Towards the Connected Learning Society

In the brief for this project, DEST specified that the following jurisdictions and international agencies be included in the study:

All these jurisdictions and agencies are included in the database, while this report undertakes a comparative analysis of the policies and programs they have adopted for ICT in education.

Policies for ICT in education have been devised and implemented in the context of the emerging globalised information society and economy. The conjunture of the impact of globalisation, information and communication technologies, and the accompanying shifts in the economy, labour market, and in the operations of enterprises have led to fundamental changes in the economy and society that have profound implications for the role of education and training. Policy for ICT in education is positioned at the frontier of this transition to an information society.

While a number of terms for this new epoch in human history have been used, such as information society and knowledge society, a defining feature is the key role of ICT in business and industry and in society generally. How education policy has responded to this new context is the story of this report.

The context of the information society presents both opportunities and challenges for education policy in adjusting to this new environment for policy.

Reports examined from the countries studied pointed to the “new learning reality”2 and the need for “rethinking the whole learning enterprise”3 if countries were to succeed in the global knowledge-based society.4    

We found that all countries included in the study had progressed, in varying ways, through a number of phases in their policy for ICT in education. These usually involved:

A survey of ICT in education undertaken by the European Union through its Eurydice program in 2001 noted that most EU countries had followed this sequential approach rather than a simultaneous one.

Several countries now stand on the threshold of a third phase of development which could lead to a more radical transformation of the way people learn in a learning society. Sweden has articulated this vision of a third phase of development, and is currently developing a new Action Plan for ICT in schools to progress this vision. Countries of the ICT League share this interest with Sweden. The United States is also on the threshold of a transformative phase and Britain has initiated consultations on transforming the way people learn.

Phase One and Two may be regarded as foundation stages in developing the role of ICT in education and learning. Various countries included in this study have gone beyond a foundation stage and implemented policies and strategies to bring about innovation in their education and training systems in adjusting to the new context of education.

These strategies are discussed in Chapter 11. They usually include:

• strategies to build a shared vision and leadership;
• strengthening and focussing research and development;
• building networks to foster the generation and spread of new ideas;
• building banks of case studies as models and exemplars of leading practice;
• linking education reform to broader community-oriented strategies;
• fostering a range of partnership strategies.

A key finding across the countries studied relates to the growing significance of innovative forms of partnership in these countries. These involve new forms of public/private partnership, education cross-sectoral collaboration, local and regional community partnerships, and innovative partnerships in federal systems. e-learning has been aptly termed by OECD The Partnership Challenge, and there is a requirement for ongoing development of new forms of partnership to drive education and learning policies and strategies, with consequent shifts in roles.

The discussion of online content, infrastructure, and professional development of teachers, and innovative community-oriented strategies in the report illustrates these developments.

A particular challenge for ICT policy in all countries has been how to deal with the pace of change, both in the impact of new technologies and in socio-economic shifts. This has led, on the one hand, to an emphasis on strategic planning and review, while on the other hand action has been taken to enhance flexibility in responses to the exponential pace of change. In federal systems this has sometimes led to strengthened partnership between the levels of government, as in both Australia and Canada, including innovative forms of partnership in Canada where a federal education power does not exist. A further response has been to stimulate innovation at the local level with strategies such as those discussed in Chapter 11, so that local initiatives have become increasingly significant as a means of achieving flexibility and innovation in responding to a context of rapid change.

Overall, we found disappointment expressed in a number of international reports and studies at the slow pace of change, with the view commonly articulated in these documents that current developments needed to be speeded up if the potential benefits of ICT in education were to be realised. This had led to a search for strategies that will accelerate the pace of change and innovation in education systems with a stronger research effort seen to be necessary to guide the change processes. Research priorities identified in a number of jurisdictions are outlined in Appendix 2.

Educational outcomes are discussed in Chapter 10 where research evidence is provided to show that ICT, when well applied, can enhance desired educational outcomes. However, the impact overall on schools and teaching is more problematic, and research from case studies suggests that the adoption of ICT in schools follows the pattern of other education innovations in progressing through a number of defined stages. This has led to the current interest in how the pace of change in the way people learn can be accelerated, so as to bring about the desired transformation and to realise the full potential of ICT as a tool for learning and progress in the information age.

A number of the countries studied have seen a close link between ICT and culture, and have seen ICT has a tool to make cultural sources more accessible to education and for the preservation of the cultural heritage. At the same time, ICT is also seen as an instrument for the internationalisation of education with enlarged international contacts, and with international sources available to enrich education and to heighten its relevance in a globalised society and economy. This includes the aspiration of working towards an international information environment where information will be freely available for students, teachers, and researchers. Appendix 3 comments on the role of selected international agencies and informal networks in strengthening international exchanges of experience in policy for ICT in education.

The report concludes with identifying fifteen criteria for leading practice in policy for ICT in education which could be used in evaluating Australian performance. These criteria relate to key aspects such as vision and leadership, strategic planning, lifelong learning, monitoring progress, establishing foundations and ensuring digital literacy, access and equity, innovation, partnership, and research and development.

A set of nine key questions is identified for consideration by Australian policy makers.

These questions involve:

• the relation of ICT policy and policy for lifelong learning;
• ways of providing affordable bandwidth;
• developing an innovation strategy for ICT in education;
• equity and the digital and learning divide in society;
• strengthening research and development on ICT in education;
• building networks to stimulate the flow of new ideas;
• building a bank of case studies and models of good practice;
• linking education and community strategies for the role of ICT;
• encouraging innovation in partnership action.

These questions reflect key themes observed in the countries studied where benefits for Australian education and society might be obtained in the further development of policy for ICT in education.

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1. Kearns and Grant 2002.
2. Advisory Committee for Online Learning (Canada) 2001. There are similar views in the OECD, European Commission and other reports cited, and in the Summit Declaration from the 2001 European eLearning Summit. See also, for example, OECD 2001b.
3. Ibid, p.18.
4. Ibid, p.18.