The Government must invest more money in school ICT programmes so Irish pupils get the same tech training as those in other countries, writes Karlin Lillington

WHEN 18 KEY technology and training support positions for schools are slashed in late June, and then two weeks later, the Government trumpets its planned investment in information and communication technology (ICT) for schools, I can't help but feel sceptical.

Does anyone in the top levels of authority really get the big picture?

The jobs were axed in a value-for-money audit, despite many industry and education insiders feeling they were crucial positions in our limping efforts to move ICT programmes in schools beyond their shameful state of being amongst the most poorly developed in the EU.

The positions were all secondments of teachers to work on IT support within schools and to help build out school networks.

INTO president John Carr criticised the cuts as a serious blow to teachers and students.

One senior industry insider said the cuts were a disgrace, and lamented that, while schools, teachers, and the ICT industry all are very excited about the possibilities for Irish schools, "the only people who don't seem to be interested are the Department of Education".

The evidence points to a lack of comprehensive thinking and implementation of effective programmes by the department.

We're at the bottom of the EU pile in this area year after year, from when there was little money, to when the coffers overflowed, and back again. Piecemeal investment, piecemeal programmes.

Some of the slack has been picked up in the past by private industry. For example, in 2000 Intel launched a programme to train schoolteachers in the use of ICTs.

But this is not the same as having a strong, Government-funded national programme, as the Government's own recent strategy report on technology in schools makes clear.

The report, available on the department's website, notes that, while schools have been getting ICTs into schools, there's low use of them within the mainstream curriculum.

Teachers lack the needed skills to bring ICT use more effectively into the classroom.

I spoke to a secondary teacher at one of the schools considered to the fore in using ICT and the report was rather grim. Teacher instruction is pretty much limited to training teachers how to use basics like Word and PowerPoint.

They do have one support person appointed to the school, but in practice many teachers go to the teacher with questions because they know she understands the basics of computer and internet use.

Most classes do not use computers in the classroom - instead, students go off to a separate computer class.

ICT is so poorly integrated into daily school life, and student use of computers remains low enough, that most students won't use the "e-resources" website where teachers are asked to upload additional course materials. Few submit assignments as documents by e-mail. Instead, they still write essays by hand.

The teacher I spoke to has never been offered a course on using ICT in the classroom. Asked what would be on her wishlist, she says even just a projector in every classroom. "If I had that, we could use it when reading a poem, say, to Google and see a picture of a bird that might be mentioned, or get a definition of a word."

That's a very basic and productive use of technology in the classroom, which could be facilitated by better placement of hardware. But what hope for that when the evidence from her front-runner school is discouraging: that the majority of teachers still do not even have the computer skills to do something that simple.

That's in part the kind of issue that the Department of Education's €250 million investment in ICT in schools through 2013 is supposed to address.

Yet, with about 4,200 schools in the country, that works out at only about €10,000 per school per year between now and 2013.

That's maybe enough for a few projectors and laptops.

So, when are we going to get serious about really, truly educating for the future? Teacher education in ICT needs to be far more comprehensive and needs support and facilitation; teachers need to understand how to integrate ICT into the classroom, not just how to format a paragraph in Word and create a slide.

Students need to see ICT as a fully integrated part of their school day - for researching, communicating, sharing information and filing assignments - not just the place they keep their Bebo profile.

And the Government needs to stop talking about what it is going to do, and actually listen to the strong education and industry strategy groups it appoints. It needs to put money behind programmes to bring us up to par with countries that will leave us behind when it comes to future jobs and investment if we cannot produce an educated, capable workforce. Students are Ireland's future and the Government needs to fund that future properly.

klillington@irish-times.ie

Blog: www.techno-culture.com