Our presentation this morning focuses on the role of schools in developing students' digital competence to equip them for their participation in the knowledge society. Digital competence is a key competence in the knowledge society. ICT skills are increasingly critical for full participation in our social, recreational and working lives. Furthermore, ICT is recognised as a key tool for the improvement of teaching and learning. Where ICT is used innovatively and integrated into the curriculum, it enables teachers to bring lessons to life in new ways and to motivate learners.
The Department's ICT in schools policy seeks to promote the integration of ICT in teaching and learning and the acquisition of ICT skills by students to enable them to participate in the knowledge society. Apart from the economic rationale for investing in ICT in education in terms of the acquisition of the necessary labour market skills and the pedagogical rationale in terms of enlivening teaching and learning, there is also the social rationale for investing in this area in schools in terms of tackling the digital divide that exists in society generally. The OECD has noted that the growing convergence between these rationales collectively makes a compelling case for education to take full advantage of the benefits of ICT.
I will give a brief outline of the ICT in schools programme. Since its commencement in 1998, a sum of €209 million has been invested in the programme, comprising €121 million on the capital side and €88 million on the current side. The initial capital investment concentrated on providing equipment grants for schools, and €80 million was provided to schools under the first two three-year initiatives under the programme. The first initiative was Schools IT2000, which ran from 1998 to 2000. It was followed by the Blueprint for the Future of ICT in Education Initiative 2001-2003. The effect of this investment in ICT infrastructure is evident in the series of census exercises undertaken by the National Centre for Technology in Education, NCTE.
The overall number of computers in schools has increased from 36,000 in 1998 to almost 98,000 in 2005. This translates to improvements in the ratio of pupils to computers. At primary level it has been reduced from 16.3 to 9.1 pupils to a computer and at post-primary level it is reduced from 10.9 to 7.0. Despite this progress, the results indicate that while the overall computer numbers have increased across the sectors, the age profile of the stock has also increased, with 53% of computers in primary schools and 43% of computers in post-primary schools being over four years old in 2005. Since the census was undertaken, schools have continued to purchase computers; for example, a significant portion of the almost €17 million grant aid provided to schools for the introduction of the new technology subjects at leaving certificate level has been spent on ICT equipment. It is understood that approximately 10,000 computers have been acquired in that context, with schools complementing the State investment with their own resources in purchasing those computers.
With regard to networking, the need to develop schools' internal networking capabilities has been recognised, both to exploit the broadband connectivity for schools and to allow shared access to software resources. Since 2004, approximately €23.5 million has issued to schools for this purpose. The 2005 census which I mentioned previously found that 45% of computers in primary schools and 80% of computers in post-primary schools were networked, with a large proportion of schools indicating that they were in the process of networking their schools in advance of the provision of broadband connectivity. On the school building side, all new school building projects must comply with the Department's ICT infrastructure guidelines, which include the provision of networks throughout schools since 2004.
The next priority for the programme is the provision of broadband connectivity to schools. The broadband programme has been undertaken in partnership with industry. An agreement with IBEC's telecommunications and Internet federation provided for a three-year €18 million joint fund, with industry contributing €5 million per annum and the Government contributing €1 million per annum to meet the costs of schools' local connectivity. That local connectivity represents one element of the programme. The other two elements are a national broadband network and a national service desk. Schools connectivity is routed to the Internet through the national broadband network, which has been developed by HEAnet. The latter provides centrally managed services for schools such as security, anti-spam and content filtering. The national helpdesk, which is managed by the NCTE, provides an interface between the network service providers and schools. The overall investment in this programme, from its initial set-up to the end of 2008, was some €34 million.
The roll-out of broadband connectivity commenced in June 2005. More than 99% of the 3,936 schools encompassed by the programme have had their local connectivity and router capability installed and tested. Of the 3,905 local connectivity installations, 27% have fixed-line services, 26% have wireless services and 47% have satellite services.
The statistics provided by HEAnet show the steady growth in aggregate bandwidth usage over the network since its inception in 2005. In addition to the capital funding provided by the ICT in schools programmes, funding for ICT equipment is also provided through the Department's school building programme.
While new post-primary schools have received ICT equipment grants for some time, similar arrangements were only introduced for primary schools late last year. In 2008, equipment grants of €2.3 million were provided to new post-primary school building projects, while €2.2 million was provided to 72 primary schools where a newly constructed school or a large-scale extension reached practical completion.
Members of the committee can see that on the building programme in 2008, €4.5 million was invested in ICT equipment grants, which are designed to enable schools to equip their classrooms with the appropriate technology to integrate ICT into teaching and learning. Outside of that, the scheme for minor works to national school properties also includes ICT equipment within the range of approved school expenditure.
Turning to the area of specific curricular developments, I already mentioned the new technology syllabus and the revised design and communication graphics, which are known as T4 subjects. They were rolled out with effect from September 2007. Grants of €17 million were issued to 500 post-primary schools to upgrade their facilities in this context.
Disadvantaged schools have also benefited from a €3.4 million ICT grant scheme for DEIS schools, funded by the dormant accounts fund in 2007. A further €1 million fund is currently being supported by the dormant accounts fund to assist up to 100 DEIS schools to achieve digital school status.
Schools also invest in ICT. The 2005 census reported that many schools spent more on ICT than they received in departmental grants. The inspectorate's valuation, which was published in 2008, confirmed this.
Of the €88 million provided under the programme to date, some €10 million has been invested in the schools broadband programme, to which I referred earlier. The remaining €78 million is being channelled through the National Centre for Technology in Education, which was specifically implemented in 1998 to implement the programme.
A major priority for the NCTE has been its teaching skills initiative. As noted by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, the teachers, own familiarity with ICT and competence levels in its use constitute a key determinant of the effective use of ICT in the classroom. The NCTE offers a range of professional development courses which are in the main provided through the regional education centres. With some 11,800 course places provided in 2008, the total since the programme commenced now stands at more than 155,000 places. Not surprisingly, the inspectorate's evaluation found that many teachers had attended courses organised by NCTE. In addition, it found that 30% of primary schools and 57% of post-primary schools had provided at least one in-school or external ICT based training course for their staff within the previous three years. It also found that a relatively small proportion of teachers held qualifications in ICT, and that the majority did not consider themselves proficient in a wide range of ICT skills and applications. Encouragingly, younger or more recently qualified teachers had a higher perception of their ICT skills than more experienced or older teachers.
The NCTE operates Scoilnet, which is the national portal for ICT in education. It provides a central resource to teachers, pupils and parents. The number of resources on Scoilnet has increased from 242 physical files in 1999 to a current repository of more than 11,428 reviewed teaching resources. The number of visitors to Scoilnet continues to increase, having hit 1 million visitors in 2006 and 1.75 million visits in 2008.
The NCTE provides website development assistance to subject associations, education centres, schools and various other projects. It pursues collaborative strategies to develop appropriate digital content to match the Irish curriculum. An example of this is the Scoilnet maps initiative for geography teachers at second level, which uses ordnance survey maps. Scoilnet maps is a web-based application which allows students to upload and share complementary geographical resources, such as photographs, videos and worksheets.
The national survey of teachers undertaken as part of the inspectorate's evaluation of ICT in schools found that while 77% of primary teachers and 67% of post-primary teachers had accessed Scoilnet in the previous two years, teachers were generally infrequent users of the Scoilnet resource. It found, however, that Scoilnet achieved high ratings from those who visited it, with 82% of primary and 67% of post-primary teachers rating the quality of the site's content as good or very good.
The NCTE is also actively involved in Internet safety through its Webwise and Watch Your Space initiatives. Since 1998, the NCTE has supported more than 130 school-based projects involving more than 900 schools and supporting bodies.
The committee will be aware that the NCTE advises the Minister on the role of ICT in the primary and post-primary curricula. At primary level, the council has advised that the most effective approach is to integrate ICT into the teaching and learning process, providing children with opportunities to use modern technology to enhance their learning in all subjects.
Having published its guidelines for primary teachers in 2004, the NCCA subsequently advised at post-primary level that the development of students' competence in ICT should be pursued by the inclusion of ICT in revised syllabi and teacher guidelines, and through the development of its ICT framework.
In conjunction with the educational partners, the ICT framework, entitled A Structured Approach to ICT and Curriculum Assessment, has been developed by the NCCA to offer schools a structured approach to using ICT in schools. It is an enabling framework that aims to develop school students' ICT literacy by promoting uses of ICT that enrich teaching and learning across the primary and junior cycle curriculum.
When reviewing syllabi and subject guidelines, the NCCA undertakes an ICT proofing exercise to establish the role of ICT as a teaching and learning tool — for example, the dynamic geometry packages in maths — or as an integral part of the curriculum GIS in geography, or as an integral part in the assessment process. The design and communications graphics syllabus at leaving certificate level, which will be examined for the first time this summer, involves the use of CAD in the assessment.
The provision of relevant digital content is equally critical. As noted in the European schoolnet report, a major barrier to the use of ICT is the lack of access to appropriate digital content. In this regard, I have outlined what the NCTE is doing regarding Scoilnet and its provision of digital content.
Turning to the impact of ICT on teaching and learning, the Department inspectorate's evaluation was published last July. As regards primary schools, it found that classroom planning of 43% of mainstream primary teachers indicated how they intended to use ICT in their teaching. The main planning emphasis was on curricular areas, the development of discrete ICT skills and the use of ICT to provide for students with special needs. Some 69% of teachers reported using the Internet as a resource in planning and preparation for teaching.
Evidence of ICT being used to support teaching and learning was reported in the case of 59% of observed primary lessons. However, inspectors distinguished between finding evidence of the use of ICT to support teaching and learning, and actual observation of the use of ICT during observed lessons. Inspectors observed ICT actually being used in classrooms in 22% of cases, with evidence of higher levels of ICT usage in senior classes compared with junior classes. Some 86% of primary teachers reported that they used software to facilitate teaching and learning in their classroom, while 24% said they made use of the Internet in classroom practice. The reasons advanced for not making use of the Internet in classroom practice was lack of Internet access, lack of time, lack of knowledge, lack of computers and lack of suitability for children of this age. Teachers of senior classes were more likely to use the Internet in classroom practice than teachers of junior classes.
Inspectors reported on the quality of the use of ICT in teaching and learning in classrooms visited during the inspection period. Some 34% of their reports on primary classroom observations indicated no usage or limited or inappropriate use of ICT in teaching and learning. In 42% of cases, inspectors reported that there was scope for development while in 24% of cases, inspectors indicated a competent or optimal level of performance. The proportion of competent or optimal levels of performance was higher for senior classes than for junior classes.
ICT was used mostly by pupils on an individual basis in primary schools with much of this individual activity organised on a rotational basis. ICT use at primary level predominated in core curricular areas such as English, mathematics and SESE. It is most frequently used to develop primary pupils’ numeracy, reading and writing skills.
At post-primary level, the evaluation found evidence of ICT being used in the planning and preparation associated with 41% of the 311 lessons observed. Its use for this purpose was highest in history, geography, music, business studies and art, craft and design.
The post-primary teacher survey suggested a higher degree of computer use in teaching and learning than that observed by inspectors. Some 55% of teachers reported using computers in their teaching at some time, while 18% of lessons observed during subject inspections incorporated the use of ICT. Two ICT-based activities in particular dominated. The first was where a teacher used a computer and data projector to give a presentation and the second involved the teacher searching the Internet.
The survey of post-primary teachers indicated that 50% used software applications and 34% made use of the Internet in their classrooms. Inspectors reported on the quality of use of ICT in teaching and learning during the lessons observed. Some 54% of reports indicated no, limited or inappropriate use of ICT in teaching and learning. In 35% of cases, inspectors quoted areas for development while in 11% of cases, inspectors indicated a competent or optimal level of performance.
High levels of integration of ICT were found in the science and applied science subjects, in mathematics and in the subjects in the social studies I group, which incorporates history, geography, art, craft and design and music. A number of subjects were identified where regular use was made of ICT such as guidance and foreign language subjects. Equally, subjects were identified where ICT was rarely used, the most notable being Irish.
The transition year, leaving certificate vocational programme and leaving certificate applied programme were found to greatly encourage the integration of ICT in teaching and learning.
The main use for ICT in lessons, where it was being used, was to help students develop their research and investigation skills. It was also reported to be used frequently to develop students' writing and presentation skills.
The most popular teaching context in which ICT is used at post-primary level is whole-class teaching in a dedicated computer room. The next most frequent teaching context involves group activity in a dedicated computer room followed by whole-class teaching in a general or specialist classroom. It was found that the ratio of pupils to computers in a school had a negligible effect on the usage of ICT in many of these contexts.
