Part 1
The topic chosen for this TMA is ‘Technology; Disruptive and Sustaining Innovation in Education’. Following the description given by Gibson et al. (2017), Technology Innovation in education is the process of a school employing technology to enhance the learning experience by adding value to the teaching-learning process. By understanding a school as a social organisation, it is possible to comprehend that innovation takes different perspectives and that there is an inherent need to adopt innovation given how its impacts may contribute to adding value to the teaching-learning process.
The strategy adopted was in line with the suggestions given in the OU library resources on how to conduct a search. In the first stage of the search, the study used a variety of keywords related to innovation. Keywords as ‘school innovation’, technology innovation in schools’, ‘innovation education’, national innovation in schools’, ‘educational innovation system’, etc., were part of a search carried out in several databases ranging from Google Scholar to the OU library database. The Zotero software was used to save all the relevant studies that were found. Search loops and Boolean logic were used also. At this stage, there was no concern about the data to be peer-reviewed. The main objective was to find data related to “innovation in schools”. This process allowed the researcher to narrow down the search by introducing new keywords, authors, studies, journals related to the topic of research- ‘school technology innovation’.
Part 2
a) Al-Imarah, A. A. and Shields, R. (2019) ‘MOOCs, disruptive innovation and the future of higher education: A conceptual analysis’, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 56(3), pp. 258–269. doi: 10.1080/14703297.2018.1443828.
Drent, M. and Meelissen, M. (2008) ‘Which factors obstruct or stimulate teacher educators to use ICT innovatively?’, Computers & Education, 51(1), pp. 187–199. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2007.05.001.
Flavin, M. and Quintero, V. (2018) ‘UK higher education institutions’ technology-enhanced learning strategies from the perspective of disruptive innovation’, Research in Learning Technology, 26(0). doi: 10.25304/rlt.v26.1987.
Gibson, D., Broadley, T., Downie, J. and Wallet, P. (2017) ‘Evolving Learning Paradigms: Re-Setting Baselines and Collection Methods of Information and Communication Technology in Education Statistics’, p. 13.
Kostaris, C., Sergis, S., Sampson, D. G. and Pelliccione, L. (no date) ‘Investigating the Potential of the Flipped Classroom Model in K-12 ICT Teaching and Learning: An Action Research Study’, p. 14.
b) The study conducted by Al-Imarah and Shields (2019) questions the disruptive nature of MOOCs as an innovation. The authors ground the concept of MOOCs as a disruptive innovation in the study directed by Christensen et al. (2015). Following a qualitative approach, the authors concluded that MOOCs are better translated as a sustaining innovation rather than a disruptive one.
The research by Drent and Meelissen (2008) discusses the innovative use of ICT based on the needs of the current knowledge society. The authors make use of explorative path analyses and case studies to investigate potential factors that stimulate or limit the use of ICT. Similarly to findings of preceding studies by Gibson et al, (2017) and Kostaris et al. (2017), the present work points out that the integration of ICT as an innovative educational approach has been accomplished due to “entrepreneur” teachers rather than due to schools’ policies and teacher training.
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The article by Flavin and Quintero (2018) highlights that technology-enhanced learning (TEL) strategies are nowadays part of UK universities strategies. The study investigates, from a qualitative standpoint, what innovation perspective (sustaining, disruptive or efficient) best frames TEL in UK universities. Just like Al-Imarah and Shields (2019), Flavin & Quintero (2018) argue that sustaining and efficiency innovation best describes the TEL strategies implemented on UK universities.
The study carried out by (Gibson et al., 2017) focuses on the methods employed by the UI Statistics to analyse how ICT has been implemented in education. The study points out to lack of evidence on the impacts of ICT and how current pedagogies replicate traditional teaching methods instead of implementing new learner-centred pedagogies. The author concludes by proposing a set of data collection improvements to enrich UIS capacity in understanding how ICT is being applied in schools.
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Kostaris et al. (2017) explore the potential of the Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) in K-12 ICT to enhance teaching practices. This quantitative study also makes use of a qualitative approach and addresses the need to promote a more student-centred curriculum. The study reveals the advantages to students’ outcomes arising from ICT as a subject domain and the implementation of FCM activities.
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Part 3
a) The paper that I chose for the third part of this assignment is the study conducted by Gibson et al. (2017): ‘Evolving Learning Paradigms: Re-Setting Baselines and Collection Methods of Information and Communication Technology in Education Statistics’. This work proposes to analyse the methods employed by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in collecting data on how technology has been used to enhance teaching and learning. The research underlines the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that highlight the great value that education has, as an agent for sustainable development, and how important the effective integration of ICT in education is in order to achieve these goals. However, the successful integration of ICT depends not only on making ICT available in the classrooms but also reconsidering what is expected from teachers and improving their preparation and training. The authors start by highlighting two main gaps when investigating how ICT has been integrated into schools to enhance learning, and the local relevance of the data and how it demonstrates the changes that ICT has brought to the teaching and learning process. The study refers to how, in many countries, the learning paradigms are disengaged from the massive changes that ICT has brought to education, including teaching a series of disconnected subjects using methods that compromise motivation, engagement and deeper learning needed in thisnera of knowledge economy, and replicating traditional teaching techniques within a digital environment. The authors also highlight that the relationship between use and outcomes is still unclear, and that a more systematic study is required. The study analyses the data collection carried out on the use of ICT in Education (UIS, 2014), pointing out some improvement suggestions. In terms of general information available from the UIS, the authors suggest that the data collected from different educational institutions should be labelled in conformity with the source so that it is possible to track and differentiate the results based on where it comes from. Concerning the policy, curriculum, leadership and teacher training, the authors recommend that questions related to the development of leadership and training in ICT, and how computing skills are being taught to promote deeper learning should be added. The study makes use of the EDUsummIT reports to highlight the need to create new forms of partnership to enable the co-evolution of pedagogy and technology. To develop theories of mobile learning that allow the conversation between multiple contexts creating collaboratives informal learning opportunities is also necessary to address the inequality in the access to ICT by factors such as gender, age and socioeconomic background. The adoption of assessment helps develop literacy skills in managing “big data” by teachers and other users. To conclude, to promote implementation of ICT in education, moving from the traditional learnings’ paradigm to a learner-centred pedagogy is very imperative.
b) The present study questions the evolving learning paradigms by proposing to re-set the baselines and data collection methods of ICT in Education Statistics. It is a relevant study due to the current need to understand the methods being employed to gather data about how ICT has been implemented to enhance learning during the transition period that society is going through towards a knowledge economy era, as well as to reinforce the accuracy of the data gathered in order to understand how schools are changing the educational paradigm by adapting more learner-centred pedagogies.
The authors make use of documents from UNESCO (International Conference on ICT and Post-2015 Education, Article 10) to give a more comprehensive picture of the general requirements for the successful integration of ICT into teaching and learning. The study identifies the challenges in measuring how the implementation of ICT has impacted on the pedagogical process, with support of the studies from (Trucano, 2012; Fraillon et al., 2013) about the validity of the proposed indicators. The study mentions the lack of research concerning the use and effects of ICT in many parts of the world, offering as examples studies conducted by Hinostrosa & Labbe (2011) and Uma & Arulchelvan (2012) on developing countries such as India, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East. A critical observation made from this first introduction is that it is difficult to generalise the findings since the examples presented are of developing countries. Likewise, when the authors state that in some countries the learning paradigm still consists of teaching a series of disconnected subjects (Baker, 2007; Black, 2000; Koch & DeLuca, 2012), questions can be raised regarding which countries the study referring to. This question is even more relevant when the authors try to contrast this first introduction by later on affirming that the changes triggered by ICT practices are transforming how people learn in informal contexts and are emerging as best practices in formal educational systems. That raises further doubts about the validity of comparing examples from countries with different backgrounds. However, the study does mention that the extent to which policies regarding the use of ICT in teaching and learning is implementated depends on the local education policy, and declares that learning paradigms related to the integration of ICT in education in some developed countries are fast evolving, while in others they are progressing more slowly due to local constraints. It however doesn’t provide examples to contrast this affirmation and this leaves room to raise questions on whether the study focused on analysing the implementation of ICT in education in developing countries and comparing it with developed countries or if it is proposing to re-set the collection methods of ICT in education statistics.
The study then mentions that the data collected by the International Computer Information Literacy Study (ICILS, 2013) shifts away from collecting information about infrastructure and access towards the use of ICT to achieve educational benefits. However, it doesn’t show how this shift has happened and/ or can be measured.
In the section about previous data collection on how ICT is used in teaching and learning, the study advises that caution should be taken when interpreting the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2015) data about the disproportionate time assigned to lower-performing students using computers and the difficulty in isolating the influence of home computer use on school performance. Likewise, it doesn’t offer any solution regarding these difficulties. Along the same line, it also states that not all countries have successfully integrated ICT in pedagogically meaningful ways (Webb, 2011). It, however, doesn’t say which countries it is referring to, and doesn’t help to make clear what the purpose of the study is: If it is to investigate how ICT has been integrated in education to enhance teaching and learning or to re-set the collection methods of ICT in education statistics.
The study then outlines the recommendations it presents with the Questionnaire on Statistics of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education (UIS, 2014). It presents five questions concerning government policy, initiatives, incentives and equity. The study recommends the update of the survey by labelling the “main source data” and collecting the information based on the total number of schools, public and private, to allow the comparison of both categories. Regarding policy and curriculum, it also suggests the addition of questions concerning the development of leadership and training in ICT, and concerning the emerging themes beyond basic computing that promote learning across the curriculum, it supports the recommendations made by Gibson & Webb (2013) that pointed out the need for “deeper learning” in the present knowledge economy as outlined by the EDUsummIT forums. The authors then listed the recommended items based on the international EDUsummIT reports: School-community partnerships; Mobile learning; Educational equity; Assessment; Creativity in the curriculum; Indicators of ICT-enhanced teaching and learning; Digital citizenship and cyber wellness; Computer science and informatics in the curriculum; Learner-centred engagement in the curriculum; Teacher use patterns. Although the study describes what the aim of each recommended item on the EDUsummIT report is, supported by the relevant research, questions may arise about how to carry them out in practice.
The study then focuses on the ICT infrastructures making use of the paper by Twining and Davis (2015) that was commissioned by UNESCO-UIS. Concerning government expenditure, the study proposes that the section addressing the total spenging assigned to ICT infrastructure should be included in the primary UIS survey on expenditures. It recommends that data concerning where and via what modes and how many “minutes per week” students are accessing ICT should be collected by the creation of a unique student number identifier. To measure the real impacts of ICT on teaching and learning, questions should be added to the survey within the following categories: (1) No policy, (2) Policy developed, (3) Implementation planned or piloted, (4) System fully implemented. In reference to ICT tool allocation by pedagogical use, the authors suggest the division of the key uses of ICT in schools into four groups (ICT used for learning, ICT used for content or skills assessment, and ICT available for use during the non-class time), and the need to count the student-to-device ratio for each essential use type. Under the topic “Emerging paradigms of tool use in ICT in education”, the authors make use of the Horizon Reports of the New Media Consortium NMC (2013; 2014) suggesting that: emerging paradigms in the use of ICT tool-based approaches should be tracked for comparison over time; and that there is need to estimate and report how many years it will take until a policy is in place. Under the enrollment, gender and cultural access to ICT, the study refers to the need to identify gender, cultural and other biases that could influence online learning. This last point would be easily solved by the unique student number identifier proposed previously.
Regarding the ICT competency framework for teachers, the authors base their recommendations on a UNESCO paper by DuToi “Teacher training and usage of ICT in education: New directions for the UNESCO Institute for Statistics global data collection in the post-2015 context”. The study then recommends the tracking of the six dimensions of training at the three levels provided by DuToi. It is not clear if this suggestion is, in fact, an improvement or if the authors are just restating what DuToi previously referred to in his paper.
To conclude, the study analysed herein presents some valid suggestions, although in some sections it doesn’t seem to achieve the goal that it aimed to. That is, the study starts by underlying that UIS is not accurate enough in collecting the appropriate data, describes possible gaps and possible updates required to enhance the instrument but it falls short of being clear enough regarding how to re-set the baselines and collection methods of ICT in Education Statistics.
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