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Early in 2004, I had the very good fortune to participate in an EU-funded Arion visit to London. A visit like this is really valuable for two reasons. First, it’s a good opportunity to meet education colleagues from different countries and exchange opinions and ideas, and second, it provides a chance to get quite a detailed insight into a particular area’s unique conditions.
The theme of this visit was ‘Ensuring access to ICT for everyone’ and it was expertly arranged and organised by Rob Munro from Charlton School in Greenwich, which is a new community school for students aged 7–19 with special educational needs. (Rob has since moved to Watergate School in Lewisham).
The theme and timing of the visit were very well chosen since the London area is in the process of expanding the implementation and use of information and communications technology, (ICT), in all areas of education. The attention given to each sector was remarkable.
Coming from a relatively privileged Danish School, Vordingborg Gymnasium – roughly equivalent to a grammar school or sixth-form college – it was mind-blowing to experience the effort, initiative and enthusiasm that educators in London and Greenwich invest in really securing equal access to ICT for quite literally everyone. In some respects it broadened our understanding of ICT, and in other ways it exposed gaps in our own systems.
Most educators tend to think of ICT as a means of improving teaching and learning. The big surprise for us was that for some children with special needs, it is not a matter of improving anything, but their only means of precise communication.
We saw extremely disabled children whose motor-activity was so impaired that writing with a pencil or a keyboard was entirely out of the question. However, we were shown a system by which they could actually communicate by pressing one big button connected to a computer with a picture lexicon. This lexicon could grow with the child, so that at a later stage he or she would be able to manipulate abstract symbols, still by just using one button and, of course, intelligent software.
At Charlton School, they improve contact between school and home by digitalising individual pupil’s reports. The most ingenious part of this is the use of a very easily mastered piece of authoring software, with ready-made templates. In this way, putting together detailed multimedia information for parents, along with documentation of each child’s work and progress, becomes very straightforward.
I had hoped to find the holy grail of ICT at secondary level. Not so!
Of course, various degrees of ‘virtual classrooms’ and e-learning platforms are on the agenda but from what we saw, it seemed that at secondary level, ICT is mostly the ‘C’ part of it: communications.
This was demonstrated during our visit to Shooters Hill Post-16 Campus in London. The focus here is on an efficient and easily maintained ICT infrastructure.
By and large, it seemed to me that ICT teaching methodology at secondary level has yet to develop significantly. This impression was reinforced by our visit to The BETT Show, an educational technology exhibition at Olympia. A lot of interesting things are being developed for small children, and for special needs and primary level, but not as much for secondary level.
Another problematic issue for all of us is internet safety. We saw several different approaches to this issue. One community centre simply kept a list of servers that could be accessed. If a server was not on the list – then no access. I found this quite frustrating since my own e-mail server was not on the list!
Cyber-patrol and password protection were also used. But, as we’ve found in Denmark, striking a balance between avoiding the dangers and crippling the value can be very difficult indeed.
We saw some great progress being made in the London area, not least because decision-makers and authorities have recognised that although hardware is important, it is more important to provide institutions and teachers with freedom and support.
The fact that the authorities now seem to acknowledge the need for support from technicians who understand and love education was perhaps the most encouraging outcome of this splendid visit.
Are you interested in applying for a place on a study visit to another European country?
Through Arion, part of Socrates, the EU education programme, you can receive funding to look at practice on a particular theme in another European country. Around 20 visits were hosted in the UK last year, and there were 202 places for UK participants to travel in 2004/5. Different visits are available each year and advertised in the Arion catalogue (see Further Information, right).
Applicants must be nominated by their local authority or employer by mid-May. Applications for study visits are invited from advisers, inspectors, heads of schools and other education institutions, deputy and assistant heads of education institutions, education officers and teacher trainers.
For more information about going on, or hosting, an Arion study visit, call Chris Souvlis on 020 7389 4221, e-mail chris.souvlis@britishcouncil.org or visit the socrates website.
For details of study visits, see the Arion catalogue, available mid-February. To order a copy, contact Dimple Makwana, tel 020 7389 4279 or e-mail dimple.makwana@britishcouncil.org
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