teachers and ict: current use and future needs

Teachers and ICT: current use and future needs

Dorothy Williams, Louisa Coles, Kay Wilson, Amanda Richardson andJennifer Tuson

The research reported in this paper was undertaken by a team based at the School of Information andMedia at The Robert Gordon University. The team was led by Dr Dorothy Williams who has 15 yearsexperience of research at the interface between education and information. Address for correspondence:The School of Information and Media, Faculty of Management, The Robert Gordon University, GarthdeeRoad, Aberdeen AB10 7QE, UK. Email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected]

AbstractIn Scotland, ICT is clearly integral to the existing curriculum in primary andsecondary education, see, for example, the 5–14 Development Programme orHigher Still in which information technology is identified as one of the core skillsareas (HSDU, 1998). In light of current UK-wide developments such as theNational Grid for Learning (NGfL) and the New Opportunities Fund (NOF)funded training in ICT for teachers and librarians, it is all the more important tounderstand teachers’ ICT skills and knowledge needs, to discover their prioritiesfor future development and to establish what will encourage teachers to adoptICT where appropriate in their professional lives as classroom practitioners, asplanners and managers and as learners. An investigation of the ICT skills andknowledge needs of teachers working in Scotland was therefore commissionedby the Scottish Office and completed by the authors. This paper reports on thatstudy indicating relatively low use of ICT and a number of key issues which haveimplications for teacher training and development. The full report is available onthe Scottish Executive website (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/).

IntroductionThe value of ICT in teaching and learning has been a subject of some contention in theeducation community for some time. Consideration of the literature tackling the areareveals a divergence of approach to the subject. Many authors explore the nature ofgood practice or promote the use of ICT generally (see Stevenson, 1997; Means et al.,1995; Casey, 1996; Hogenbirk, 1997). Conversely, a great number of theorists andcommentators offer more critical opinions regarding the use of ICT in education (seeRoszak, 1994; Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 1988; Postman, 1995; Moll, 1997). While a numberof these critics do not rule out the use of ICT completely and acknowledge a role for theeffective use of ICT in education, opinions do differ as to how ‘effective use of ICT’ should

British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 31 No 4 2000 307–320

© British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2000.Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

be achieved. Today’s teachers have been given the task of integrating ICT into thecurriculum. How effectively are they identifying a way forward through this conflict ofopinion and ever-developing technology?

This paper examines evidence of current practice from a recent study funded by theScottish Office Education and Industry Department (SOEID). The aims of this study were:

1. To investigate teachers’ needs for knowledge and skills in relation to the effective useof ICT;

2. To suggest ways of enhancing future design and delivery of self- and staff-development in order to increase and improve the level of ICT use in Scottish schools.

MethodThe study of teachers was conducted in two parts:

• a survey of primary and secondary teachers provided basic data on the current levelsof ICT use in schools, teachers’ experience of ICT training to date, and their percep-tions of their ICT knowledge and skills needs;

• a number of scenario interviews provided a more in-depth understanding of theseissues and the contextual factors that influence teachers’ responses to ICT and ICTtraining.

The full report (Williams et al., 1998) is available from the authors and at the websiteof the Scottish Executive http://www.scotland.gov.uk.

The surveyThe survey was conducted between November 1997 and January 1998, a difficult timeof year to conduct research in schools given Christmas activities and school holidays.While the response rates were, as predicted, relatively low, the samples are representa-tive of a broad cross-section of primary and secondary teachers.

Samples of 300 primary schools and 100 secondary schools were chosen at randomfrom lists of all (2313 primary and 403 secondary) schools in Scotland. Sevenquestionnaires were sent to each primary and 9 to each secondary for distribution toteachers across the primary stages and the secondary subjects. Three hundred andfifty-two primary and 329 secondary questionnaires were completed and returned,representing 18% and 37% of total questionnaires distributed to primary andsecondary schools respectively. However, given that many smaller schools will not havebeen able to distribute the full number of questionnaires, the actual response rates willhave been higher than these figures indicate.

The survey was designed to provide basic information on the ways in which ICT iscurrently being used, how competent teachers feel themselves to be, their views ontheir own needs and priorities for further development, the kind of training which willhelp them develop further, and the factors which tend to encourage or hinder the take-up of ICT in the classroom, in teachers’ own professional development and in themanagement and administration of teaching.

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Teacher interviewsFollow-up scenario interviews were held with 23 secondary teachers and 13 primaryschool teachers. This sample was representative of a wide range of teachers acrosssubjects and levels, rural and urban schools, and included a number who did not usecomputers or who were very low level users. The interviews were designed to elicit in-depth feedback in a semi-natural, non-threatening setting relating to teachers’ owndecision-making processes. Respondents were given the task of talking through how theywould respond in particular situations (for example, providing advice to a student teacheron using ICT in the classroom), thereby highlighting not only their current knowledgeof ICT but also their perception of the facts which help or hinder them from using ICT.

Use of ICTThe overall picture which emerges is a positive one. There is a great deal of interest andmotivation to learn more about the potential of ICT and an acknowledgement that thisis the direction things are likely to take in the future. Indeed, the vast majority ofprimary and secondary teachers say that they make use of some computer-basedresources at some time in their professional life (primary: 98%, secondary: 97.5%).Additionally, the majority of those who use computers report that they considerthemselves generally competent. However, these results do not mean that the vastmajority of teachers use ICT often, nor that they feel competent enough to use ICT asa core teaching resource.

Teachers were asked to indicate their frequency of use for each of 15 types of ICTresources listed in each of four contexts: classroom practice, professional development,personal use and administration. Their responses were scored as follows: Daily = 4;Weekly = 3; Monthly = 2; Termly = 1; Never/No = 0 in each of four contexts thusallowing for a scoring range between 0 and 16. An average score was then derived foreach resource in order to compare frequency of use of the different resources.

As Figures 1 and 2 show, most primary teachers are a long way from making daily orweekly use of ICT in a full range of professional contexts, although in the secondarysector their use of ICT is higher. (Unless otherwise stated the secondary teacher figuresthat follow apply to those teaching outside the area of computing.)

The focus in both sectors is on word processing and to a lesser extent educational soft-ware packages. Amongst primary teachers, use of the Internet and email is very lowwhich may be partially explained by the low availability of the Internet in primaryschools (11% in 1996/97 (Scottish Office, 1998)). Interestingly the Internet is availablein the majority of secondary schools (60% in 1996/97 (Scottish Office, 1998)) yetInternet use amongst secondary teachers is also relatively low (although slightly higherthan primary teachers). This is likely to be due to a combination of lack of knowledgeand lack of what many teachers would regard as ready access, i.e. close to the areas inwhich they teach. These findings broadly agree with the findings of a recent survey ofsecondary teachers which reported low levels of regular use of generic applications andlow levels of confidence particularly in the use of the Internet (Gillmon, 1998).

Teachers and ICT 309


Where ICT resources are used by primary teachers they are used most often in the class-room context (95% of teachers used at least one ICT resource at least once a term).Frequency of use of ICT in the classroom by secondary teachers is similar, however, useof ICT in professional development, personal use, and administration, are all signifi-cantly higher for the secondary sample.

Through further analysis of the questionnaire results, the authors also sought toexamine any patterns in the use of ICT. Teachers were divided into “low”, “medium”and “high” use categories based on average scores for use of ICT across all contexts.Patterns were clearest in the secondary teacher sample. As can be seen in Table 1,proportionately fewer of those who teach mathematics, sciences and languages were inthe high scoring user group compared with other subjects. Mathematics teachers hadthe lowest use scores while teachers in business and management subjects tended tohave the highest use scores.



[Key to abbreviations and definitions:WWW: World Wide Web; Networking: network computer conferencing, e.g. First Class; Video conf: video conferencing; WP: word processing;DTP: desktop publishing; Ext software: externally produced educational software packages (e.g. simulations andeducational games); Int software: internally produced educational software packages; CD-ROM: as an information source;On-line: on-line information sources (e.g. British Education Index)]

Figure 1: Use of ICT by primary teachers

ICT Resource

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Teachers’ attitudes towards ICT were investigated in the survey by means of a series ofstatements reflecting positive and negative attitudes towards the use of ICT to whichteachers indicated their agreement or disagreement. Respondents were grouped inaccordance to whether their attitudinal score was relatively low (negative attitude) orhigh (positive attitude) to allow some comparison with use. As might be expected thereis significant correlation between levels of use of ICT and teachers’ attitudes. Those whoare more inclined to identify with the positive benefits to themselves and their pupilsalso tend to use ICT more often. Those for whom the problems and worries theyencounter appear to outweigh the potential benefits, tend to use ICT less often.

Among secondary teachers, attitudes to ICT differ according to subject group, as shownin Table 2.



Figure 2: Use of ICT by secondary school teachers

ICT Resource

on-line

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Table 1: Extent of use across different subject groups (% secondary non-computing teachers)

Business &Science Social Aesthetic management

Languages Maths subjects subjects subjects subjects Other Totaln = 51 n = 34 n = 58 n = 49 n = 47 n = 27 n = 17 n = 283

low use score 22 27 21 22 17 7 24 20med use score 65 68 67 55 53 59 35 60high use score 14 6 12 22 30 33 41 20

Taking attitude and use together, it is apparent that the subject teachers who tend todisplay more negative attitudes and lower use of ICT are those in mathematics and science,closely followed by the language teachers. Teachers of business and management sub-jects tend to have a more positive attitude and make more use of ICT than other groups.

Questionnaire responses also showed that those who use computers at home use ICTmore frequently in school. This is true across all four contexts: classroom practice;professional development; personal use and administration. Other recent studies havenoted the relationship between school use of ICT and the availability of portablecomputers for use in teachers’ own time. The BECTa multimedia portables for teacherspilot (Harrison et al., 1998) provided portable computers for 1150 teachers in Englandwith the aim of increasing teacher confidence and competence in the use of ICTresources, and promoting learning in the pupils taught by the teachers taking part inthe project. Particularly interesting in this context are the findings that 93% of theteachers taking part felt that their use of ICT had increased substantially, 95% felt thatthe project had allowed them to develop their teaching and 94% had used the computerin their teaching. The PLAIT project (Gardner et al., 1992) focussed on the impact ofpupils’ use of portables on learning, however feedback from participating teachers wasalso sought. It was reported that the high level of personal access to ICT that a portablemachine had afforded them had enabled them to become more familiar with ICT and con-sequently, allowed them to integrate ICT into their teaching practice more effectively.

While the present study reinforces the idea that access to computers at home and/or inteachers’ own time has a positive impact on the use of ICT within the school, no clearrelationship between home use of computers and attitude towards ICT amongst theprimary and secondary teachers in our sample was found. It seems more likely thathome access provides those who are already motivated with more opportunity todevelop their skills and enhance the production of materials for themselves and theirpupils. However, it cannot be assumed that providing computers for home use willchange attitudes towards ICT.

Impact of ICTHalf of primary teachers and 69% of secondary teachers report that ICT has a positiveimpact on their teaching although there was some variation of opinion between



Table 2: Attitudes towards ICT across different subject groups (% secondary non-computing teacher respondents)

Business &Science Social Aesthetic management

Languages Maths subjects subjects subjects subjects Other Totaln = 43 n = 30 n = 47 n = 40 n = 34 n = 24 n = 16 n = 234

low attitude score 16 40 26 18 9 8 0 18med attitude score 58 47 68 60 77 54 63 62high attitude score 26 13 6 23 15 38 38 20

subjects at secondary level. On the subject of the impact of ICT on pupils’ learning,again, the majority of teachers (62% primary and secondary) think that ICT has apositive effect. This view was echoed in the interviews:

“They enjoyed going into the body [using a multimedia package].... it is probably more interesting thanbooks, you could see how the blood circulated. We got a lot of discussion about that.” (Primary)

Many teachers are in the early stages of introducing ICT into their classrooms. Whilethey tend to recognise many potential benefits and want to be able to use ICT withinthe curriculum, both the questionnaire survey and the interviews echo observationselsewhere (Cox, 1997; Ridgway and Passey, 1995) in displaying some preoccupationwith teaching ICT rather than teaching with ICT. Primary teachers report that ICTprovides them with suitable backup and extension material for pupils, indicating a stillstrong perception of ICT as an “add-on” or reward rather than integral to their coreteaching. Secondary teachers report a wider range of positive benefits and arebeginning to show signs of a more critical, reflective and more integrative approach. Asone teacher commented:

“Somebody said to me last night, I never knew there were so many ways of teaching exactly the samething; that’s what it amounts to. They are motivated and they look forward to it.” (Secondary)

It does seem that those who have had greater opportunity to use ICT in the classroomare beginning to focus more on the application of ICT within the learning process andless on the technical aspects of ‘teaching ICT’.

Factors inhibiting the use of ICTWhat are the reasons given by teachers for not using a broader range of ICT? What arethe problems and challenges that need to be overcome if ICT is to be used moreeffectively by teachers and their pupils?

Table 3 summarises the factors that are seen by teachers as inhibiting use of ICT. Lackof availability of some ICT resources is the main reason given by primary teachers fornon use. This should not necessarily be taken to mean that there might not be otherinhibiting factors such as lack of knowledge or skills, or lack of support, but rather thataccess to the technology tends to override all other factors in determining use. Thus inTable 3 where there is a high response to ‘not available at all’ the other figures for thatresource may be underestimates.

Moving beyond the narrow range of resources that teachers use most frequently (wordprocessing, externally produced software packages) more than 10% of primary teachersreport that ‘lack of familiarity’ is a reason for not using 11 of the 15 resources listed inthe questionnaire. ‘Lack of skills’ in the use of databases and spreadsheets is seen as aninhibiting factor by more than 10% of primary school respondents. On the other hand10% or more of primary respondents consider that the main reasons for not usingresources such as e-mail, video conferencing, fax, spreadsheets and DTP is that theyare inappropriate.



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Not available Not accessible Not familiar Lack of skills Not appropriateat all when needed with

p s(n) s(c) p s(n) s(c) p s(n) s(c) p s(n) s(c) p s(n) s(c)

Internet and WWW 67 22 (20) 1 16 (15) 13 26 (13) 9 19 (7) 5 5 (2)E-mail 53 18 (9) 4 15 (13) 16 21 (9) 7 15 (2) 10 10 (4)Network computerconferencing 61 36 (50) 1 4 (0) 13 28 (7) 6 15 (0) 10 17 (11)Video conferencing 63 41 (52) 1 5 (7) 12 21 (13) 6 11 (4) 11 18 (9)Fax 46 4 (9) 2 4 (2) 11 4 (4) 5 2 (0) 18 15 (20)Word processing 1 ,1 (0) 1 ,1 (0) 2 0 (0) 3 3 (0) 2 2 (2)Databases 3 1 (0) 1 2 (0) 13 6 (0) 13 7 (0) 10 13 (4)Spreadsheets 3 ,1 (0) ,1 1 (0) 14 9 (0) 14 9 (0) 14 13 (2)Desk Top Publishing 17 3 (2) ,1 2 (0) 13 17 (2) 9 12 (0) 10 10 (2)Digital camera 61 31 (33) 2 5 (7) 13 21 (9) 8 10 (4) 7 16 (4)Digital scanner 59 15 (4) 2 8 (2) 14 19 (9) 9 9 (7) 6 11 (4)Educational softwarepackages(externally produced) 2 3 (0) 2 2 (0) 3 8 (2) 2 1 (0) ,1 5 (7)Educational softwarepackages(internally produced) 30 30 (30) 1 1 (0) 5 9 (0) 3 4 (2) 2 8 (4)CD-ROMinformation sources 12 3 (4) 5 10 (7) 8 8 (2) 4 4 (2) 5 7 (0)On-line informationsources 56 22 (28) 1 6 (2) 16 33 (28) 5 5 (2) 4 7 (13)

p = per cent of primary teachers, n=352s(n) = per cent of secondary non-computing teachers, n=283s(c) = (per cent of secondary computing teachers, n=46)

Cost of buying/ Lack of technical Lack of timeusing support

p s(n) s(c) p s(n) s(c) p s(n) s(c)

7 10 (4) 3 6 (9) 4 18 (15)5 5 (4) 2 4 (4) 3 11 (13)

3 3 (0) 2 5 (2) 3 7 (13)3 3 (4) 2 5 (7) 2 6 (13)3 3 (0) ,1 ,1 (0) ,1 1 (2)0 0 (0) ,1 0 (0) 3 1 (0)0 ,1 (0) 2 1 (0) 6 5 (0)0 ,1 (0) 2 1 (0) 4 5 (0)1 2 (0) 6 7 (0)2 4 (4) 2 8 (9)4 4 (2) 2 4 (4) 2 7 (9)

3 9 (7) ,1 3 (0) 3 7 (2)

,1 2 (0) 2 3 (0) 7 7 (9)

2 6 (4) 1 3 (2) 3 9 (15)

3 2 (2) 3 1 (4) 3 6 (11)

Table 3: Reasons for not using ICT resources

‘Lack of skills’ is a barrier to use of the Internet, e-mail, computer conferencing, videoconferencing, DTP and digital camera for more than 10% of secondary (non-computing) teachers. Ten of the resources listed, including e-mail, video conferencingand fax, are considered to be inappropriate by more than 10% of secondary teachers.The lack of familiarity with ICT resources is not confined to non-computing specialists.Interestingly, 13% of computing teachers say that they lack familiarity with theInternet and video conferencing.

Given that secondary teachers tend to have access to a wider range of resources in the first place it is not surprising that for secondary teachers other reasons such as lackof familiarity or lack of skills occur more frequently than for primary teachers.Nevertheless, the problem of availability is still an issue for a number of secondaryteachers. Thirty-six percent report that they do not use the Internet and WWWbecause it is not available at all or is not readily accessible when needed. Similar reasonsare given by 31% secondary teachers for not using e-mail.

Neither cost nor lack of technical support are reported as strong inhibiting factors in either sector although lack of support, particularly, emerges as a factor in theadditional comments and interviews. It is likely that the importance of these factorsis masked here by the fact that, for primary teachers in particular, it is the over-whelming lack of access and lack of availability which are the predominant inhibitingfactors.

Limited availability of ICT also leads to problems of classroom management andorganisation of scarce resources. Some teachers are finding innovative ways forward,for example, grouping or pairing pupils with ICT skills with those who need moresupport, or bringing parent helpers into the classroom. Primary schools also showconsiderable evidence of joint selection and sharing of resources. They rely heavily onother teachers for advice:

“In our departmental groups we had departmental meetings. Take away one [program] review it andshare it with the others.” (Primary)

They also appear to be more proactive in organising centralised ICT resource baseswithin the school.

“We’ve got ‘quiet rooms’, they are called, where resources are held … so everyone knows where they are.”(Primary)

However, despite these examples of a more positive approach provided by some of theprimary teachers interviewed, both primary and secondary teachers would benefitfrom more appropriate information and management strategies relating to evaluationand access to ICT resources. Overall, it is clear from their responses that many teachersare not currently in a position to make informed judgements about the suitability of awide range of ICT to support teaching and learning goals.



Priorities for development and trainingWhat then are teachers’ priorities for developing their ICT skills and knowledge?

While 66% of primary teachers say that they feel competent or very competent withICT in classroom practice, much smaller proportions feel at least competent in usingICT for professional development (39%), personal use (53%) or for administration(29%). Furthermore, in all contexts, competence is limited to a narrow range of ICT.

Respondents were asked about their priorities for developing their ICT skills andknowledge in relation to classroom practice, professional development, personal useand administration. The variety of responses was very wide and these have beenclassified into four groups:

• technical skills and knowledge;• application of ICT: for general and pedagogical use;• management skills and knowledge related to ICT: general and classroom orientated;• teaching ICT skills.

Respondents were asked for up to three priorities in each professional context. Theresults are presented in Table 4.

Primary teachers feel they need to develop technical skills and knowledge particularlyin the contexts of classroom management, professional development and personal use.Secondary teachers feel they need to develop their technical skills across all fourcontexts.



Table 4: Primary and secondary teachers’ priorities for developing their skills and knowledge

Classroom Professional Personal Administrationpractice development use

p s(n) p s(n) p s(n) p s(n)

Technical skills and 32 34 22 28 20 22 9 18knowledgeApplication of ICT— 2 4 3 2 2 2 1 1generalApplication of skills— 2 2 ,1 ,1 ,1 ,1 ,1 ,1pedagogicalManagement—general 7 6 8 5 5 6 10 12Management— 3 3 ,1 1 ,1 ,1 ,1 ,1classroomTeaching ICT skills 3 2 ,1 ,1 ,1 ,1 0 ,1Other 7 5 2 3 1 2 1 2

p = development priorities of primary teachers(% of potential, n = 1056 [352 × 3])

s(n) = development priorities of secondary (non computing) teachers (% of potential, n = 849 [283 × 3])

This emphasis on more technical skills does not mean that teachers do not also feel thatthey need to know more about making effective use of ICT in the curriculum. Indeed,in interviews, many teachers expressed a need for more knowledge on how best to applyICT in the teaching and learning context.

“It’s the application rather than the actual technical aspects of how you use things.” (Secondary)

However, it is also clear that even when teachers have very firm ideas of how they wouldlike to apply ICT in the classroom, they can be held back by lack of technical skills andknowledge. The ultimate goal may be effective use of ICT in teaching and learning but thereis also a feeling amongst teachers that they first need to build up their basic skills andconfidence.

The high motivation to learn more (92% of teachers are interested in developing theirICT skills and knowledge) is confirmed by the fact that many teachers have already hadsome ICT training (over 80% of primary and 70% of secondary teachers). Most teacherspraise the training they have received and have found it helpful: they say the mostuseful outcomes of their training to date have been to help them get started or raisetheir awareness; to introduce them to software and to build their confidence.

When asked to list aspects of training they consider useful, they identified the followingcharacteristics:

• appropriate to classroom use;• has a hands-on practical element;• provides on the spot help;• provides opportunities to work and share ideas with other teachers.

When training has been less than useful, it has been due to:

• poor delivery when, for example, they have had a poor tutor;• the pace has been too fast or too relaxed for their own stage of development; • there have been insufficient computers to provide adequate access during the course;• there has been too much information or too much jargon.

From the evidence in this study, it would appear that future training should:

• be designed to increase a familiarity with a wider range of ICT;• be focused on the types of ICT resources available to teachers in school: training in

the use of ICT resources before they are available to teachers on a day-to-day basiswill result in demotivation and wasted effort;

• be flexible, allowing choice and guidance where appropriate for teachers who are atdifferent stages of ICT literacy and information literacy, who teach different levels andcurricula, and who are at different stages in their own career progression;

• encourage teachers to reflect on, and make decisions about their own ICTdevelopment needs on an ongoing basis;

• focus on ICT as a tool for lifelong learning for teachers as well as for the pupils.



The need for supportWhile ICT training will clearly be useful, ongoing support is an issue that concernsmany teachers. Presently, nearly 80% of primary teachers and 80% of secondaryteachers rely on their colleagues to help them keep up-to-date. While this is clearly animportant source of support, some worry about the extra burden they place oncolleagues:

“They don’t have the time either to deal with you. They are usually very helpful, but it’s unfair to expectthem to cope with a teaching load and then to deal with everybody’s IT questions and problems as well.”(Secondary)

In some cases, secondary school teachers are also turning to technicians and librariansto provide localised support and it is therefore important that these groups of staffcontinue to develop their own ICT skills and knowledge. Without the benefit of suchstaff, lack of support is even more problematic for primary teachers. Mechanisms needto be put in place to ensure that teachers have adequate access to technical support andadvice and to ensure that teachers do not feel that they have to become technicalexperts themselves.

However, while the support required is often practical in nature, teachers are alsoaware of the ethos and culture of the school when they discuss ICT development. Theytalk about the need for an organisational culture which promotes a positive attitude.Teachers recognise the important role of senior management, particularly headteachers, in creating the kind of organisational culture which is both forward lookingand dynamic but also sympathetic to the stage which teachers are at in their own ICTskills and knowledge development. A small-scale study investigating the role of headteachers in ICT integration came to much the same conclusions, “[evidence indicated]the leadership style and attitudes of the headteacher to IT in education can be a majorinfluence on the successful integration of IT use by the teacher on the classroom.”(Cox,1997, 90). Similarly, an evaluation of a recent project supplying multimedia portablesto teachers working towards the National Professional Qualification in Headshipsupported the opinion that a senior management team providing a positive role modelin respect of attitude and effective use of ICT leads to “rapid IT development andprogress within the school” (Thomas, 1999, 27).

Head teachers clearly have a particular role to play in encouraging the use of ICT—they need to be aware of the benefits of ICT across the school, in all contexts, and canset examples by being seen to be using ICT themselves where appropriate.

ConclusionsThis study set out to examine teachers’ current use, perceptions of needs and factorsinfluencing the uptake of ICT. It has shown that teachers in this sample are still in theearly stages of ICT development; what might be described as the entry or adoptionstages in the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) model (Dwyer et al., 1991). To beskilled and knowledgeable is of course the key to effective implementation of ICT inteaching and learning and there is no doubt that Scottish teachers in our sample are



motivated and interested in developing their own skills and knowledge. They see a needfor training which is relevant in terms of content and timing so as to enable them totake advantage of the ICT which is becoming available in schools.

However training alone is unlikely to be effective in the development of ICT skills andknowledge, and enhanced use of ICT in schools. A more holistic approach is requiredcomprising appropriate training (appropriate in terms of skills, knowledge, relevance toeducational goals and priorities, and delivery); ready access to ICT resources; andongoing support and advice to encourage progression beyond any formal training. Theprovision of a localised, supportive environment which encourages teachers to see ICTas integral to the achievement of their existing goals will be as important as any singlemajor national initiative.

In the words of one secondary teacher:

“I’m looking forward to the stage where this kind of buzz dies down a bit, and computers are just lookedupon as another tool, and people relax into it.”

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teachers and ict: current use and future needs

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