C. J. Patrick Nolan

A Longitudinal Study of Student Attitudes toward Computers: Resolving an Attitude Decay Paradox

Abstract An integrated curriculum project in New Zealand generated educationally interesting but paradoxical results regarding student motivation and attitudes toward computer use. Students mastered and used a range of computer applications, becoming enthusiastic users to the point of regarding the computer as indispensable as pens and pocket calculators. Performance of three cohorts of students in the nationwide school certificate examination showed that project students performed significantly better than peers in the parallel traditional school program. Yet student attitudes toward computers became significantly less positive during their junior high school careers. This article illuminates and explains the paradox through comparative analysis of the relevant findings. It examines implications for the design and implementation of curriculum programs that will involve student use of and control over many and diverse forms of compelling computer applications, from CD-ROMs to the Internet.

Pathways to Institutional Improvement with Information Technology in Educational Management

Introduction. Pathways in Context C.J.P. Nolan, A.C.W. Fung, M.A. Brown. Section 1: Models for Supporting and Enhancing Professional Practice. Managing Assessment: Using Technology to Facilitate Change G. Welsh. The Distance Ecological Model to Support Self/Collaborative-Learning in the Internet Environment T. Okamoto. Educational Centres as Knowledge Organisations Training Future Knowledge Workers: The Role of IT J. Osorio, C. Zarraga, J. Rodriguez. Section 2: CSIS Models and Designs. Developing Software for School Administration and Management M. Bajec, M. Krisper, R. Rupnik. Open ITEM Systems are Good ITEM Systems A. Tatnall, B. Davey. Information Systems for Leading and Managing Schools: Changing the Paradigm C.J.P. Nolan, M. Lambert. CSIS Usage in School Management: A Comparison of Good and Bad Practice Schools A.J. Visscher, P.P.M. Bloemen. Section 3: Evaluation of System Effects. Has a Decade of Computerisation Made a Difference in School Management? P. Wild, D. Smith, J. Walker. SAMS in Hong Kong Schools: A User Acceptance Audit A.C.W. Fung, J. Ledesma. Section 4: Making a Difference Through Training and Professional Development. How Should School Managers Be Trained for Managerial School Information System Usage? A.J. Visscher, E.M. Branderhorst. Supporting UK Teachers Through The National Grid for Learning I. Selwood, D. Smith, J. Wisehart.

Distance Education for the Gifted and Talented: An Interactive Design Model

In 1994, the New South Wales Board of Studies, Australia, introduced three high level Distinction Courses for gifted and talented students: comparative literature, cosmology, and philosophy. All are offered by distance education but the cosmology course employs an interactive design model and an extensive communication system that differentiates it from the other two. This article explains the model and the way it is used in practice to organize, sequence and deliver the course. Discussion addresses ways in which the model might be used to design a wider range of courses for gifted and talented students.

Implementing computerised school information systems: Case studies from New Zealand

Abstract This chapter develops a framework for conceptualizing the implementation of computerized school information systems (SISs). The framework is used to carry out an in-depth examination of the implementation strategies employed by three schools which currently utilize the system developed by the Massey University School Administration by Computer (MUSAC) Project. Based on the findings of the three case studies, the “grass-roots”, bottom-up approach seems to offer the best means of developing, implementing, and maintaining competent, computerized SISs.

MUSAC in New Zealand:From Grass Roots to System-Wide in a Decade

With a stroke of the legislative pen late in 1988, the whole New Zealand school system was restructured away from central Government control that had been in place for over a century to school self-governance and management by local school boards of trustees. Overnight, New Zealand schools became referred to as ‘Tomorrow’s self managing schools’, mandated by Government to achieve levels of organisational efficiency and effectiveness greater than was ever possible or realised in the past. For some years prior to restructuring, a small but steadily increasing number of schools had been experimenting with and using computer-assisted school administration and information systems (see Visscher, 1991, for discussion of developments internationally). Restructuring was perhaps the single event that pressed schools to take computerised school administration more seriously than in the past as a means to assist them to pursue the organisational efficiency and effectiveness goals they were mandated to achieve. Researchers and developers who had either developed computerised systems or understood their potential began, much more actively, to promote computer-assisted school administration as a direction for the future. This chapter summarises the development of computer assisted school administration in New Zealand but its principal purpose is to tell the story of one particular system developed and marketed to schools by the Massey University School Administration by Computer Project (MUSAC). The two first authors of this chapter are respectively a senior academic of the university College of Education and a university researcher. Their work and positions in the university are independent of MUSAC, maintaining only an arms length relationship with MUSAC. The MUSAC operation, though in the University as a system development and dissemination centre, is not part of the university in the conventional sense of contributing directly to university research and teaching. It is, however, frequently the subject ofresearch and MUSAC staff members make contributions to teaching programmes by invitation, as do other New Zealand system developers who are in competition with MUSAC. The third author is acknowledged because of the key role that he played in providing data and information useful to the senior authors when analysing system uptake and utilisation.

Developing a “good” information system for schools: The new Zealand experience

Abstract The majority of New Zealand schools use computerized information systems even though they are not mandated by government to do so. The MUSAC (Massey University School Administration by Computer) school information system, in particular, has been acquired by 76% of all New Zealand schools currently using, or likely to use, computerized systems. This chapter has a twofold purpose: first, it applies recently formulated theoretical constructs to examine the manner and sense in which the MUSAC system is a “good” system in developmental, design, and operational terms; second, it uses research findings on MUSAC acquisition and use to document progress that schools have made in realizing the potential of the system. Conclusions reflect on the nature of information system use, indicate directions for further research, and suggest a focus for training and development that will assist schools to better realize the potential of computerized school information systems.

Information Systems for Leading and Managing Schools: Changing the Paradigm

Although schools in New Zealand have long viewed themselves, and functioned, as organisations, experience and research show that they must, in the future, increasingly develop and operate as learning communities to be educationally effective. This paper examines the extent to which three schools have been able to employ a widely used state of the art computerised information system in ways that support their operation and development as learning communities. Findings, from case studies of the schools, show that two factors are key in enabling school personnel to use the system effectively: (1) the strength of commitment by school leaders and teachers to learning community principles, and (2) the technical understanding and know-how of the principal particularly and, to a lesser extent, the staff, rather than system characteristics or design features. Discussion suggests new directions for the design of computerised school information systems and the need to reformulate common understandings of what might count as “good systems” for schools that either operate, or aspire to operate, as learning communities.

Cosmology on the Internet: Distance education for the gifted and talented

In 1994, the New South Wales Board of Studies, Australia, introduced three high level Distinction Courses for gifted and talented students: Comparative Literature, Cosmology, and Phil- osophy. All are offered by distance education but the cosmology course employs an interactive design model and an extensive communication system that differentiates it from the other two. This paper explains the model and the way it is used in practice to organise, sequence and deliver the course. A discussion addresses ways in which the model might be used to design a wider range of courses in science for gifted and talented students.

Managing Learning Environments in Schools

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in New Zealand educational institutions, as in other countries, has proved to be problematic with outcomes falling far short of expectations. This paper addresses the problem by suggesting a more holistic approach to professional development that takes into account the school-learning environment, including school culture, in an effort to develop educational practitioners as ‘all-round’ capable ICT-using professionals. To this end, this paper presents and discusses a schematic model of ICT functions and use in school systems, organised hierarchically to accommodate complexity and differentiation between automating and informating functions. The basic argument of the paper is that professional development should be linked directly to the contexts where ICT may be used professionally. Further, development will be optimally effective by identifying and addressing two simultaneous pathways namely, learning and teaching, and administration and management, with emphasis provided during transitions between levels of use. Key aspects of development that support effective ICT use include understanding the multi-functional and multi-tasking nature of the technology, vesting locus of control in users and integrating ICT into everyday professional work. Ongoing research is proposed to further test and demonstrate the efficacy and robustness of the model.

Erratum to: Pathways to Institutional Improvement with Information Technology in Educational Management

Erratum to: C.J. Patrick Nolan et al. (Eds.) Pathways to Institutional Improvement with Information Technology in Educational Management DOI: 10.1007/978-0-306-47006-6