Whole school development,change and leadership - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 123

Table 6.5 Major factors that hinder embedding digital tools and resources in practice

(Leask and Younie 2001; Leask and Preston 2010)

Factor Impact

national assessment
systems

There is a dilemma which teachers face in high accountability systems
where it is directly measurable results which count. Learners may benefit
considerably from extra-curricular activities but if these are not counted
in a culture where that which is measurable is that which counts, then
pupils are losers. Too much emphasis on measurement of individual
parts of learning rather than the whole learning experience is a feature
of such systems; and attainment is valued over achievement. Teachers
contributing to the Leask and Preston (2010) research asked: 'Surely
technology-based resources could be developed which allow more credit
to be given to a range of outcomes which encourage learners to explore,
accumulate, reflect and demonstrate in a range of forms?'

Transferable skills
aid adoption of new
systems

The capacity to change tools depends on similarity to previous systems
so schools/colleges can hit the ground running and so that pedagogical
applications are known.

Filtering systems Filtering systems often prevent access to educationally beneficial

applications - teachers suggest the philosophy should be: 'educate
for responsibility rather than ban and block (Leask and Preston 2010).
Filtering policies vary between local authorities and are reported as
a major constraint in innovation. It seems that filtering systems are
perceived as excessively rigorous and are causing teachers and learners
to work outside the system just to use applications which are now
considered part of the toolkit of Web users. A transparent code of
practice providing a base line for good practice together with a rationale
for this is needed.
Some Local Authorities (LAs) restrict the use of equipment for personal
use - e.g. a laptop cannot be used at home for Facebook, Hotmail or
booking trips - even if these uses are school/college related. Some LAs
block website access so that online resources such as games which might
have an educational application cannot be accessed.

Lack of demonstrable
pedagogical benefit

one of the primary education groups for the Leask and Preston (2010),
research expressed concern about the value of learning platforms in
the primary school and considered it will be a long time before they
are accepted. There are concerns about maintenance and technical
aspects of keeping them running - plus the skills needed for creating
the tools. It was considered the money might be better spent elsewhere
and the question: 'where are the pedagogical claims backed by
evidence?' was asked. 'Just because a technology exists does not mean
it is going to be useful for schools/colleges of all types'. The value of
learning platforms for secondary schools/colleges was acknowledged by
participants in this research.