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About this Analysis This analysis is based on the European Commission’s country reports which form an annex to the Industry-Research Task Force on Educational Multimedia. The Task Force Report was published in July 1996 but the annex was only published in December 1996. Each country report has been compiled with the assistance of a correspondent who in some cases is from a government department like the Ministry of Education and in other cases is a recognised expert within that country. They have also approved the content for their country. The report contains details of the use of educational multimedia in each country of the European Union plus the EFTA/EEA countries of Iceland and Norway and countries from other parts of the world - Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Russia and the USA. It also contains a section on policies supporting the development of multimedia. Based upon the information supplied within this report and the background knowledge of the author, this analysis aims to tease out specific issues related to the use and development of multimedia including the use of online systems in primary schools and in secondary schools. The aim of this analysis is to provoke discussion within the educational world as to the current use of multimedia in both primary and secondary schools across the world but in particular Europe. Therefore, an online discussion on the LearnTel WWW site at: http://www.LearnTel.org will take place during March 1997. In addition comments and feedback will be incorporated into a European Parliament Study on "The Application of Multimedia Technologies in School: their use, effect and implications" which will be presented to the European Parliament at the end of June 1997 through their Scientific and Technological Options Assessment Unit (STOA). |
All countries in the Report are concerned about the development of multimedia for educational purposes in schools, and recognise the changes it can bring about in teaching and learning. The distinction between current provision of computers in primary and secondary schools is usually made, but policies regarding developments in ICT are rarely defined as being focused on one or the other. In nearly all countries the computers to student ratio is higher in secondary school than in primary school. Secondary schools in most countries have at least one computer room but this is never stated as a priority for primary schools. In terms of continuity and progression from primary to secondary school, Portugal is the only country to have considered this issue in their section of the Report.
The use of portable computers is only mentioned by the UK in the Report for use by teachers; although there have been a number of pilot projects in both primary and secondary schools where giving pupils access to portables has been very successful and there has also been success in integrating IT into the teaching and learning environment. France has plans to introduce portables into the top end of the secondary school in order to prepare students for higher education and in Luxembourg portables are provided for science lessons in secondary schools.
Is the lack of discussion about portable technology due to the fact that multimedia portables have only recently been introduced onto the market and their price is relatively high compared to desktop machines?
Many countries report that much of the equipment in schools is too old to support multimedia or communications technology and that in response policies are in place to equip all schools with at least one multimedia machine. Japan has very little computing equipment in schools so will benefit when it implements its plans to incorporate IT into schools: new equipment will be purchased that satisfies the demands of new technology for educational purposes.
Some countries have national programmes while others have regional foci, still others have a mixed economy. National curricula for schools vary as to how IT is to be used in schools. In the UK it is compulsory from age 5 to 16 and there is a separate Order for IT; an additional requirement requires IT to be taught in such a way that it is integrated into all subjects in the curriculum. In other countries there are no separate statements for IT but it is mandatory for IT to be used as a tool in teaching and learning. In Luxembourg this is mandatory at secondary level and highly recommended at primary level. In Denmark it is mandatory at all levels with government sponsored schemes for software developers to produce new software backed by relevant teaching materials and incorporating the use of IT into printed texts. Some countries such as Greece have mandatory courses in computer science for secondary age students. Luxembourg require the statutory use of IT in some secondary subject areas and there is a compulsory course of an interdisciplinary nature in the lower tiers of secondary technical education.
Resource centres for multimedia are only mentioned in the Report for France and Japan There is an educational database in Germany but only 10 multimedia titles are listed. In the UK packs of primary CD-ROMs have been sent to local IT centres for teachers to access and try out before purchasing titles for their schools.
Software developers have to take into account language issues. In countries where the language is not internationally dominant, substantial investments are not always made as there is only a limited or localised market. Luxembourg finds that this causes more generic software to be used because language issues are not a problem but other types of software are neglected. Iceland is part of a Nordic consortium which accounts for 90% of titles used in schools, however very little is multimedia. In Finland there has been an increase in new Finnish language titles, although the language issue has also limited production. This is also the case in France. It might also be the case in the Netherlands and may explain why CD-ROM and CD-I are not used extensively in primary schools because children have not yet learnt English sufficiently well.
Could it be that as CD writing and authoring tools become less expensive the number of titles in these countries will increase?
Most countries appear to be focusing more on secondary school developments than the primary sector. The focus is often on pedagogical issues and moving on from the basic skills of word processing and spreadsheets. Austria is looking at how CD-ROMs can be used to encourage the use of computer-based simulations. In Finland there is government support for teachers to change their teaching methods and Denmark seems to have realised that there needs to be guidance and training in the use of ICT if is to have an impact ion teaching and learning.
In France there has been limited use of educational multimedia in the core subjects, where most research is conducted. Therefore, this has prohibited the development of educational technology research in this area because it is not seen as a priority. One exception to this is Cabri Géometre developed at the University of Grenoble.
Greece, Sweden and Luxembourg are also specific about the changes in pedagogy that ICT can bring about. According to the Report, the USA although having access to the most developed multimedia market appears to be lagging behind in consideration of changes in pedagogy.
Should resource development be more coordinated across countries, and should research findings be shared as in other areas of educational research? Is the competition between developers the issue that is preventing this from happening?
The introduction of multimedia into schools is only just beginning. Most countries find that the uses are mainly encyclopaedic and concerned mainly with information retrieval. There is very little modelling, simulation or creative work (France, USA and Canada report this phenomenon). In the UK hypermedia authoring is being used in some schools and this has been promoted by the National Council for Educational Technology with an award scheme which ran for three years.
The use of software of any description has rarely been supported by supplementary teaching materials and therefore the uses have been unco-ordinated and not integral to classroom experiences. There is now a move in the UK and the USA to bundle software and multimedia packages with exemplar teaching materials and case studies in an attempt to provide additional support for teachers and offering a type of training that is missing because finances for face to face training are often not available.
Will support material address the issues of insufficient training and encourage the use of IT in schools. How will this differ for primary and secondary schools?
School library developments are only mentioned by Denmark, Portugal and Greece and are not phase specific, except in Portugal where the Report states that this will be implemented for 5th to 12th grade. In Denmark the vision is that libraries are given priority and are developed as educational service centres to promote the use of IT for information searching, processing and presentation, while in Greece where there are no school libraries, the introduction of CD-ROMs can be seen to support their development.
How will school libraries develop and will this be different in primary and secondary schools? Is there an issue of pooling scarce resources and developing open learning centres incorporating traditional library and ICT facilities for both primary and secondary schools?
Virtually all countries recognise that development cannot be effective unless priority is given to teacher training There is a recognition that training needs to be on the pedagogical uses of IT and integration into learning. Many countries are exploring pupils’ roles in the learning process with the introduction of ICT, and there is an increasing emphasis on a less didactic and more interactive approach to teaching and learning. It is recognised that pupils can be more actively involved and have greater participation with ICT.
The Swedish government believes that textbooks need to encourage independent study within the classroom so that the teacher can take on the role of tutor and supervisor. Pedagogical research has resulted in the design of a new system of education, which emphasises motivation, individualisation and interaction. They also believe that this process fosters the intensive use of IT. Learning takes place with the aid of strongly individualised teaching materials which are technology-based. There is no need for the class to be all at the same place at the same time. The aim is to create a group of autonomous learners, who know that learning is individualised and interactive, that it is interesting, and that it takes place in conjunction with other people, and that the results of learning are practical and feasible.
The means used in Sweden to achieve this are electronic mail and conferencing, databases, video conferences, computer-based teaching material, libraries, meetings of study groups and study centres.
In addition to training in pedagogy with ICT, teachers’ personal skills are also recognised as important and therefore many courses for teachers include basic skills and the management of information and communication. The use of communication technology for training is also recognised but no countries have stated the value of putting a communication link into every classroom. Even in the USA only 3% of classrooms have a communication link.
There are currently three European projects that focus on teacher training, T3, REM and TRENDS. T3 links seven European countries, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and Finland in four curriculum areas and involves both primary and secondary teachers. It is producing an analysis of the needs of teachers of mathematics, languages, science and technology for multimedia communications in Europe using ISDN enhanced video conferencing and aims to grow a community of lifelong learners involving practising teachers, student teachers and teacher educators.
TRENDS is working with 2400 secondary teachers in six European countries, France, Greece, Spain , Italy, Portugal and the UK in gaining experience of using a wide range of telematics tools and they will be offered the opportunity to develop new skills to help them exploit in an educational environment.
REM aims to provide a telematic system for collaborative teaching and learning across Europe, involving the UK, Finland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. In particular it aims to support teachers and students working together to study and develop their teaching about Europe using a range of networks and multimedia resources. It implies that the project is aimed at the secondary level but this is not made explicit.
National training is undertaken in all countries. In Japan the objective for 1999 is to train all teachers in the use of multimedia technologies for teaching. More than 30% of teachers had already been given special training in 1994, almost 20% of these courses being given by hardware and software manufacturers. Online training is becoming available extensively in the USA and Canada. Finland runs a five week university based training programme for teachers which aims to eventually train 10 000 teachers (10% of the teaching force). 1600 teachers were trained in 1996 in pedagogical skills with IT. Issues of teacher training in France suggest that teachers are only being trained in and informed about very familiar products as financial and time constraints prohibit experimentation. However the use of the Internet for collaboration between teachers on a national and international basis is currently being explored. Training programmes have also been set up for teachers on a regional basis incorporating new technologies and new software. In Belgium the importance of teacher training has been recognised and there is evidence of new practices emerging from experimental initiatives.
In Denmark there has been a large initiative from state owned SME on the training of 53 000 teachers in multimedia applications. Inadequate teacher training is blamed for the lack of developments in new technology. In Ireland the introduction of IT into schools was initiated in 1985. Although all schools were targeted it was the secondary schools that received the training and then only in mathematics and physics. This was later extended to linguistics in 1991 and included multimedia elements and there are plans to expand teacher training in ICT. In Portugal teacher training will be linked to providing multimedia computers in schools libraries. In the UK 1100 teachers in 550 schools were given portable computers in Autumn 1996 with multimedia facilities on most with CD-ROMs relevant to their curriculum area and access to the Internet. This is an attempt to encourage the integration of IT into their teaching in the classroom. In Iceland some 15% of teachers have had training on the use of the Internet.
In Austria the use of the Internet is rare and its use is currently under investigation in France. There is no mention of school Internet activity in Spain. Apart from that most other countries are developing the network infrastructure to schools. Some are doing this on a national basis and others on a regional basis. Some are state funded with industry sponsorship, and there are some private projects. Most countries have several pilot projects underway.
There are two small Internet projects in Belgium linking schools that currently use e-mail and discussion groups although there are plans to set up electronic teaching and learning opportunities, and establish a catalogue of educational web sites. One project links nine schools and the other links fifty-three. It is not known whether these are primary or secondary schools. The schools all have home pages on the web. There are plans to connect every classroom to the Internet, and there are financial incentives to schools to implement educational software. In Brussels there are plans to connect all schools in the City to the Internet with the pilot project involving only secondary schools. There are plans in Denmark to have all schools and Universities connected to the Internet by the year 2000 with bandwidth capacity for multimedia activity. So far more than 200 sites have been connected.
Nearly all schools in Finland have a modem and access to a text-based Internet service called Freenet. About 240 schools and colleges have their own websites and there are a number of projects producing teaching materials on the Internet.
In Ireland 38% of secondary schools are connected to the Internet. There are three free unlimited access services for schools with private service providers, and 450 schools, 450 schools and 200 schools respectively are connected with email discussion group, resource listings, links to home pages, etc. for both primary and secondary school. There is no indication as to the ratio of primary to secondary schools
In Germany schools are decentralised and responsibility for connections to the Internet and multimedia developments are made in partnership with local authorities and ‘Lander’. This has led to a complex schools network that has no interconnections and in only a few cases is there an integrated network and web site. One integrated site gives access to the web pages of 500 schools in different Lander. In 1996 the Federal Ministry of Education announced a three year initiative to provide network facilities which will link the Lander for ten thousand schools jointly funded by the ministry and Deutsche Telekom. with industrial sponsorship.
There are a few Internet projects in Greece in both the primary and secondary sectors in which pupils use e-mail, create electronic newspapers, and take part in collaborative projects and discussion groups. The Ministry plan to link all primary and secondary schools to the Internet and have set up an infrastructure for 10 000 schools to be connected with an emphasis on schools in remote areas. The schools online have access to a Greek language interface for mail, conferences, news, etc.
The language issue is one that Internet service providers have taken seriously and it seems that translation devices have been developed more quickly than multimedia solutions.
Could this be because commercial use and interest in the Internet that has encouraged investment?
A Telematics Network of National Education and Research has been in operation in Luxembourg since 1990 and there are 30 secondary schools and 58 primary schools linked to the project. RESTENA gives Internet access, email, FTP and discussion groups. A number of other pilot projects exist. Many schools in Sweden can dial into the Internet or have a permanent link into the Internet so that the technical features for IT as an integrated feature of the teaching process are in place. In the UK Internet access is growing and the British government plans to link every school in the UK. Plans in Scotland are further developed than the rest of the country. However the most ‘connected’ country is Iceland with 99% of secondary schools connected and 85% of primary schools
What can be learnt from the Icelandic experience and what benefits are there for continuity from primary to secondary school in connecting schools to the Internet?
The development of ICT in European countries is being given a high profile even in the countries where little activity is reported. There is a commitment and willingness on the part of governments to develop a culture where new technology supports teaching and learning. The development of multimedia is growing as more machines become available and costs of producing materials fall. There is also a recognition of changes in pedagogy and the rigidity of some countries’ school curricular is beginning to be questioned as new technologies bring about a reconceptualisation of teaching styles and the relative roles of pupils and teachers in the classroom.
There is a demand for the multimedia industry to move from "encyclopaedic" production to computer aided instruction, simulation and tools to support pupils’ thinking. The Internet can be seen to be breaking down countries’ boundaries both nationally and internationally through collaboration and discussion by both pupils and teachers.
The fact that this analysis reveals that the Report does not really consider the issues of primary and secondary separately is a cause for concern. The ratio of computers to pupils in primary schools is universally accepted as being worse than in secondary school, and this ought to be questioned. The skills that primary pupils can learn before the age of 11 or 12 and that will take them forward to be effective users of ICT are not taken into consideration by any of the reports except one. Most projects involve more secondary schools than primary schools, and as a percentage of the number of schools in each category they are poorly represented in development projects. The UK seems to be the main exception with the CD-ROM initiative, but even in this country the computers available in primary schools are usually older and scarcer than in secondary schools.
Another consideration that is omitted is the progression from primary school to secondary schools and building on the skills that students have learnt. Issues about being able to retrieve information and be critical about that information are skills that can be easily taught in primary schools and then refined and developed in secondary schools.
The Report will look very different in the year 2000 and it will be interesting to note whether the level of investment was sufficient and whether plans are realised. Can small scale pilot projects really be implemented on a wider scale.
It is hope that this analysis will generate discussion that will address the issues above but particularly that of progression and continuity.