Closing Remarks Closing Remarks & Ways Forward& Ways Forward

Malcolm Hunt: Assistant Director, Evidence & Evaluation

Becta Research Conference, 2005

Presentation Outline

Some Emerging Research Themes- Partnerships & Co-operation- Dissemination & Communication- Clarifying the ‘added value’ that ICT can bring to learning

Becta’s Research Activities & Priorities, for 2005-06

Partnership & Co-operation

For Educational Research to inform policy & practice, joint activities will be required between:- Policy makers - Practitioners - Researchers - Industry

Becta can usefully facilitate such partnerships (ImpaCT2, Test Beds)

Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research teams (In teams & methodology)

- Learners Learners & Parents& Parents

Becta’s Priority Activity 05-06

Development & Research Programme- Partnerships with Industry- Industry Consultation Event 20 June Consultation with the research community over an ICT Research Agenda Developing partnerships with industry researchers & practitioners through the Awards work & ICTRN

• Industry funded pilot projects around an education issue

• Becta funded evaluation• Creating ‘communities of knowledge’ through the ICTRN

• Theoretically informed & grounded in real practice

• Developing a Library of Effective Practice- practitioner & institutional profiles

Effective dissemination & communication

Becta’s remit is about providing timely, evidence informed advice about the use and impact of ICT to inform policy & practice

We need a range of outputs capable of informing policy, improving practice and contributing to theory

Dissemination needs to make a difference- Awareness of audience- Use of appropriate communications channels/media- Awareness of how people use research

How do practitioners use research evidence?

Research from the Social Care Sector

Research for the Social Care Institute for Excellence

Investigated how the use of research could be improved in social care practice

Could it inform our thinking in education?

Walter, I and Nutley, S 2004: Improving the use of research in social care practice. Knowledge Review 7, SCIE.http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/knowledgereviews/kr07.asp

Models of research in Social Care The research-based practitioner model

- Practitioners have a personal commitment to using research,- Personal belief in the need to keep up to date with research & apply it to practice,- Belief that professional education is important in enabling the use of research & it’s application to practice

The embedded research model- Responsibility for informing practice lies with policy makers - Research is embedded through systems & processes: eg Standards & policies- Funding restrictions, inspection & appraisal are the vehicle for encouraging the use of research in practice

The organisational excellence model- Institutions are the vehicles by which to develop a research-minded culture,- Institutions create partnerships with local universities & adapt research findings to local settings & encourage ongoing learning

• What leads to a research informed

practitioner?

• Practitioners engaged in

post graduate studies

• Practitioner CPD

Work of the Strategies, other NDPBs, evidence informed policy

Role of professional links:SLICT programme & work with

NCSL

Becta’s Priority Activity 05-06

Strengthen our evidence & knowledge base especially for post 16- PeLE database & analysis work for DfES post 16 e learning programme board Extend and review our publications to make them more problem focussed Through the Awards work to provide- Exemplars & case studies of innovative practice- Develop a framework for pedagogical quality that can inform practitioners in making decisions about ICT resources

Clarifying the value that ICT can bring to learning

Despite significant investment ICT is a limited resource There has been considerable improvements on infrastructure provision, yet impact is variableIn understanding how ICT supports learning, there is a continuing challenge to ‘get underneath’ statistics to understand better the processes, factors and specific uses of ICT which consistently relate to positive impacts on pupils’ learning & institutional standards, and to understand which of these add most value. Becta Review 2005

Helping the education system be ‘smarter’ in the way it uses

ICT

Becta’s Priority Activity 05-06

Ongoing & new large scale managed research projects

Review the progress of ICT in education through an update of the Becta Review.

ICT in Practice Awards- Institution Award

• Test Beds Evaluation

• Curriculum Online Evaluation

• E Learning survey in FE

• ICT and the productive time of teachers

Provide ‘hindsight, insight & foresight’

against the e-Strategy priorities

• To identify ICT activities of the whole institution rather than just looking at individuals

• Help inform the development of the ICT Mark

Conclusions

Introduced Becta’s Research Strategy Heard from some expert speakers in the field of ICT research Started a process of consultation about the ICT Research Agenda Raised some important issues & added to the debate about ICT research, theory and practice

Thank You