Conclusions Models of ICT Integration in Education

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Models of ICT integration in Education Madrid, 16th – 18th March

The objective of this congress has been to promote the effective integration of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) into the working methodology of the educational community of the European Union. This meeting, which has been attended by experts and representatives of educational authorities from the member countries of the European Union and from other continents, as well as from the Spanish Autonomous Communities, has served to interchange points of view, present examples of good practice, learn about different proposals and draw up a series of recommendations that should be taken into account when designing future educational policies for ICT integration into education.

These technologies are perhaps the medium which has contributed most to so-called globalization, and with it, their integration into education has become an equally global challenge. The responses of each country are diverse as a function of their own socio-economic and cultural environment, but without a doubt, meetings of this kind contribute to the enrichment of the action strategies included in educational policies on ITC. Below is a list of some of the ideas which have repeatedly emerged in the discussions and presentations of the experts: •

Technological changes are appearing at a dizzying pace and cause repercussions to society and individuals. Educational authorities face the challenge of adapting to this situation and designing educational policies which do not limit the possibilities which the future may offer.

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It is desirable that the reality which students live outside of school (taking part in social Networks, informal learning, etc.) permeates into the school (taking part in the school community, formal learning, etc.).

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The connection between these two realities, far from weakening or minimizing the role of the school, reinforces it, especially with regard to the teachers, who are the indispensable agents of change for ICTs to be integrated into education. This demands suitable planning of teacher training strategies.

Three working groups, developed during the congress, contributed their analyses, discussions and suggestions. These are their respective conclusions:

Strand 1: Models of pedagogical innovation in terms of content and learning approaches

The group coordinator emphasized the different uses that students make of ICTs in the classroom and in their free time. He encouraged the whole educational community to incorporate social Networks as a pedagogical tool and underlined the fact that teachers prefer digital educational resources which they can modify and adapt to the didactic needs of the moment.

Conclusions: 1. Production of Digital Educational Resources has to adapt to, and anticipate, the educational use of technological novelties.

2. Production should come from different sources; in all cases practising teachers should intervene and collaborate in all of its phases and should be able to experiment on the products with their students.

3. Production requires tools and services which allow the teachers and students to generate their own contents.

4. Production of any resource should be tried out in the classroom and be accessible to all from anywhere.

5. ITC integration is an individual process for every teacher and it should be carried out among peers and with the help of other teachers who already have some experience.

6. Teachers’ Networks which diffuse their experiences and good practice encourage ITC integration.

7. ITC integration is fomented if the teachers are accustomed to using the same media and methodologies as their students.

8. Authorities should recognize value and disseminate the work of the teachers who innovate with ITCs. 9. It is necessary to promote good practice of ICT in order to achieve the critical mass which will permit its generalization and adoption by the whole educational community.

10. New evaluation systems must be sought which adapt to the new methodologies and innovative activities.

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Strand 2: Models of professional development The working group has arranged the conclusions around three actions: initial or university training of the future teachers, permanent or continuous training and informal learning. The speaker emphasized the new competences of the teachers and the important role that they will play in the future of the educational system.

The leader role of the authorities was also underlined as they should “recognize, value and disseminate the ICT innovations of the teachers” as well as plan all the actions necessary for their permanent training in respect of ICTs. Conclusions: 1. It is considered imperative to include training in digital competences in the academic syllabus of future teachers.

2. The initial training received by those aspiring to become a teacher should be connected with permanent training in their later professional development.

3. Training study plans should consider the demands of the professions which will arise in the near future, and will need the capability to incorporate new skills.

4. Teacher training differs greatly from one country to another, in some it is compulsory and in others voluntary; and there is no common consensus as to which is the best system for validating ICT competence.

5. The definitive part of the learning process is not the technology but rather the methodology used to adapt and exploit this technology.

6. Public educational authorities should be the motive force behind the permanent training of teachers.

7. Learning and training must be continuous throughout the professional career, and thus teachers must be motivated so that they are the basic factor involved in ITC integration.

8. Evaluation models should be found for the different training actions that are implemented.

9. Teacher training needs urgently to be made flexible in all of its modalities: formal, informal, nonformal, class based, distance, etc.

10. We must be sensitive to the novelties which will emerge in the future with regard to training.

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Strand 3. Models of organization and pedagogic innovation for ICTs The plans by national, regional and local authorities in all educational systems to bring new technologies into teaching are aimed towards the improvement of teaching and learning processes in classrooms. It is worthy of note that technology is hardly ever designed ad hoc for use in education, given the high cost implied, but commercial technological products that may be adequate for teaching are used instead (like interactive whiteboards, net books, tablet-PCs, e-book readers, etc.). These technologies are usually adapted, through the software that controls them, to improve their functionality within their area of application. The main objective of this working group was to analyse the technological dimension of projects for the integration of ICT in education currently being implemented through the presentation of experiences in different countries based on innovative models.

Conclusions: 1. Teachers are the main agents of the methodological change involved in the integration of new technologies and the educational authorities should help them to manage this change.

2. Teacher training in the didactic use of technology has to be both technological and methodological. In addition to traditional training, class based or on line, new strategies should be developed to facilitate peer collaboration either directly or through the Internet.

3. The need to be able to count on adequate infrastructure and equipment to guarantee access for teachers and students to technological resources continues to be a fundamental, although not sufficient, objective for managing the change. A greater effort should be undertaken to make all the actors who intervene in the educational process (students, teachers, parents and management teams) aware of the advantages of incorporating technology into their institutions.

4. Digital inclusion should aim at evening out the different digital gaps, not only those related to socioeconomic and cultural aspects, but also those which have to do with the different strategies developed by the students in their approach to the technologies and the use they make of them.

5. It is important to take advantage of the digital skills of the students and incorporate commonly used fixed and mobile devices into the design of the resources and services which are offered in the educational context.

6. The decrease in the cost of technology is favouring the development of projects using the 1:1 model which permit the use of a laptop computer as a personal tool of the student both at school and in the home, and there seems to be agreement on the part of educational authorities to implant this model.

7. It is difficult to guess the technological scenario of the next few decades and also the abilities and skills that will be required of the students at that time. It is therefore necessary to develop digital competencies in the students that are independent of software and hardware and which are focussed on problem solving.

8. As well as the need to endow institutions with adequate communications equipment and infrastructure, there is also a need to provide them with maintenance services and technical support to

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be able to suitably develop the projects. It would seem equally necessary to involve the families in the care and appropriate use of mobile equipment when it is taken.

9. The experience of some countries shows that the contributions that certain social, technological and economic agents can make to the development of projects for the integration of technology can be very positive, and they should therefore be taken into account by the educational authorities.

10. Projects for the integration of technology are no longer simple projects of “technological” education but rather have become projects of educational innovation.

____________________________________________________________________________________ Web: http://www.ite.educacion.es/congreso/modelostic/

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