About
We know from the literature that children are highly motivated to use ICT and the Internet and they do so at a very early age mainly from home. How do primary schools respond to high motivation of young learners to use ICT? Is there evidence of impact and, if so, how is it assessed in countries? How effective are national policy strategies? Is there links between certain strategies (national, regional, local) and successful uptake and integration in schools? What is the wider national and European picture and what makes single good practices work?
These are only some of the questions the STEPS project, an 18-month Study of the impact of TEchnology in Primary Schools is trying to answer. The project, which is approaching its final phase in June 2009, will provide a comparative analysis report detailing the main strategies for the integration of ICT in primary schools in the EU27, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland, their impact and future development perspectives. It identifies evidence on the main impact of ICT on learning and learners, on teachers and teaching, as well as on primary school development plans and strategies. It will particularly identify the main drivers and enablers for effective and efficient use of ICT, allowing proposing recommendations for policy makers and stakeholders taking into account the environmental background (cultural, social, and economic).
Based on an analytical framework the final study provides evidence from a number of quantitative and qualitative surveys:
- A literature review (analyzing more than 50 studies in the field )
- A quantitative survey of head teachers and teachers in 27 European countries
- A policy makers survey
- A school survey
- 50 examples of good practice
- 20 case studies from 13 countries
It is the most detailed picture ever taken of how ICT is impacting on everyday
teaching
and learning in European primary schools. The information and data gathering
process was carried out in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and
Norway, thanks to over 40 national correspondents from the 30 countries.
Results of the study will be presented during a workshop end of June where high level experts and stakeholders will have the possibility to give feedback on the report findings and its recommendations.
The “Study on Technology’s impact in primary schools” (STEPS) was commissioned by the Executive Agency of the European Commission (EACEA) and is run by a consortium of European Schoolnet (EUN) and empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH.