Section Two: Pilot Testing Performance Indicators on ICT for Education in Asia-Pacific Region

The set of indicators being proposed for pilot testing by countries in Asia and the Pacific was generated during the Consultative Workshop for Developing Performance Indicators for ICT in Education conducted last August 28 – 30 2002 at INNOTECH in Quezon City, Philippines.

The Consultative Workshop was participated by specialists from ministries of education engaged in carrying out ICT projects in education as well as experts and consultants coming from the UNESCO Institute for Information Technology in Education based in Moscow, Australia’s NSW Department of Education and Training, and United Kingdom’s Advisory Unit: Computers in Education and ESCAP’s Social Development Division.

The countries represented included Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Viet Nam and Uzbekistan.

Setting the Parameters
In developing the set of indicators, it was felt that many countries are at different stages of development as far as ICT use in education is concerned and, therefore, indicators to measure ICT use and impact may not necessarily be standard or uniformly applicable to all countries. In the region, for example, one country may already be advanced as far as teacher training or access indicators are concerned, but may not even have developed an official policy yet. Or another country may have formulated an official policy, but may not have begun integrating ICT into the curriculum. Thus, it was found useful to set out some parameters in order to minimize imbalance and differences. Below are these parameters:

1. Definition of ICT – For the purpose of this project, ICT is defined as the term used to describe the tools and processes to access, retrieve, store, organize, manipulate, produce, present and exchange information by electronic and other automated means. These include hardware, software and telecommunications in the forms of personal computers, scanners, digital cameras, handhelds/PDAs, phones, faxes, modems, CD and DVD players and recorders, digitised video, radio and TV and programs like database systems and multimedia applications.
2. Scope of education to be covered by ICT indicators - In this project, the following levels and scope of education will be included. In order to facilitate comparison between countries, the different levels of national education and its definition were based on the classification of THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD CLASSIFICATION OF EDUCATION (ISCED).

Level 1 –  Primary education  This is the first stage of basic education and start of compulsory education.  This is also the beginning of systematic apprenticeship of reading, writing and mathematics.

Level 2 –  Lower Secondary  This is also known as the second stage of basic education.  Entry to this level is after some 6 years of primary education. The end of this level is after some 9 years of schooling, often coinciding with the end of compulsory education in countries where this exists; and often, at the beginning of this level, several teachers start to conduct classes in their field of specialization. This level also includes special needs education programmes and all adult education which are similar in content to the education given at this level, e.g., the education which supplies adults with the basic skills necessary for further learning.

Level 3 –  Upper Secondary This level of education typically begins at the end of full-time compulsory education for those countries that have a system of compulsory education. The entrance age to this level is typically 15 or 16 years. The minimum entrance requirement is the completion of level 2. This level also includes special needs education programmes and adult education.

Level 4 –  Post-Secondary Non-Tertiary Education This level captures programmes that straddle the boundary between upper-secondary and post-secondary education from an international point of view, even though they might clearly be considered as upper-secondary or post-secondary programmes in a national context. This level, considering its content, cannot be regarded as tertiary. The programmes under this level are often not significantly more advanced than programmes at level 3, but they serve to broaden the knowledge of participants who have already completed a programme at level 3.

Level 5 –  First Stage of Tertiary Education (Not Leading Directly To an Advanced Research Qualification) This level consists of tertiary programmes having educational content more advanced than those offered at levels 3 and 4. Entry to these programmes normally requires the successful completion of ISCED level 3+  A or 3B or a similar qualification at ISCED level 4A. All degrees and qualifications are cross-classified by type of programmes, position in national degree or qualification structures and cumulative duration at tertiary.

Non-formal Education – Any organized and sustained educational activities that do not correspond exactly to the definition of formal education. Formal education is education provided in the system of schools, colleges, universities and other formal educational institutions that normally constitutes a continuous ‘ladder’  of full-time education for children and young people, generally beginning at age five to seven and continuing up to 20 or 25 years old. Non-formal education, may therefore take place both within and outside educational institutions, and cater to persons of all ages. Depending on the country contexts, it may cover educational programmes to impart adult literacy, basic education for out-of-school children, life skills, work-skills, and general culture. Non-formal education programmes do not necessarily follow the ‘ladder’ system, and may have differing duration.

3.   Disaggregation of indicators –  For purposes of analysing further the data to be gathered from the questionnaire survey in this pilot testing, it is recommended, if possible that indicators be further classified or disaggregated. The sample survey questionnaire provided here already tried to classify some of these variables, but because of the differing situations in each of the countries participating in this survey, classification made may not be appropriate. Thus, for your guidance, please consider the following indicators for further classification in finalizing the survey questionnaire.

 

Policy on ICT – national, if available; if not, please indicate whether there are policies on ICT at the regional, division/district or school levels; (or there are national ICT policies that include an education component)

 

Indicators under the category - infrastructure, access and connectivity should be disaggregated into formal, non-formal and primary and secondary education

 

Indicators under the category - ICT curriculum (both include curriculum used to teach ICT topics and subject curriculum into which ICT-based lessons are integrated into) should be disaggregated into the following categories:

- geographical location (rural or urban)

- educational level

- type of education (formal, non-formal, and special education, national minorities)

- curricular subjects

- gender

- language

 

Indicators on Teaching and teaching support staff:

- Gender

- Geographical location (rural or urban)

- Age (preferably into age brackets)

- Subject* taught by a teacher/ librarian/administrator/ICT coordinator

- Educational level

- Type of education (formal, non-formal, and special education, national minorities)

- Socio-economic status (if possible)

 

Learning process and outcomes

- Gender

- Geographical location (rural or urban)

- Subject *

- Educational level

- Type of education (formal, non-formal, and special education, national minorities)

- Socio-economic status (if possible)

* for further classification based on international standards

4.   Different stages of ICT development in different countries and how they relate to the different indicators – In the Consultative Workshop, it was recognized that countries participating in this project may be at different stages of ICT development, including its use in education.  Thus, to address this concern, the following classification of ICT in education is proposed.  This classification may emerge as a result of the data gathered from the survey.  It should be noted here that these different stages can also apply within a country specifically within a country’s different regions/sectors. 

These are the definitions of the stages:

EMERGING – this is the stage in which the country has come to the awareness of the benefits of ICT in education. Thus, a national policy has just been set, budget has been allocated and guidelines for the implementations have been prepared. This is also the stage in which the country in general is undertaking infrastructure development in preparation for the nationwide access to ICT. Thus, the country may embark on infrastructure project such as providing electricity and communication facilities to areas without these infrastructures. At this stage, the schools, in particular may be in the process of hardware build-up in terms of purchasing computers and other ICT facilities. Indicators most useful for assessing ICT introduction in such countries will focus on infrastructure build-up and ICT availability, penetration and connectivity. Indicators that determine existence of a national policy, master plan and budget allocation will also be useful to test commitment and support of the governments. It will also be useful to know whether the ICT policy in education is linked to the goals and strategies of the national ICT policy of the country.

 

APPLYING – At this stage, the ministries of education are testing out and piloting the use of ICT in selected schools and subjects and have not integrated ICT as part of the curriculum. The schools in particular have started to benefit from the conveniences of using/applying ICT in the management and administration of education. Schools are not yet adequately equipped and teacher/student and computer ratio is still low. Internet connection is only beginning to appear on a selected basis and for limited use. The schools at this stage may be offering computer courses as a subject and most computers are set up as stand-alone units. Teachers are being trained mostly in computer literacy rather than the use of ICT in teaching/learning. ICT-based materials for teaching subjects are being developed and teachers are using ICT in the classroom mostly for preparing presentations, entering grades and assignments, making handouts, for text processing and classroom management. Indicators which are more likely to be of help here would revolve around availability/penetration and accessibility of  ICT; teacher/student-computer ratio; Internet connection; teacher training outcomes; use of ICT by teachers and students or how ICT is used in schools. 

 

INTEGRATING – At this stage, the ministries of education have integrated the use of ICT into the standard curriculum and developed standards and competencies for both teachers and students in the use of ICT. The schools have computer laboratories, mostly with computers set up in a network, have a working local area network and have access to the Internet which are available to students, and teaching and administrative staff. Most students and staff have e-mails. The use of ICT in the teaching-learning process is more of a tool rather than just a curricular subject offering. The teachers are naturally and routinely using ICT and various educational software in teaching subjects and students employ them in classroom activities and in completing their assignments. Telecollaboration and communication between students and teachers and other schools can occur in this stage. The most useful indicators which can be used here deal with assessment of teaching and learning process/outcomes as well as efficiency of ICT in communication, networking and providing easy access to online educational resources.

 

TRANSFORMING -  At this stage, the systematic and widespread use of ICT in the education ministries and in their programmes throughout the country has become routine. Schools have been transformed into a level where ICT has become an integral part and important facility in the management and administration of education and has become an efficient and effective way of teaching and learning; solving problems; communicating and collaborating. Traditional learning has been replaced with e-learning and online learning. Students and staff have personalized websites, and students have full grasp of ICT facilities in their schooling. More advanced type of indicators are required in this instance. These can include availability of larger bandwidth, countrywide penetration of ICT including the marginalized areas and easy access to online resources as far as infrastructure is concerned. Use of ICT in terms of e-learning, telecollaboration or collaborative work; use of online professional development; extent of teacher training coverage and training of teachers in advance use of ICT; and how ICT is being used to develop learners’ creativity, critical thinking and problem solving capacity. It is also important to know how new graduates/work force are being integrated into the knowledge society and workplace.