Running head: INTERVIEW REPORT
1
Country Case Study: Great Britain Interview Report
Don Bierschbach
Chrissie Flanagan
Stephanie Lindland Miller
University of Maryland University College
EDTC 645
Spring 2012
INTERVIEW REPORT
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Abstract
This paper seeks to explore interview results from educational leaders and experts within Great
Britain. To begin the investigation, a letter of introduction and seven questions were developed
in the following areas for potential interviewees to answer with regards to technology:
professional development, curriculum integration, infrastructure, and brief biography. A total of
twenty-four potential interviewees were asked to participate in our interview. They were chosen
based upon their role in the area of education and ICT within Great Britain. The following
collaborative paper presents the interview process, interview questions, potential interview
candidates, and analysis of the two interview responses.
Keywords: Great Britain, technology use and integration, interview
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Name of Country
Great Britain
Group Partner Names
Don Bierschbach
Chrissie Flanagan
Stephanie Lindland Miller
Introduction (Purpose of Report)
The purpose of this report is to analyze and synthesize information gathered from interview
respondents within Great Britain. In order to accomplish this task, potential interviewees were
chosen based upon their role in education and ICT development within Great Britain. Interview
questions were created, developed, and chosen for final email interview compilation with the
notion that potential respondents will be able to provide a deeper, first hand look of the role of
technology in the following areas: professional development, infrastructure, and curriculum
integration. Additionally, respondents will be able to provide insight into the general philosophy
and attitude towards technology and education in Great Britain.
Interview Invitation Letter
University of Maryland University College
3501 University Blvd. East
Adelphi, MD 20783
March 1, 2012
Dear (ENTER NAME HERE)
It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that we invite you to participate in an e-mail interview
(with potential follow-up questions) that will examine the use and role of technology in
education within Great Britain.
Please allow us to introduce ourselves. We, Donald Bierschbach, a high school US History
teacher in Virginia; Christine Masi-Flanagan, a sixth grade English Language Arts and Computer
Teacher in New Jersey; and Stephanie Lindland Miller, a elementary music teacher in Maryland,
are graduate students with the University of Maryland University College. As part of our Master
of Education in Instructional Technology program, we have been given the task of analyzing and
evaluating the policies toward technology integration in elementary and secondary schools from
a country outside of the United States. One portion of this assignment includes the development
of questions to interview experts within our chosen country, Great Britain.
Below this letter, please find our group compiled interview questions. The six questions will
focus on research that we have conducted regarding technology integration in elementary and
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secondary schools in Great Britain in the following areas: infrastructure, curriculum integration,
and professional development.
We appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to aid us in our research and hope
that you will support our task by completing our six interview questions. Time is always of the
essence, and we are thankful that you are willing to donate your time to our country case study,
but for successful participation, and completion we will need your response to our e-mail
interview questions by Monday, March 12, 2012. In addition, there may be a follow-up
question or two via e-mail after we have had time to analyze responses.
Again, thank you for your time and we look forward to learning from you and your responses as
we investigate the use of and role technology integration in schools within Great Britain. If you
need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at the following emails:
Donald Bierschbach: mrbHistory@yahoo.com
Christine Masi-Flanagan: Christine.Masi@fpks.org
Stephanie Lindland Miller: Miller_SLindland@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Donald Bierschbach, High School US History Teacher
Christine Masi-Flanagan, Sixth Grade English Language Arts and Computer Teacher
Stephanie Lindland Miller, Elementary Music Teacher
Interview Questions and Rationale
Area: Professional Development:
1. When thinking in terms of ICT professional development, from your experience what is
the most effective method (Face-to-Face or Computer Guided) to train teachers to utilize
ICT in the elementary and/or secondary classroom? Why? Please provide specific
examples to support your answer. In addition, what area of ICT integration do you feel
elementary and/or secondary teachers need more support, training, or development?
Why? Please provide specific examples to support your answer.
Rationale: We hoped to learn what type of professional development the interviewees
found most effective in helping them implement the use of ICT in their classrooms.
Examples of trainings were requested in order to learn details about the respective
trainings.
2. If given the opportunity to design a professional development program for elementary
and/or secondary teachers in the area of ICT integration, what would be your ideal of the
program? Why do you feel your design will be successful for elementary and/or
secondary teachers in the area of ICT development and integration into the classroom?
Rationale: We chose this question to determine what our interviewees viewed as best
practices in professional development. The hope was that we would receive an array of
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responses and be able to find a trend within them that showed what type of professional
development received the greatest support.
Area: Infrastructure:
3. When thinking in terms of infrastructure and capabilities needed to provide a
comprehensive and complete online learning environment, what would you say are the
most important and immediate needs when designing and implementing lessons that
include collaboration with schools around the globe? Please identify your top five
requirements in order of importance for a successful infrastructure. Please explain your
reasons for selecting these five requirements.
Rationale: We hoped to learn about and avoid repeating problems that have already been
discovered and addressed by other countries. Designing and implementing lessons for use
in the global education environment requires a working knowledge and understanding of
the limitations and challenges that may be encountered when interacting across different
levels or types of infrastructure.
4. How have budget decisions affected your ability to provide support and resources to the
remote school districts? Does Great Britain have a comprehensive plan in place to
maintain, upgrade, and/ or modernize the technology infrastructure within the country in
general and in the education realm specifically? Finally, what are the challenges in
providing equity in capability from school to school, district to district, student to student
and country to country? Why do you see these as challenges? Can you identify any
solutions?
Rationale: This question was asked to gain an understanding and idea of how funding
was allocated for both initial capital expenditures and maintenance as well as upgrades
and long term replacement of technology systems as they become dated and obsolete or
inefficient.
Area: Curriculum Integration
5. Does ICT training help you feel more prepared to incorporate technology into your
teaching? Can you provide an example of training that has translated well into your
classroom? If you don’t have an example of such, can you provide a situation where more
training would have made you feel more comfortable with technology integration?
Rationale: This question was posed because we were interested in both the effectiveness
of professional development in preparing teachers to use ICT in their classrooms and
examples of ICT integration.
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6. Do you find that you actively use technology for a majority of your classes or do you
integrate it sparingly? Why do you choose to do so? Provide an example of a lesson that
utilizes technology in your classroom. What do you feel is ‘meaningful integration’ of
technology into the classroom? How does this direct your planning for ICT in your own
classroom? Describe what makes one technology integrated lesson over the other more
meaningful for students and teachers
Rationale: This question was chosen because we were interested in examples of lessons
in which ICT was used in the classroom. We also were looking to understand whether or
not the lessons were a change in the former classroom structure or if ICT was simply
used to replace prior activities (i.e. word processing in place of handwritten work). We
also hoped to understand why teachers made the choices they did in integrating ICT.
Area: Biography
7. Please provide summary of your background in education and use of technology in
education.
Rationale: In order for the group to understand the bias in the interviewee responses, it
was helpful to know what their exact occupation was, how long they had been teaching,
and how much ICT training and professional development they had received.
Strategy Used
As a group, we searched and developed a plan. First, we located contacts. To do this, we used a
couple of strategies. We utilized the Ministry of Education, but we also utilized educational
networks within Great Britain that identified various leaders in the area of education and ICT
development and integration such as searching schools, universities, and government sites as
well as teacher professional development sites. Next, we emailed each of our contacts using the
template letter and group developed interview questions. As part of our strategy, we sent out
follow up emails if we did not hear from potential interviewees. The response to our original
emails included only two declines. As a group, we then sent a second round of emails, which
were divided between group members. Chrissie sent out seven emails, Don sent out an additional
eight to ten emails, and Stephanie e-mailed four to five additional contacts. Again, we sent out
follow up emails to interviewees we did not hear from. As a result, we tried to contact twentyfour people on more than one occasion, but due to circumstances out of our control, we only
received two responses. In order to make sure we maintained effective communication with our
professor, we kept Dr. Blesh informed of our situation through various e-mails. In addition, we
composed a collaborative e-mail expressing our concerns about our lack of interviewees, as we
were unable to collect enough interviews to really compile a fair and balanced assessment of our
assigned topic.
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Contact Details, Why Chosen, and Feedback from Interviewees
Group
Contact Name & Why They Were Chosen (Based on
Member
Biographies)
1. Don
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Bierschbach Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath Secretary of State for
Education
Biography
Email: ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk or
office@shca.org.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/6/12, 3/8/12, 3/12/12
2. Don
Nick Gibb MP
Bierschbach Minister of State for Schools
Biography: Responsibilities and biography
Email: miisters@education.gsi.gov.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/6/12, 3/8/12, 3/12/12
3. Don
Pat Davies
Bierschbach Chingford Head Teacher
Biography
Email: school@chingfordhall.waltham.sch.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/1/12
4. Don
Anne Smithers
Bierschbach Head teacher London
Biography:
Email: amsmithers@netscapeonline.co.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12
5. Don
Beryl Corkhill
Bierschbach Primary school teacher Bath, England
Email: beryl164@hotmail.com
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12
6. Don
Clare Crocker
Bierschbach Cheshire, England Teacher Information technology at
College of further Education
Email: clarec@torin.demon.co.u
Dates emailed: 3/8/12, 3/12/12
7. Don
Ann Winterbotham
Bierschbach Teacher: ALL IN PRIMARY SCHOOL at YEAR 1 level.
Barnsley, ENGLAND
Email: Ann@winterbotham.fsnet.co.uk
Dates emailed: 3/8/12, 3/12/12
8. Don
Steve Holdsworth
Bierschbach Teacher: Social Sciences at A Level Lancashire, England
Response
Responded 3/19/12
through
Public
Communications Unit:
Leona Smith
No Response
Declined 3/6/12
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
INTERVIEW REPORT
email: cft-dholdsworth@thefreeinternet.co.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12-3/12/12
9. Don
Bob Tracey
Bierschbach Teaches: Design Technology at level. North Yorkshire,
England
Email: bob@traceyr.freeserve.co.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12, 3/12/12
10. Chrissie Sir Timothy Brighouse
Flanagan
Bio: http://www.rm.com/timbrighouse/ and
http://www.slaterbaker.com/profile/93
Email: enquiries@slaterbaker.com
Dates Emailed: 3/2/12
11. Chrissie Simon Gabbatiss
Flanagan
Stowe School
Head of ICT
Bio: http://www.stowe.co.uk/academic/meet-theteachers/169/simon-gabbatiss
E-mail: sgabbatiss@stowe.co.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/2/12, 3/7/12, and 3/11/12
12. Chrissie Mr. Andrew Pearce
Flanagan
Leeds Trinity University College
Email: a.pearce@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Biography:
http://www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/departments/secondary/staff/Pa
ges/Pearce.aspx
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
13. Chrissie Dr. Anne-Marie Wright
Flanagan
University of Chester
Email: a.wright@chester.ac.uk
Biography:
http://www.chester.ac.uk/departments/education/staff/dranne-marie-wright
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
14. Chrissie Jackie Barbera
Flanagan
Liverpool Hope University email: barberj@hope.ac.uk
Biography: http://www.hope.ac.uk/barberj
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
15. Chrissie John Barrow
Flanagan
Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln
Email: john.barrow@bishopg.ac.uk
Biography:
http://www.bishopg.ac.uk/docs/Profiles/Barrow_John_Profile
.htm
8
No Response
Declined 3/6/12
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
INTERVIEW REPORT
16. Chrissie
Flanagan
17. Chrissie
Flanagan
18. Chrissie
Flanagan
19.
Stephanie
Lindland
Miller
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
Dr. Tracy Whatmore
Newman University College email:
t.whatmore@newman.ac.uk
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
Paula Askew
St. Mary’s University College
Email: askewp@smuc.ac.uk
Biography: http://www.smuc.ac.uk/education/staff/paulaaskew.htm
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
Alison Keyworth
University College Marjon Plymouth
Email: akeyworth@marjon.ac.uk
Biography:
Dates Emailed: 3/8/12 and 3/11/12
Richard Thomas
PE Teacher, University of Chichester
Dates Messaged: 3/4/12 and 3/11/12
20.
Stephanie
Lindland
Miller
Jonny Bennett
PE Teacher, Manchester
Email: jonnybennett1@gmail.com
Dates Messaged: 3/4/12 and 3/11/12
21.
Stephanie
Lindland
Miller
22.
Stephanie
Lindland
Miller
23.
Stephanie
Lindland
Miller
Marybeth Mindreau
Student Teacher, England
Email: mbmindreau@gmail.com
Dates Messaged: 3/4/12 and 3/11/12
Carole Hilleard
High school food technology teacher
Email: chilleard@basildonacademies.org.uk
Dates Messaged: 3/4/12 and 3/11/12
Iain Lindley
Conservative Councilor for Walkden South Ward
Email: iain@iainlindley.co.uk
Dates Messaged: 3/5/12
24.
Stephanie
Lindland
Miller
Chris Jones
Director and Lead Educational Consultant at CJ Learning Ltd
Email: chris.jones@cj-learning.com
Dates Messaged: 3/11/12
9
No Response
No Response
No Response
*Responded that he
would answer
interview questions, but
failed to follow
through.
*Responded to initial
Facebook message with
email address and
willingness to respond,
but failed to follow
through with interview
completion.
No Response
Responded 3/11/12
*Was forwarding the
interview questions to
‘constituents’ in his
area, but never
followed through with
interview completion.
No Response
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Findings
After a thorough and exhaustive search for interviewees, the group was only able to
obtain two solid responses to our interview requests, but these two responses provided a wealth
of information and a relatively clear picture of the state of education and the integration,
implementation and maintenance of technology within Great Britain. The interviewees provided
a very thorough and complete look at professional development, status of technology
infrastructure, and technology integration within curricular areas. Our interviewees came from
two completely different backgrounds. One interviewee was a teacher with forty years of
experience as an educator and the other was a spokesperson for the British Department of
Education.
The school systems within Great Britain embrace technological advances as a means to
grow the economy. Great Britain identifies that vitality in education remains pertinent to students
becoming competitive in the global community. For this vision to become a reality, students
must be provided with the tools of technology to be competent and competitive in the 21st
century.
There have been attempts to integrate professional development such as the NOF (New
Opportunities Funding) and HOS (Hands on Support). Both programs relied heavily on funding
(private and government), but both programs have ended. Based upon interviews and individual
group research, it can be determined that teachers prefer ICT professional development should
occur face-to-face. While attempts have been made for computer-generated training, teachers did
not feel that skills were transferable to the classroom successfully. In addition to face-to-face
training, teachers also feel that professional development needs to be supported within the school
buildings. For example, a teacher who was recently trained in using a new technology should
have support within the school from an ICT professional if questions or issues arise. Professional
development should focus less on the technical areas and more on support in developing
successful classroom practice and pedagogy with technologies. Additionally most teachers feel
that there is a lack of support and the Teacher Training Development Agency is focusing on
preparing teachers with technology skills, but that still does not fully address the issue of
teachers who are already practicing in schools within Great Britain. Technology integration is a
two-step process with professional development being the second part of that equation. The
government wants to give schools more autonomy to drive their own improvement and schools
are responsible for ensuring their teachers receive professional development that meets their
needs.
Finally, Schools in Great Britain all have substantial technology infrastructures in place.
All schools are connected to high speed broadband, but its speed and reliability are dependent on
local providers. The Department for Education does fund and provide access to the high-speed
education and research backbone network – JANET. Recently the government announced an
ambitious plan to provide access to the best broadband network in Europe by 2015.
While the government recognizes the importance of technology and access to technology,
there are currently no plans for Great Britain to address the needs of students who do not have
access to or the means to achieve access such as computers and other technology. There is a
INTERVIEW REPORT
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digital divide in the school systems in Great Britain. This divide is being addressed in a variety
of ways. The government is providing funding and great latitude to local Schools systems and
administrators to address the needs of their population and infrastructure to provide access to all
students. In addition, there are several public and private partnerships, which do provide
resources to some students and school districts based on their demonstrated need. These
resources are very limited and there is an ongoing effort to identify and recruit new sources of
private, corporate and government funding to address the digital-divide.
Curriculum development is also an area of concern especially the integration of
technology into the planning, developing, and implementation of new and existing course
materials and lessons. The ongoing budget problems and lack of funding have significantly
impacted Britain's ability to update curriculum that incorporates technology as more than a way
to say that technology is being used; rather than actually creating lessons and curriculum that
takes advantage of and uses technology effectively in advancing student learning in an
increasingly meaningful way that addresses and implements 21st Century skills, digital
citizenship, and global competitiveness.
How it Changed Initial Perceptions
Great Britain has been touting technology in education since 1998 with the development
to the National Grid for Learning. In that plan, they hoped to have all schools and students
connected to the Internet and utilizing ICT by 2002. In light of the national push for ICT
integration, it would be assumed that more than a decade later Great Britain would be at the
forefront of ICT integration in education. With that it would be assumed they would have ironed
out issues in infrastructure and professional development, and would have the program running
like a well-oiled machine.
The infrastructure for ICT use across Great Britain is in place within the schools,
supporting initial perceptions that they have had time to provide access to all schools. According
to Carole Hilleard’s interview (Carole Hilleard, personal communication, March 1l, 2012), the
SMART board, digital camera, and laptop are all common tools in classrooms throughout the
country. Leona Smith (Leona Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2012) explains that all
schools have access to broadband Internet, and there are plans in place to provide the fastest
Internet connection throughout the country by 2015. Smith (Leona Smith, personal
communication, March 19, 2012) also describes the ability for schools to make their own
decisions regarding technology purchases, limiting the hoops schools have to jump through in
order to utilize their funding. One area that seems to still be a problem is the digital divide. Smith
(Leona Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2012) notes that more funding is being given
to schools where the poorest students live, and they are providing ICT time outside of school
hours for those students in hopes of bridging this divide. The fact that the divide was not
previously resolved after a decade of ICT use is slightly surprising, but the government’s
attempts at finding solutions seem plausible. Hilleard (Carole Hilleard, personal communication,
March 1l, 2012) did not know if the government had a budget plan in place to support and
maintain ICT use, which means that the information regarding funding is not making its way
down to the teachers themselves. Simultaneously, it did not sound as though teachers have any
more control over budget decisions in Great Britain than they do in the United States.
The two interview responses support the perception that professional development in the
area of ICT integration has been carefully planned and organized. As stated in Leona Smith’s
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(Leona Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2012) reply there are free online trainings
provided by the government to help teachers become more capable utilizing ICT in their
classrooms. Smith (Leona Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2012) also points out the
need for trainings to be focused on the integration aspect more so than the basics of using the
technologies. This speaks to the idea that teachers have been using these technologies in their
classrooms and are aware of how they work. They have moved onto the next step in the process.
Hilleard (Carole Hilleard, personal communication, March 1l, 2012) felt that face-to-face
trainings provide answers to questions immediately, and therefore are more effective. The
government allows schools to have autonomy in planning professional development in order to
better support their teachers, so Hilleard’s (Carole Hilleard, personal communication, March 1l,
2012) school would be able to provide face-to-face trainings if that was the decision they made.
The initial perceptions drawn from researching ICT integration in Great Britain were
supported by the interviewee responses. The government has provided funding for professional
development and purchasing of technology resources. Teachers are working to go beyond simply
understanding the technology and are attending trainings to learn more methods for effective
integration of ICT. They are working to level the playing field to bridge the digital divide. The
government continues to set goals for ICT, showing that they are continuing to strive to improve
this area of education.
Concluding Statement
Based upon numerous attempts to contact and interview twenty-four educational leaders
and teachers within Great Britain to analyze the role of technology within the following areas:
professional development, infrastructure, and curriculum integration, only two responses were
returned. In order to effectively analyze the two responses, the collaborative group engaged in
deep discussion to synthesize information based upon individual research topics (professional
development, infrastructure, and curriculum integration) and compared it to responses from our
interviewees. Through this approach, the collaborative group was able to support research
findings in each of the three areas investigated regarding the role of technology within Great
Britain as mentioned in the Findings section of our interview synthesis.
As concluded from interview and research findings, it can be concluded that Great Britain
is making various attempts to integrate technology effectively within the classroom and through
professional development for its teachers. Furthermore, Teacher Training Academies have
evolved training programs for future teachers and head teachers to understand technology
operations and to integrate them into curriculum successfully. However, this does not address
ICT support and professional development for teachers currently in practice. Additionally, based
upon research and interview synthesis, it can be concluded that teachers in practice find face-toface ICT professional development to be the most beneficial in addition to the support of ICT
within the school to help execute curriculum integration. With regards to curriculum integration,
Great Britain, has implemented various types of professional development and or networks that
teachers can utilize to examine and implement technology in a meaningful way in the classroom.
However, with budget cuts, programs and networks that support this development have been cut.
Furthermore, the government is placing more autonomy on the schools. Schools will be required
to create technology plans and school integration plans to ensure that students are equipped with
the necessary skills to make them globally competitive. Finally, with regards to infrastructure
within the Great Britain education system, a plan has been developed to increase broadband for
all students by 2015. Additionally, schools will have the ability based upon needs to create
INTERVIEW REPORT
13
technology plans that focus on infrastructure within schools. This will allow schools to purchase
software, hardware, and other network items needed specifically by the school.
To conclude, the role of technology in the following areas: professional development,
infrastructure, and curriculum integration are pertinent to the evolvement of Great Britain’s
education system. In addition, even though government funding has been cut, schools have been
given more freedom to guide the role of and integration of technology within schools in the areas
of professional development, infrastructure, and curriculum integration.
Finally, the collaborative group tried to contact twenty-four people, but only had success
with two respondents. As a collaborative group, although the interviews received do support
research findings they would have been supported more deeply by receipt of more interview
responses from potential candidates. The interview process might have been more improved in
the following ways: more receptive potential interview candidates and a longer length of time for
the project so that the collaborative group could have achieved a larger response rate.
Email Interview Archives
Below please find a complete transcript of interviewees that responded to our interview
invitation.
Person 1:
Name: Carole Hilleard
Date Responded: 3/11/12
Area: Professional Development:
1. When thinking in terms of ICT professional development, from your experience what is
the most effective method (Face-to-Face or Computer Guided) to train teachers to utilize
ICT in the elementary and/or secondary classroom? Why? Please provide specific
examples to support your answer. In addition, what area of ICT integration do you feel
elementary and/or secondary teachers need more support, training, or development?
Why? Please provide specific examples to support your answer.
From experience with ICT Professional Development the most effective method to train
teachers is face to face. This is because there is always someone available to ask if
problems occur or help is needed.
2. If given the opportunity to design a professional development program for elementary
and/or secondary teachers in the area of ICT integration, what would be your ideal of the
program? Why do you feel your design will be successful for elementary and/or
secondary teachers in the area of ICT development and integration into the classroom?
If given the opportunity to develop a professional programme for ICT the ideal would be
to have a personal programme for each individual. This would require teachers to
undertake an IT skills audit. A programme could then be structured to incorporate and
cover the skills needed by the teacher. This would make a more relevant and purposeful
INTERVIEW REPORT
14
training so that the teachers would be able to transfer this to the classroom and be more
willing to use the new skills.
Area: Infrastructure:
3. When thinking in terms of infrastructure and capabilities needed to provide a
comprehensive and complete online learning environment, what would you say are the
most important and immediate needs when designing and implementing lessons that
include collaboration with schools around the globe? Please identify your top five
requirements in order of importance for a successful infrastructure. Please explain your
reasons for selecting these five requirements.
To provide a comprehensive and on line learning environment the most important needs
are to have the facilities available for such a programme. Designing and implementing
lessons that include collaboration with schools around the globe would require an
assigned person to manage. Consideration of curriculum requirements, finance and time
would be other factors.
4. How have budget decisions affected your ability to provide support and resources to the
remote school districts? Does Great Britain have a comprehensive plan in place to
maintain, upgrade, and/ or modernize the technology infrastructure within the country in
general and in the education realm specifically? Finally, what are the challenges in
providing equity in capability from school to school, district to district, student to student
and country to country? Why do you see these as challenges? Can you identify any
solutions?
Budget decisions are always very important. It is unlikely that Great Britain has a
comprehensive plan in place to maintain, upgrade and modernise the technology
infrastructure- not really sure. Schools are usually responsible for their own finances and
there would be many variants from school to school as well as county-to-county
depending on the budgets.
Area: Curriculum Integration
5. Does ICT training help you feel more prepared to incorporate technology into your
teaching? Can you provide an example of training that has translated well into your
classroom? If you don’t have an example of such, can you provide a situation where
more training would have made you feel more comfortable with technology integration?
ICT training is important and helps teachers to incorporate technology into teaching. It is
vital that we keep up with the advances being made in this Technological age and this can
INTERVIEW REPORT
15
only be done by adequate training and staff development. Ten years ago I had never used
a Smart board, digital camera or laptop – now all commonplace in the classroom.
6. Do you find that you actively use technology for a majority of your classes or do you
integrate it sparingly? Why do you choose to do so? Provide an example of a lesson that
utilizes technology in your classroom. What do you feel is ‘meaningful integration’ of
technology into the classroom? How does this direct your planning for ICT in your own
classroom? Describe what makes one technology-integrated lesson over the other more
meaningful for students and teachers.
Technology is now used quite extensively in the majority of my classes. This is done
because it is a means to making life easier in the classroom.
Area: Biography
7. Please provide summary of your background in education and use of technology in
education.
Teacher in the UK for 40 years within Design and Technology.
Programme Leader for Food Technology.
Person 2:
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath Secretary of State for Education
Biography
Responded through Public Communications Unit: Leona Smith
Dear Don,
Thank you for your email of 1 March, asking the Secretary of State to take part in an email
interview.
As I am sure you can appreciate, the Secretary of State receives a great number of requests
similar to yours and is unable to accept as many as he would like. On this occasion I have been
asked to reply.
The Department for Education recognises that effective use of digital technologies has great
potential to support good teaching and help raise educational standards. In his recent speech at
the BETT education technology show, the Secretary of State highlighted some of the
opportunities presented by new technologies to improve education,
http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/speeches/a00201868/michael-gove-speech-at-the-bettshow-2012
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We encourage schools to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by technology to
support teaching, management and administration, both within and beyond the classroom. Our
aim is for a system, which is capable of learning from the best new developments and exploiting
them quickly. The Government is however, committed to reducing the amount of central control
and direction and has given schools greater autonomy to drive their own improvement – this
includes using their professional judgment in implementing technology, based on local needs and
context.
Please see below responses to your questions.
Area: Professional Development:
1. When thinking in terms of ICT professional development, from your experience what is
the most effective method (Face-to-Face or Computer Guided) to train teachers to utilize
ICT in the elementary and/or secondary classroom? Why? Please provide specific
examples to support your answer. In addition, what area of ICT integration do you feel
elementary and/or secondary teachers need more support, training, or development?
Why? Please provide specific examples to support your answer.
A range of methods of professional development can be successful, depending on the
particular needs and context of the teachers. In the past, training has perhaps focused too
much on the technical aspects of how to use particular technologies and systems.
Teachers need more support in developing successful classroom practice and pedagogy
with technologies.
The government wants to give schools more autonomy to drive their own improvement
and schools are responsible for ensuring their teachers receive professional development
that meets their needs.
An example of professional development, largely delivered online, is the VITAL CPD
programme run by the Open University. http://www.vital.ac.uk/
The following extract from Becta’s Harnessing Technology Survey 2010 may be helpful:
ICT development needs reported by teachers, 2009-10:
2. If given the opportunity to design a professional development program for elementary
and/or secondary teachers in the area of ICT integration, what would be your ideal of the
program? Why do you feel your design will be successful for elementary and/or
secondary teachers in the area of ICT development and integration into the classroom?
Schools are responsible for ensuring their teachers receive professional development that
meets their needs, and the government does not prescribe provision.
In England Teaching Schools are likely to play a key role in supporting other schools in
the effective use of technology across the curriculum. The government will provide
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funding to support this work, which will involve outstanding schools and teachers
supporting other schools in their alliances.
Teaching Schools are outstanding schools which play a leading role in the training and
professional development of teachers, support staff and head teachers, as well as
contributing to the raising of standards through school-to-school support. Schools will
work together within a teaching school alliance – a group of schools and other partners
that is supported by the leadership of a teaching school.
The following report gives some examples of English schools who use technology
effectively, including providing professional development in ICT:
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/doc/e/using%20technology%20to%20improve
%20teaching%20and%20learning%20in%20secondary%20schools.doc
Becta published a review of the ICT continuing professional development (CPD)
landscape in 2011: http://www.wlecentre.ac.uk/cms/files/becta/becta-ict-cpdlandscapereport.pdf
Area: Infrastructure:
3. When thinking in terms of infrastructure and capabilities needed to provide a
comprehensive and complete online learning environment, what would you say are the
most important and immediate needs when designing and implementing lessons that
include collaboration with schools around the globe? Please identify your top five
requirements in order of importance for a successful infrastructure. Please explain your
reason for selecting these five requirements.
Schools should use their professional judgment in implementing technology, based on
local needs and context, learning from other schools, which use technology effectively.
One useful source of information is Becta’s research into the effective use of online
learning environments to support learning, which can be found here:
http://www.wlecentre.ac.uk/cms/files/becta/becta-ict-cpd-landscapereport.pdf and here
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1485/
4. How have budget decisions affected your ability to provide support and resources to the
remote school districts? Does Great Britain have a comprehensive plan in place to
maintain, upgrade, and/ or modernize the technology infrastructure within the country in
general and in the education realm specifically? Finally, what are the challenges in
providing equity in capability from school to school, district to district, student to student
and country to country? Why do you see these as challenges? Can you identify any
solutions?
The government believes schools are best placed to make decisions about how to use
resources available to them and to spend their money where it will make the biggest
impact on the education of their pupils. Schools have the freedom to select and purchase
technology to meet their needs and to encourage this we have simplified the funding
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system and removed previous ring fences thereby giving them greater control over their
budgets.
Schools in England are generally well equipped with technology infrastructure. All
schools in England have broadband, but data speeds can vary depending on location.
Although schools are responsible for their own broadband, most get connectivity
provided from their local authority. The Department for Education funds school access to
the high-speed education and research backbone network – JANET. The Department also
provides a range of procurement arrangements and advice for schools to help them
achieve best value when purchasing ICT.
The Government has already announced a strategy to help ensure the UK has the best
broadband network in Europe by 2015. We aim to support roll out of ‘superfast
broadband’ to 90% of the country by 2015, with all having access to at least 2Mbps.
The government recognise that access to computers and the Internet can have a range of
benefits for pupils and their families and many schools now offer IT outside of normal
school hours to help those pupils without access. There are no plans for expensive,
Government funded programmes to provide computers for pupils to use at home, but we
are talking to charities and industry about what they are doing to help address the issue.
We are also giving extra money to schools for pupils from poorer backgrounds via the
Pupil Premium. Schools are free to decide how to use the Premium, including providing
ICT if that is their priority. Total funding for the Pupil Premium will be £625m in 201112 and will rise to £2.5 billion a year by 2014-15.
Area: Curriculum Integration
5. Does ICT training help you feel more prepared to incorporate technology into your
teaching? Can you provide an example of training that has translated well into your
classroom? If you don’t have an example of such, can you provide a situation where
more training would have made you feel more comfortable with technology integration?
Not applicable (not a teacher)
6. Do you find that you actively use technology for a majority of your classes or do you
integrate it sparingly? Why do you choose to do so? Provide an example of a lesson that
utilizes technology in your classroom. What do you feel is ‘meaningful integration’ of
technology into the classroom? How does this direct your planning for ICT in your own
classroom? Describe what makes one technology integrated lesson over the other more
meaningful for students and teachers?
Not applicable (not a teacher)
Once again, thank you for writing.
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As part of our commitment to improving the service we provide to our customers, we are
interested in hearing your views and would welcome your comments via our website at
www.education.gov.uk/pcusurvey
Regards
Leona Smith
Public Communications Unit
www.education.gov.uk
Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2012/0014870. To contact
the Department for Education, please visit www.education.gov.uk/contactus
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References
Department for Education and Employment. (1998). National grid for learning. Retrieved from
http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/42_1.pdf
Hilleard, C. (2012, March 11). Email interview.
Smith, L. (2012, March 19). Email interview.