Overall Impressions

Satisfaction

All of the group are happy to say that we are very content with the running of the visit. The planning of the course was detailed, and the advance information was exact and sufficient. From day 1 our hosts have been on their toes to cater for all our needs. The programme has been followed minutely, and all possible questions have been answered to our satisfaction.

Meeting of Expectations

It is safe to say that everybody feels that we got what we came for. Our expectations were to see in practice how we can use ICT to enhance learning and teaching creatively. Throughout the school visits we saw various examples of good practice, and given the same infrastructure, many of the practices will be easy to implement in the school systems of other countries.

It was easy to see and hear that the students were very happy with their new ways of learning, and we can only assume that the new practices will promote learning in various ways. It might be that there is a honeymoon effect when the students get all the new equipment, but we all believe that there is no turning back now. The digital age is here now, and schools have to reflect that fact.

The agenda of the visit was very much in coherence with the description in the catalogue. We have seen new hardware, we have seen varied use of ICT in all types of school subjects, we have seen how Fronter is being used in the communication within the schools, and also with the parents, we have seen the use of ICT in non-formal education, especially in nursery and primary schools, and we have heard staff and students assess the use of ICT in their respective school environments. Also, we have shared the use of ICT in our respective countries in each country’s presentation, with the probable effect that we can learn from each others good practices.

Clarity of presentations

With the help of the hosts, and the presentations made by teachers, Head Teachers and proud students (who were very clever!), we feel we have a good and clear picture of how the use of ICT is being promoted in English schools, both by  central and local authorities. And not only promoted, but also put into actual use. The fact that the use of ICT in schools has been on the agenda for at least ten years in England, also gives the presentations credibility, as there has been a development that we can all learn from. Along the path to a digital school, there have obviously been some failures, too, and this experience can also be of great help to the countries with a more scarce development of digital learning materials.

Content

Visits

During this Study Visit week, the organisers set up visits to a total of 9 educational establishments: 5 Primary schools, 2 High Schools, 1 school for Learners with Special needs and 1 Higher Secondary College.

All these establishments make use of ICT in their learning programmes, though the methods and tools they adopt may be different.  Notwithstanding, they all seem to agree on and share a basic belief that ICT should not be focused in one special room or area but should be available to all teachers and learners in all classrooms at all times.

Every school we visited includes ICT (in various forms) in their Learning Curriculum.  In the Lower classes this includes the FUN element and the medium is often based on game-like activities and quizzes.  In the Higher classes,
E-learning inevitably becomes more specialized and focused.

Main subjects in discussions during the visit

ICT as a subject

Teaching ICT as a subject is common all over the Europe at lower and upper secondary stage, there are more differences at primary schools. For instance, in Hungary they teach ICT as a subject from the beginning of primary education at every school, in Norway there is no ICT subject – using ICT is across curriculum at primary level, …

Here in Blackpool we had an opportunity to meet teachers who are responsible for ICT at their schools. There were two primary schools teaching ICT as a subject from the very early years, in the other three schools they decided to teach ICT across curriculum. We visited two lower secondary schools, in both of them ICT is taught as a subject on its own.

The Blackpool and Fylde College offer Access, Vocational and Apprenticeship courses, two of them include ICT (Computing course and Business, management and IT course). The A-level academy offers ICT course as well.

Fronter

Fronter has recently been introduced as an Electronic Learning Platform for the Blackpool schools. Encouraging teachers to cooperate in the instructional design of electronic learning,  is central in the strategy for the choice and introduction of Fronter in the Blackpool schools. One has chosen Fronter to be able to concentrate on the use of it in teaching and learning, and not spend too much time and effort on the administration and maintenance of the system. In using a Learning Platform one wants to facilitate the communication between teachers, students and parents.

Fronter is momentarily mainly used as a communication platform between the Blackpool School Advisory Board and Schools as well as as an intricate intranet for schools themselves. The development of learning content is still in an early phase, and the use of the interactive tools is still basic. A lot of the functionalities of Fronter are yet to be discovered.

Pockets of excellence in the use of Fronter as a real Learning Platform are present, but it is still too early to be said that the rollout of Fronter as a Learning Platform is an overall successful. For the moment the implementation of Fronter is focusing on the early adopters in mainly primary schools. A clustering and cascading system is being set up in an effort to try to encourage and support the other schools and teachers in using Fronter. This process will have to be constantly monitored and supported where and when necessary in order to avoid the dangers that are related to the cascading system.

The next step in the rollout, the introduction into secondary schools, is also the most difficult, but the most important one. More resistance to the system may be expected. We really look forward to seeing a successful implementation in the secondary schools. It is here that an Electronic Learning Platform can even have an even higher impact on teaching and the realization of a personalized learning experience for each. We are confident that the support team realizes this, and is up for the challenge.

Language Learning with ICT

During our visits to the schools, we came across two different ways of using ICT in foreign language (FL) learning.

In Bispham High School, all teachers have recently been given a laptop.  Teachers maintain that this impacted positively on their daily teaching in two ways: it was a great confidence-builder and motivated them to start making regular use of web-based materials and resources in class.

Teachers and learners are now regularly using other technological tools including MP-3 players and podcasts. This automatically resulted in better opportunities for teachers to present more interactive lessons and for learners to practise and improve their FL skills.

The learners we met and talked to expressed satisfaction with this new system of learning and maintained that it was better and more effective than the traditional methodology used in their school before the advent of ICT.

Blackpool and Fylde College opted to use Moodle as their interactive ICT and resource sharing and storing platform.

This college is currently working on the installation of a newer version of Moodle – one which they are confident will enhance and improve ways of learning modern languages.  The college also plans to upload and give FL learners access to both authentic and graded materials and language learning tasks for student use anytime anywhere.

It is believed that access to Moodle-based language learning resources and tasks will help learners improve their Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing skills, as well as their grammar, pronunciation and range of vocabulary in the FL they are studying.

Good Practices

The Study Visit we had at Blackpool provided all of us with numerous insights about school management and guidance of the learning process. What we observed as a general positive tendency is the change of the role of the teacher from being a source of information to being a moderator and facilitator of the learning process. The student-centered guided teaching is easily implemented through the broad use of ICT across the curriculum.

The Fronter Learning Platform is a good example of providing equal opportunities and access to various training sources and teacher consultancy to all the students in and outside the classroom. It also facilitates communication between teachers, peers, parents and authorities, which puts the work for children’s welfare on a broader community-based scale.

Through the implementation of this general network of work and communication the teachers can easily identify their students personal needs and find ways and methods to best addressing and meeting them thus going into direction of Personalised Learning which proves to be very effective. Teachers can provide their students with direct guidance in the process of evaluation and assessment and at the same they can have a more relaxed relationship with their students.

A broader range of opportunities for the students is now available, allowing them to become partners in the teaching/learning process, to demonstrate their knowledge, to perform research and to present their work to a narrower or wider audience. They can work on projects and have a quick access to the most recent information on specific subject matter. Students can get in contact for an exchange of information with peers from other schools in the region and internationally.

Through the application of various gadgets and technological equipment children are trained in the practical skills of working with all the new appliances that come on the market and are used in everyday life.

The interactive white boards which are introduced on a broad scale in the schools we visited are an excellent way to involve students in the learning/teaching process more actively. They also add to the enjoyment of acquiring new knowledge. 

Using ICT for school administration is an excellent way to save on time and paperwork. It facilitates the work of the tutors in their class-management and the contact with the parents. It also provides the headmaster with the overall picture of the school.

Utilizing the possibilities that ICT provides to help children with special needs build basic living and social skills is undoubtedly unparalleled.

We found it extremely positive to combine social, health and educational services together at the nursery stage of child’s development alongside with parental consultancy and assistance.  

The general impression that we got about the school children is that through all the methods and approaches applied in the schools of Blackpool the children demonstrate assertiveness, high self-esteem and sense of responsibility and discipline which is vital for the personalities of the 21^st century.

 

Which policies and practices can be transferred

One of the most important thing we would like to see transferred, is the unifying learning community, involving pupils, staff, social services and parents so as they have the opportunity to collaborate together.

We were delighted with the use of ICT in schools, but even more with the enthusiasm which accompanies its use.

We would like to highlight the way ICT is introduced in classrooms, the use of video-conferencing in schools, the digital awards competitions in order to encourage pupils, the free use of computers at any time and for anybody, the fact that schools can open early and close late for all the community.

Obviously we like the intensive use of ICT in education on all levels.

Organization

Provision of support by the organizer

Organizers provided an interesting program and other activities  with excellent leaders who were professional, punctual and supportive. The transport was organized well and excellent lunches were daily provided.

Preparation

Information about programme, accommodation, possibilities of transport to Blackpool were delivered by e-mail and we got access to Fronter, which enabled us to follow all news and developments. We were also able to explore and use some of the functionalities of Fronter.

Group composition

Our group consists of 13 people from 11 countries. They belong to different areas of education and ICT: headmasters and deputies, teacher trainers of primary and secondary schools, university teachers, education manager for adults and an inspector.

The size of group allowed to visit schools and classes and offers different points of view.

Opportunities for group discussions

We have been given ample opportunities to have discussions amongst the group according to background of each one of us (type of level of education, subjects etc.). It was a great opportunity to compare the school systems, schools policies, and practices in different countries all over the Europe.

Each school visit gave all of us some new insights in the use of ICT to enhance education and learning creatively. It is up to each one of us to translate the observations back into our own context.

Conclusions and Suggestions

The organizers have presented their achievement in ICT and, what is more important, their enthusiasm in their everyday work.

The aims of the visit have been more than achieved.

Maybe some of our home countries might not be able afford the cost of some of the devices we have been shown, but the participants of the visit could take some interesting ideas about what is the best way of using the available money at home.

We liked the teacher-student interaction using ICT leaving both in their own right.

We would like to suggest to the organizers to prepare fewer school visits but to give more time in each one of them in order to give to the participants more time to observe the use of ICT in practice.

On the organizational side we would like to encourage a more careful selection of Hotel accommodation, e.g. a hotel that offers internet connections.

Lastly an most importantly, we want to thank the Blackpool Education Advisory Board, the headmasters, teachers, support staff and learners of all the schools we visited for the warm, open, enthusiastic and informative meetings during our entire visit. Without each one of you this visit would have not been possible.