Education On Line 1999 - 2002

From 1997 until 1999, the national ICT policy programme was called "Investing in Progress". An important feature of this national programme was the investment in the ICT infrastructure of so-called vanguard schools. The follow-up of "Investing in Progress" is the present policy programme "Education On Line 1999 - 2002".

National initiatives and programmes are derived from this central policy - Education On Line 1999 - 2002 - and can be divided in 4 main topics: enhancing teachers' ICT expertise, methods and software, management of ICT infrastructure and "kennisnet" (which translates into "knowledge net"), the national schoolnet.

Already this line of action has resulted in a special version of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) for the vocational sector: the Digital Driving License for Education, referred to by the Dutch acronym DRO. Furthermore, a formulation of required qualifications for ICT co-ordinators has taken place and terms of reference for the training of school directors were developed. Budgets have been reserved, the development of new courses has been stimulated, and certification methods have been developed. This line of action will be continued in the future.

Over the next few years, teachers, school heads, management boards and others working at or for a school will acquire the ICT expertise and skills necessary to integrate ICT effectively into the contemporary school situation.

A great deal of training courses are available and a large amount of training actually takes place. In addition, networks of schools and staff make an important contribution t skills upgrading and a large amount of work is being done on new methods f pooling knowledge and making it available. Nevertheless, the attitudes and skills of the teachers themselves continue to be an issue. Too many teachers (some 50%) consider their level of ICT skills to be insufficient. The major demand for in-service training is shifting from general computer skills to the didactic applications of ICT in educational practice. Another area where improvement is still required is with regard to improving the skills and knowledge of school heads.

The government has taken action to promote the development and dissemination of useful software by supporting (financially and otherwise) the relevant parties as educational institutions and educational publishing companies. An important way of disseminating software is "kennisnet" (see below). The ICT budgets of schools have been raised, in order to enable schools to buy new software. An interesting project is the public-private partnership "InterActie!", which has already produced several new educational programs for primary schools. Furthermore, the international Thinkquest Internet Challenge is supported by the national government and expanded with a national branch.

By 2002, software will be available to help meet all the curriculum standards identified by the government in which ICT plays a role. By 2002, all schools will have up-to-date expertise available to them as regards the possibilities and availability of educational software. By 2002, sufficient software will be available to support innovative teaching and learning activities.

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has worked hard recently to promote familiarity with educational software and accessibility, to encourage its development and to provide facilities for centres of expertise. The purchasing power available to schools has also been increased and the Knowledge Net now provides a location for discussion of the value of certain software. As a result of this policy, schools and other institutions are increasingly in a position to acquire computers and software. To ensure they are used effectively, it is not only a high-quality supply which is required but also a clearly articulated demand. This is an area which is open t a great deal f improvement.

The subsidy scheme for ICT projects promotes such improvement and in 2000 it provided funding for 105 development projects and 200 network projects.

In this line of action, much attention has been paid to disseminating information about PC's, LAN's and other hardware. Also, the possibility of organizing ICT management outside the schools is at the moment being developed.

Schools need t be in a position t take responsibility for their ICT infrastructure so that it can actually be used -from both the technology and content point of view -to achieve the school ’s aims in this respect and is suitable to be adapted to changes in those aims and to technological advances.

Management is increasingly being tackled at a higher level than merely that f the individual school. There is a gratifyingly rapid increase in collaboration at both regional and local levels.

Local authorities and business and industry are the most important players in this respect. The aim of such partnerships is t provide a wide range of products and services for managing ICT facilities at schools. Support is being provided for various initiatives for collaboration and for regional centres and a large number of aids are being developed for individual schools. These include a ‘Vademecum ’in the area of management, a survey of regional initiatives and a ‘Golddisk ’(to deal with malfunctions). Given that the support requirement continues to be high, the 6 National School Council Associations intend collaborating with the ICT Directorate to set up a national Information &Advice Centre (IAC).

This is perhaps the largest national ICT programme at the moment. The background of "Knowledge Net" is that the required functionality of access to internet is different for schools than for individuals or companies. At the moment, many schools have 'ordinary' internet-provisions. But at a certain point, problems will arise: long waiting times and bad connections hamper the learning process. Also, some security problems may arise: hackers, net vandalism, or, on the other hand, access to unwanted internet pages. "Kennisnet" provides access to internet for schools, teachers and pupils, that meets the needs of modern education:

All schools should have access via the Knowledge Net to high-quality services so that they can concentrate on use in education and be troubled as little as possible by technical management aspects.

The government will be making the following contribution: all schools, and other educational institutions, libraries and museums are being linked up to the Knowledge Net. This is a broad-band, secure, managed network (via cable) providing access to the Internet and t one another. All schools in the Netherlands will have been linked up t the Knowledge Net by the end of 2001.

The Knowledge Net portal (www.kennisnet.nl) has recently been extended further. The use made of it and appreciation for it are increasing in proportion to the content and applications it provides. The addition of an examinations site brought in 1.8 million visitors and 20 million hits. A search engine and ‘News for Young People ’have also been added. The Knowledge Net now serves not only ‘kids ’,pupils,teachers and parents but also school managers. Teacher involvement is satisfactory and the interest shown in teacher network groups is greater than expected. Some 17 networks are currently participating and applications have been made for about 20 others. Some 75 suppliers now provide content and services via the site. A lot of useful material has also been supplied via Thinkquest.

As for the beginning of the school year 2001-2002 over 200 web sites containing additional digital courseware will be made available through the Knowledge Net. These sites compliment standing teaching methods on most parts of the regular curriculum in primary and secondary education. The sites are built, maintained and paid for by the Publishing Houses that own the teaching methods. Because of the use of a License Management System it is possible to distinguish between validated users of the web site, who have paid t gain access t the site and others who have not. Pupils and teachers of a school using the method can make use of the site through a single logon, e.g. at the beginning of a course, and will be allowed access each time after that based on their unique Knowledge Net code. Legitimate users can also open the web sites through a computer else where, like their own house or a study hall in the local library.

The first sectors t be linked up to the Knowledge Net were schools for vocational and adult education and agricultural schools.

These were followed by secondary and primary schools, with the first primary schools being connected up on 1 October 2000. At the Dot.com conference in Lisbon early in 2000, the European heads of government agreed that all schools should have Internet access by the end of 2001.

The planned deadline for primary schools to be connected was therefore brought forward from 1 June 2002 t 31 December 2001.When a school is connected up to the Knowledge Net, it also gets access t a variety of facilities.

It receives 1361 EURO for each Knowledge Net location and 11.3 EURO per pupil to cover use of the system. There is a help-desk (which dealt with more than 1700 enquiries during September) and primary schools have received the brochure ‘ICT in primary education, a helping hand for introducing and using ICT at school ’(Ict in het primair onderwijs,handreikingen v or de invoering en het gebruik van ict in de school).

The higher education and research plan (HOOP) makes ICT one of its policy priorities. The basic principle is that the role of the government with respect to ICT in higher education will be primarily one of providing support and ensuring that the necessary preconditions are met. The educational institutions will decide for themselves on the nature of their ICT policy.

The government will provide grants t finance high-risk projects within higher education.16.8 million EURO has been reserved for this purpose during the 1999-2000 period. The government is also a partner in SURF net, the national network of higher education institutions.

In a number of respects,higher education is further advanced where ICT is concerned than other sectors of education, and institutions make a great deal of use of ICT. Standard applications and e-mail facilities are now among the normal facilities provided for students. The availability of digital teaching material, the expertise of teachers and the planned incorporation of ICT policy are areas where improvements need t be made.

As part of the GigaPort project, the SURF net is being upgraded into one of the best broad- band networks in the world.

Twelve higher education institutions have taken the initiative of setting up a Digital University. This will make optimum use of the opportunities pr vided by electronic learning environments.

The government ’s coalition agreement sets out the financing available to integrate ICT in to education. In the period up to 2002, a one-off sum of 304 million EURO will be provided and in the period up t 2010 a further 150 million EURO. The agreement also foresees a structurally budgeted sum rising to 113.5 million EURO in 2002. An additional 27.2 million EURO was added in 1999 to cover the cost of second-hand computers and from 2000 on 9.1 million EURO will be provided annually to finance the development of educational software. Further funds were made available in the government ’s interim budget. In addition,45.4 million EURO has been provided in 2000 and 22.7 million EURO will be made available in 2001 to accelerate implementation of the governmental coalition agreement.

The Economic Structural Reinforcement Fund also provides 59 million EURO for 2000 and 2001,with a further 45.4 million EURO for the ensuing period up t 2010. Starting in 1999, all primary, secondary and agricultural schools and schools for vocational and adult education have received structurally budgeted funding per individual pupil or student. (This sum was initially 45.4 EURO but it was recently increased t 57.9 EURO, plus 11,3 EURO for use of the Knowledge Net.)

In the years 1998 to 2002 this all adds up t 1.05 billion EURO. As of the year 2003 already 550 million EURO has been pledged. Schools are free to use the funds as they see fit.

They can, for example, use the money to cover the cost of in-service ICT training for teachers, for new educational software, for hardware and/or t pay the cost of employing ICT administrators or co-ordinators. They are not required to submit a separate project plan for this funding, but they are advised to make the introduction of ICT part of the school ’s overall policy plan. The Education Inspectorate monitors the cost-effectiveness of spending, focusing in particular on whether core aims for ICT are being achieved and how ICT is contributing t the quality of the education provided.

Over the past few years,a great deal of work has been done and a lot has been achieved. There is naturally a synergy between the various different ‘Education On line ’programmes and many aspects have gained momentum. Nevertheless, national studies, the ICT monitor and the Education Inspectorate have also noted a number of factors which are impeding the progress of ICT in education. The most important are:

Schools seemingly find it extremely difficult to actually integrate ICT into the teaching process. This is apparent from the percentage of teachers who use ICT during their lessons and the type of use they make of it. Some 90%of primary school teachers do use the computer during lessons, but what that actually means is individual use by pupils, for example by those who are lagging behind, pupils who quickly finish other assignments.

At secondary schools, a third of teachers use computers during their lessons, in particular for such subjects as information science, vocationally-oriented subjects and mathematics. In the vocational and adult education sector, more than 41% of teachers use computers each week as a teaching aid and the figure for teacher-training programmes in approximately 50%.

It is still proving difficult to integrate ICT into school activities and to make innovative use of it particularly in primary and secondary education.

Although teacher expertise, in particular as regards basic ICT skills, has increased in recent years there are still major gaps in this area.

These are in the area of basic ICT skills (other than word processing), knowledge and skills with respect to the didactic applications oo ICT, and didactic skills regarding the new learning environment. A proportion of teachers in all sectors of education believe that they do not have a sufficient level of skill to make use of specific programmes within their own subject.

Efforts will need to be made to come up with effective methods of upgrading skills, with these then being put into practice in day-to-day teaching. One important factor would be the involvement of teacher experts.

Little attention is as yet being paid -in all sectors of education -to professionalising school managers where the implementation of ICT is concerned. This is also apparent in policy. Most schools do have an ICT policy plan or some idea of how they intend applying ICT, but in most cases this does not focus on an integrated approach t ICT and it is also not integrated into the overall system on which the school organisation is based. At many schools, ICT continues to be seen in isolation.

A more professional approach is required on the part of school managers because the literature on innovations shows that the presence of a knowledgeable and fully committed school head is an important precondition if innovations are t be successful.

The Education Inspectorate is addressing this issue by producing ‘Schools and ICT ’portraits of individual schools which are intended to provide inspiring examples for other schools and can give a better understanding of what can be achieved with ICT in education.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department