What Works for Children with Literacy Difficulties? - Digital ...

3.22 Integrated Learning Systems: the National Council for
Educational Technology study
Integrated Learning Systems is the general name for a number of computer-based learning
systems, and for initiatives using them. The study summarised here is the one mounted by the
National Council for Educational Technology (NCET, now the British Educational
Communications and Technology Agency, BECTa) and evaluated by teams led by staff of the
University of Leicester (phases I and II) and NFER (phase III).
Scheme
NCET provided a number of schools with both hardware and educational software designed
to facilitate independent learning by pupils. The two main systems evaluated were
SuccessMaker and Global Learning Systems. Both have extensive programs for both literacy
and numeracy. Most schools in the study used the numeracy packages; only about half used
the literacy packages. The literacy packages provided massive amounts of guided practice on
all aspects of literacy; they also gave feedback on errors, and kept track of pupils’ progress for
their own and their teachers’ benefit.
Evaluations
(1) Mainstream
As stated, Phase II of the project (1994-96) was evaluated by a team led by staff of the
University of Leicester, and Phase III (1996-97) by NFER. (Phase I was smaller, though its
conclusion for literacy was much the same as the later phases’.) Phase III was not covered in
the first edition because it did not involve any children in Years 1-4, but is included now
because of its Y5 group. Though the results of Phases II and III for numeracy were
reasonable, those for literacy were unimpressive: no overall benefit compared to control
groups. Two exceptions were noted in Phase II: a Special School where children in the
control group outperformed those in the experimental group, and a mainstream primary
school where the ILS group did significantly better than the control group, but only after
teachers switched off all but the comprehension modules of the computer program - see
section 2.6.
References
BECTA (1998); NCET (1994, 1996); Underwood (1997); Underwood and Brown (1997);
Underwood et al. (1994)
(2) For pupils with low attainments in reading
Within the NCET study special attention was paid to pupils with special educational
needs (Lewis, 1995) and other under-achievers (Gardner, 1995), on the hypothesis that
they might particularly benefit from the technology. Lewis (1999) reviewed this
work, including her own study, and several other UK interventions using ILS with
pupils with low attainments in reading. Because of small sample sizes and the
existence of Lewis’s thorough review and analysis, none of the data from these studies
are reproduced or analysed here. Lewis concluded (p.156, emphasis original) that
teachers’ beliefs about the value of Integrated Learning Systems for pupils with
special educational needs or learning difficulties are not supported by the findings
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