School improvement through information and communications technology: limitations and possibilities

Abstract

In recent years the literature on school improvement has flourished and much the same can be said about the literature relating to the impact of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) on teaching and learning. However, reading across these two bodies of educational writings, one is left with the impression that these are two very discrete fields of enquiry. Writings on school improvement and school effectiveness have tended to concentrate on aspects of measuring and raising ‘standards’ in schools - and although there has been some emphasis on the key characteristics of successful schools, ICT has rarely been discussed as one of these characteristics or as a major element in any drive towards improving school and student performance. Similarly, although the ICT literature has made considerable strides in terms of, for example, examining the links between ICT, and student learning and motivation, the role of ICT as a direct factor in bringing about improvements in school and student performance has been largely neglected. As increasing amounts of money are spent on ICT and new learning infrastructures in schools, it is important that these two areas of educational research and practice should be brought closer together. This article calls for more direct research and discussion on the issue of how ICT can contribute to processes of school improvement. It examines the ways in which findings from these two sets of literature converge and diverge, and provides examples of how insights from both areas might be brought together, to the advantage of schools, teachers, students and parents.