The ICT Impact Report: A Review of Studies of ICT Impact on Schools in Europe

Does using information and communication technology (ICT) have a positive impact on education? It is this question that motivated the research reported in this 77-page document, which was written by European SchoolNet (EUN) in the framework of the ICT Cluster of the European Commission. As explained here, EUN had detected "considerable differences" in "e-maturity" - the degree to which organisations make strategic and effective use of ICT to improve educational outcomes - both within European countries, and among schools within countries. Most schools in most European countries, EUN observed, "are in the early phase of ICT adoption, characterised by patchy uncoordinated provision and use, some enhancement of the learning process, some development of e-learning, but no profound improvements in learning and teaching."

In this context, to understand and assess the use of ICT as a strategy for education in Europe, the report includes evidence from 17 recent impact studies across Europe: large- and small-scale, national and European. It covers evaluations of ICT programmes, inspection reports, specific technology interventions, research reviews, European comparisons, and case studies. Key benefits of ICT for learners and teachers identified in the report can be summarised as follows:

Benefits of ICT for Learners: - Six studies show statistical evidence that ICT can enhance educational attainment; here are highlights:

1. ICT impacts positively on educational performance in primary schools, particular in English and less so on science and not in mathematics.
2. Use of ICT improves attainment levels of school children in English- as a home
   language - above all, in Science and in Design and technology between ages 7
   and 16, particularly in primary schools.
3. In Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) countries there is a positive association between the length of time of ICT use and students' performance in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics tests.
4. Schools with higher levels of e-maturity demonstrate a more rapid increase in
   performance scores than those with lower levels.
5. Schools with good ICT resources achieve better results than those that are poorly equipped.
6. ICT investment impacts on educational standards most when there is fertile ground in schools for making efficient use of it.
7. Broadband access in classrooms results in significant improvements in pupils'
   performance in national tests taken at age 16.
8. Introducing interactive whiteboards results in pupils' performance in national tests in English (particularly for low-achieving pupils and for writing), mathematics and science, improving more than that of pupils in schools without interactive whiteboards.

Other studies led to the following 4 more qualitative, general, statements about the impact of ICT on learning outcomes: Pupils, teachers, and parents feel that ICT has a positive impact on pupils' learning; pupils' subject-related performance and basic skills (calculation, reading, and writing) improve with ICT, according to teachers; teachers are becoming more and more convinced that the educational
achievements of pupils improve through the use of ICT; and academically strong students benefit more from ICT use, but ICT also serves weak students.

Specific qualitative results detailed here include:

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Benefits of ICT for Teachers: - According to the report, two types of ICT found particularly useful by teachers are:

1. The internet (particularly Broadband Internet) - useful for providing structured approaches to research (to develop students' research skills, which are transferable across the curriculum).
2. Interactive whiteboards - useful for enhancing interactivity in the classroom and keeping the attention of students, particularly primary-school students).

The evaluators found that ICTs can increase enthusiasm for teaching; for example, issuing teachers with their own laptop computer has been shown to increase positive attitudes towards their work. In addition, increased efficiency and collaboration seems to result when ICT is used to prepare lessons (over 90% of teachers in Europe were found to do so.) It was found that ICT increases efficiency in planning and preparation of work due to a more collaborative approach between teachers. ICT enables teachers to cooperate more and share curriculum plans with colleagues and managers.

Despite the growing body of evidence on the impact of ICT use on learners, the evaluators note that whether it will deliver its potential depends to a large extent on how teachers use ICT within the teaching and learning process. The evidence shows that, while teachers' basic ICT skills have increased dramatically, teachers do not yet exploit the creative potential of ICT and engage students more actively in the production of knowledge. The report shows that teachers' use of ICT for communication with and between pupils is still in its infancy, and that ICT is underexploited to create learning environments where students are more actively engaged in the creation of knowledge. Also, whereas teachers estimate a high impact of ICT on learning and learning outcomes, the perceived impact on teaching methodologies is seen much more moderate. For instance, school leaders estimate that the impact of ICT on teaching methods in their school is low. In part, this is due to the fact that the impact of a specific ICT application or device depends on the capacity of the teacher to exploit it efficiently for paedagogical purposes - and factors/barriers beyond the teacher's control (e.g. institutional cultures, leadership, the curriculum, and assessment) influence ICT uptake.

The report finds that, in changing the teacher/student relationship, as part of the new educational paradigm, the most difficult process for teachers is to give up control and have more trust in students planning their work independently. The most progress has been made in recent years in improving teachers' attitudes towards ICT by realising its value for learning through more experience and embedded use. Those teachers who are exposed to ICT in these positive ways have been found to use ICT in project-oriented, collaborative and experimental ways, becoming more of an advisor, critical dialogue partner, and leader. Thus, one key research finding is that ICT has the greatest impacts in e-mature schools with e-confident teachers, suggesting that "once the foundations are laid the benefits will be considerable."

Based on this evidence, the report then raises a series of key questions to be addressed in the near future, such as the following: Is it sound policy to concentrate resources on ICT for those subjects and sectors (i.e. primary schools) where results are proven? Will this not ultimately be divisive and reinforce success, disadvantaging secondary schools and other subjects than mother tongue and science? Should secondary education be remodelled more like primary schools to take account of the greater impact in primary schools? To what extent are results transferable or are they contextually dependent? In what sense can we relate country specific outcomes to national ICT policies and can we find that national policy influences the way research deals with impact issues? Are researchers looking at the wrong outcomes? And are policy-makers clear or realistic about what they expect the results of ICT investment to be?

As part of an effort to address some of these questions, the final section of the report provides detailed recommendations to policy makers, schools, and those engaged in research and development. These recommendations emerged from extensive discussions with the ICT cluster members and other ICT in education experts and point to possible solutions and actions to be taken on Member State and European level. In an overview table, the report also lists the core review studies according to their scope, research methods and the specific areas of impact in the both learning and teaching, such as students' motivation and engagement, the personalisation of learning, and the emergence of new paedagogical practices.