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Analysis (Part II)
This page was written by Alastair Reynolds
Budd (1995) suggests that needs assessment activities need to be carried out on multiple levels within an organisation. Below is an analysis of the responses given by teachers at School Y. Obviously, the analysis can not go into as much depth as the departmental and individual analyses, but it is possible that a broader view of the whole school ICT training needs may be gained.
Fifty teachers in school Y responded. The full table of results for both schools may be found in Appendix C.
Section 1 : Stage of ICT Development
Teachers chose one of three statements in each of five questions. Below are the number of people who selected each statement:
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These results are mainly positive; almost half those taking part believe they are using ICT successfully most of the time and that they have a good set of basic ICT skills. One point worth noting here is that the summary results for the second question differ significantly from the other four; almost half those questioned have great difficulty in dealing with technical problems which arise. Any training provided would certainly need to address this particular need in some depth.
Considering the raw data, it can also be seen that 90% of the teachers answered four or five questions at the mastery or impact stages, indicating a generally good level of confidence amongst the staff of school Y. If you assume that anyone with three or more responses in the first column is at the survival stage, anyone with three or more in the third column is at the impact stage, and anyone else is at the mastery stage, then the teachers in this survey have the following distribution:
Survival | Mastery | Impact |
5 | 31 | 14 |
Section 2 : Specific ICT Skills
In this section participants were asked to give their level of competence with certain specific skills. The ratings were:
SKILLS | Level 1, 2 or 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 or 6 |
Using the keyboard | 11 | 15 | 24 |
Using a mouse | 8 | 15 | 27 |
Using on-screen menus | 12 | 14 | 24 |
Using help facilities in programs | 26 | 10 | 14 |
Using a printer | 13 | 18 | 19 |
Installing software | 29 | 11 | 10 |
Copying, naming and deleting files | 21 | 14 | 15 |
Researching using CD-ROMs | 23 | 11 | 16 |
Researching using the Internet | 26 | 9 | 15 |
Moving material between programs | 34 | 7 | 9 |
PROGRAMS | Level 1, 2 or 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 or 6 |
Wordprocessor | 13 | 11 | 26 |
Spreadsheet | 30 | 6 | 14 |
Database | 40 | 8 | 2 |
Internet web browser | 26 | 13 | 11 |
Electronic mail | 25 | 14 | 11 |
School administration (SIMS software) | 41 | 6 | 3 |
Clearly training would be beneficial in almost all areas. The sections which showed a need for training in more than half the responses were: help facilities, installing software, research using the internet, moving material between programs, spreadsheets, databases, web browsers and school administration software.
Forty teachers out of fifty rated every section as two or above, indicating a general awareness of ICT skills and software amongst staff. The sections where every teacher rated themselves as a two or more were: using a mouse, using a keyboard, using a printer, researching using the internet and wordprocessing.
Section 3 : Classroom ICT Use
This section provides information about the way teachers use ICT currently, and how they would like to use ICT in the future. The results were as follows:
Methods of organising ICT use | I have used ICT in this way. | I have not used ICT in this way. | I would (do) like to use ICT in this way. | I would not like to use ICT in this way. | ||
Pupils working in pairs or groups | 43 | 7 | 49 | 1 | ||
Pupils working individually | 44 | 5 | 49 | 0 | ||
Teacher leading pupil work from the front | 32 | 18 | 43 | 4 | ||
Teacher learning alongside the pupil | 24 | 25 | 39 | 8 | ||
Encouraging ICT use outside lessons | 43 | 7 | 50 | 0 | ||
Pupils having option to use ICT in all lessons | 7 | 42 | 24 | 22 |
For all six methods, the number who would like to use ICT in a particular way was greater than the number who already did, indicating a positive attitude towards the use of ICT. Some resistance is evident in the ‘teacher learning alongside the pupil’ and ‘pupils having option to use ICT in all lessons’ sections. In the latter, this may reflect a lack of clarity in the question.
Examination of the raw data allows us to look at the number of people who responded ‘no’ in both parts for a particular method, and who therefore are certain that they do not want to use ICT in a certain way. No-one answered ‘no’ to both parts in the first, second or fifth sections. Three answered ‘no’ both times for ‘teacher leading from the front’, seven answered ‘no’ both times for ‘teacher learning alongside the pupil’ and twenty-two answered ‘no’ both times to ‘pupils having option to use ICT in all lessons’. This confirms that there is some significant resistance to this last method of using ICT.
Section 4 : Curricular ICT Use
Section four focuses on the teacher’s use of ICT within their own subject area. Teachers chose one of four statements in each of five questions. The four statements roughly correponded to McKenzie’s (1993) stages of development. Below are the number of people who selected each statement:
I have not used ICT in my subject teaching. | 4 | I have used ICT in my subject but not very successfully. | 2 | I have used ICT in my subject teaching with some success. | 27 | I use ICT effectively in my subject teaching. | 17 |
I do not think ICT can enhance teaching in my subject. | 0 | I think ICT can enhance teaching in my subject but I am not sure how. | 1 | I am aware that some uses of ICT enhance teaching in my subject. | 35 | I know which uses of ICT enhance teaching in my subject. | 14 |
I am not aware of ways in which ICT can be used in teaching my subject. | 1 | I am aware of how ICT can be used in teaching my subject but do not use it. | 7 | I am aware of how ICT can be used in teaching my subject and do use it. | 28 | I would be able to give others advice on how ICT can be used in my subject. | 14 |
I do not know of any specialist software designed for teaching my subject. | 3 | I know specialist software is available for my subject but have not used any. | 8 | I have used some software which has been designed for teaching my subject. | 24 | I have evaluated software for my subject and decided what is useful or not. | 15 |
I do not feel able to decide whether a particular use of ICT Is effective. | 2 | I can sometimes tell whether or not a particular use of ICT is effective. | 9 | I am usually aware of whether or not a particular use of ICT is effective. | 30 | I can always decide whether or not a particular use of ICT is effective. | 9 |
The overall results seem positive; more than two thirds of the responses were in the third or fourth columns. The TTA would like all teachers to be in column four, and there is clearly a strong awareness of subject-based ICT use which can be built upon to achieve this aim.
Further examination of the raw data shows that 35 out of 50 respondents only chose statements in the third and fourth columns, and only 1 chose all five statements from the first two columns. There is a high level of knowledge about subject-based ICT use which should be tapped to provide effective training for the less confident staff.
The staff in this school have a generally positive attitude towards ICT use. The majority feel some level of confidence in their own ICT capability, but the recognise that there are certain areas where they need further development. They seem to be open to a range of styles of teaching using ICT in the classroom, with the possible exception of pupils having the option to use ICT in all lessons. There is an awareness amongst many staff of the ways in which ICT might enhance teaching in their subject, and this knowledge could be shared to improve the effectiveness of ICT use within the school.
You may now wish to go to Part I of the analysis if you have not already read it.
Otherwise you can move on to the
combined conclusions or return to the
contents.