Canada’s priority is to enhance the level of education by using technology. The belief that providing students access to computers at an early age will enhance learning still needs to be investigated. The availability of technology is prevalent around the world. The introduction of print, computers, teleconferencing, internet access and smart boards to the classroom makes access to information easier. The access to information can influence the type of education offered to students within the Ontario school system. The main reason for the exposure of students to ICT is to prepare them for the rapidly changing workforce (Plant and Beattie, 2004). As technology enhances, the aim to provide students with early exposure to ICT will prevent a drop off in workforce production.
The Legislation of Technology in Canadian Schools
Education across Canada is governed at the provincial level and therefore the laws that apply to one province does apply to another. Due to this fact, this section will focus mainly on the use of ICT in Ontario. For a comparison on schooling legislation this section will briefly look at the United States (U.S) Before talking about Canadian laws on technology in the classroom. In 2002, the Bush administration developed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation to help struggling students reach the national education levels. The U.S. believed that the inclusion of ICT in the schools would vastly improve students academic achievements (Learning Points Associates, 2007). The introduction of this program to the United States motivated schools to falsify results to get government funding. Within Canada there has not been any formal legislation to get schools to use ICT. However, the use of technology in Ontario is heavily supported by the Ontario Ministry of Education. There is a steady increase of ICT in the schools to enhance learning (McMullen, 2004). SchoolNet is a government funded program responsible for providing internet access while the computer for schools program provides schools with recycled systems (Willms & Corbett , 2003).
ICT in Elementary & Secondary Schools
Information and Computer Technology has been a part of the Canadian education system since 1990. Plante and Beattie (2004) state that inclusion of technology in Ontario schools is the result of the increased use of ICT in industry. The Ontario Ministry of Education mandate on the inclusion of technology in schools is to prepare students for success in the workforce (Ministry of Education, 2000). The Ministry of Education claims that 81% of students have graduated from secondary schools which is an increase of 20% (Ministry of Education Website, 2011). Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty credits the inclusion of ICT to Ontario schools as a contributing factor for the increase of secondary school graduates. Claiming that computer use is a main factor contributing to this improvement is difficult to determine without further examination.
There are two factors that determine the effectiveness of technology in education. The availability of technology and how its used in the classroom. To address the aforementioned factors an investigation of both will be conducted. The research of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will be used to discuss the availability of ICT in schools; While the teacher’s integration of ICT in school curriculum will be addressed by several studies.
OECD is an organization that records data for its members about various subjects. One subject they track is the use of computers in the classroom globally. Members of OECD rank among the world’s richest countries. There research shows Canada as the second highest ranking country for providing ICT to students under 15 years of age (McMullen, 2004). Canada’s ratio is approximately 1 computer for every five students (CCL-CCA, 2009). This means that every fifth Canadian student will be effected by having access to a computer in their classroom. There are more than one million computers for 5.3 million students across Canada for both elementary and secondary schools (CCL-CCA, 2009). It is most likely that students that have access to this technology live within the urban city centre. Furthermore, 98% of schools that have computers had internet access (CMEC, 2010, Technology in Education section para 1). Another factor to consider is having access to current software and systems. 25% of elementary and secondary schools in Canada have access to the latest software (McMullen, 2004). This means that majority of schools can not provide students with current software for their computers. Also, this statistic does not seem to differentiate between educational software and other types. For instance, the difference between Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007 does not effect a students ability to learn curriculum material.
Other factor effecting ICT effectiveness in education is the hardware in the computer required to run educational programs. 50 % of those schools have medium speed processors which is not able to run the newer programs used in the classroom (McMullen, 2004). This means that before the computer can be used optimally it will require up to date hardware and a technician to install it, if the school does not already have someone available.
The use of ICT at home contributes to the learning of the student. Students that have computers with internet access at home tend to score higher than those that only have access at school. These home learning students generally have the money to buy the software they need to do school work. Furthermore, these students do not have the barrier of a teacher’s lack of computer knowledge effecting their learning. Students with computers at home tend to become self-learners. Of the students with access to school computers 29% use educational programs, 9% use it for mathematics and 62% use it for word processing (OEDC, 2005). Only one-third of students report using computers to aid in studying school material (Willms & Corbett, 2003). Its this group that typically have economic resources to give them other advantages to enhance their learning (ie. Tutors). According to Ravitz, Mergendoller and Rush’s (2002), students that took a standardize math test showed that students with computer access scored higher than those without by an average of 60 points. This result seems to indicate that the student that use ICT are being significantly effected by computers.
The next factor influencing the effect of technology is the teacher that integrates computers into their classroom. According to one survey, teachers who are competent using computer for administration are not as confident in integrating it into their lesson (McMullen, 2004). Only 5% of teachers use computers for inquiry-based learning ( Willms & Corbett ,2003). In other cases, the cost of keeping up with rapidly improving technology can hinder teacher’s abilities to integrate ICT into the curriculum. The constant pressure to stay current may cause teacher’s to become jaded and therefore limit their interest in incorporating ICT in their lessons. Especially, when teachers need to invest the little time they have to learn something new. Even if 1 in 5 children had access to computers, the use of ICT hinges on the teacher’s ability to incorporate it in the classroom. Teachers that are subject matter specialist might not have enough technical knowledge to incorporate ICT into their class lesson (McMullen, 2004). The average age of a Canadian teacher is 41 (workingincanada.gc.ca, 2011). This age suggests that they did not grow up using ICT in school. If a teacher that did not grow up using ICT in school does not make an effort to learn how to use it, they will not attempt to incorporate it in their teaching. This factor could explain why mature teachers tend to avoid using technology in the classroom. Furthermore, their personal experience could create a negative bias against the use of ICT as a tool in the schools.
A survey mentioned in Plante and Beattie (2004) polled principals thoughts on the value of ICT in schools. 92% believed that inclusion of ICT was a worthwhile investment. 93% thought that the inclusion of ICT enhanced and widened the learning of the curriculum. 92% of principals felt that it allowed students to go beyond the curriculum and helped increase students knowledge. These results conclude that principals are satisfied with the gains provided by the inclusion of ICT. The principals overwhelmingly support for the inclusion of ICT as a effective pedagogical tool is conclusive.
The answer to the question is technology really improving education? Statistically speaking the answer must be yes! This section showed that the availability of ICT in schools was a component that helped increased the graduation rate of Ontario students. Students that had access to ICT at home showed increased performance when compared to those that only had access at schools. Finally, a large number of principals, based on their experience, believe in the inclusion of ICT in the curriculum. Overall these three points allow for the conclusion that ICT in the curriculum is beneficial to the Student learner.
