From the sample of 380 teachers who participated in the post-installation survey, the vast majority (83 per cent) of teachers report that they use ICT ‘to a great extent (daily)’, when asked ‘to what extent do you use ICT in teaching?’, 15 per cent of surveyed teachers report using ICT ‘To some extent (Weekly)’ and 2 per cent of teachers report that they do not use ICT to a great extent (less than weekly). This suggests at least three channels through which improvements to a school’s broadband access might affect teaching and learning. First, since most teachers already use ICT extensively, existing applications might be used more, or more effectively. Second, teachers who do not use ICT might adopt it as the speed and reliability of the internet connection available to them improves. Finally, new applications might come into use, perhaps enabled by the order of magnitude increase in connection speeds for most schools.
It seems likely that effects operating through these three channels might manifest over different time periods, with incremental improvements for existing users coming faster than adoption by new users, and step-changes in application use coming later still. There is some evidence for this view: the reported frequency of ICT use in teaching did not change significantly between the pre- and post-upgrade surveys.23,24
In this section we explore how ICT is used for teaching and learning in Ireland, how this may be changing over time and how usage may be influenced by the introduction of high-speed broadband. Because the period between installation and our second survey is short, and changing teaching and learning practices is a
23 We scored reported usage from 1 for ‘Not to any great extent’ to 3 for ‘To a great extent’ and calculated the average
change in teachers’ scores between surveys. This is not significantly different from zero [p-value=0.31].
24 It is important to reiterate that the sample of teachers who participated in the pre- and post-installation surveys
gradual process (Orlando, 2013), we expect any effects to be subtle. The first channel – incremental improvements for existing users – may predominate so far. Also, because our survey lacks a control group that did not receive broadband, any findings will be descriptive rather than necessarily implying that the high- speed broadband programme caused the observed changes. Nevertheless, we hope to make some observations about the direction and pattern of change. Two types of analysis are used here. One is to compare the answers given over time to structured survey questions about teaching and learning practices. The second is to apply text analysis methods to unstructured survey questions asked of teachers and principals after their schools received broadband upgrades.
Applications Used for Teaching and Learning
Figure 6.2 illustrates teachers’ responses to the question ‘How often do you use ICT to support teaching and learning in your main subject in the current year?’ Teachers are offered a list of possible applications and asked to indicate whether they are used never, sometimes, frequently or usually/always. Full descriptions of the ICT applications are given in Table 6.1 below.
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FIGURE 6.2 Frequency of Use of Different ICT Applications to Support Teaching and Learning (Pre- and Post-
Broadband Upgrade)
Source: Analysis of teacher survey data (N=880 pre-installation, 380 post-installation).
The absolute levels of change in reported usage behaviour before and after installation of high-speed broadband is small, which is unsurprising given the relatively short time elapsed between the surveys. To check whether the changes were statistically significant or not, we scored reported usage from 0 for ‘Never’ to 3 for ‘Usually/always’ and calculated the average change in teachers’ scores for each question between the pre- and post-installation surveys (see Table 6.1).
TABLE 6.1 Change in Reported Educational Applications of ICT Use (Teacher)
ICT-based application Average change in usage score Conduct classroom demonstrations (e.g. computer-based simulations, virtual labs) 0.042 Use curriculum-relevant online resources for lesson preparation (e.g. websites, blogs and
wikis) 0.034
Use applications such as word processing and presentation software to prepare
resources for class 0.11**
Create multimedia resources, incorporating sound, video, images or other digital media
for use in class -0.026
Use curriculum relevant online resources to support their teaching (e.g. websites, blogs
and wikis) -0.053
Communicate with students via email 0.30***
Collaborate with experts and teachers in other locations to enrich student learning 0.011
Publish students’ work online -0.0056
Post teaching or learning resources on the internet (e.g. on a blog or wiki) for other
teachers and students -0.054
Use social networks in teaching in the classroom 0.068
Record student work for assessment purposes (e.g. digital camera, digital video) 0.066
To provide instant feedback to students on their progress 0.13**
Support student-to-student peer assessment 0.097*
Support collaboration between students for learning (e.g. live chat, online forums, school
VLE) 0.096*
Support students to reflect on their own learning 0.10*
Support a range of student learning styles 0.033
Provide differentiated learning or own-pace learning to support the development of
numeracy 0.087
Support the learning of students with special educational needs 0.057
Communicate with parents via email 0.11**
Source: Analysis of survey data (N=880 teachers pre-installation, 380 teachers post-installation).
Note: *, ** and *** denote significant at the 10 per cent, 5 per cent and 1 per cent level respectively. Scores calculated by summing category usage scores given by teachers before and after 100Mbps broadband upgrade, with Never=0, Sometimes=1, Frequently=2 and Usually/always=3.
No use of ICT showed a statistically significant decrease in reported use, whereas several applications showed (at least marginally) statistically significant increases in use: ‘Use of applications such as word processing and presentation software to prepare resources for class’, ‘To provide instant feedback to students on their progress’, ‘Communicate with students via email’, ‘To provide instant feedback to students on their progress‘, ‘Support student-to-student peer assessment’, ‘Support collaboration between students for learning (e.g. live chat, online forums, school VLE)’, ‘Support students to reflect on their own learning’ and ‘Communicate with parents via email’. Most of the remaining applications indicated increasing average usage without the change being statistically
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significant. This may have happened because there was no actual change or because our sample was too small for change to be detected reliably.
While most of the changes in reported usage are small, the results may hint at a pattern. Reported communication with students and parents using email and use of word processing and presentation facilities rose significantly and substantially. These might be regarded as fairly well established uses of ICT in education. The remaining applications with indications of increased frequency of use tend to be associated with active teaching methods: e.g. provision of instant feedback to students and supporting students to reflect on their own learning. Future research could investigate any persistence in the patterns of ICT use.
Teachers’ Use of ICT in Main Subject Area
Turning to teachers’ use of ICT in their own main subject areas, we focused on a specific set of areas where teachers might use technology to support their work. The question posed to teachers was ‘Thinking of your main subject area as stated in Q6, please indicate how frequently you use these approaches?’ The results of Figure 6.3 indicate considerable variation across applications, but no statistically significant variation in average usage over time in our sample (although the trend appeared to be positive for most applications listed).
FIGURE 6.3 Different Applications of ICT Use by Teachers
In line with the case-study evidence almost all teachers reported that they ‘Browse/search the internet to collect information to prepare lessons’, ‘Browse or search internet to collect learning material or resources to be used by students during lessons’, and ‘Use internet applications [Google, YouTube etc.] to prepare presentations for lessons’. Many report using ICT for these purposes frequently or always. Less frequent use is reported for ‘Create their own digital learning materials for students [create website with subject content]’, and most do not ‘Post homework for students on the school website’ or ‘Post course notes/materials for students on the school website’.
Students’ Use of ICT Across Schools
We have noted previously that students’ use of ICT in class is less common than teachers’, and this pattern was reflected when we asked teachers ‘How often do your students use ICT in the classroom in the following ways, again thinking of the main subject?’ (Figure 6.4). Nevertheless, for several applications a majority of teachers indicated some degree of use, in particular ‘Reinforce and practice routine skills and procedures’, ‘Find information on the internet (teacher directed)’, ‘Carry out research on the internet (student led)’, ‘Work with spreadsheets and databases’, ‘Analyse data or information’, ‘Create presentations using a range of media (e.g. podcast, video)’, and ‘Use simulations or animations to explore a system or abstract concept’.
The pattern of responses indicates a rising trend in usage of ICT applications over time, but changes between surveys are modest in absolute terms (Table 6.2). Of the applications listed, ‘Submit homework’, ‘Use e-books’ and ‘Give feedback to peers or assess other students work’ showed statistically significant increases in prevalence. No applications showed a significant decline.
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FIGURE 6.4 Frequency of Different Approaches to Technology Usage by Students
TABLE 6.2 Change in Reported Educational Applications of ICT Use (Teacher)
ICT application Average change in usage score
Reinforce and practice routine skills and procedures 0.023
Submit homework 0.089*
Use e-books 0.12**
Find information on the internet (teacher directed) 0.037
Carry out research on the internet (student led) 0.028
Publish and present work online 0.041
Work with spreadsheets and databases 0.073
Use data-logging tools (e.g. for weather/environment) -0.017
Analyse data or information -0.0065
Create presentations using a range of media (e.g. podcast, video) 0.0015
Use simulations or animations to explore a system or abstract concept 0.040
Use social networks for school related learning activities 0.060
Collaborate with peers from class through email, videoconferencing, or online forums 0.058 Work with students or adults from outside class (e.g. students from other schools or
adult mentors) -0.013
Give feedback to peers or assess other students’ work 0.11**
Source: Analysis of survey data (N=880 teachers pre-installation, 380 teachers post-installation).
Note: *, ** and *** denote significant at the 10 per cent, 5 per cent and 1 per cent level respectively. Scores calculated by summing category usage scores given by teachers before and after 100Mbps broadband upgrade, with Never=0, Sometimes=1, Frequently=2 and Usually/always=3.
The use of individual electronic devices in class by students increased significantly between surveys. When asked how often do their students use an individual device (phone, tablet, reader etc.) in the lesson for learning purposes, a smaller share of teachers reported that they never used ICT in this way, falling from 31 to 25 per cent (Figure 6.5). This reduction drove a significant increase in the average reported usage. This may have more to do with an increased availability of individual devices in schools than with the direct impact of improved internet connectivity, but we do not have the data to distinguish the chain of causation reliably.
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FIGURE 6.5 Teacher View of How Often Students Use an Electronic Device for Learning Purposes
Source: Analysis of teacher survey data (N=880 teachers pre-installation, 380 teachers post-installation).
Note: Teachers asked about students in the main student group they teach.