Customer Evidence Paper

Innovative Schools

The Impact of Technology on Learning Outcomes

2 Customer Evidence Paper

ContentsPart 1: The Impact of Technology on Learning Outcomes 3

Introduction 3

1. Broadclyst Community Primary School 5

2. Bowring Community Sports College 7

3. Shireland Collegiate Academy 9

4. New Line Learning and Cornwallis Academies, Maidstone, Kent 11

Acknowledgements 13

Part 2: Research Summary 14

1. Introduction 14

2. Impact on attainment 14

3. Student engagement and motivation 15

4. School improvement and ‘e-maturity’ 15

5. Teacher data 15

6. Specific subjects 16

7. Workforce efficiency/productive time 16

References 17

Customer Evidence Paper 3

Part 1: The Impact of Technology on Learning OutcomesWritten ByElizabeth Hartnell-Young

Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Nottingham

Introduction

This customer evidence paper considers four schools in England–one primary (elementary) and three secondary–where innovative approaches to teaching and learning on a large scale are continually being implemented. Each school is able to meet or surpass the expectations of the national government while creating richer experiences for local people, and each makes extensive use of technologies for particular purposes. The paper is based on an analysis of thirty-six existing video interviews with heads, teachers, governors, students and local authority representatives undertaken for Microsoft, and the author’s follow up telephone conversations with one representative of each school. It identifies common themes and their implications and then goes on to show in some detail how each school is addressing them.

The common themes identified in this paper are:

• Strong drivers for change include ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors: poor results in terms of national measures together with a courageous leadership vision of new ways of schooling.

• A sense of developing communities of people who learn in many different ways through trying things out, reflecting on the results and working together day by day.

• A focus on developing socially competent as well as qualified learners, and a sense of urgency that national assessment must be broadened to value all attributes.

• Elements of depth and breadth are valued, such as including a whole geographic community with a lifelong view, and looking system-wide rather than at individual institutions.

• A sense of constrained innovation: while most leaders wish they had gone faster and further, all schools continue to take part in national measures.

• A wish to improve links between primary and secondary schooling.

The Government’s standard National Curriculum is a strong influence in most schools in England. It mandates subjects and topics for study at Key Stages 1-4 (broadly equivalent to the compulsory ages of schooling of 5 to 16 years), and is assessed through both teacher assessment and national tests at particular points. In the final year of primary and in the third year of secondary schooling these tests–in English, Maths and Science–are popularly known as SATS, while during Key Stage 4 most students work towards public examinations in national qualifications called GCSEs. Since the position of a government school in the ‘league tables’, and its funding, are related to the test results and the measure of ‘contextual added value’ that they demonstrate, tests and potential scores often seem to dominate day-to-day life in schools. Most of the schools described here originally had a strong external motivation for change, due to their disappointing results in the national tests.

The paper is organised along key themes: broadly these are the community and its leadership; designing for learning, managing for learning, teaching and learning and improving practice (based on Hartnell-Young, 2006). Conceptions of community reflect Wenger’s (1998) ‘community of practice’, a purposeful learning community made up of novices and experts looking outward to collaborate with other communities either structurally, through forms of ‘federation’ or less formally across regions. Further, these schools have a sense that their role is not just to educate the enrolled students, but to be a positive influence in the wider community. This contrasts with previous competitive relationships between many schools. In each community, technology is used to link people within and beyond the school site, through learning gateways, computers in homes and mobile devices such as laptops and ultra mobile PCs.

There are clearly different leadership styles among the senior leaders of these schools, but they have in common the confidence to take risks, to move beyond conventional approaches and the perceived boundaries of system-wide curricula and assessment to develop local practices that meet local needs. They are all forward-looking, referring to vision, plans, hopes and dreams, and are keenly aware of the need to articulate and reinforce their message, and to nurture support within and beyond the school. To achieve this, leadership is distributed among many.

Courageous leadership vision of new ways of schooling.

Socially competent as well as qualified learners.

Technology is used to link people within and beyond the school site.

4 Customer Evidence Paper

Peter Senge (1990), a respected academic and author on learning organisations, argues that designing for learning is the most important leadership role. In schools the main areas of design are the ‘curriculum’ and the physical space and infrastructure. The approach to designing for learning in the four schools emphasises fluidity and flexibility, and a collaborative approach that is not always the norm in other schools, particularly secondary schools.

For many schools, the existence of the National Curriculum results in a rigid approach, as teachers are afraid to step outside the documented curriculum and even tend to ‘teach to the test’. However, the concept of personalisation, with its focus on a coherent approach to users’ needs, is now central to public sector service delivery in the UK, and government policy encourages more flexibility. The four schools in this paper understand that learners and learning are at the heart of the system, and that a fundamental in teaching is to ‘know your people’. Therefore they have all developed new approaches including integrated subjects, collaborative projects and rich assessments to meet student needs. The four schools are also acutely aware of the importance of the interaction between people and space, and as well as improving the functionality of learning spaces, use physical developments and an investment in new technologies to demonstrate that a new era in learning is occurring and to signal that they value learning and learners. They have designed larger spaces including ‘plazas’ with a mix of furnishings for different purposes, and installed infrastructure such as wireless broadband to enable easy access to networks. Some involve students in suggesting design requirements.

As the future for most schools in England is rebuilding or refurbishment, under schemes such as Building Schools for the Future (BSF), a programme of new Academies, and the Primary Capital Programme, the experience of these schools in using new learning spaces, even at a small scale as at present, is likely to be valuable for others. The schools experiment with new ways of grouping students and with teacher teams working in larger spaces, and have restructured management roles and provided extra support staff to create a rich teaching workforce. Although they talk of using the day differently, student attendance at classes is still an important measure for each school.

In their approach to teaching and learning, several leaders emphasise emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1999) among staff and students as an important goal, and are exploring ways to value and assess the growth of students in social and emotional competencies, in addition to the national testing regime. The schools recognise that developing learner autonomy is important, and encourage ‘student voice’ by listening to students in various ways, including gathering regular feedback on lessons, and involving students as researchers into school organisation.

Teachers acknowledge that they too are learners, which is essential for professional development to improve practice. Much of the professional learning for staff takes place on the job, so that it was naturally suitable to the context and needs of the people. It includes mentoring, coaching and reflective practice such as conducting action research projects and working with external critical friends. Although teachers use data to reflect and plan, this was identified as an area needing further skill development.

The implications of the experience of these four schools for others appear to lie in the benefit of taking risks to implement dramatically new ways of schooling with a richer focus than currently valued by national curriculum and assessment tools. All schools, not only those who are performing poorly, need to be courageous.

Student attendance at classes is still an important measure for each school.

Today’s students cannot afford slow innovation, as the stories of the individual schools show.

Customer Evidence Paper 5

1. Broadclyst Community Primary School

Broadclyst is a primary school of almost 400 students in the South East of England. Underpinning the work at Broadclyst is a belief in the value of people, which the Headteacher clearly articulates through metaphor and action. His vision is expressed on several levels, as he argues that ‘developing human capital will make a great country’ and that, through inquiry, both teachers and students are ‘lifted up’. Specifically he intends that students who leave the school will be ‘articulate, highly capable academically, intellectually astute and socially adept.’ The Head invokes Maslow’s self-actualisation, a high order human need, to describe his goal. Many students come to the school after disappointing experiences elsewhere, and rise to their new opportunities to achieve at Broadclyst. One measure of success is the ethos that people ‘want to belong’ and the school is now full to capacity, with a long waiting list of students wishing to attend.

The team of Head and Deputy, which has been in place for 14 years, is driven by the possibilities that investment in current technologies affords today’s students, while recognising that their ‘vision’ is constantly changing. Their energy is captured in the Head’s phrase ‘change is hyperactive’, and they have courageously developed their vision in the face of early resistance to the cost of providing the technology infrastructure, particularly from the governing body. From the Local Authority’s point of view, this school ‘dares to be different’ and is clearly a leader in the Authority. Designing for learning As in the other cases in this paper, language is an important means of signalling change. The Head does not refer to ‘classrooms’, but speaks of ‘learning environments’. In terms of designing space, all work to date has taken place within the existing buildings, resulting in a large Year 6 theatre which has similarities with a high-tech university lecture theatre. Future developments will reflect the innovative curriculum, using huge screens for visual display and ensuring there is no dead space.

The inquiry-based curriculum is designed to reflect the needs of current students and their future, looking outward to consider society’s future too. In line with this, according to the Head, teachers do not ‘deliver’ the curriculum, but work in a mutually supportive way with learners. They are not constrained by the National Curriculum, although students do take the national tests, where their results are generally outstanding. The Head argues that because the Broadclyst curriculum is not simply about knowledge, but about applying skills, it has led to higher achievement than in schools using a more prescriptive curriculum. He says ‘Teachers resonate with the philosophy and become greater than the sum of their parts. Then the magic flows’.

Supporting this approach to curriculum is a technology infrastructure including 300 computers and 8 servers. Leasing is the school’s preferred financing method, as the cost of leasing 40 computers is equal to the amount of funds that 8 students bring into the school. The Local Authority describes the school’s approach to procurement as ‘unorthodox’, developed through nurturing relationships with suppliers ‘in a very impressive way’. The importance of 24/7 access is recognised, and some families have been able to gain access to a computer though a Home School Learning Project.

Managing for learning The Head recognises that all staff must understand the purpose of the school and walk the talk, and therefore requires that new appointees resonate with the philosophy. Teachers at the school are thought of as teachers of all children and do not see their role as ‘a job’. Like the students, they too are said to have ‘fun’. Technology tools have helped teachers to reduce their planning and marking ‘chores’ to focus on their expertise of teaching and engaging more deeply with individual students. Communication is more efficient through email and shared diaries, while using discussion forums means fewer meetings after school. Teachers now work flexibly at a time of their choice (such as at home) and students can log on whenever and wherever they have a connection. One parent suggested that student autonomy has increased as students become better organised. As well, competing with the computer rather than other students helps them to achieve ‘personal best’ scores and, she felt, provides ‘a fantastic rehearsal for high school’. The Local Authority’s view is that where teachers manage students’ learning and students direct themselves, as at Broadclyst, behaviour problems ‘melt away’.

Students who leave the school will be ‘articulate, highly capable academically, intellectually astute and socially adept.’

Their results are generally outstanding.

It has led to higher achievement than in schools using a more prescriptive curriculum.

Where teachers manage students’ learning and students direct themselves, as at Broadclyst, behaviour problems ‘melt away’.

6 Customer Evidence Paper

Teaching and Learning The focus on teaching and learning is supported, rather than driven, by the ICT strategy, with its main purpose to personalise the curriculum and free up teachers to teach. Open-ended tasks for students involve collaboration, self assessment and reflective practice while covering literacy, numeracy and other curriculum areas. A conceptual breakthrough towards anywhere, anytime learning is that students are not set ‘homework’, although they most certainly work at home on their projects, when parents can see what their students are doing. Working with a school in Holland has raised expectations of further international collaboration.

As a tool for personalisation, the school uses assessment for learning, where needs are diagnosed regularly. While old assessment systems are considered inappropriate for today’s learners, the school is keen to develop and demonstrate students’ progress in ways that external agencies value. While the teaching and learning experience stands these students in good stead for secondary schooling, the gap between the two cultures is sometimes an issue for students who move on.

Improving practice At Broadclyst, teachers see themselves as learners working in teams, and professional development is based in the school, because, as the Head suggests, ‘there’s nowhere you can go for CPD when you’re at the forefront’. Teachers have a positive attitude to change and are prepared to take on innovations ahead of other schools, and customise them to their needs, one observer who said ‘there is a spirit in the school that wants to go forward, to benefit the children’.

Old assessment systems are considered inappropriate for today’s learners.

Customer Evidence Paper 7

2. Bowring Community Sports College Bowring is a secondary school with over 600 students aged between 11 and 16. While parts of the local area experience significant deprivation, there is a mix of abilities among the students, including extremely talented students and many designated as having special educational needs. However the school was placed in ‘special measures’ following an extremely negative inspection report in 1997, which gave the school a period of time to improve, or be closed.

Since that time, the appointment of the current Head in 2001 has been accompanied by a great deal of innovation and improvement. She has been responsible for creating a ‘true learning community that reaches out to the wider world’, with an emphasis on encouraging students to succeed rather than allowing them to opt out or fail because of their background or difficulties. Her long term view is that ‘it’s not about grades and levels, but the type of people you turn out in the end’. She feels strongly about developing a model of distributed learning-centred leadership, empowering other people by recognising and nurturing talent, and creating opportunities for people to take the next step. This sense of purpose was described by several staff as a ‘journey’. In gaining support for the vision, the Head describes her picture of the desired future, the reasoning behind it and the steps towards it. Importantly she also tries to engage people’s emotions. An important indicator of success is the culture and ethos, described as a ‘can do’ aspirational culture, valuing contributions from all. The Local Authority has observed that students are ‘happy to be here’.

Collaboration and team work are modelled by the teachers and supported by curriculum activities, and this is highlighted by the school motto, devised by a student: ‘Learning to work together.’ Valuing such student input is also an aspect of personalisation and student voice, as is valuing the knowledge of the community as part of the curriculum, as in history teaching. Further, the Head acknowledges that as the school cannot be the repository of all expertise, it looks outward, seeing itself as part of a ‘family of schools’.

Designing for learning The school has redesigned the curriculum for Years 7 and 8, based on the RSA Opening Minds framework, and has structured the timetable to include large blocks of time for collaborative activities, and opportunities for mixed age groups to work together. Since the curriculum is designed and tailored to meet the needs of the particular students, it changes each year. Here again, language is important. As the school is a specialist sports college, Team Time is a morning block that focuses on students leading, managing and coaching team sports. New dynamic titles for other curriculum activities include Design and Deliver, Challenge and Discovery. However in line with the step-by-step approach, the curriculum changes do not yet include the nationally-tested areas of Maths, English and Science.

Teachers now plan together, using the virtual classroom tool, an online framework to record and share their plans. In future, interoperability between administrative and curriculum systems will make it possible to transfer data more efficiently between the two, thus saving teachers time.

With more collaborative learning, teachers and students have found that they require larger spaces with more flexible furniture. This enables teachers to collaborate not just in planning but in day-to-day team teaching, and all to break out into spaces that suit their tasks. One room designed by students includes comfortable spaces to sit and read, tables where large sheets of paper can be spread out for group work, and individual trapezoid tables that can be easily reconfigured for other activities. It has been a challenge, according to the Head, to find robust, affordable and attractive furniture for these purposes. The school also has a stable and reliable wireless network, and the principle of flexible technology means that a range of devices are used to support different activities.

Managing for learning Management structures have been changed in the school and again, the importance of language in demonstrating a new approach to student support and student progress is evident. The school refers to students (not pupils), central managers, Curriculum Leaders (not Heads of Department), Progress Leaders (not Year Heads) and Learning Tutors (not Form Tutors). Allied to this is an injection of resources into staffing, and recruitment of people who are self-evaluative, reflective and willing to learn. Students are involved in the interview process, because they too are regarded as leaders, and they respond by becoming more self-managing students, evidenced by those in Years 7 and 8 being happy to take responsibility for discipline of themselves and others. As the Head argues, increasing students’ self esteem in this way encourages them to be more adventurous in their learning.

A ‘true learning community that reaches out to the wider world.’

The Local Authority observed students are ‘happy to be here.’

They respond by becoming more self-managing students.

8 Customer Evidence Paper

The intention of technology provision is that students will use ICT naturally as and when appropriate, choosing devices according to the needs of the tasks. Mobile resources include still and video camera, audio recorders, voting pads, interactive slates and 90 floating laptops. Every classroom has a sound system for podcasting. While the Local Authority recommends that mobile phones not be allowed in class, here students can use them for particular tasks, such as the Challenge activity where they played roles as newspaper reporters and journalists. Recognising the value of 24/7 access to computing devices, laptops are also made available for Year 10 and 11 students who do not have computers at home.

Teaching and learning The school tailors the curriculum so that students can pursue their aspirations, while being stretched to aim higher. According to the Head, the students are becoming more inquiring and questioning, and have more dialogue with parents about what they’ve done in school. They are ‘buzzing about their school experiences’. As well, their exam results have improved, and the school is now in the top 4% according to the government’s measures for contextual value added by the school.

However teachers are well aware that the consequent challenge is to enrich assessment by finding ways to measure student leadership skills, and to assess the integrated team activities such as Discovery. Therefore the school is working on rubric-based assessment. While eportfolios could be helpful for this purpose, as yet the technology system doesn’t work well to support them, and this is part of the future development of personal learning environments. While two years ago ICT was a program of study, there is now an understanding that ICT supports teaching and learning and communication, including links across the world.

Improving practice The quest to improve practice is captured in the Head’s comments: ‘transformational resources challenge your thinking and a focus on ‘what might be, rather than what is’. This involves developing a risk culture where ‘forgiveness rather than permission’ is valued, as recognised by the Local Authority. However to do this staff need support, freedom and ownership and, as the Head says, ‘you need to be aware of people’s states of readiness’. One strategy to push staff forward was to provide laptops rather than paper for them to record their ideas in laptops during a weekend curriculum planning conference.

Day by day school-based professional learning means that teachers work more collaboratively than before, learning from each other and reflecting on and analysing data on attendance, progress, rewards and sanctions to improve their practice. Staff create their own resources for teaching, while student researchers inform practice by also collecting and analysing data, looking at questions such as how ICT supports the Year 7 curriculum. With student learning at the centre, all changes are evaluated by the impact they have on students.

The Head values the teleconferences, reading material and telephone support offered through the relationship with Microsoft. While the school’s journey had begun before it became a Microsoft Innovative School, Microsoft has supported and challenged teachers, and offered high-quality professional development opportunities with other innovative schools.

They are ‘buzzing about their school experiences.’

The school is now in the top 4% for value-added.

A risk culture where ‘forgiveness rather than permission’ is valued.

All changes are evaluated by the impact they have on students.

Customer Evidence Paper 9

3. Shireland Collegiate AcademyThis Academy, in the West Midlands, has 1100 students aged 11-19, including a sixth form of 250 students. It is federated with another local Academy and the two are led by an Executive Principal. He is an outward-looking leader with his eye on the big picture and strong national connections through past experience, which clearly benefit the school. His conviction that schools are a force for local community change drives the developments that have taken place, intended to give ‘better than equal opportunities’ to local students.

CommunityA key feature of the area is its multi-racial community (over 50 languages spoken in students’ homes), described by the Principal as ‘economically deprived, yet culturally rich’, but which experiences tensions that can affect schooling. Hence in addition to academic goals, The Academy seeks to promote community cohesion by developing tolerance and respect irrespective of background, religion, race and gender; self-discipline and social awareness; lively and enquiring minds and the ability to argue rationally and make judgements; and understanding of spiritual and moral concepts. According to staff, the culture of the academy has changed positively over recent years, leading to happier students and parents visiting the school voluntarily.

With a belief that children do better when their parents are involved, the Academy has a commitment to developing the skills of the whole community, including English language, online literacy and numeracy courses, and other employability skills. During the ICT TestBed project in the early 2000s, more than 90% of students had home access to a computer. This experience showed the school the importance of focusing on families, rather than individual students, when offering loaned computers. Since the area has a high transitory population, and some students have difficult home situations, Maslow’s basic needs of food and shelter are important for them. Being able to access school information from home ‘helps the children know their parents are interested’ said one parent, who communicates well with other parents and would like to make even more contribution to the school. In addition to many weekend activities at the school, it has encouraged even more involvement from the wider community through putting computers in mosques, temples and community centres.

Designing for learningIn the words of the Executive Principal, curriculum is ‘the diet that kids need, not what we think they ought to have’. Further, he argues, ‘a poorly designed curriculum does enormous harm to students’ life chances’. Echoing this view, staff comment ‘we don’t want to teach students things that don’t matter’ and ‘the most important aspect is that learners feel that someone is taking a personal interest’. Therefore the school tries to involve all stakeholders in planning. Yet although the Principal recognises that the Academy is brave, he admits it is not brave enough to say ‘the National Curriculum doesn’t work’.

A key feature of the learning space design is the online space (Learning Gateway) that links nineteen primary and secondary schools, six community centres and two libraries in the local cluster, and more than 100 schools across the Authority. With local broadband access and computers now in a large proportion of homes, this enlarges both the time and space available for learning. Teachers work together to plan appropriate learning resources, developing their ideas as storyboards which specialists then design and present online. All curriculum plans are stored online with links to resources. Students also contribute by producing revision resources for each other.

Managing resources for learning Using technology resources such as the Learning Gateway ‘levels the playing field’ and improves productivity because it allows people to recycle time and link with other schools, according to the Principal. Staff now expect to use high quality resources. Interactive whiteboards have become a virtual textbook, and some rooms are furnished with desktop computers for a whole class, while others have thin screens that can drop down into the table top. Some areas use wireless laptops. Use of mobile devices is more limited, although Physical Education staff use PDAs for registration in the field. The local Authority has been very supportive, working beside the school in developing the gateway, and in procurement and change management.

The Academy aims to employ effective teachers and experiences low turnover. This could be due to the fact that Shireland has a higher proportion of support staff than normal in a school, and started workforce reorganisation before it became part of the national agenda. The workforce is based on having the ‘right people in the right roles’ while encouraging internal movement of staff in positions of responsibility. Teachers are able to concentrate on their professional teaching roles, with the assistance of pastoral managers, administrative and other support staff. For example, administrative staff as well as teachers can allocate homework exercises, with automatic marking on the computer.

The culture of the academy has changed positively over recent years, leading to happier students and parents visiting the school voluntarily.

The most important aspect is that learners feel that someone is taking a personal interest.

It allows people to recycle time and link with other schools, according to the Principal.

10 Customer Evidence Paper

ICT is used to create, collaborate and communicate.

Teaching and learning Technology supports the learning processes in the Academy, and as in the other cases in this paper, there is a strong emphasis on feedback. Students completing multiple choice tests receive instant feedback from the computer, while the online ‘problem page’ plays a pastoral role and guarantees anonymity for students who ask for help. Students are also able to provide feedback to teachers. While ICT as a subject is not usually a creative part of the National Curriculum, here it is used to create, collaborate and communicate. However across the curriculum there is some concern among staff that creativity has been neglected in recent years.

According to one student, ‘you don’t need much help from the teacher’ because the assignments are available online and students can work through them independently. Reflection is enabled as students also store their work in the online space and can easily look back over what they have done. These processes can lead to greater autonomy among learners.

In terms of national measures, grades have increased in Maths, Science and English in recent years, and while 40% of students went on to higher education in 1997, the current figure is 70%.

Improving practice School-based professional learning has taken place though formal training days, after-school sessions, and regular timetabled team meetings for each department. This is supported by trying things out in the classroom and in the CLC on site, although even here staff can be overwhelmed by the need to keep pace with technology, and with the technical skill of their own students. The link with Microsoft gives impetus and concrete support for teacher development and allows students and teachers to give presentations at external events and to discuss their work with the many visitors to the school.

The amount of data collected by the schools’ systems for attendance, progress and so on provides a rich resource for teachers own research, reflection and planning. However, as in other schools, teachers need to develop skills in using and analysing data to improve practice.

40% of students went on to higher education in 1997, the current figure is 70%.

Customer Evidence Paper 11

4. New Line Learning and Cornwallis Academies, Maidstone, Kent The focus of attention here is the New Line Learning Academy, with almost 1000 students. New Line Learning itself commenced after the closure of two underperforming schools, and is now part of a federation with a formerly higher-performing school, Cornwallis, which has 1600 students.

Community The Academies are led by an Executive Principal with a goal of replacing competition between schools with collaboration, and developing a ‘learning town’ across Maidstone involving secondary, primary and pre schools. He describes himself as an ‘enabling’ leader, and expresses a commitment to a systems approach with dynamic processes, using the language of business and referring to authors outside education to explain his approach. He articulates the importance of relationships in ‘a relationship-driven culture’ and describes his purposes as developing long term skills and aiming for a better society, with a strong belief that changed expectations lead to changed performance. In a community where many parents remember their bad experience of school, this involves changing their attitudes as much as those of their children, and helping them to help their children learn. It is also essential to ensure that the school governors understand the new directions and the need to take risks in order to learn and achieve results in a culture of schooling that is often constrained by accountability and audit mechanisms imposed from outside. While the Local Authority is supportive, it is clear that change is not achieved without some disruptions and struggles locally, and tension between national and local agendas.

Designing for learning In the Executive Principal’s terms, the academies do not operate a ‘delivery model of education’ where the curriculum is ‘pumped out’. Instead, students are seen as ‘customers’ and it is therefore important to know them in a deeper way than purely capturing demographic information. Informed by Microsoft Business Intelligence, the academies use business tools such as 100 day and 50 day plans, and intend to use software for market segmentation and individual risk analysis to plan for particular groups of students.

The academies also use a richer definition of curriculum than is commonly understood in the context of National Curriculum: preferring ‘a series of experiences’ rather than ‘delivery of knowledge’. This means that while qualifications are necessary, they are no longer sufficient. Rather than a lock-step age-graded curriculum, the academies offer two years instead of three for Key Stage 3, start GCSEs one year earlier than usual, and therefore can commence the final qualifications, A levels, a year earlier. Using an integrated or ‘collapsed’ curriculum approach, ICT, English and Humanities are taught through one project. The academies have included Web 2.0 tools such as blogging to value learner-generated content.

In light of the goal of a better society–where people have better lives, not just better qualifications–social and emotional competence are emphasised in the curriculum, and the importance of recognising and understanding emotions is carried through in the design of physical space with its ubiquitous technologies. Open spaces called ‘plazas’–where the tone is set by office-type furniture, interactive lighting, and ‘mobile wallpaper’ rather than static displays– take into account developments in neuroscience. However according to a Local Authority representative, they also serve a symbolic function to show the community that radical change is occurring. Over recent years, successive building developments have enabled practical experience, and student involvement, to inform iterations of space design. Future plans for ‘intelligent spaces’ include installing responsive technologies such as facial recognition, mood lighting and visual displays to help people learn. Managing for learningAs a matter of principle, when a gap needs to be filled the school considers whether the need is for a process or a person. Having decided that a person is required, appointments are often made across the federation rather than to a particular site. As in the other schools in this paper, teachers here work together, gaining greater autonomy and professionalism through team responsibility. A shift from a focus on controlling students to working with them, accompanied by restructured functions and titles, is designed to support small learning communities within the school.

The Academies use business tools such as 100 day and 50 day plans.

A shift from a focus on controlling students to working with them.

12 Customer Evidence Paper

Technology is not a major budget item, but has a huge potential to support learning. 8% of the school budget goes into ICT, for resources that are both functional and symbolic. Supplying 1000 computers and 500 tablet PCs was not only useful for the work of staff and students, but signalled an intention for change, accompanied as it was by a new curriculum and pastoral model. Staff and students are also encouraged to use portable devices, although some students have found managing the devices and using them purposefully is a real challenge Unlike many other schools, mobile phones are not banned, as they are useful for various learning activities. Flexibility is evident in various groupings of classes, flexible times for teachers to plan, and through online access, offering the ability to work outside the ‘school day’. However a barrier to 24/7 access online, which would benefit flexible learning, is the lack of broadband in parts of the community.

Teaching and learning For both staff and students, there is a focus on emotional and social competencies. Communication between students and teachers and the six-weekly KPI assessment of lessons is based on the known importance of feedback loops to support teachers’ and students’ learning, and students commented that teachers listen to them more than previously.

The weight of national testing has in many cases reduced the ‘fun’ in learning. However at New Line Learning, a student said ‘we get to learn while having fun in the plaza’. Students feel ‘at home’ because they can take their shoes off and sit comfortably while they reflect as a group at the end of the lesson. As a measure of the success of this approach, attendance at Year 7 has improved. The focus on the lower levels means that major improvements in GCSE attainment will not be evident yet, but they are said to be increasing steadily. However the academies have not yet developed ways to measure the development of social competence.

Improving practice Professional learning refreshes the professionalism of the staff, and as with the other cases in this paper, much learning occurs on the job. Informed by the Microsoft competency wheel, teachers have individual tailored programmes for their own learning, undertaking action research, and using data, including the KPI feedback from students, to improve their practice. The federation model offers opportunities for staff to develop their leadership skills in a range of ways, while external input is provided through a coaching project with Yale University and working with consultants on data gathering and analysis. As in the other schools, staff need to continue to build their capacity to deal with the complexities of analysing data to improve their practice.

8% of the school budget goes into ICT.

There is a focus on emotional and social competencies.

‘We get to learn while having fun in the plaza.’

External input is provided through a coaching project with Yale University.

Customer Evidence Paper 13

AcknowledgementsThanks are due to the representatives of each school for their cooperation in preparing this paper, and to Brian Rowe Associates who provided additional information.

Written ByElizabeth Hartnell-YoungLearning Sciences Research Institute, University of Nottingham

ReferencesGoleman, D. (1999). Working with Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury.

Hartnell-Young, E. (2006). Teachers’ Roles and Professional Learning in Communities of Practice supported by Technology in Schools. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(3), 461-480.

Senge, P. (1990). The Leader’s New Work: Building Learning Organizations. Sloan Management Review, 32(1), 7-22.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

14 Customer Evidence Paper

Part 2: Research Summary

1. IntroductionResearch tells us is that there is strong statistical evidence of the value that information communications technology (ICT) is providing to the processes of teaching and learning—helping to engage students, and introducing improvements to teaching and to institutional processes. The majority of research carried out in this area has produced evidence of positive results, with little evidence implying that ICT is not supporting improvements in learning.

In the case of the schools studied for the Innovative Schools Depth Case Study work, they each have examples of improved motivation, increased learning outcomes, and improvements in other measures of school performance—attendance, behaviour, exclusions etc. In the video, and supporting written material, we have asked them to tell their story, from their perspective.

This overview presents a United Kingdom-focused summary of evidence from large-scale research on the impact of ICT use in schools. Areas measured include:

• Educational attainment, including achievement in literacy and numeracy

• Learner engagement and motivation

• School improvement

• Workforce efficiency/productive time

The overview presents just some of the conclusions of the report produced by Becta, “ImpaCT2 - The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Pupil Learning and Attainment”. The Becta ImpaCT2 report can be found at http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&&catcode=&rid=13602.

2. Impact on attainmentThere is a growing body of research into primary and secondary schools supporting the view that the use of ICT in learning and teaching improves standards of education. Most of these studies show that the broad use of technology in the classroom improves opportunities for learning, and increases motivation and engagement.

A good example is the ImpaCT2 study from 20031 , a comprehensive assessment of the impact of ICT on learning at a national level. Funded by the U.K. government, it shows that in primary schools, there is a statistically significant relationship between the use of ICT and levels of learning and attainment in subjects such as English. Pupils in secondary schools also benefit from the use of technology, especially in science, and design and technology. In particular, students who used ICT in the classroom were able to comprehend lessons more quickly and achieved better exam results.

Another study, conducted in 20052 , identified a correlation between the use of broadband Internet in schools and exam results. Students who used the Internet more at school achieved higher pass rates following the introduction of high-speed online access.

In addition, a study conducted by Durham University in 20053 demonstrated that students who used ICT at home to support their education achieved higher scores in national tests, including maths and English. The study also showed that using ICT for learning at home improved the motivation, self-esteem and confidence of low-achieving pupils.

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3. Student engagement and motivationMost studies show that pupils who have access to technology at school are more motivated, and more engaged, in their lessons. A study funded by the U.K. government in 20044 , for example, revealed that boys especially enjoy using technology in the classroom, and are more likely to make a positive contribution to the lesson as a result.

Similarly, a project funded by the U.K. government—the ICT Test Bed5 —found that students feel more positive about school when they are using technology to support learning in the classroom or at home. The number of students in the study who reported that they always enjoyed school increased by over one half, from less than 20 per cent in 2002 to 34 per cent in 2004.

Broadband, in particular, has an important role to play as it improves student engagement and motivation, and supports greater pupil-led research and higher-order thinking skills.

More recently, a study conducted in 20076 illustrated the importance of display technologies, such as interactive whiteboards, on student motivation. This project involved 7,200 students from 97 schools in 20 local authorities, and asked secondary pupils to describe their experience of using interactive white boards in the classroom. More than 80 per cent said that learning was more interesting, while 77 per cent said it was easier to understand the lesson when teachers used this technology.

4. School improvement and ‘e-maturity’Most research into the use of ICT in education indicates that technology can enhance teaching, and usually improves student performance. But the studies also show that technology is only really effective if it is integrated across all teaching activities including leadership, resource management, workforce development, curriculum organisation, as well as learning and teaching strategies.

In addition, analysis of data from a nationally representative sample of secondary schools7 shows that integration of ICT across the institution is statistically linked to lower absence rates, higher exam scores, and improved student progress.

5. Teacher dataA 2006 survey of 3,000 teachers in Northern Ireland8 assessed the impact of emPowering Schools, a strategy that aims to promote the use of multimedia technology in education.

The study demonstrated that teachers were enthusiastic about using ICT for lesson planning and preparation:

• Six out of 10 teachers were using technology to prepare and plan between one and three quarters of their lessons.

• This included 2 out of 10 who were using it to plan and prepare more than three-quarters of all of their lessons.

• Teachers’ engagement with ICT-based change was also indicated by a development need, with eight out of 10 teachers saying that ICT was a medium or high priority over the next two years.

BenefitsMore than 50 per cent of the teachers who participated in the study said that technology helps students to be more independent learners. In addition, 50 per cent reported that ICT reduced the time spent planning lessons. Other benefits included positive pupil attainment, tracking and monitoring of pupil performance, and reduced administration.

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6. Specific subjects

LiteracyA study conducted by the Scottish government in 20059 found that ICT helped pupils to adopt a learning style that best matched their learning preferences. Research into the use of ICT in English teaching showed that technology:

• Helps improve writing and reading skills

• Supports collaboration

• Develops speaking and listening skills

Boys’ Literacy Low levels of literacy among male pupils is one of the greatest challenges facing U.K. schools. Research of the ICT Test Bed projects that10 have focused on the impact of ICT in primary schools found that:

• The use of Interactive White Boards improved boys’ interest in literacy activities, particularly writing. Enthusiasm was maintained, and in some instances heightened, when computers were involved.

• Boys were motivated to complete work to a higher standard and learnt more effectively than traditional pen and paper methods.

• Boys developed a more positive attitude towards literacy through ICT.

MathematicsThe InterActive Project team at Bristol University investigated the impact of Interactive White Boards on geometry lessons. Results show that learning software:

• Extends students’ mathematical questioning and use of mathematical language

• Supports experimentation and play

• Allows students to manipulate abstract mathematical concepts

• Provides new and dynamic ways of representing mathematical ideas that stimulate learning

• One project in the InterActive Education series of studies11 described how pupils were able to manipulate shapes more easily using learning software to bridge the gap between concrete and abstract concepts. The software also helped them to improve their learning and understanding of the properties of quadrilaterals.

Another study conducted in 200312 showed that animations and simulations enhanced understanding in maths and science. ICT supports this visual approach to learning far more effectively than traditional learning materials.

7. Workforce efficiency/productive timeResearch shows that technology supports collaboration between educators, improving the quality of curriculum and lesson planning. This also saves considerable time and reduces the burden of administration on teachers.

A study funded by Becta in 200513 , focused on how 15 schools used ICT to support lesson planning and teaching. The results showed that use of digital resources for lesson preparation saved an average of 26 minutes per lesson, compared with traditional methods.

Data collected by Ofsted14 , the official body for inspecting schools in the U.K., supports this research. Ofsted found that schools using ICT consistently rated higher than schools that had limited technology deployments.

In addition to streamlining research and the development of learning materials, technology also improves administrative processes at schools. A 2005 study15 found that the use of integrated e-registration systems, for example, saved an average of 12 minutes, per school employee, per day. Benefits are realised most at schools where technology and data infrastructures are integrated with other administration and instruction systems.

A Becta study16 also highlighted the importance of learning platforms/virtual learning environments, especially where they are integrated effectively with other systems. According to the study, effective use of learning platforms and virtual learning environments in schools saves each teacher an average of 41 minutes a week from routine tasks. It is estimated that if all schools in England deployed learning platforms and virtual learning environments they would gain the equivalent of £694m savings of teacher time.

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References

1 Harrison, C; Comber, C; Fisher, T; Hawe, K; Lewin, C; Lunzer, E; McFarland, A; Mavers, D; Scrimshaw, P; Somekh, B; and Watling, R (2002), ImpaCT2: The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Pupils Learning and Attainment. ICT in Schools Research and Evaluation Series No.7

2 Underwood, J; Ault, A; Banyard, P; Bird, K; Dillon, G; Hayes, M; Selwood, I; Somekh, B; and Twining, P. (2005), The Impact of Broadband in Schools

3 Valentine, G; Marsh, J and Pattie, C. (2005), Children and Young People’s Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes: The impact on attainment at key stages 1-4, DfES

4 Passey, D; Rogers, C; Machell, J; McHugh, G. (2004), The motivational effect of ICT on pupils. DfES Research Series

5 Moss, G; Jewitt, C; Levaãiç, R; Armstrong, V; Cardini. A; Castle, F (2007). The Interactive Whiteboards, Pedagogy and Pupil Performance Evaluation: An Evaluation of the Schools Whiteboard Expansion (SWE) Project: London Challenge. Institute of Education, University of London

6 Somekh, B; Underwood, J; Convery, A; Dillion, G; Harber Stuart, T; Jarvis, J., Lewin, C; Mavers, D; Saxon, D; Twining, P. and Woodrow, D. (2006), Evaluation of the DfES ICT Test Bed Project Annual Report

7 Butt, S; and Cebulla, A. (2006), E-maturity and school performance—A secondary analysis of COL evaluation data. London: National Centre for Social Research

8 PricewaterhouseCoopers (2005), Impact of ICT on Productive Time. Final Report, September 2005. Coventry: Becta (unpublished report)

9 InterActive Education (2006), English Subject Designs. Bristol: University of Bristol.

10 Condie, R; and Munro, B. with Seagraves, L. and Kenesson, S. (2006), The impact of ICT in schools—a landscape review

11 InterActive Education (2006), English Subject Designs. Bristol: University of Bristol.

12 | Becta (2003b), Primary Schools—ICT Standards. An Analysis of National Data from Ofsted and QCA by Becta.

13 Balanskat, A; Blamire, R; Kefala, S.(2006), The ICT Impact Report, Brussels: European Schoolnet

14 Ofsted (2004), ICT in Schools: The Impact of Government Initiatives Five Years On, HMI 2050

15 PricewaterhouseCoopers (2005), Impact of ICT on Productive Time. Final Report, September 2005. Coventry: Becta (unpublished report)

16 University of Manchester (2006) Productive time follow up studies: Study 1—Learning Platforms, Becta

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