Subject Identity

After the research, the author concluded their findings in the report that follows, under the following headings:

• What is meant by ICT
• Different names for the academic subject
• Should ICT be a subject in its own right on the secondary curriculum
• Subject requirements at age 16, to meet the needs of users, employers and educators.
• Critically evaluation of the secondary National Curriculum for ICT

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2. What is meant by ICT

ICT is an abbreviation for “Information and Communication Technology, this is the term used to describe exciting and innovative ways to provide lifelong learners with global access to information, learning and support. Information systems that are seamlessly linked to learning support systems, that are enjoyable to use and which enable management” (University of Wolverhampton 2006). As this definition has been taken from a University website it is a reliable source, which you would expect to be of a high standard for a definition at degree level. This is one of many definitions to describe a subject that is based on technology and communications, that is now a core subject to be taught as either a discreet subject or cross curriculum, providing lifelong learners.

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3. Different names for the academic subject

The subject has been known by many names such as: Computing; Computer Studies; Information Systems; Business Information Systems; Information Technology and now currently taught in schools under the title ICT. The change with the initials ICT being used instead of IT, is partly due to that fact ICT emphasises the increasingly important role that communications have on schools who have internet access, enabling pupils to send and receive email, and obtain information from websites published all around the world (Ager 1999). Other differences in the subjects name can be explained in the definition of their title, as often the subject content might slightly differ because, for example, the subject might incorporate Business as in “Business Information System”.

The subject titled “Information  Systems” can be defined as a system, automated or manual, that comprises people, machines, and/or methods organized to collect, process, transmit, and disseminate data that represent user information (Wikipedia contributors 2006). Therefore when the subject was taught as “IS” the difference was that the subject took an approach of teaching the subject as a system, which could be people or machines, and that could be partly why it was changed to “IT” to concentrate more on the technical side, (however the author was unable to find the research to support the change). Lastly, Computing and Computer Studies concentrates purely on the computer side and as Wikipedia contributers (2006a) defines “is the study of Information and Technology (IT)”.

In most schools the subject is predominately called ICT, however, there are other names for the subject, especially in key stage 4 and beyond where students choose to specialise in particular areas. It is also possible that the subject name could change again in the future, because IT as a subject is constantly changing. Perhaps the name for the future might incorporate new technologies, for example courses such as DIDA (Diploma in Digital Applications) might introduce Digital Applications to the subjects title.

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4. Should ICT be a subject in its own right on the secondary curriculum

ICT has gradually become more important in education and the government has recognised it’s importance and have shown this by the large amounts of money it has invested into hardware, software and the training for teachers. The  first White Paper of the new labour government stated that “We are determined to create a society where, within ten years, information and communications technology(ICT) has permeated every aspect of education.” (Department for Education and Employment DfEE 1997). This statement suggests that ICT should be in every subject, it does not however state how it will be a part of education, or how it should be taught, just that they want a society where ICT is part of every aspect of education and therefore would have to be in all subjects.

The department of Education and Employment have since release many publications regarding the importance of ICT and how it should be delivered. The publication “Key Stage 3 National Strategy ICT across the curriculum Management Guide” (DfES 2004) recommends that ICT be taught as a discrete subject so that the subsequent ICT capability can be applied and developed effectively in all subjects, as pupils’ ICT capability can only be applied and developed in subjects if it has been taught effectively in the first place. This statement concludes that firstly ICT should be taught as a discreet subject because without the ICT capabilities they will not be able to develop from, in other subjects.

However, if ICT was to be purely taught cross curriculum, then someone would have to be in charge of allocating who would teach skills, and then the difficulty would arise as to how other subjects would know what has been taught. Time would be wasted in those subject having to teach ICT skills, for example instead of pupils been able to build from skills to create a presentation in English they would firstly have to be taught how to use PowerPoint before they could even start the presentation.

The DfES (2004) then goes onto discuss the importance of having initially the ICT capabilities in order to use the ICT skills in other subjects, and the consequences of this. It states that consideration of the quality of ICT being delivered has to be taken into account, because if pupils’ do not have effective teaching and learning of ICT in the first place they will not have the ability to apply their ICT capability across the curriculum. Pupils’ will not be able to apply ICT in other subjects if they do not  have  the appropriate level and ICT abilities. As a result of this pupils’ may not progress in both ICT and the subject area. This also applies that pupils who learn new ICT skills at the same time as new subject content will often fail in both subjects. It is then critical that pupils are taught the suitable ICT capability before applying it in other subjects, and as pupils become more confident and proficient in using ICT there will be opportunities to apply and develop higher levels of ICT capability in subjects.

This publication again supports the significance of having the ICT capabilities and the consequence of not (in the case of some cross curriculum ICT teaching), however when analysing the publication for reliability of the sources one would have to say the publication is biased, in that these are the people who are recommend how education should be taught and therefore they are going to make recommendations in accordance with how ICT is  to be delivered. When reading the publication there is not many references to any research carried out to support claims to any theories, however, one could say some parts of the publication are common sense. The DfES could have built their recommendations from research that compared pupils taught discreetly ICT and those who adapted a cross curriculum approach. One very significant push for ICT to be made a separate subject came from OFSTED who where concerned that progression in pupils’ ICT capability was haphazard in schools which adopted a solely cross curricular approach (OFSTED 1999). At the same time there also were continuing concerns of the ICT curriculum in general and so the key stage 3 strategy was created to raise the profile of ICT as a subject, through a clear recommendation that it should be timetabled for a minimum of one hour to ensure there was adequate time for pupils to learn skills needed. 

As part of the National Curriculum there are two statutory responsibilities for teaching ICT in schools at Key Stage 3. These were that schools need to ensure that all pupils are taught the programme of study, at each key stage, as set out in the National Curriculum for Information and communication technology  and that pupils are given opportunities to apply and develop their ICT capability through the use of ICT tools to support their learning in all subjects. This reference to the National Curriculum again support ICT should be taught as a discreet subject, and that the second responsibility refers to applying the subsequent ICT capability across other subjects.

Even the Framework for teaching ICT capability: Years 7, 8 and 9 (DfES 2002) recommends that schools allocate discrete ICT teaching time in all years at Key Stage 3, and that the use of ICT in other subjects can have rewarding contexts for learning with, and about, ICT. The use of ICT in other subjects can boost pupils’ awareness of the function of ICT and give meaningful practice, but it will be for schools to decide which is the most effective model to deliver ICT. Some schools may decide to deliver some parts of the curriculum in other relevant subjects, for example, Design and Technology could teach the data logging part of the curriculum, which in the new 2006 Programmes of study: Information and communication technology (key stage 3)(2006) has been left out and will be taught by Design and Technology. So this supports that it is possible for some parts of the ICT curriculum to be taught in other subjects, but there must be a close link and schools still need to provide some time for specific ICT teaching by teachers trained to teach ICT. Which the DfES (2002) recommends, “Discrete lessons offer the best guarantee for systematic teaching of ICT, and help to set priorities and expectations for ICT across the curriculum. In Key Stage 3, about one hour per week is typically given to discrete ICT lessons, approximately 4% of the teaching week”. This the author agrees with from experience in teaching, and that even 1 hour a week can be difficult to teach the National Curriculum to pupils as a discreet subject. That it can be difficult to cross curriculum the lesson taught. therefore it would be difficult to allocate the National Curriculum across subjects and hence there will always be some elements of ICT that should be taught discreetly, and some that could be taught cross curriculum, but could be either built on and taught in  ICT cross curriculum or in other subjects via the use of ICT.

Lastly, a quote that summaries all findings on how ICT should be taught taken from Ofsted subject reports (2001/02), which is highly a respectable resource based on inspections carried out by Ofsted. “Many schools continue to cling to a belief that cross-curricular provision can deliver good progression in ICT capability, in spite of inspection evidence to the contrary over recent years. The weight of evidence suggests that what works best is a balance between discrete provision and the application of ICT capability across other subjects.”

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5. Subject requirements at age 16, to meet the needs of users, employers and educators.

When pupils’ leave school at 16 they have a number of options they can then go onto and use their ICT skills, the main options been they can either carry on to further education or employment and they will continue to use their skills in their everyday lives, because Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed society as it effects the way we live, work and learn. Already 60% of existing and 90% of new jobs require some ICT skills (Clarke 2006). These statistics prove that ICT is growing in demand for jobs and so school leaver are required to have some ICT skills to obtain a job, but how much and what level is not stated in the publication. These statistics are not surprising as computers are needed to run many business and personal life. The internet alone has increased the use and need for computers, from checking emails to using the World Wide Web to manage finances, bank accounts, pay bills and buy items, to gain information and display information. You can also choose to study through technology when, where and how you prefer, which has opened new channels of ways education and resources can be delivered. Technology has also become a part of our daily life, with the introduction of digital television and radio, for example, has brought technology directly into the living room. With all this technology surrounding us it is no wonder the government's made the decision to declare ICT a new Skill for Life alongside literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages.

'Skill for Life' is basically the modern term for basic skills; which is the skills that people need in order not to be seriously disadvantaged in their economic and social lives. This suggests that adults without ICT skills are going to have more difficulty gaining employment, getting a promotion or  keeping their jobs. In their social lives as they are not familiar with technology they will be  gradually become more distanced from the many benefits, that technology has to offer. Especially as more and more government and commercial services are to be accessed online, to get information, contact, pay or buy services. The worrying statistic from the national survey by the DFES in 2003 showed that 53% of adults have very limited ICT practical skills, however, providing that pupils’ receive the ICT national curriculum they should receive more than the content in the skills for life and be more than able to survive in the future of the technological world.

Subject requirement of content does not seem to be an issue for colleges. From college websites they make no reference to stating ICT is an requirement for entry onto a course, except for computer courses where they usually require a GCSE in ICT. Possibly the reason for this is that colleges know that school leavers will have been taught ICT as key stage 3 as this is statutory, and therefore have the basic skills to work from. Colleges will expect students show their ICT skills through assessment such as assignment submitted electronically and possibly the use of email to contact lecturer and vice versus.

At universities however, ICT is a must skill and it is now becoming popular for universities to run literacy, numeracy and ICT test for students to gain entrance. Canterbury Christ Church University (2005) is a university that uses its website for potential students to download an ICT audit that can be used to identify any basic skills students will need to improve in order to study at their university.  Their website specifies how important ICT skills are at university as it “underpins all of your studies.”  Students will also be required to be able to email to communicate with staff and students, to word process essays and assignments, to use the internet to search for information and possibly to use subject-specific software for their course. Even student that have not studied ICT at college or even at university level still will be required to have some basic ICT skills and these might very well be the skills learned before leaving school, which again shows the importance of school leavers leaving with skills for life, that they can in the future be able to use in many situations and build from these skills.

Lastly what do employers want from school leavers, well already we know that 60% of existing and 90% of new jobs require some ICT skills and according to Kings School (2006) “Almost every employer needs staff with good ICT skills so it's a biggie!” Again no reference is made to interpret what is classed as good ICT skills and to what level, but assuming as this is a school website they would be referring to skills taught up to KS4.

More jobs are requiring computers skills and  according to Integrated System Technologies Limited (2006) in a recent employer survey by e-Skills UK has identified significant shortfalls in the UK's e-Skills capability. e-skills UK acts as the voice of employers on IT, Telecoms and Contact Centres. They surveyed over 3,200 businesses looking at employer skill needs relating to IT within their organisations, and current skill deficiencies. From the survey it seems the skills required by business are word processing, database and spreadsheet skills, especially as it states “Forty-four per cent of businesses reporting skills gaps said staff lacked word processing skills, 44 per cent lacked database skills, and 43 per cent lacked spreadsheet skills.”

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6. Critically evaluation of the secondary National Curriculum for ICT

When the National Curriculum for IT was devised in 1995, it was written in a non-specific way so that developments over a five year period could be allowed for. Neither the Programmes of Study nor the Attainment Target Level Descriptions mention word processing, spreadsheets or multimedia authoring, or particular types of software. The lack of details provided little help for teachers who where unfamiliar with ICT and many teachers were uncertain about what the ICT National Curriculum Programmes of Study really meant. To counter this problem, both the DfES and the QCA issued schemes of work and resources to support the teaching and learning of ICT from KS1 to KS3 to provide teachers with the tools to teach ICT capability. The schemes of work gave examples of the types of activities which were  appropriate for covering various aspects of the IT curriculum. These schemes of work where software dependent and, in many cases used Microsoft Office software (Ager 1999).

The National Curriculum was further revised in 1999 when IT was renamed Information and Communication Technology (ICT). However, programmes of study in England were now grouped around the major themes of finding things out; developing ideas and making things happen; exchanging and sharing information; reviewing modelling and evaluating work as it progresses (DfES 1999), although there was still the flexibility to be able to teach the subject using any software and however you like, as long at the national curriculum is followed.

The National curriculum for ICT could still be improved to incorporate new skills and knowledge, for example including more multimedia skills, as ICT is constantly changing and therefore the curriculum is in need of updating. The key to how ICT should be taught would be that at KS3 the curriculum should be to build on the technical skills developed during KS1 and KS2 and develop the higher order skills required for success at KS4.

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7. Conclusion

In conclusion this report has emphasised the importance of ICT, with the ever increasing use of technology making ICT an essential skill for life. It has also shown the importance of ICT having capability encompasses not only the mastery of technical skills and techniques, but also the understanding to apply these skills purposefully in learning, everyday life and employment, and to be able to have life long learning. Also that the National Curriculum alone is not enough for most teachers and therefore schemes of work were introduced, which still is not the perfect solution and with time they will all need to be updated as ICT is a constantly altering, which was also partly the reason the national curriculum was created so vague. As a result of the author findings it is clear that ICT is now a skill for life, and should be taught discreetly, with the application of ICT capability across other subjects.

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8. Bibliography