The impact of ICT in schools - a landscape review - nationalarchives ...

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Most schools are linked to the wider community
and beyond through the internet, providing a rich
source of resources for teachers and learning
opportunities for pupils. Schools are developing
links with schools in other countries through video
conferencing, and with other services and
agencies such as libraries and the careers services.
However, as ICT becomes an everyday experience
for pupils in classrooms, schools also have to
Summary
consider how they ensure that all pupils have
similar learning opportunities and the ‘digital
divide’ does not develop into a system-wide
disadvantage for those who have limited or no
access to ICT out of the school. Pupils, teachers
and parents seem to benefit from good
home–school links using ICT and the newer,
cheaper, mobile technologies might go some way
to providing a solution.
The development of ICT in schools is progressing unevenly across
and within schools and technologies. Some seem to be content
with achieving the government’s targets in terms of numbers of
computers and connectivity, while others are being highly
innovative, attempting to capitalise on the benefits that ICT has
been shown to bring.
As schools grow in e-confidence, ICT becomes embedded in
the everyday practices of the school, drawing on a range of
technologies to support learning, teaching and attainment.
The literature is very positive about some aspects of ICT use, rarely
negative, but mainly incomplete or inconsistent. Further studies,
particularly with a longitudinal element, should shed light on the
processes that schools go through in becoming e-confident and
e-capable, the impact on relationships within the school, between
home and school and across networks, and on pedagogical practice.
Using ICT effectively in schools is about more than changing
resources; it is about changing practices and culture.