Education policy and the rationale for technology development in schools: political drivers - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 32

To improve the use of technology in schools and to decrease the home-school
divide, Becta (2009b) specified that all schools should be making 'effective use of
learning platforms by 2010' (Becta 2009b: 14). The role of learning platforms became
critical to Becta's drive to embed technology objectives, as identified in the 'Next
Generation Learning' campaign (Becta 2009c). This campaign was supported by fur-
ther government funding via the Harnessing Technology Grant, which had allocated
over £600 million to spend on technology in schools between 2008 and 2011. How-
ever, with the appointment of a new Coalition government in 2010 and concomi-
tant funding cuts, this funding stream was ended prematurely. Prior to the era of
austerity from 2010, it should be noted that the amount of technology in schools as
measured by the number of computers to pupils, was achieved. In 2004, the Becta
'ICT in Schools' survey highlighted that the target ratio of 'computer to pupil' from
government had been met, which was an average of 1:8 in primary schools and
1:5 in secondary.
With the creation of the Harnessing Technology Strategy, Becta continued to pro-
mote technology in schools as a national education policy until 2010. Then, under the
Coalition government the agency responsible for technology, Becta, was abolished. The
responsibility for technology was subsumed back into the Department for Education
(DfE). It took a further two years before the establishment of a new agency respons-
ible for technology in schools was set up. In 2012 the Teaching Schools New Technol-
ogy Advisory Board (NTAB) was established.
Prior to evaluating the change with technology that was implemented under
the Labour government, it is worth recording the principal policy documents that
influenced each, successive iteration of technology policy development during the
1990s and 2000s. Table 2.1 outlines the important policy documents and evaluation
reports, although given the limits of space this is not exhaustive.
Evaluating change with technology: the nature of complex policy initiatives
From 1997 to 2010 the ICT policies of the Labour government made significant
improvements to the provision of technology in UK schools, in terms of infrastruc-
ture, connectivity, professional development, pedagogy/curriculum application and
whole-school management. Given the magnitude of the task that lay ahead in 1997,
it must be noted that the complexities of ICT '. . . are substantial, so the managerial
and organizational demands made on all those introducing them will be consider-
able. Establishing a national development programme will undoubtedly be extremely
challenging' (Scrimshaw 1997: 11).
It is important to document the magnitude of this challenge, in order to appreci-
ate the problems of implementing technology as a national strategy and to under-
stand those areas that emerged as problematic:
• insufficient leadership and technology expertise across the multiple
agencies,
• disparitiesoffunding,leadingto
• differinglevelsoftechnologyprovision,alongside