaching together. Technology really allows me to express myself in my teaching, to personalise and to structure material in ways that allow me to teach how I want. I now communicate and learn a huge amount via Twitter (@chriswilson101) and Linkedin (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/chriswilson101), and find Prezi (www.prezi.com), Google sites/docs, Dropbox, Storify (https://storify.com/), Keynote and Pages (Mac), the Microsoft Office suite (including the inevitable email), and many other applications, indispensable elements of my teaching practice. These things make teaching fun and more effective.
In seeking to develop ICT practice in the classroom, there are many places to turn. Perhaps the most serendipitous example (emerging only this week) comes from ocTEL (Open Courses in Technology Enhanced Learning) at: goo.gl/rVBqw1. You can simply dip in and out of this but it is well worth a look.
Elsewhere, the UNESCO report ICT in Primary Education is well worth reviewing on this subject: http://iite.unesco.org/pics/publications/en/files/3214707.pdf. As is ICT for teaching assistant trainers: goo.gl/ZmLjS9.
Albeit dating from September 2012, Matt Britland's 'top five resources for teaching ICT and computer science' in the Guardian also remains worth reading (goo.gl/kK50Ju). Whilst focused on gamification, coding and the teaching of ICT as a cognate discipline, there are many insights about general use of ICT and some great teaching resources. Ross Morrison McGill's @Teachertoolkit blogs are also always worth reading. One in particular is an excellent 'Everything Indexed' post from August 2013: goo.gl/7qZhp9 which includes some interest ideas about ICT.
There are many excellent practitioners busy posting insights and ideas and there is a wealth of excellent resources for teachers as well as for teaching available online. I'll develop a more focused 'toolkit' approach for a future update but engagement with social media for professional development is, ultimately, a simple decision to be made rather than a skill to be developed. If you're reading this you are online. If you have a Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Blogger, Google or other platform accounts already active, you can simply have a look. It's amazing what you can discover that can quickly become a daily reference source for learning and teaching.
Basic SWOT analysis of ICT in primary education
Technology can transform teaching and learning but let's not drift towards the notion that ICT is 'great for some learning styles'. The whole concept of learning styles is without foundation and positively proven to be nonsense in most key respects (Tom Bennet made this point quite forcefully in a recent TES connect blog at: goo.gl/kK50Ju). The role of technology should not be to pander to specific learner interests, but to enhance every aspect of learning for all.
Do you think children need to know more or less about technology in order to thrive personally and professionally now and in the future? Can you even imagine what the world will be like when, in future, our current children are answering questions of theirs about their experience of primary school? In most respects I am sure experience will be profoundly different but there will be common features; teachers working with new ideas and new techniques, the integration of the latest technologies to support learning, and deeply important developmental relationships remembered with profound affection. Any given moment in any given lesson can become an indelible, unforgettable; a transformational moment. Technology might support this happening more routinely.
Technology is not a new thing. Education has always been disrupted by technology. Teaching is an old thing. Learning is an even older thing. Otherwise there would be no teacher.
More to come.
