Jim Belshaw (no relation that we’ve figured so far) has been so kind as to post some links to help me with my Ed.D. thesis over at his blog. His aim is to bridge the education/training divide (he is a ‘strategic consultant’ for business looking to improve their performance):
1. Learning Circuits Blog. This e-learning blog sponsored by the American Society for Training and Development provides a useful entry point.
2. eLearning Technology. Tony Karrer’s blog provides a very useful intro to a variety of issues in the on-line training environment.
3. Stephen’s Web. Stephen Downes’ site contains a range of useful material.
4. Jay Cross has two main blogs – Informal Learning and the Internet Time blog.
5. I find Dave Lee’s eelearning because he often comes at issues from a different direction.
6. Brent Schlenker’s corporate e-learning often provides insights especially on technical issues associated with e-learning.
7. Dennis McDonald’s blog on Managing & Living with Technology remains a valuable source of information on developments in the on-line environment.
Thanks Jim! 🙂
There’s a report by BECTA from 2003 which reviews research looking at teachers’ uptake of ICT – Barriers and Enablers to Teachers’ Use of ICT
The key barriers are identified as:
- Confidence, time and access to quality resources are major factors in determining teachers’ engagement with ICT.
- Recurring technical faults, and the expectation of faults occurring during teaching sessions, are likely to reduce teacher confidence and cause teachers to avoid using the technology in future lessons.
- Resistance to change is a factor which prevents the full integration of ICT in the classroom. In particular, teachers who do not realise the advantages of using technology in their teaching are less likely to make use of ICT.
- There are close relationships between many of the identified barriers to ICT use; any factors influencing one barrier are likely also to influence several other barriers. For example teacher confidence is directly affected by levels of personal access to ICT, levels of technical support and the quality of training available.
The key enablers are identified a:
- leadership and planning
- sharing of resources
- reliable technical support
- schools working with each other and with the local community
- differentiated training and continuous professional development for teachers
- participation in national ICT initiatives and projects.
