ICT action school development at Helen Parkhurst Dalton School, part II

Abstract

The paper presents the progress of the action plan for improvement of the ICT usage at the Helen Parkhurst Dalton School for secondary education. At the start of the described action period in 2007 the ICT-usage in education was assessed through an review performed by a group of European inspectors. This assessment formed the basis for a continuous development in the school for promoting and improving the usage of ICT. This was done by addressing the observed weaknesses with special measures, and continuing the action plans which were already put in place. For four main points of criticism the following measures were taken. (1) The coherence in the ICT use was improved by appointing school wide operating coordinators. (2) The use of ICT in teaching was encouraged by offering a variety of teacher training and dedicated workshops. (3) The measurement of gains in learner achievement through ICT use was addressed by a comparative study on the effects of ICT in international learners collaboration. (4) The perspective on new ICT developments in ICT and pedagogy was broadened by purchasing new equipment, as interactive white boards, laptop trolleys and other digital devices and realizing new ICTlaboratories. One year after the inspectorates' assessment new plans arose. The leadership of the school has organized a so called 'Scenario Debate', aimed at addressing the near future of the school. In this debate the view on education has been renewed in relation to the organizational aspects. One of the outcomes of the debate was the awareness of the growing role of ICT. So plans for the near future have been set up. This paper is the second contribution in a row in order to describe action based school development. © 2009 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.