Indicators assessing ICT impact in education
General
Case Studies of Innovative Pedagogical Practices Using Technology
To identify rich descriptions for innovative, technology-based pedagogical practices, whilst providing information to national and local policy-makers to help make decisions related to ICT in advancing their country's educational goals, this study of innovative pedagogical practices that use ICT is in progress. The study involves national research teams in participating countries, using a common set of case study methods to collect data on the pedagogical practices of teachers and learners, the role that ICT plays in these practices and the contextual factors that support and influence them.
West Virginia study
This study shows that the effective use of learning technology has led directly to significant gains in math, reading and language arts skills in West Virginia.
Project Tomorrow
Project Tomorrow is a national education nonprofit group based in Irvine, California. The vision of Project Tomorrow is ensure that today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world. We believe that by supporting the innovative uses of science, math and technology resources in our K-12 schools and communities, students will develop the critical thinking, problem solving and creativity skills needed to compete and thrive in the 21st century.
“Decreasing Cultural Disparity in Educational ICTs: Tools and Recommendations”
Factsheets
The Internet in Southeast Asia – case studies
Assessment tools and guidelines
ICT (Information and Communications Technology)
According to this site by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment in Ireland, “The use of ICT in appropriate contexts in education can add value in teaching and learning, by enhancing the effectiveness of learning, or by adding a dimension to learning that was not previously available. ICT may also be a significant motivational factor in students’ learning, and can support students’ engagement with collaborative learning.”
Assess Your ICT Readiness
Readiness is the degree to which a community is prepared to participate in the networked world. It is gauged by assessing a community’s advancement in the areas that are most critical to the adoption of ICTs. A readiness assessment can be used to help identify strategic priorities. Participants are asked to place their community on a scale from one to four in nineteen categories, grouped in five sections. Each category contains suggested indicators to help the community to best determine its stage of development. The guide is available in eight different languages.
Readiness Assessment
This site is part of the guide which describes the determinants of a community’s Readiness for the Networked World, and a diagnostic tool that systematically examines those factors to assess a community’s Readiness. This particular page provides four scenarios which assess the level and readiness of a school to use ICT in teaching/learning. The first scenario is when schools do not have computers at all; the second one is where ICTs are mostly at the university level; the third one is where ICTs can be found at the university and primary and secondary schools and the last one is where most of the schools at all educational levels have computers.
Technological Interoperability Standards
The Centre for Educational Technology Interoperability Standards (CETIS) was created for the achievement of interoperability standards for learning technology. For learning content, not only technical standards like graphics interchange formats are needed, but also formats for the way in which the packaging, sequencing, and other management of the software is handled so that it can be transferred between platforms and environments. Likewise, standard ways of describing educational materials are needed so that they can be easily searched for and located.
Indicators in use
The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project
The NETS Project aims to define standards for students, integrating curriculum technology, technology support and standards for student assessment and evaluation of technology use. Standards to be developed or refined include: Standards for Students, describing what students should know about technology and be able to do with it; Connecting Curriculum and Technology, providing curriculum examples of effective use of technology in teaching and learning; Educational Technology Support Standards, describing standards for professional development, systems, access and support services; and Standards for Student Assessment and Evaluation of Technology Use.
SchoolNet SA - Assessment and Evaluation of the Impact of ICT
Focusing on educators in SchoolNet distance education programs, this document highlights the point that assessment of practice requires ongoing interaction between an educator and a tutor or mentor, with use being made of portfolios for assessment. The paper goes on to state the evaluation of the impact of ICT on the quality of teaching and learning should take place at the ICT skills level, the integration level, within professional growth and at the whole school level, as analyzed in detail.