Leaders first: Study of success and failure in large scale TEL investments

“Education is a tension between passing down fixed stores of knowledge and drawing out possibilities in the learner” Peadar Kirby This paper will describe a quest to uncover and understand the factors that make some... [ view full abstract ]

“Education is a tension between passing down fixed stores of knowledge and drawing out possibilities in the learner” Peadar Kirby

This paper will describe a quest to uncover and understand the factors that make some schools more successful than others in improving learning outcomes when digital technology is widely implemented across the K-12 sector. The intention is to identify the interdependencies and find the key proof points that can make a significant difference to technology enhanced teaching and learning environments.

An extensive desk research study was carried out on large-scale TEL investments over the past 15 years, and twelve individual school visits and teleconference interviews were carried out with a particular focus on Northern, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The resulting paper identifies and details some clear success factors that help schools flourish, aid governments to successfully implement large scale education technology initiatives and also to better comprehend and demonstrate common causes of failure or disappointing results and key learnings from both large-scale national and local school-based investments.

The factors that impact on school improvement are complex and technology is not the panacea but a significant contributory element. The evidence from research and the school case studies makes it clear time and time again that unless digital technologies are integrated into schools and their use is accompanied by a change in pedagogical approaches, there can be few significant improvements in learning outcomes. However, this is still not enough as there are many factors that affect learning outcomes. A clear success factors and common causes of failure are identified, together with imperatives for education systems to reform to meet the needs of our economy and societies for the 2^nd half of the 21^st Century. A practical model is discussed that addresses school, family and social, environmental and technology-based factors in designing for education in a technology supported environment.

Pedagogic, societal and technology factors are drawn out in the discussion of the preparation of our students for the workplace and societies of the late 21^st Century. Conclusions are drawn on the imperative for action in our education systems to address skills, workforce and societal needs for the second half of the 21st Century, the need for a defined organisational change strategy is identified whether it be for large scale implementations or at the individual school level, and challenges to get beyond pilot level or to replicate benefits seen in pilot initiative at large scale are discussed.

The paper demonstrates the positive impact of technology in schools if all the other key factors required for success are in place and developed alongside the deployment. These factors include strong leadership, curriculum realignment and assessment for 21^st Century learning, adequate resources and pedagogical shifts. Baseline studies and clear and meaningful evaluation criteria are also crucial if the improvements in learning outcomes and student preparedness for their future are to be effectively measured.

REFERENCES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. WILL BE ADDED BEFORE FINAL EDITS DEADLINE (11 MAY) - CB (27.04.18)