Willem J. Pelgrum

Obstacles to the integration of ICT in education: results from a worldwide educational assessment

The main focus of this article is on the perceptions of educational practitioners (at the lower secondary level) regarding obstacles that seriously impede the realization of ICT-related goals of schools. The results are from a worldwide survey among national representative samples of schools from 26 countries. The article contains a short summary of the design of this project, a review of main indicators regarding ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in elementary and lower secondary schools, main obstacles and an exploration of the co-variation between obstacles and contextual factors at the country-level.

SITES2006—International comparative survey of pedagogical practices and ICT in education

This paper describes the rationale, conceptualization and design of the Second International Information Technology in Education Study (SITES). SITES is a survey of schools and teachers of their pedagogical practices, their use of ICT and their readiness for changing their teaching–learning towards the demands of the 21st century. The study will take place under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the data collection is planned for 2006; therefore the project is called ‘SITES2006’.

Introduction of computers in education: state of the art in eight countries

In 1989, the IEA Computers in Education study collected data on computer use in elementary, lower- and upper secondary education in 22 countries. This paper presents some preliminary results for lower secondary education in Belgium-Flemish, Belgium-French, France, Greece, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S.A. The major questions that are addressed are related to the availability and the use of hard- and software, the problems experienced in introducing computers in schools and the attitudes of the principals towards computers. The results show that the number of schools equipped with computers and the number of computers available in schools increased dramatically over the past few years. Despite this fact, computers still are only used by a limited number of teachers, and mainly for teaching students about computers; the integration of computers in existing subjects is still limited. The major problems experienced in educational practice are the lack of sufficient software of high quality and insufficiently trained teachers.

Influence of computer use on schools' curriculum: limited integration

In the literature many claims are formulated about what might be accomplished in actual teaching practice when computers are used in a proper and intensive way. Therefore, in this study we analyse how three leading schools in the lower general secondary education sector in The Netherlands are using computers in their curriculum. The results show that these schools have hardly passed the stage of grassroot developments. To validate and possibly generalize these results we did, as a follow up study, a telephone survey with a larger group of leading schools. The survey confirmed the outcomes of the case studies.

Attitudes of school principals and teachers towards computers : does it matter what they think?

In 1989, the IEA Computers in Education study collected data on computer use in elementary, lower- and upper secondary schools in 22 educational systems. The data collection included attitude measures for principals of computer-using as well as non-using schools and for teachers of computer education courses and teachers of existing subjects. The latter group consisted of computer-using as well as non-computer using teachers from mathematics, science and mother tongue. This article raises the question to what extent attitudes play a role in the process of integrating computers in the existing curriculum. The article mainly focuses on lower secondary schools from 14 countries and shows that attitudes of principals and teachers of existing subjects vary greatly, between as well as within countries. Moreover, it can be shown that attitudes covary in a meaningful way with the extent to which computers are used by computer-using teachers.

Restructuring of schools as a consequence of computer use

The central question discussed is whether the use of computers leads to the restructuring of schools or classrooms. Several authors argue that intensive use of computers must lead to new classroom patterns or new forms of schooling. Data from the international comparative study of computers in education, conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), reveal that in almost all schools in industrialized countries activities with computers are taking place. However, a relatively small number of teachers are involved, and these activities are not indicating real changes in the structure of schools and classrooms.

School and teacher factors associated with frequency of ICT use by mathematics teachers: Country comparisons

This paper explores school and teacher factors that are associated with the frequency of use of ICT by mathematics teachers. The SITES 2006 data base was used to compare countries with a relative high percentage of frequently ICT-using mathematics teachers (HIMA countries) with countries with a relative low percentage of frequently ICT-using mathematics teachers (LOMA countries). Meaningful effect sizes (≤−0.5 or ≥0.5) for 29% of the items in the SITES 2006 database were found. The findings suggest that mathematics teachers in HIMA countries, more than in LOMA countries apply a learner-centered approach in their educational practice and have a focus on life long learning competencies. In addition, compared to LOMA countries, school leaders in HIMA countries, are active in stimulating the use of ICT and encouraging teachers to apply new ways of teaching and learning. The school level items of the SITES 2006 database with meaningful effect size were factor-analyzed resulting in five factors: 1. active communication, 2. school leadership development, 3. assessment orientation, 4. ICT use by school leaders and 5. Bottom–up change orientation. Country profile scores for HIMA and LOMA countries and for culturally comparable countries were generated to illustrate how these country profiles can be used to inform ICT policy.

The use of computers in education in 18 countries

The 1980s have shown a rapid increase in the infusion of new information technologies in most societies. The notion that computers are playing an important role in the life of every citizen is no longer debated. The question how education should react to these developments and what role computers can and should play in schools is still an issue of major debates. There are several theoretical perspectives on the role of computers in education and many claims exist as to the potential power of computers as instructional aids. Many countries have adopted policies for the systematic introduction of computers in education. However, the major question still is: How should new information technologies be inlxoduced in education and to what degree are the expected effects of policies actually realized in educational practice? The major goal of the Computers in Education study (Comped) of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (lEA) is to collect longitudinal and crossnational comparative data in order to contribute to the evaluation of policies on (the introduction of) computers in the countries that are participating in the project. This paper contains a summary of results collected in stage 1 of the study (see below), more fully described in Pelgrum & Plomp (1991), and provides some possible implications for educational policy.

The worldwide use of computers: a description of main trends

This paper examines some of the main findings from the IEA Computers in Education survey. The results show that with respect to the future of computers in education there is reason for optimism as well as for pessimism. The optimistic part of the story is that new technologies in the form of computers are nowadays available for many schools in most so-called developed countries, and that despite the complexity of this innovation educational practitioners and students are still very enthusiastic about this technology. The pessimistic part is that there is still much inequity of access to computers. Once computers are available they tend to be used most frequently as an add-on to the existing curriculum. It is probably this lack of integration of computers in existing curricula which is most challenging in determining our agenda for the future.

Information and communication technology (ICT) in lower secondary schools in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, and the Russian Federation

This article shows some of the results of an international comparative assessment of information and communication technology (ICT) in education, which was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) at the end of 1998. It is shown that the countries in Central and Eastern Europe did not differ systematically from countries in other parts of the world with regard to emphasis on traditional or emerging pedagogical paradigms. However, in terms of ICT infrastructure, systematic differences were observed.