Education ministers wobbly on ICT - 'don't get it'?

John Galloway:

The Coalition Government brought a big shift in ICT policy for education. From a position of active strategies, streams of guidance, heavy investment in connectivity, research and equipment, to a touch so light as to be barely perceptible.

The recent white paper, "The Importance of Teaching", emphasises standards for frontline teaching, with ideas about what the curriculum might contain, but scant reference to how they might teach, or with what resources. ICT has one mention - in relation to procurement. This is no oversight. Why the big change? And a recurrent fear among those consulted is worrying - they simply don't fully understand the importance of ICT.

A set of three simple questions were put to a number of leading figures involved in ICT for learning (the full set of questions and answers can be downloaded here) and three to schools minister Nick Gibb MP. While the Department for Education emphasised schools' new freedoms (see below), the other responses raised a range of worries.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 3, 2011 1:50 AM
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