Teachers and parents across the country will be able to request support and training on how to help school aged children access the internet at home for learning, from a new foundation to be set up by Becta. The foundation will provide a vehicle for all interested organisations to demonstrate their commitment and support to this initiative.

Becta, the education technology agency, will work closely with industry and other interested parties to create an independent foundation, which will administer and distribute industry funds in support of the government’s Home Access programme. The idea was proposed by Microsoft in response to the government announcement made in September 2008 and the foundation is open to other organisations who wish to get involved.

The Home Access programme, which will be piloted in Oldham and Suffolk from February, will work to ensure every child has access to a home computer and the internet for their school or college work. The pilot aims to ensure every 7- to 18- year-old in full time state-maintained education has access to the internet at home.

The Home Access programme forms part of Becta’s Next Generation Learning campaign, which promotes the best use of technology in learning.

The new foundation is expected to be launched later this year, to coincide with the national rollout of the Home Access programme. It will be charged, on behalf of the government, with supporting local training of teachers and parents, including raising awareness of the importance of home access and how to overcome barriers in the community. The independent foundation will be overseen by Becta and other organisations are being encouraged to join Microsoft in providing support for the foundation.

Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive of Becta, said:
“We need to ensure that every learner has an equal chance to tap into the benefits of the internet to enhance their learning – and the Home Access programme seeks to do just that, by offering this opportunity to all learners.

“Getting parents and teachers on board is clearly vital to the success of the programme, so we are really excited about this opportunity to support them, in partnership with the industry. I welcome the leadership Microsoft has shown and am now calling for more leading companies to join us in the drive to support parents and teachers.”

Steve Beswick, Director of Education, Microsoft, commented:
“We believe that all children should have access to the learning tools they need in order to realise their full potential. As part of a global programme, we have created an investment fund to support activities that will help ensure the home access programme has maximum impact. Our goal is now to support Becta in setting up the foundation and encourage others across the industry to get involved.”

In early 2009 a pilot begins in two local authorities, focusing on learners aged 7-18. Low income families may be eligible for support towards the purchase of an approved package consisting of a device, connectivity and support.

The Learning and Technology World Forum (LATWF), a major international conference on technology in learning, opened today, Monday January 12th, in central London with a call for greater co-operation between countries to ensure technology is benefiting learners world-wide.

The Forum is designed to assist educational policymakers and leaders from all over the world in the development of strategies and policies that will enable technology to be used more effectively and efficiently in education.

The Forum has attracted over 500 participants – representing over two thirds of the world’s population – who are actively engaged in policy development and implementation of technology in learning, and over the three day period will be the largest gathering of its type in the world. At the event, UK Schools Minister, Jim Knight will welcome ministers, policymakers and practitioners from over 60 countries.

The event is hosted by Becta, the UK government agency driving the effective use of technology within learning. Describing the Forum, Stephen Crowne, Becta’s Chief Executive said: “The Learning and Technology World Forum provides a rare opportunity not just to debate the policy and application of technology in learning, but also to signal that the education community, individuals, commerce and the world at large all stand to benefit from its effective application”.

“The UK has long championed the development of better and more effective use of technology in education. Greater international co-operation will stimulate new ideas and opportunities for us all to learn from each other concerning our own respective national experiences, which ultimately will transform policy into practice and provide real benefits to educators, learners and governments everywhere.”

The event will include addresses by a number of high profile speakers, such as Andreas Schleicher, Head of Indicators and Analysis at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, and Richard DeLorenzo, who is renowned for his work in education reform in the USA.

Participants will also have the opportunity to attend workshop sessions which showcase innovative practice and new research. Some examples of the workshops include: “using effective online learning to deliver large scale skills improvement”, “transformation needed – trends in ICT and global economic trends”, and “assessing 21st Century skills, national efforts and issues.”

In addition, participants will be able to elaborate on their participation both during and post the event through engagement with a dedicated online collaboration website which has been designed in conjunction with GetIdeas.org specifically to assist participants in their information exchanges with other participants during and after the event.

LATWF builds on last year’s international seminar “Moving Young Minds”, at which UNESCO launched the international ICT competency standards for teachers. The event is being run in partnership with BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association) and the British Council. It takes place between 12 and 14 January 2009 at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, and it is designed to link with BETT, the educational technology show at Olympia (14-17 January). It is being run in partnership with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), and it has support from major sponsors such as Cisco, Intel and Microsoft.

The Learning and Technology World Forum is a global platform for information exchange among key policy makers and practitioners whose primary areas of focus involve the design of policy and implementation of programmes to ensure effective application of technology within education. For 2009, the event theme is “Next Generation Learning” with three sub themes covering 21st century skills, 21st century leadership and an education workforce for the 21st century.

Source: PublicTechnology.Net

Becta, the education technology agency, is urging schools to improve the way they use technology to support learning, as evidence continues to build around the positive impact on GCSE results and grades.

Research reveals that schools that embrace technology see a significant improvement in GCSE results compared with those that do not. Key findings from six years of research by Becta include:

* school ‘e-maturity’ – where technology is integrated across the curriculum and wider school life – is statistically linked to lower absence rates and higher points and percentage A*-C grades at GCSE

* in GCSE science, the average gain from ICT use is 0.56 of a grade (in 2002, 52,484 pupils moved from grade D to C as a result of using technology in their learning)

* schools making good use of broadband and connectivity demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the percentage of pupils gaining 5+ A-Cs at GCSE in the year after broadband introduction

* a study of young people’s ICT use in the home showed a significant positive association between pupils’ home use of ICT for educational purposes and improved attainment in national tests for maths and English GCSE

* the introduction of interactive whiteboards results in pupils’ performance in national tests in English (particularly for low-achieving pupils and for writing), maths and science, improving more than that of pupils in schools without interactive whiteboards.

Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive of Becta said:
“The evidence is clear; when schools use technology effectively, it can have a direct impact on pupil attainment and results. As pupils across the country find out their GCSE results, schools need to think about whether grades could be improved even further by better use of technology. We know that currently only 20 per cent of schools are using technology effectively right across the curriculum, which means there is real potential out there to improve results and raise grades if schools take full advantage of the benefits technology can bring.

“Schools should make the most of the Internet, mobile phones, interactive whiteboards, school radio stations, blogs, podcasts and video conferencing, helping to create a stimulating and engaging environment for their students.”

It’s not just pupils that see the benefits of better use of technology. The majority of teachers feel that technology in the classroom has a positive impact on the engagement, motivation and achievement of their learners. Technology also has the potential to provide parents with more timely information about their children’s work and progress, for example via secure on-line access, so they can in turn support their children.

The research cited in this PublicTechnology.Net press release comes from the following evaluations and research studies on the impact of ICT use in schools:

* Butt, S and Cebulla, A (2006), E-maturity and school performance – A secondary analysis of COL evaluation data. London: National Centre for Social Research

* Harrison, C et al (2002), ImpaCT2: The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Pupils Learning and Attainment. ICT in Schools Research and Evaluation Series No.7

* Somekh, B et al (2007), Evaluation of the Primary Schools Whiteboard Expansion Project

* Underwood, J et al. (2005), The Impact of Broadband in Schools.

* Valentine, G, Marsh, J and Pattie, C (2005), Children and Young Peoples Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes: The impact on attainment at key stages 1-4, DfES

“This research highlight the need to embrace technology in Education and also training to enhance performance and training outcomes”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company.