In January 2002 Estelle Morris announced the laptop for teacher’s initiative; this was the follow up to the ‘computers for teachers plan’. This plan was allowing a further £100million to be allocated towards the purchase of laptops for teachers.
One of the main developments of the new plan is that ownership of these laptops remains with the school; the older method meant that the government give a percentage of money to the teachers to assist them in purchasing their own PC. Which meant that the initial money was lost if these teachers left the teaching profession. Within the new plan if a teacher who has been allocated a laptop leaves the school the laptop must be returned to the school, thereby allowing another member of staff to use the laptop. This not only saves money, but also ensures that both the pupils and teachers have continual access to the laptop.
The old method involved certain teachers receiving priority over other teachers who were dealt with on a first come first served bases. This method insured that only teachers that required IT to help them in their teaching technique would go forward and apply for the assistance in purchasing a computer, therefore saving public money. Although one of the disadvantages would be that certain teachers, who lacked knowledge within IT would not go forward and apply, this would not only leave them disadvantaged but also their pupils.
A disadvantage of the new scheme, compared to its predecessor, is that priority is given to head teachers, not to the teachers themselves. This leaves the question of how do the teachers and pupils benefit from the headmaster having the computer? However, it is hoped that eventually all teachers will have the benefit of a laptop.
The system has improved with the allocation of laptops, and now certain rules have to be followed however these rules are somewhat confusing. The old system of teachers purchasing computers meant that there were no guidelines were available to follow on the actually purchasing of the computers. Teachers would buy small computers, which would not be able to cope with sufficient software, or have new operating systems that would develop problems, or they would shortly become obsolete. Many of these teachers did not have the expertise to know what requirements were needed, also headmaster and governors had little or no knowledge, or experience in purchasing this equipment. The lack of knowledge often resulted in the wrong equipment being bought, which may have had insufficient software or not have such a long life span, which will cause further problems.
The new system has guidelines to follow with regards to the size of the memory and other issues such as operating systems. The government as employed a private company to set out specification requirements, and to provide the catalogue, which ensures that all the computers are up to these standards. This catalogue available to help the headmaster and governors decide which equipment to buy. Included within these specifications are a number of items “a set of office applications, virus protector, software, network card, modem, three year warranty, technical help line and internet service provider”7. These guidelines are obviously an improvement on the last system; the laptops to be purchased should be able to cope with the necessary workload, which in the long run will save money and improve teaching methods. Although the possible main advantage for the teachers is the help line to assist them when things go wrong, and knowing that backup is available. These guidelines also release the pressure from head teachers and governors, because they do not now have to make decision on purchasing equipment without having adequate knowledge. The other disadvantage is that a time limit is also placed; any money that is not spent within the financial year has to be returned to the Local Education Authority (LEA). This again may result in headmasters and governor ‘panicking’ and buying equipment that in the long run causes more problems.
The financial allowance that has been allocated for the purchase of this equipment does not include the purchase of hardware such as printers and scanners. The equipment provided comes with a basic office software package; therefore any additional software required could be subject to a licensing fee. Many schools run on limited resources and simply do not have the necessary funds to allow them to buy the extra equipment required. If these laptops were to be used to assist lessons, then a hard copy of the work would also be essential for pupils to refer to at a later date. How can schools be expected to purchase extra equipment that will be needed? Harvey Road Primary School has experienced problems with the printing of work; acting head Jane Benn said “printing has been a headache, all classes print to a printer in the library which causes problems for younger children who have to leave their class to fetch their work”,8 another teacher said that “during one project, they’d press print, but there was such a backlog on the printer that it came out 15 minutes later”9. Another issue that has not been taken in to consideration with the allocation of these laptops is that the government is not including money to insure these items, or not including security devices. The only answer to problems such as these is for schools to purchase the extra equipment but where does the money come from?
The training of teachers has taken place on inset days so that all staff can participate, although some staff have refused to take part. The initial training has involved going through basic operations and looking over different programmes, as some of the teachers will need to learn basic skills in IT while others may have the basic knowledge, so do they really need to ‘cover old ground’? There are plans to develop a CD ROM, which will help teachers assess their individual training needs. However this CD ROM is not expected to appear for some time, which is of no use to the training programme now. This setback with the CD ROM could result in teachers being sent on training programmes only to discover that they are capable of doing that part of the course. With the introduction of this new technology into classrooms and the lack of training, teachers are left struggling to keep up with the developments of their pupils. According to one of the unions “teachers are not being given the training or the access to computers they need to make the most of new technology”10. There are also aims to introduce training plans into the schools, again the choice of which organisation to use relies on the head master and governors, which may result in further confusion. Research undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research (nfer) has shown that “teachers were unable to take up training that was offered”11.
One of the major concerns regarding the new plan was the lack of affordable technical support available to teachers. Although some schools have access to a technical support worker, others are finding themselves having to sort out problems unaided. The main concern is how does the government expect unqualified staff to sort out technical problems when the majority of them are still learning the basics?
The Deputy General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lectures has also criticised the plan, she said, “if there is a cautionary note to be sounded it is that ICT is a valuable educational adjunct but is no panacea. Deep seated problems need more than a shiny new laptop”12. This brings back the fact that many schools are facing structural and heating problems, and the children would benefit more from having these issues dealt with first.
Even after taking all these problems into consideration, teachers are reporting that they have benefited from the introduction of the laptop. Teachers and pupils at Rugby Secondary School in Warwickshire said, “ Having their own laptop, and participating in training has helped teachers to improve their ICT skills”13. While Harvey Road Primary School in Hertfordshire, has also outlined the benefit of using the laptops, they are reporting “laptops are in use most of the day, with each teacher using them for one or two-hour long lessons each week”14.
The training that has been provided would have increased the teacher’s confidence, which hopefully will lead them to extending their knowledge to benefit the children they are teaching. The use of IT within the classroom will motivate and encourage children, make learning more enjoyable, and successful for them. It may even possibly encourage children with their schoolwork; computers may also benefit children who have special needs. However much of this depends on the continuous training of teachers, and this in turn will depend on the amount of funds that are available to continue training.
The initial development of this plan has been somewhat ‘misshaped’. Lack of information has left teachers, headmasters and local governments bemused by what they are supposed to be doing. It is all very well having a plan, but in order for it to work successfully, there needs to be a great deal of co-ordination, planning, understanding of the issues surrounding the situation, and most importantly taking every aspect of it into account. The timescale that was allocated has also proven difficult to comply with.
There are many aspects of this plan that need to be taken into account before a decision can be made as to whether it will work. Governments needed to move with technology to enable future employees of Britain to enter into employment, whether they have chosen the right method is hard to tell. Perhaps the money that is being spent on these laptops would have been better utilised on updating existing computers within the schools; this would have resulted in both the teachers and pupils gain. The process of introducing technology into the classroom could possible result in less verbal communication and interactions between teachers and pupils. Where is the money for upgrading, maintaining and continuing with future training going to come from?
The initial plans along with events that have taken place have left many questions unanswered, and probably left many teachers and headmasters not knowing the future. On the whole it is an area that needed development and the full effects, benefits, downfalls and problems have still not been fully realised, ‘Only time will tell’ if the situation has been improved or whether these initiatives have just taken us through an expensive phase in education.
BIBLOGRAPHY
Gates, Bill 1996, The Road Ahead, 2nd ED, Penguin Books, England.
. (Accessed 27/11/02)
(Accessed 27/11/02)
CfT Evaluation Report (available on-line) (accessed 26/11/02)
(accessed 26/11/02)
(accessed 26/11/02)
. (Accessed 26/11/02)
. (Accessed 28/11/02)
. (Accessed 28/11/02)
. (Accessed 27/11/02)
. (Accessed 26/11/02)
.
(Accessed 27/11/02)
. (Accessed 28/11/02)
. (Accessed 27/11/02
1 Gates, Bill 1996, The Road Ahead, 2nd ED, Penguin Books, England.
4 CfT Evaluation Report (available on-line) (accessed 26/11/02)