The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Using Computers
in American Primary Schools

Conclusion

• Explanatory Notes

• Domestic Aspects
  of the Fellowship

  • Purpose of the Fellowship

  • Success of the Fellowship

  • The Fellowship Grant

  • Suggestions for Future Fellows

  • Dissemination of the Report

• Professional Aspects
  of the Fellowship

  • Overview

  • Information & Communications Technology (ICT)

  • Delivering the ICT Curriculum

  • Other Curriculum Areas

  • Assisting with Teaching Tasks

  • School Administration
    and Management

  • Electronic Communication

• Conclusion

• Appendices

  • Acknowledgements

  • Itinerary

  • Technical Details

  • Internet Links

  • TELDEC Grant Project

  • Gates Foundation Grants

  • US Dept of Education
    Executive Summary

  • WebQuests

• Picture Gallery

I was very impressed by much that I saw in the schools I visited. Children were enthusiastic learners, teachers were highly skilled and committed to their work, school buildings were of very high quality and schools were exceptionally well resourced. All members of the school community worked together to improve the quality of education for their children and the culture of ‘Respect and Responsibility’ was deeply rooted.

Where Information and Communications Technology was concerned there was a strong sense of purpose at all levels of the system. The Federal Government’s commitment to the development of ICT was clearly expressed in statements which not only described the vision but also described the processes and required actions whereby that vision would be realised. Not least of this was a definite commitment to provide the necessary funding and support! This national vision was refined and extended at State, Service District and School District levels. Although the curriculum lay at the heart of all developments there was ample recognition of the need to provide support in areas such as hardware and software provision, staff development and training and technical support.

Business and Industry made a major contribution to the development of ICT in schools. This was not just by providing material resources such as funding, materials and equipment. They also offered excellent advice to teachers on a wide range of ICT issues and supported this with training and assistance with evaluation.

In schools there were many examples of good practice and new ideas and approaches were much in evidence. Several teachers provided excellent role models for others and in many classrooms children were already skilled users, well able to apply these skills in a variety of learning contexts. There were still many differences in the experiences offered to children but this had been recognised as a major issue and was being addressed at all levels.

I have learned a great deal as a result of this Fellowship Project and I enjoyed every second of it. Next year, Duns Primary School has as one of its priorities the development of ICT in teaching and learning. We intend to tackle this via the creation of our own ‘tech plan’ which will draw heavily on many of the ideas contained within this report.

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