The Norwegian ITU Monitor

The Norwegian ITU Monitor ITU Monitor is a longitudinal survey, the aim of which is to identify to what extent ICT is integrated with pedagogy and to assess the frequency and type of ICT use in Norwegian schools more generally. ITU Monitor is conducted every other year, and the first survey started in 2003. The first report, Skolenes digitale tilstand (The Schools' Digital Condition) was completed in January 2004. In 2005 the second survey was conducted, and the report "ITU Monitor 2005" was published in December. The third survey was conducted during march 1007, and the report "ITU Monitor 2007" was published in October 2007. ITU Monitor intends to capture the development of pedagogical, technological and organisational conditions associated with the use of ICT in schools, including how they change over time. In 2007 we have operationalised the concept "digital literacy" and constructed items that measure the concept. We got empirical support for three out of five categories of digital literacy. The full report will be posted in ITU s web in the end of November 2007. www.itu.no Contact info: Research Leader Hans Christian Arnseth h.c.arnseth@itu.uio.no Prosject Leader Vibeke Kløvstad Vibeke.klovstad@itu.uio.no 0047 93 45 98 60 itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 1/9

Summary ITU Monitor 2007 ITU Monitor 2007 shows that there has been a positive development in the schools use of ICT in several areas over the last couple of years. As far as basic education is concerned, there has been a noticeable increase in extent; in other words, ICT is used far more frequently in school work by both pupils and teachers than was the case in 2005. There are still great differences between primary and lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools, since upper secondary schools have come much further than primary and lower secondary schools in integrating the use of ICT in everyday professional or educational work. There is still a great amount of unutilised potential in the way that ICT is used, since many available tools and functions are used only to a small extent. Nonetheless we are pleased to note the development in the increased use of ICT in the subjects of Norwegian, English and social studies in primary, lower and upper secondary schools. At the same time the variations among pupils at the same level continue to be significant and there is a real danger that differences in digital skills will develop. In this year s ITU Monitor, attempts have been made to find indicators of the pupils digital skills. We have also looked at the schools organisation in the light of digital competencies. Distinctive features of the digitally competent school are having a framework, infrastructure, leadership, culture and educational practise that to a large extent are open and systematic. ITU Monitor 2007 shows that in particular primary and lower secondary schools have some way to go with respect to the utilisation of ICT in an open, systematic way, while many upper secondary schools have come much further in this. The schools that have organised ICT efforts with the help of ICT plans that are solidly anchored among the faculty also manage to systematise the work and focus broadly on several decisive measures, for example the development of competencies among teaching staff and the flexible organisation of timetables. Main findings and challenges The pupils use of ICT There has been a clear increase in the time spent at computers in the schools between 2005 and 2007. This is particularly the case for pupils in the 7 th and 9 th grades. There has been an increase in the use of computers for homework in all grades. There are still great differences between pupils with respect to the extent of their ICT use. The majority of pupils, particularly in primary and lower secondary schools, use computers very little, and we find great variations between pupils in the same grade. The conditions for developing digital competencies are thus very different from school to school. There has been an increase in the use of ICT in the subjects of Norwegian, English and social studies in all grades from 2005 to 2007. itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 2/9

Pupils at the VK1 1 level make far more frequent use of ICT in all its forms for educational work than pupils in the 7 th and 9 th grades. There is still a situation where the majority of pupils in the 7 th and 9 th grades do not use ICT for subjects on a weekly basis. ICT use is particularly low in the school subjects of mathematics and science. Teachers in all grades of mathematics and science subjects therefore face a particular challenge with respect to using ICT in their lessons. Many upper secondary schools have come a long way in the use of ICT in their daily educational work. At the same time there are many upper secondary schools that have not progressed far enough, so that the differences in this area are great. Primary and lower secondary schools continue to lag behind upper secondary schools with respect to using ICT as an integrated part of daily school work. ICT is still used mostly for searching the Internet and for Office programs. Digital learning resources are not used a lot in primary and lower secondary schools. The Internet is used a lot by pupils in all grades for finding information and as a reference source, but various professional sites and Internet portals that are set up for use in the schools are not much used by pupils. The Office programs are frequently used, particularly among pupils at the VK1 level in that digital learning resources are used to a much greater extent in the upper secondary schools. There is unused potential, particularly in primary and lower secondary schools, with respect to the better utilisation of professional Internet sites and portals as well as professionally developed digital learning resources. There is still little use of multimedia in schools, but more than in 2005. Pupils use multimedia to a much larger extent at home than at school. As in previous surveys, this year s mapping of pupils shows that they use various multimedia tools to a much greater extent at home than at school, and that they make use of these tools in a more varied manner than their teachers do. There has nonetheless been a positive development since 2005 in that these tools are used more in educational work at schools in 2007. Since multimedia tools continue to be infrequently used at schools, many pupils will develop digital skills linked to the multimedia work they do at home which they have little chance of using at school. Digital folders are used to a greater extent in 2007 than in 2005. There has been an increase in the use of digital folders for storage of pupils work. Nonetheless we find that pupils use the content within their digital folders in their work with new tasks to only a limited extent. The schools have thus not succeeded with respect to using digital folders as an educational tool in the pupils learning work. 1 VK1 is the second year of upper secondary school itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 3/9

The teachers use of ICT There has been an increase between 2005 and 2007 in the time spent at computers in all grades both at school and for homework. There has been an increase in the use of computers, particularly for administrative tasks, preparatory and follow-up work, and less in instruction. There has also been a positive development in the time spent at computers among teachers. The increase has been greater with respect to their computer use for administrative tasks and preparatory and follow-up work than for use that takes place integrated in lessons. In this area, a great deal of difference between grades is found: teachers at the VK1 level spend significantly more time at computers than the teachers at lower grade levels do. At the VK1 level, about 60% of the teachers now say that they use the computer in lessons more than 4 times a week, while in primary and lower secondary schools, about three-quarters of the teachers use computers less than 3 times a week during lessons. This means that as far as primary and lower secondary schools are concerned, we are still a long way from a situation where ICT is integrated into all subjects. ICT is used to only a small extent for messaging. Search engines on the Internet are the most frequently used Internet resource. Office programs are used a lot at all levels. Digital learning resources are most used by teachers at the VK1 level. So far, ICT is used very modestly for messaging in schools despite the facts that there is good access to computers, the Internet and communication tools, and that the use of e-mail is widespread among both teachers and pupils. There is an unused potential for schools in their use of ICT for more efficient communication with students and their parents and guardians. As is the case for pupils, we find that the Internet is most used for searching for information and that Office programs are frequently used at all levels. We find that teachers at upper secondary schools use professionally created digital content to a greater extent than those in primary and lower secondary schools. It is particularly teachers in primary and lower secondary schools that face a challenge linked to the better use of digital learning resources. There is an increase in the use of digital folders as a starting point for evaluation and marking. More teachers than in 2005 state that they use the content of the pupils digital folders as a starting point for evaluation and marking. It is also interesting that more teachers than previously say they arrange to use the content of the pupils digital folders as the starting point for a more process-oriented form of work. However, this applies to fewer than half of all teachers, meaning that most teachers continue to use digital folders only for storing pupils work. Digital competencies among pupils Three different forms of digital skills are found among pupils: acquiring information, integrating information that is previously known or from other sources, and creating, which concerns digital texts being understandable and, for example, ensuring that illustrations and text fit together. itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 4/9

There are great differences between pupils in the same grade with respect to having and developing digital skills. This year s ITU Monitor shows clear differences between pupils in the same grade with respect to what forms of digital skills they have and are developing. It seems as though focusing on mastery (as a learning strategy) and being curious about a subject can have a positive effect on developing one s knowledge of the use of digital tools and thus on digital skills. Since there are large differences from pupil to pupil in their focus on mastery and curiosity about subjects, the schools face a great challenge with respect to the pupils that do not learn to use digital tools on their own. There are differences between teachers with respect to how they assess pupils development of digital skills. One form of digital literacy is more stressed by teachers than other forms of digital literacy: the digital literacy that is linked to the interpretation of information by means of the pupils own evaluation. Findings suggest that there are many different factors that influence the development of pupils digital skills. The pupils backgrounds and attitudes towards school work particularly seem to be important. In future, focus will be placed on factors about which something can be done. The teachers lessons and organisational framework conditions must be said to be the most important factors. The pupils attitude to school subjects is also something that can be considered by starting from the pupils previous knowledge and interests when planning and implementing lessons. In such cases, ICT provides good opportunities for adaptation and variation in the lessons. It is a challenge that the teachers have such different perceptions of what is important with respect to the pupils digital skills. It is also a challenge that there are clearly great differences between what the teachers think they are focussing on in their lessons and what the pupils think of their own digital skills. To find out more about this, there is a need for more qualitative studies of classroom practise that focus on how training in digital skills is actually realised in the lessons. There is also a need to raise consciousness among teachers of what digital competencies are as well as how they can arrange their lessons in such a way that these competencies are developed in their pupils. Findings indicate that the teachers generally place most emphasis on organisational abilities as a digital skill: pupils should summarise, compare and evaluate information. Chapter 3 tells us that searching for information is much used in lessons. It is therefore necessary to focus more on evaluation, source critique and creative production with digital tools. We also find that there are gender differences with respect to having digital skills. Firstly, results show that boys to a greater extent than girls report that they master acquisition as a digital skill. Secondly, results show that girls to a greater extent than boys state that they master creativity as a digital skill. There are other gender differences, in that girls report that they to a greater extent than boys are concerned with learning as much as possible at school (proactive mastery orientation). itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 5/9

LMS access and use There has been a notable increase in access to LMS in primary and lower secondary schools. LMS has now been introduced and implemented in almost all upper secondary schools and in 6 out of 10 primary and lower secondary schools. Both teachers and pupils view the use of LMS positively. LMS is used mostly for e-mail and storage of files. There is a greater and more active use of digital folders at schools which have LMS. This year s ITU Monitor shows a large degree of confidence in the use of LMS (Learning Management System a digital learning platform) among teachers and pupils. The different functions of the digital learning platform are used to varying extents. Pupils particularly use the functions for the storage of documents and the delivery of assignments and tests. Teachers make use of LMS to a large extent for administrative tasks. The more educationally oriented functions and the tools for communication and collaboration are currently used to a lesser extent. There is however much to suggest that access to LMS has had a positive effect on the use of ICT in more areas among both teachers and students. This is not surprising, since LMS makes up such a large proportion of the ICT used in many schools. The school organisation and leadership ICT focus and plans In 2007 it is much more common for school administrators to focus on a broad implementation of ICT in all subjects than it was in 2005. There is a basis for assuming that the positive development in primary and lower secondary schools 7 th and 9 th grades is due to the fact that ICT has been integrated as the fifth basic skill by means of the Knowledge Promotion Reform and the new curricula. Digital skills are given a central place in the new curricula for basic education. At the same time, the individual school now has a greater freedom of action than it had as the consequence of the 1997 syllabus. There are new and completely different requirements for school owners and school administrators. The fact that more schools, including primary and lower secondary schools, are now introducing ICT on a broad basis indicates that we are on the brink of greater changes in Norwegian schools. The schools ICT plans are changing focus with experience, from a focus on operational challenges to an increasing interest in the educational use of ICT and skills development in ICT. The schools ICT plans have different focuses depending on how far the schools have progressed in their integration and use of ICT. Schools that are making ICT plans for the first time focus most on the operational challenges. Schools that have established ICT plans are more concerned about the educational challenges, such as raising competencies among the staff and pupils. There are conditions that we know are decisive for increasing the professional use of ICT in Norwegian schools. It is important that schools that do not have their own experience in the use of ICT also include aims for the educational use of ICT in their ICT plans. itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 6/9

Realising the schools ICT plans takes place to a larger extent through informal channels than through structured, formal processes. It looks as though the realisation of the schools ICT plans primarily takes place through informal, internal processes among the leadership, technical/administrative staff and educational staff. The more formal, structured realisation is used to a lesser extent. This may be interpreted as indicating that efforts to realise the schools ICT plans take place relatively unsystematically, and that there could be a need to formalise the processes that are to do with realising ICT plans to ensure that the goals are achieved. The teachers competencies According to three out of four school administrators, teachers have the basic ICT skills. Simultaneously there are few school administrators that consider teachers at their own school to be very interested in ICT. According to the majority of school administrators at all levels, their teachers currently have the basic ICT skills. Yet it is still the case that in school administrators eyes, this is the group that least is very interested in ICT, compared with the pupils and other staff at the school. This is a cause for concern considering the teachers central role in developing the pupils digital competencies. At the same time it is positive to note that school administrators are eager to direct measures to support and encourage teachers to make use of ICT in their own lessons. The school administrators in upper secondary schools differ from those in primary and lower secondary schools in that they to a much greater extent prioritise resources for and encourage their teachers to improve their competency in both the educational and administrative uses of ICT. The school administrators of upper secondary schools allocate resources to increase the ICT competencies of their teachers to a much greater extent than is the case among school administrators at the lower grades. In upper secondary schools, there is much more encouragement to improve skills in the administrative and organisational uses of ICT. This must be seen in the context of the fact that upper secondary schools have introduced LMS to a much greater extent than is the case in lower grades. There is less encouragement to improve the educational competencies linked to professional aspects than there is to integrate subject-specific digital learning aids in the lessons. This indicates a need for increased focus on raising competencies among teachers in the educational use of ICT, especially in primary and lower secondary schools. Digital content Upper secondary schools have come further than primary and lower secondary schools in sharing and developing digital content as well as in arranging for a larger degree of flexibility. With respect to school administrators opinions about getting the faculties to participate in sharing digital teaching schemes, getting faculties to develop digital teaching materials, and arranging for a more flexible organisation of the school day, itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 7/9

we find a much higher proportion of the school administrators at the VK1 level than at lower grades that think these processes are very important. About 9 out of 10 school administrators place a lot or a great amount of weight on informal contacts and the exchange of experience between colleagues. This is the form of sharing knowledge and experience that most people feel is most important. Changed ways of working Half of the school administrators at all levels, but with the greatest amount at VK1 level, responded that the school has changed/adapted its physical environment for learning and teaching with ICT, while at the same time they think that the ways of working have changed. The introduction of ICT has led to the form of work at the upper secondary school levels being changed more than at the primary and lower secondary school levels. This may be due to the fact that ICT is to a greater extent integrated in upper secondary schools than is the case in primary and lower secondary schools, but it can also be due to the fact that primary and lower secondary schools are organised in a different manner. It is also interesting to note that more than half of the school administrators at all levels respond affirmatively that the school has changed/adapted its physical environment for learning and teaching with ICT. This applies to a greater extent among school administrators at the VK1 level than among school administrators at the 7 th and 9 th grade levels. The digitally competent school In ITU Monitor 2007, we have used the responses from school administrators about how they perceive their activities to find four complex, distinctive features of the digitally competent school. The distinctive features together cover cultural, organisational and educational relationships at the schools. We call the four features: digital learning environments, which indicates that the use of ICT in the school contributes to changing practises and the distribution of roles between pupils and teachers, ICT maturity, which indicates that there is a positive, self-reinforcing connection between the ICT resources that are available and the opportunities for a conscious and ethical use of ICT that a school can achieve, evaluation using ICT, which indicates that ICT helps contribute to influencing the school to place greater focus on formative evaluation, especially where the teachers are organised in professional teams, flexibility, which indicates that flexible organisational types, a culture of sharing and varied teaching methods are connected with the teachers working in an interdisciplinary manner. These are known background conditions to arrange for the educational use of ICT. We have investigated how other conditions affect the digitally competent school. These conditions are: itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 8/9

whether the schools have an ICT plan and what form of ICT operational scheme they have. Variations here do not affect the characteristics of the digitally competent school. the school s access to resources for the educational use of ICT. Here we find that schools with a strong ICT basis have even stronger digitally competent characteristics if they focus on integrating subject-specific digital learning aids in the lessons. Schools that are not up to standard focus on developing basic ICT skills, which does not strengthen the characteristics of a digitally competent school. These self-reinforcing processes can seem to become stagnant over time, and can contribute to increased differences in digital skills. a school culture that focuses on cooperation and systematics in their ICT focus. Here we find that the following characteristics strengthen the digitally competent school: a culture for sharing and exchanging experience among the faculty, and ICT plans that are seen in connection with other school plans and anchored among the entire faculty. On the other hand, today s examination schemes hinder the systematic, planned educational use of ICT. To develop the school s organisational, cultural and educational practise towards becoming a digitally competent school, it is necessary to focus on the following: Efforts must be made to integrate subject-specific digital learning aids in the lessons, which mean that focus must be placed on developing knowledge, skills and expertise in the educational use of ICT among teachers. Systematic efforts must be made to develop and implement ICT plans, which means that ICT plans must be compiled taking into consideration other school plans that are anchored among the entire faculty and are followed up systematically with current evaluations and revisions. Formative evaluation forms must be made formal use of as a method of evaluating pupils. ITU Monitor 2007 shows that the schools take seriously the challenge of integrating ICT in teaching and developing the pupils competencies in mastering digital tools. This is an issue that the schools actively pursue and are attempting to do something definite about. Compared with previously, ICT is used more frequently, there is more concern about the educational aspects than the technical aspects, and the use of ICT occupies a central place in the schools plans and in the formulation of the schools aims. The challenges ahead are to make the change work more systematic through follow-up and local evaluations. Furthermore, it is still important to focus on the development of competencies among teachers as well as to arrange matters so that teachers know where they can find the relevant resources. It is also important to focus more on how ICT can contribute to improving pupils learning outcome, in terms of the pupils developing a deeper understanding of the subjects and to a large degree developing more advanced forms of digital competencies linked to evaluation, source critique and creative production with ICT. Educational authorities and expert environments at universities and colleges also have a key function with respect to realising these ambitious goals. itu monitor 2007 short-summary.doc page 9/9